Chapter 379
In this chapter, Parker is confronted with the painful reality that Freya might be his sister and that their parents, long thought absent, are buried in Ashbourne. The revelation stirs a complex mix of emotions in him—confusion, sorrow, and a deep ache—yet his erased memories leave him detached, unable to fully accept or remember his past. Freya implores him to pay respects to their parents, emphasizing the suffering they endured waiting for him, but Parker coldly refuses, insisting he is just Parker Williams, no more.
The tension escalates when Jenny harshly mocks Freya’s parents, provoking a fierce reaction. Freya slaps Jenny and warns her not to speak ill of their parents again, asserting their honor and the sacrifices they made. The confrontation turns physical as Freya violently strikes Jenny, drawing the attention of security. Despite the aggression, Parker intervenes, stopping Freya from further violence and urging restraint, highlighting his internal conflict and the emotional distance growing between him and the sister who remembers their shared past.
Freya is left heartbroken and shocked by Parker’s defense of Jenny, the very person who insulted their parents. This moment underscores the gulf between the Parker she knew and the man he has become after losing his memories. The chapter ends with a poignant scene of fractured family ties, where loyalty, grief, and identity clash amid the harsh realities of their lives.
Chapter 379
From a third-person perspective
In that moment, Parker’s complexion drained until his face was nearly ghostly pale.
Parents.
The word struck him like a sudden bolt of lightning, searing through his mind. If Freya truly was his sister, then somewhere out there, his parents must exist—or at least had once existed. Yet, she had said to pay respects.
Pay respects.
The phrase weighed heavily on him, implying that they were no longer alive.
His heart faltered, then pounded painfully within his chest—slow and sharp—like something deep inside him instinctively acknowledged a truth his conscious mind refused to accept.
“Where… are they buried?” The question escaped his throat in a rough, broken whisper.
“In Ashbourne,” Freya replied softly, her voice barely above a murmur.
Parker’s mouth opened as if to speak, but no words came out.
“Don’t,” Jenny hissed suddenly, gripping his arm before he could finish. Her tone dropped to a dangerous whisper, audible only to him. “If you go with her now, I swear, I won’t save Lena when we get back home p>
His hand clenched into a trembling fist.
His memories had been wiped clean—everything before the Iron Fang Recon Unit’s last mission erased. Even if Freya’s story was true, even if those people had once been his parents, he had no recollection of them. No warmth, no faces, no trace.
And yet—
His chest ached.
The pain was so intense it felt like his ribs might shatter. Waves of regret, sorrow, and an unexplainable guilt surged through him, each wave stronger than the last.
“The Williams family’s time in the Capital is limited,” he said stiffly, forcing his voice to steady. “I’m afraid I won’t have the chance. Miss Thorne… perhaps you can suggest another way for me to repay you p>
Freya stared at him, disbelief widening her eyes.
“You won’t even pay respects to your parents?” Her voice trembled with emotion. “Do you have any idea what they went through when you disappeared on the border? They waited for years—years, Parker! The last call they made before they… before they died, they were still asking about you. Don’t you think they deserve at least a moment of peace p>
His whole body trembled. The ache in his chest deepened, spreading like wildfire through his veins. Even his wolf stirred uneasily inside him, pacing, growling, confused by a grief that felt older than memory itself.
He fixed his gaze on her, jaw clenched so tightly his words came through gritted teeth. “I told you—I’m Parker Williams. Nothing more p>
Freya’s eyes dimmed. For a long, heavy moment, she struggled to breathe. She wasn’t sure if what she felt was disappointment or grief.
Her brother—the one who had once called their parents heroes, who had joined the military because of them, who had sworn to protect their name—would never have spoken like this.
If the old Parker still existed somewhere inside that man, she thought, hearing their parents were gone would have shattered him. He would have fallen to his knees. He would have gone to their graves without hesitation.
But that man was gone.
“You really don’t remember anything,” she whispered.
Jenny’s voice cut through the tense silence like a poisoned blade. “You look pathetic right now, Freya.” Her tone dripped with scorn. “Your parents—what were they again? Soldiers? Martyrs? Do you really think people like them are worth my brother’s time? Maybe they were so desperate for someone to visit their graves they sent you begging all over the Capital p>
Slap!
The sharp sound cracked through the air. Freya’s palm had already struck Jenny’s face, hard enough to make the other woman stagger back.
Jenny’s eyes widened in shock. “You—how dare you p>
“Why wouldn’t I dare?” Freya’s voice was low, icy, and dangerous.
Her parents’ names were sacred. Untouchable.
They had given their lives for their people, for the packs now sneering behind polished marble walls. They were heroes—her heroes—and no one had the right to insult them.
“My parents,” she said, her voice cold enough to freeze the air, “are not names you get to speak p>
Something shifted in her presence.
Her wolf flared—wild, ancient, silver-gold light flickering behind her eyes. The scent of frost and iron seemed to radiate from her skin.
Jenny froze for a heartbeat. The air around Freya pulsed with dominance—the kind of power born from blood and grief, the kind that made weaker wolves instinctively lower their gaze.
But Jenny was not one to bow to anyone.
She squared her shoulders and spat back, voice trembling with fury, “So what if I talk about them? Your parents raised a savage, didn’t they? Guess that tells me all I need to know about what kind of people they were p>
Bang!
Freya’s boot slammed into Jenny’s stomach. The force sent her flying backward into the gleaming wall of the SkyVex Armaments headquarters. She crumpled to the ground, gasping for air.
Security guards stationed nearby had already started rushing toward them, drawn by the commotion.
“You—you vicious bitch,” Jenny wheezed, clutching her ribs. “You think you can do this to me and get away with it? I’ll make sure you pay for this p>
Freya advanced slowly, her footsteps deliberate, her shadow stretching long across the stone plaza.
Her voice, when she spoke, was soft—but every word was like a razor’s edge.
“Remember this,” she said firmly. “If you ever—ever—speak ill of my parents again, I’ll strike you once for every word. Say it twice, I’ll hit you twice. Say it a hundred times, I’ll break you a hundred times p>
Jenny’s lips curled into a sneer. “You filthy mutt, your parents p>
Freya’s hand rose again, ready to strike, but before she could, a firm hand caught her wrist midair.
It was Parker.
She froze, eyes wide with disbelief.
If the brother she remembered—the real Eric Thorne—were here, he would never have stopped her. He would have hit the girl himself. Harder.
“It’s enough,” Parker said quietly but with authority. “Jenny was wrong to speak that way. But she’s unarmed. You don’t need to hit her again p>
Lana, who had been standing nearby, couldn’t hold back any longer. “Unarmed? Are you kidding me? Freya’s your sister, Parker! Your sister! How can you defend p>
But Parker’s gaze never wavered from Freya.
“Don’t hit her again,” he repeated, a faint tremor betraying the turmoil raging inside him.
For a moment, the plaza fell silent except for the soft rush of wind weaving between the towering buildings.
Freya looked at him, her heart twisting—not with anger, but with something colder, sharper—something like grief. The wind caught strands of her dark hair, carrying the scent of winter pine and iron rain.
If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed it.
Her brother—her proud, stubborn, fearless brother—now stood between her and their enemy, defending the very girl who had just spat on their parents’ graves.
The chapter closes on a poignant and painful crossroads, where the bonds of family are tested by memory, loss, and conflicting loyalties. Parker’s struggle to reconcile the ghost of a past he cannot remember with the harsh reality presented by Freya leaves him emotionally fractured, caught between the echoes of a life erased and the present demands of survival and allegiance. Freya’s fierce devotion to their parents’ legacy and her unyielding defense of their honor reveal the depth of her grief and the strength of her convictions, even as it drives a wedge between her and Parker.
In this charged moment, the fragile ties that once united them show signs of strain, underscored by Jenny’s bitterness and the simmering tension between all three. Yet beneath the anger and pain lies a shared, unspoken sorrow—a yearning for connection and understanding that remains just out of reach. The chapter captures the raw complexity of family fractured by secrets and silence, setting the stage for the slow, painful journey toward healing and truth.
The next chapter promises to delve deeper into the fractured bonds between Parker, Freya, and Jenny, as the tension between loyalty and resentment reaches a boiling point. Parker’s internal struggle will become even more palpable as he grapples with the fragments of a past he cannot fully recall, while Freya’s fierce devotion to their family legacy threatens to ignite further conflict. The emotional stakes are high, and the fragile alliances may soon be tested in ways none of them anticipated.
Expect the atmosphere to grow heavier with unresolved grief and simmering anger, as old wounds are reopened and new cracks begin to form in their relationships. The delicate balance of power and trust between these characters is on the verge of collapse, and every choice they make could push them closer to a breaking point. As secrets linger just beneath the surface, the next chapter will challenge the characters to confront not only their past but also the uncertain future that awaits them all.
Florence
Florence is a passionate reader who finds joy in long drives on rainy days. She’s also a fan of Italian makeup tutorials, blending beauty and elegance into her everyday life.