Chapter 133
FAYE
I didn’t know what startled me more–the weight of Helen’s words or the sound of the door opening at that exact moment.
“You are the only one who can give him that advantage, Faye p>
My heart thudded hard against my ribs, and before I could even piece together what exactly she meant, the door clicked, swung open, and Alexander stepped inside.
He looked worn, sweat darkening the collar of his shirt from the long meeting, his sleeves rolled halfway, his hair damp at the edges. He was the picture of someone carrying the weight of a whole kingdom on his shoulders. But the moment his eyes fell on us…and more specifically on his mother…the exhaustion burned off, replaced by tension.
He had caught enough of Helen’s words. I knew it the moment his gaze narrowed, hard, pinning both of us in place.
“What is going on here?” He wasn’t surprised to see his mother. He must have been told she was around already.
His voice was rough with annoyance, though not directed entirely at me. He stood at the threshold like a storm ready to break, his chest rising and falling as if the very air in the room
offended him.
Helen didn’t flinch. She didn’t even look guilty. Her calm expression, so steady, so deliberate, only added gasoline to his fire.
“Alexander… ” she began, her tone carefully measured.
But he cut her off, his voice louder this time. “Don’t play games with me, Mother. What did you just say to her p>
I wanted to shrink into the chair, to vanish, but it was impossible with both of them standing at opposite ends, their voices and history pressing in on me like invisible walls. My throat tightened as I opened my mouth, thinking maybe I could soften the blow, explain that I had no idea what this conversation was really about. Or that Helen meant no harm. But before the words could leave my lips, Alexander’s sharp gaze snapped to me.
“Faye, don’t.” His voice wasn’t harsh in the way it was toward his mother, but it was clipped, final, like he couldn’t bear to hear me try. “Don’t defend this…not right now p>
I closed my mouth, feeling my cheeks heat, my palms prickling against the fabric of my
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dress.
Claim
Helen, however, didn’t back down. She rose from her seat, standing straighter than I’d ever seen her, the proud matriarch who had weathered storms long before either of us.
“You left my house yesterday with answers you demanded, Alexander, but no response to the questions you knew I had. I knew then that you wouldn’t truly hear me. And now I’m here- ” She gestured toward me without breaking her gaze from him. “Now I need you to hear this p>
Alexander’s jaw flexed as he took a step closer, and the quiet, lethal control in his voice made me hold my breath. “You had no right dragging her into this p>
“She’s already in this,” Helen shot back, her tone firmer now. “You may not want to admit it, but Faye is the only one standing at your side in all this chaos. She deserves to know what’s at stake, and she deserves the chance to decide for herself what role she plays in it p>
Role. The word clung to my skin like ice. Of course I wanted to have children someday, but not like this. Not as some kind of strategy…
Alexander’s gaze flicked to me again, softer this time but no less heavy, and then back to his mother. “You don’t get to choose for her. You don’t get to choose for me p>
Helen’s sigh was weary, but she pressed on, her voice steady. “This isn’t about choice anymore, Alexander. It’s about survival…yours, your pack’s, and the family name. With Marcus in the picture, everything your father built, everything the Blackwell legacy stands for… ” She shook her head, eyes sharp. “It will all be dragged into dispute. Do you think he won’t challenge you, or that those hungry for weakness won’t rally behind him? You need to solidify your claim, and the only way to do that is through a rightful heir of your own p>
Alexander’s hand balled into a fist at his side. His laugh was dry. “So this is what it comes down to?” His eyes burned into his mother. “You talk about Faye like she’s a chess piece you can move on your board. You think dangling the word ‘heir‘ will make me fall in line? That I’ll forget everything you’ve kept from me, everything you hid, because now you’re suddenly desperate to preserve the family’s name p>
Helen’s lips trembled faintly, but she held firm. “I never hid Rebecca’s child out of malice. I wanted to protect you. Everything I’ve ever done, Alexander, was to protect you and your sister p>
The air between them thickened with unspoken pain. I wanted to tell them both to stop, to breathe, but I knew neither would listen.
Helen tried again, her voice urgent now. “Alexander p>
“No.” He shook his head, his jaw set. “You’ve crossed a line, Mother. You should never have
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brought this to Faye p>
Claim
Someone knocked at the door, and I hurriedly went to answer it. Whoever it was…. I didn’t care. I just needed someone to cut this confrontation short.
It was Cole. “Alpha Alexander, your attention is needed,” he said, after greeting.
Thank Goodness… I’d never been so happy to see Alexander leave a room.
Before Helen could say anything else, he turned and walked toward the door. The door slammed behind him, leaving the echo rattling in my chest.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Helen sat back down slowly, her shoulders sagging as though the strength had been drained from her. For the first time, I saw not the commanding matriarch, but a mother who had spent her whole life trying and failing to keep her son safe. She exhaled shakily and looked at
“You see now why I came to you, Faye. He won’t hear it from me. He never has p>
I stared at the closed door, Alexander’s absence heavy in the air, my heart torn in two directions…toward the man I’ve become attached to, and toward the truth his mother had
laid bare.
I just stared at her.
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