<h4>Chapter 188: Breaking point...</h4>


    <strong>Charis</strong>


    I’d never seen an Alpha aura before, at least not like this.


    The closest I’vee to experiencing it is my father’s asional angry outburst; otherwise, I’ve never experienced it firsthand.


    Alpha Terry stood at the doorway, and the air itself seemed to thicken, pressing down on all of us. The temperature dropped. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to submit, to lower my eyes, to make myself small.


    His eyes werepletely ck. Not just the pupils—the entire eye. Pure Alpha dominance radiating from every inch of him.


    "ENOUGH."


    He didn’t shout the word; he growled it. It vibrated through him, sounding like a bass. It was absolutely terrifying.


    Both women stopped struggling immediately. Even Kael and ter took an involuntary step back.


    Terry walked into the foyer. As he walked, his eyes swept across the destruction, then they moved to ra and Elena.


    "My office," he said, his voice still carrying that inhuman growl. "Both of you. Now."


    Neither woman argued. The Alphamand was too strong to resist.


    As they moved toward the office—ra limping slightly, Elena holding her bleeding arm—Terry’s ck eyes found mine at the top of the stairs.


    For just a second, we made eye contact.


    Every hair on my body stood on end. My wolf whimpered inside me, wanting to run and hide.


    Then his eyes moved away, and I could breathe again.


    The silence after Terry and the women left was suffocating. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. We all just stood there, frozen, trying to process what had just happened.


    Then ter came to stand next to me. I hadn’t even heard him climb the stairs.


    "Come on," he said softly, tugging my elbow gently. "Let’s sit down."


    He led me carefully down the stairs, steering me around the broken ss and debris scattered across the floor. We made our way to a corner of the living room that had somehow escaped the destruction—a small seating area with two chairs and a loveseat that looked untouched.


    I sank into one of the chairs, my legs suddenly weak. My hands were shaking.


    "You okay?" ter asked, crouching in front of me.


    I nodded.


    Servants appeared and began quietly cleaning up the mess. They moved efficiently, sweeping up ss, righting furniture, and removing the broken pieces. Nobody spoke. The only sounds were the soft brush of brooms and the clink of ss being collected.


    Rhett ran both hands through his hair, his movements jerky and agitated. "I need to go up there."


    "What?" ter straightened up from where he’d been checking on me. "No. Bad idea."


    "I need to know what’s happening," Rhett insisted. "I need to make sure she’s okay."


    "Your father is furious right now," Kael said, his tone reasonable but firm. "In situations like this, it’s always best to stay away. Give him time to cool down."


    "That’s exactly why I need to go up there!" Rhett’s voice rose. "I need to make sure my mom is fine. You saw how angry he was. What if—" He stopped, swallowing hard. "What if he hurts her?"


    "Your father wouldn’t—" ter started.


    "Wouldn’t what?" Rhett cut him off. "Wouldn’t hurt the woman he’s spent twenty years hating? The woman he thinks betrayed him? You saw his eyes, ter. You felt his Alpha aura. He’s not in his right mind."


    "Which is exactly why you shouldn’t go up there," Kael said. "If he’s that angry, he might turn on you, too."


    "I don’t care!" Rhett was pacing now, his hands clenched into fists. "She’s my mother. My real mother. She came back for me, to try to save me, and I’m not going to stand here while—"


    "Rhett," I said softly.


    He stopped pacing and looked at me.


    "They’re right," I continued gently. "Your father is dangerous right now. Going up there won’t help anyone. It’ll just make things worse."


    Rhett’s jaw clenched. I could see the war happening inside him—his need to protect his mother versus his knowledge that we were right.


    Before anyone could say anything else, a loud bang echoed through the house.


    We all jumped. The sound came from upstairs—a door mming, or something being thrown.


    Followed by rapid footsteps. Running, rapid footsteps.


    "Oh no," ter breathed.


    We rushed to the base of the stairs, all four of us crowding together. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.


    A momentter, Elena appeared at the top of the stairs.


    She was sobbing—harsh, broken sounds that seemed torn from deep inside her. Her face was blotchy and swollen from crying. The cuts from her fight with ra looked worse in the light; the blood was already starting to dry on her skin.


    "Mom?" Rhett called out, starting up the stairs.


    But Elena wasn’t stopping. She ran down the stairs, nearly tripping in her haste, one hand on the railing to keep her bnce.


    "Mom, wait!" Rhett tried to intercept her at the bottom of the stairs, reaching out to grab her arm.


    Elena jerked away from him like his touch burned. "I’m sorry," she sobbed. "I’m so sorry, baby. I can’t—I have to go."


    "What? No! What happened? What did he say?"


    But Elena was already past him, heading for the front door. She moved like someone being chased, desperate to get away.


    "Mom, please!" Rhett called after her.


    The front door opened and mmed shut.


    She was gone.


    Rhett stood frozen, staring at the closed door. Then footsteps sounded on the stairs behind us.


    We all turned.


    Alpha Terry Thatcher descended slowly, his face still dark with anger. His eyes weren’tpletely ck anymore, but they were close. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping.


    Rhett walked toward him, his own face set with determination. "What happened? What did you say to her?"


    "That’s none of your concern," Terry said coldly.


    "None of my concern?" Rhett’s voice cracked. "She’s my mother!"


    "She stopped being your mother twenty years ago when she abandoned you."


    "She didn’t abandon me! Your family drove her out!"


    "She left," Terry said, his voice hard as stone. "By choice. Nobody forced her."


    "Because you threatened to let me die!" Rhett was shouting now. "Because your family gave her an ultimatum—leave or watch her son die without medical care!"


    "That’s her version of events." Terry’s eyes shed dangerously. "Convenient how she frames herself as the victim."


    "It’s the truth!"


    "The truth is, she cheated on me. The truth is she lied about everything—who she was, what she was. The truth is, she destroyed our family."


    "The truth," Rhett said, his voice shaking with emotion, "is that you’re so eaten up with hurt and anger that you can’t see past your own pain to what’s right in front of you!"


    Terry took a step toward his son. "Watch your tone."


    "Or what?" Rhett challenged. "You’ll drive me away, too? Add me to the list of people you’ve pushed out of your life?"


    "Rhett," ter called out in a warning tone.


    But Rhett wasn’t listening. "She came back to save me. To give me her heart. To sacrifice herself so I could live. And you—you can’t even put aside your pride long enough to let her help in the simplest way she can! Is that not proof enough that she loves me?"


    "I don’t need her help," Terry growled. "And neither do you."


    "I’m dying!" Rhett’s voice broke. "I’m dying, Dad! And she’s offering me a chance to live even though I won’t ept it. Why are you being unnecessarily stubborn?"


    "Whether we’ll ept it or not, it’s not the issue. We’ll find another way."


    "There is no other way! The doctors have tried everything! What if this is the goddess’s way of allowing me to spend myst weeks on earth with my loved ones? Do you know how happy I feel just by hering here? Happiness is a cure Dad are you going to let me die because you can’t forgive her!"


    "I said no!" Terry roared, his Alpha aura flooding the room.


    The force of it drove all of us to our knees. Even Rhett staggered, fighting against thepulsion to submit.


    "I am your Alpha and your father," Terry continued, his voice resonating with power. "And I forbid this. You will not ept anything from that woman. Do you understand me?"


    Rhett was shaking, tears streaming down his face. But his eyes were defiant. "No."


    The word hung in the air.


    Terry went very still. "What did you say?"


    "I said no." Rhett straightened up, fighting against the Alphamand with everything he had. "You don’t get to make this decision. It’s my life. My heart. My choice."


    "You’re my son—"


    "And I’m my own person!" Rhett shouted. "I’m not a child anymore! You can’t control me, and you can’t control her, and you can’t keep living in the past!"


    Father and son stood facing each other, both breathing hard, both radiating anger and pain.


    The air between them felt like it might shatter.


    "If you go to her," Terry said, his voice low and deadly, "you are no longer wee in this pack and to this house."


    The silence that followed was deafening.


    Rhett stared at his father, shock and hurt written across his face. "You don’t mean that."


    "Don’t I?" Terry’s expression was cold. "Choose. Her or your pack. You can’t have both."


    And with that, he turned and walked back up the stairs, leaving his son standing in the ruined foyer, surrounded by broken ss and broken hearts.