<h4>Chapter 494: REALISATION</h4>


    Erik stormed down the corridor, his jaw clenched, vision tunneled with fury. The rage still simmered beneath his skin, his wolf howling inside him.


    This was all Xaden and Anna’s fault.


    If only Anna had shut her deceitful mouth.


    He knew that there was no way in the seven hells that Jasmine had done what Anna had used her off.


    He also knew that Anna was a bloody liar.


    A quality of her that her dear brother didn’t know.


    Xaden was blinded by Anna and his guilt for not raising her as his sister.


    And so he believed everything she told him.


    While Xaden on the other hand had been fooled by the false evidence.


    Erik had tried his best to make Xaden rx and see things through.


    But Xaden had insisted that she had to be punished.


    And now look at.


    Jasmine must hate him too because just as Marie had said, he had yed the devil’s advocate.


    He was as guilty as Xaden was.


    He was seething with burning rage.


    And then, like the final insult, Anna appeared around the corner.


    She was walking fast, her blonde hair popping up and down over her head, her dress swishing dramatically with every step, lips pursed and eyes smug.


    Until she nearly collided with him.


    "Watch where you’re—"


    But before her as usual nasty words were out, Erik grabbed her by the arm and yanked her hard into the shadows of a nearby alcove.


    "What the hell!"" she gasped, stunned by his strength. "You’re hurting me—"


    And then when she realized who it was she became a bit calm and her cheeks flustered red.


    "Erik!" She said giving a wry smile. "What are you doing? People can see."


    He pushed her back against the stone wall. "You think I care?"


    She had a coy devilish smile, then it urred to him what she thought he was doing and he became more furious.


    His voice was low and dangerous, filled with a venom that sent shivers down Anna’s spine. His grip was tight enough to bruise, and for the first time, Anna looked genuinely startled.


    "Why did you lie about Jasmine?" he demanded straight to point.


    Her seductive smile faltered.


    "I— I didn’t—" she stammered.


    "Don’t lie to me , Anna!" he growled, pressing his face closer. "You toldeveryone plotting. You told us she was working with enemies. You helped put her in a cell—while she was carrying his child."


    Anna winced. "You’re hurting me," she whispered again, a little less firm this time.


    He released her abruptly, as if touching her burned.


    She stumbled forward, rubbing her arm, eyes wide with wounded pride.


    "This is what this is all about? Stupid Jasmine?" She said her bosom heaving over her chest.


    She rolled her eyes as she straightened her dress.


    "I didn’t lie," she said coldly, trying to regain her poise. "I told you what I knew."


    "You told us what you wanted to be true," Erik snapped. "Because of some stupid fantasy that you and I would be together."


    She flinched, andughed wickedly. "Why do assume everything is about you. You’re too full of yourself."


    But Erik didn’t stop.


    "You made her out to be a traitor. You manipted the pack, manipted me. And for what?"


    "I only meant well," she said tightly. "And like I said if you were listening earlier. I don’t care about you. I care about my brother. Jasmine is bad news. You don’t expect me to stay and watch while the enemy deceives the people I love."


    Heughed bitterly. "Love? Love? You don’t know the meaning of the word."


    She reached for him, but Erik pulled back fast—visibly flinching at her touch like she was something vile. "Don’t. Touch. Me."


    Anna’s face fell.


    "I want nothing to do with you," Erik said, his voice now lower, colder, final. "Whatever you dreamed up between us? It’s dead. It never existed."


    Anna’s mask slipped. "I love you—"


    "No, Anna," he said. "You obsessed over something that was never yours."


    The silence between them was sharp enough to cut.


    "You’ve done so many things. So many dreadful things. But this? This was the end. Jasmine losing her baby. Murder? This was the cliff you went over. And there is no going back."


    Then Erik stepped closer once more, his face terrifyingly calm. "And if I ever find proof of what you did to Jasmine... If I find even one solid piece of evidence—" he leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper, "I will burn you myself."


    She gasped.


    "I’ll stand right beside your brother," he hissed. "And I’ll watch as he tears you apart."


    With that, he turned and strode away down the hall, leaving Anna shaking in the corner, breathing hard, her arms wrapped around herself as she whispered—


    "She deserved it..."


    ~~~~~~~~~


    Anna didn’t stay stunned for long.


    A cunning devil that she was, she headed on with her mission.


    Not Erik or anyone else’s words would steer her from her path of bringing Jasmine down.


    By the time she stormed into the Alpha’s war chamber, her expression had shifted again — now painted with carefully controlled grief and wounded innocence.


    Xaden sat at the long obsidian table, papers strewn before him, his shoulders rigid. Erik’s words still rang in his ears like hammers on steel. He hadn’t said a word since Marie stormed off.


    Hadn’t touched the food. Hadn’t even shifted his seat.


    He was breaking. And the worst part? He knew he deserved it.


    Anna threw the doors open. "She’s in your bed," she said sharply.


    Xaden didn’t look up.


    "I said Jasmine is in your bed, brother. The same traitor you locked up. Why is she there?"


    "I don’t want to hear it," Xaden said, his voice low, exhausted.


    "She’s a prisoner!" Anna cried. "She shouldn’t even be in this house, much less lying in your bed like some—"


    Xaden rose so quickly, his chair screeched backward across the floor. His eyes — bloodshot and wild — locked on hers.


    "She lost the baby."


    The words cut through the room like a dagger. The silence that followed was deafening.


    "And?" Anna sneered.


    Xaden blinked. Like a cold bucket of water had poured over him.


    "And?" He repeated, stunned at his sister’s heartlessness. "And? My child fucking died! Jasmine could have FUCKING DIED!"


    Anna realized that somehow her brother now knew that he was the father.


    She quickly changed tactics. "Oh my Goddess. I.... Wh... huh.... I had no idea that... I thought the baby was for her lover."


    She took a reasonable step back.


    Anna blinked. "What...?"


    "You heard me," he said slowly. "She lost the child. She was bleeding out in that bed while I was here doing nothing."


    Anna’s mouth parted. "I... I didn’t know."


    Xaden walked around the table, step by step, until he stood in front of her. His face was pale, drawn tight, jaw clenched so hard it looked like it would crack.


    "She almost died, Anna," he said, voice trembling. "And now I have to live with the fact that the child she was carrying — the child I didn’t believe in — was mine."


    Anna’s face twisted. "You don’t know that."


    "Marie told me," he said. "She swore it. She used magic to try and save Jasmine, and she looked me in the eye and said the child was mine."


    Anna looked down, feigning disbelief. "She could’ve lied."


    Xaden leaned in, nose inches from hers. "Are you saying Marie lied to me? That she cast spells to trick me? That she risked her life — risked everything — to save Jasmine for nothing?"


    Anna didn’t respond.


    "I asked you once before, Anna," he said, each word deliberate, "if you if you were certain that the things you said were true."


    "Which they were." Anna interjected quickly.


    "But if Marie could say she was with my own child not anyone else’s then that means you were wrong. That means you could have been wrong about more."


    "I wasn’t," she whispered. "I only repeated what the guards were saying—"


    "Enough," Xaden snapped.


    Anna flinched.


    "I don’t want to hear another word from you about Jasmine," he said. "Youe in here again with your usations, and I will have you dragged out."


    "You’d choose her over me?" Anna gasped, stunned.


    "I’d choose the truth over poison," he replied coldly. "And right now, everything you say reeks of poison."


    "You’re my brother," she said, tears finally forming. "I did it for you—"


    "Don’t," he said, holding up a hand. "Don’t insult me with that lie."


    He turned away from her.


    "She’s in my bed because I owe her that much. I owe her more than I’ll ever be able to repay."


    Anna didn’t speak again. Not as Xaden walked back to the table. Not as the guards arrived and stood silently near the doorway, waiting for her exit.


    Her hands clenched at her sides. Her chest burned. For the first time, her tears were real — but not from guilt.


    From hatred.


    She left the chamber, but in her heart, she made a vow.


    She would not be discarded.


    She would not lose.


    And Jasmine... Jasmine would not rise from this.


    Not again.


    ?


    Down the hallway, Xaden stood by the war table, arms braced against the cold stone, breathing hard. Everything Marie had said earlier kept echoing in his mind.


    You murdered your own child.


    That bloodline you spent years chasing? Died today.


    He wanted to scream.


    But he didn’t deserve to.


    He had let his pride blind him. He’d let rumors sink into his skin like venom. He had questioned her loyalty, her love, her child.


    And now, all that remained was blood and silence.


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