Chapter 60


    60. Fallen Heirs


    ***Wyatt****


    Korbin is eerily quiet as we drive thest leg of our trip home, staring off at the trees that we zoom past.


    It’s frightening. He’s never


    quiet.


    Thad not even set foot on the ne when Korbin called me the day of the attack, the fear thick in his


    voice as he demanded I return


    to the hotel. He could not even exin to me what had happened, his words slurred as he incoherently


    begged me toe help him. I did my best to calm him down and stayed on the line with him until I


    returned to the hotel where I got the shock of my life, finding


    Caine’s lifeless body stuffed in the back of the truck.


    “What happened?” I demanded, unwilling to believe my own eyes as I stared at the body.


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    “H-he just went crazyl” Korbin huped between sobs. “I-I don’t even know what- what happened,” he


    cried. “I tried to stop him. I


    tried but he wouldn’t listen to mel He wouldn’t… He just shot himself,” he whimpered. “He shot… He shot


    himself.”


    It took several hours to calm Korbin down enough to make sense of what he was saying and even then, I


    could not make out the


    events of that day, unable to understand how Zane made Caine shoot himself without uttering a single


    word. Caine is many things, but


    suicidal is not one of them. He would have put up a fight before dying. Something else must have taken


    ce that day but I cannot get


    Korbin to tell me the truth.


    “Dad…” Korbin whispers, his eyes glossy as he looks over at me. “I’m scared.”


    So am I, I want to tell him but these words will do him no good right now, so I swallow them back and put


    on a brave face.


    “Alpha will want to know the exact details of that day,” I sigh tiredly, looking over at Caine.


    “So what should I tell him?” Korbin whispers to himself.


    My hands tighten their grip around the steering wheel as I try to think of a good answer to that. Korbin


    can’t lie to save his life so it is


    best toe clean with what happened. Lying to Sebastian is simply not an option.


    “Tell me exactly what happened again,” I reply.


    Korbin nods, his eye blinking fast as he clears his throat. “W-we were on our way to River Moon like you


    told us, when we saw Zane


    and his mate driving in the opposite direction. That’s when Caine went berserk and drew a gun from his


    pants. I tried to stop him but he shot at them. I think he hurt Zane’s mate. I don’t know. Everything just


    happened so fast and then Caine pulled over and started shooting


    at Zane again. Zane shifted and just stared at Caine for a really long time. That’s when Caine suddenly


    spun the cylinder of his gun and pointed it to his own head but he was crying, like he was begging Zane


    for mercy but Zane never said anything. He just stood there, staring at him. Caine even pissed himself,


    he was so scared. He pulled the trigger many times until a bullet finally made its way through his skull.”


    “Zane turned to me and I panicked,” Korbin adds. “I told him your message and he told me Alpha


    Sebastian would regret pushing


    him away”


    “Wait, Zane actually spoke to you?” I ask, trying to remember thest time I ever heard Zane utter a


    single word.


    “Well no,” Korbin shakes his head. “He mind-linked me but… it was weird.”


    “Weird?” I repeat, raising an eyebrow at him. Zane had never mind-linked before. I wasn’t even sure he


    could. “How so?”


    “Well it was like… it was like he was inside my head,” Korbin exins. “Like he could hear and see


    everything I was thinking. He gave


    me an order and I felt an urge to do as he said. All he said was shut up and I couldn’t help but listen to


    him. It was weird.”


    “Like an Alphamand?”


    “No,” Korbin shakes his head. “No, my wolf wasn’tpelled to listen… It was me. I felt this urge, this


    need, this desire to do as he


    said. It doesn’t make any sense.”


    I grow impatient with my son and his cryptic storytelling as we pull up to the Scarlett Haven gates and


    snap at him.


    “Listen very carefully, Kor, because I am only going to say this once.” I snarl through gritted teeth. “You


    will be silent as I tell


    Korbin nods his head and I proceed to exin my n to him, Korbin muttering it to himself over and


    over again.


    As we pull up to the pack house, Beta Earl is already at the door ready to receive us, a deep frown on his


    face when he notices only


    Korbin and I step out of the truck.


    “Sebastian is furious about your failed mission,” he mutters, eyeing the truck suspiciously. “You have


    some serious exining to do.


    And where is the little prick? His mother has been driving me insane all day asking why you took so long


    to return.”


    “I’ll exinter,” I reply, Earl shifting his gaze between Korbin and I.


    “Where is Caine?”


    Korbin looks to me for help and I clear my throat.


    “Tell the Alpha we have a Moon Warrior Ceremony to prepare for.”


    ***Sebastian***


    “The Gamma has arrived, Alpha,” Beta Earl announces as he bursts through the door of my office.


    Beads of sweat are gathered at his forehead, the look in his eyes telling me something is off about


    Wyatt’s arrival. Dread prickles


    down my spine as I rise to my feet and follow him out to the driveway. There, I find Wyatt standing by the


    truck along with multiple guards, the look in his eyes distant and emotionless. Korbin trembles anxiously


    beside him, any slight movement frightening him.


    “Alpha,” Wyatt says loudly, Korbin jumping nervously.


    Something is definitely wrong, Arden, my wolf, mutters.


    I count two heads, but where is my son?


    Wyatt seems to understand my question and lowers himself onto his knees before me.


    “I regret to inform you, Alpha, that things took an unexpected turn while we were visiting California,” he


    says, his voice strong


    despite the fearced within his words.


    “Speak clearly. You’re not making any sense,” I snarl, barely hanging on to my patience as Wyatt stares


    nkly at me.


    “Yes sir,” Wyatt nods solemnly. “I took Caine and Korbin to speak with Zane onest time before we left


    and as we were approaching


    his new pack, we crossed paths with Zane. Caine took a gun from his glove box, and aimed at your son.”


    My blood boils hearing the news of Caine’s audacity to override my wishes and do as he pleases.


    “Was Zane hurt?” I ask, a war waging in my head. A part of me hopes that the boy was killed so I can be


    done with this ordeal while the other half prays no harmes his way.


    “He’s alright,” Wyatt exins. “But Caine continued to shoot and Zane reacted to the gunfire. The two got


    into an altercation for control of the gun so I don’t exactly know who shot who but the gun went off, and


    Caine was shot.”


    In a blink of an eye, the worldes to a stand still, my own lungs pausing for a moment.


    “Where is Caine?” I ask, my face stone cold as I wait for his response.


    “He’s dead, Alpha,” Wyatt announces very bluntly, the familiar pain of another lost son filling my heart. Of


    course, this time, it’s


    through no fault of my own.


    “What?” a sharp gasp calls out from behind me.


    Just then I hear footsteps approaching, Sara stepping out of the house as her lips quiver in anguish.


    “What did you say?” She whimpers through a sob.


    “Sara, go inside,” Imand, Sara ignoring mepletely and staring at her Gamma.


    “What did you say?” She repeats, her hand clinging to her chest as several tears roll down her cheeks.


    “Where is my baby?”


    “I said, GO INSIDE,” I snap, Earl stepping in her way and pushing her back by the shoulders.


    touder. “No! Nol Not my babyl” She shrieks, Earl wrapping his arms around her as she cries.”My babyl


    My babyl” She screams, pounding


    her lists against Earl’s chest in hopes of breaking free.


    Wyatt climbs up the steps to the house tofort his I una, but she does not want hisfort. She


    wants his head.


    “You were supposed to protect him!” she snarts, pping Wyatt across the face when he tries to hug her.


    “You spineless,


    insignificant, waste of space!” She sobs angrily, copsing to the ground on her knees.


    As she screams, I slowly approach the truck, finding a body covered in linen tucked tightly in the bed. My


    hands shake as I untie the


    ropes keeping the body in ce and I pull back the linen, closing my eyes instantly when I see Caine’s


    face with two gaping holes on the


    sides of his head


    No weshness, I remind myself, quickly tucking in my emotions behind a face of stone as I cover Caine


    back up. An Alpha never shows


    Waness.


    Another thought upies my mind, anger and shame filling my being. Without Caine, that stuttering


    buffoon is now the sole heir to


    my pack. That weakling will be responsible for this for MY PACK.


    How could this be my fate? My legacy? In the hands of a man who can’t even say his own name without


    stumbling like an i***t? How?


    How could this have happened?


    My fury turns on Wyatt, the man I left in charge of this one simple task.


    “How could you let this happen?” I snarl, grabbing him by the cor of his shirt. “You had one f*****g job.


    Where were you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to this pack?” I roar, fear swimming in his


    eyes. “Onyx Stone was promised an heir and you let him die!”


    “I told you Caine was trouble. Zane was only defending himself,” Wyatt tries to exin. “I didn’t even


    know the kid had a gun with


    him. I don’t know how the f**k he got his hands on a silver revolver.””


    I freeze, realizing the only person who could have given Caine a silver revolver … was his own mother.


    The weeping woman seems to know this too because her breath hitches upon hearing the word


    ‘revolver’ and her sobs quiet down.


    This f*****g bitch….


    Tossing Wyatt aside, I storm over to my wife who attempts to run away, but she is too slow to get to her


    feet. Grabbing one of her


    ankles, I drag her back towards me, climbing on top of her and pinning her to the ground. She tries to


    fight me but there is no


    escaping.


    “Did you give the kid the gun?” I ask calmly, a threat lingering in my voice as I re at the b***h I


    married.


    “N-no… no-I, no..” she stammers, desperately trying to kick me off of her.


    “DID YOU GIVE THE KID THE GUN?” I roar, Sara a whimpering mess beneath me.


    “H-he took it from my drawers,” Sara sobs, shaking her head frantically. “I-I didn’t do it. It wasn’t me! I


    swear!”


    “Should I check the cameras in your office?” I threaten, Sara’s face paling with horror.


    “No, we don’t have to-”


    “Who gave him the gun?” I demand once more, Sara letting out a frustrated scream.


    “Me!” She shrieks. “Me! I did! I wasn’t about to let some freak take my son’s ce!”


    1 silence her with a p to the face, Sara staring wide eyed at me in shock for hitting her in front of


    several pack members.


    “The only reason you’re still breathing right now is because I am not prepared to go to war with your


    father and his packs,” I snarl


    through gritted teeth, pinching her jaw and bringing her face closer to mine so that she hears every word


    I have to say. “But mark my


    words, Sara. You will pay for this,”I hiss.


    Ame lights in Sara’s eyes as she res defiantly at me.


    “If you touch me again.” Sara spits back through hissed whispers before switching to mindlink.


    “I’ll tell them all what you did to


    Jonathan.”