The Truth He Brings (Part 1)

Thea’s POV

A painful curse made me open my eyes. The sight before me jolted me fully awake—a massive silver-gray wolf had its jaws locked onto Kane’s arm; the gun lay on the floor. The bullet had clearly missed its target.

I could barely believe what I was seeing. Sebastian had fully shifted into his wolf form, those cold golden-green eyes blazing with fury and murderous intent. The entire warehouse was saturated with his overwhelming Alpha presence.

In my daze, I remembered the last time I’d seen Sebastian shift to protect someone—that person had been Aurora. Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be that “someone” he was protecting.

“Stay down! Don’t move!” Sebastian snarled, his wolf voice penetrating my foggy brain as he pinned Kane down with his massive paw.

He was the last person I wanted to see right now. Mostly because I felt so fucking ashamed. He’d warned me about Kane, and I hadn’t listened to a damn word.

Kane’s black pupils were dilating—he seemed ready to shift himself too, but Sebastian’s next words stopped him cold.

“You’re surrounded. The best warriors of the Ashworth Pack are outside, and the police are here too.”

Just then, I heard police sirens in the distance. I exhaled deeply, my body finally giving in to exhaustion after being tense for so long.

Kane lowered his arm and slowly knelt down. But his eyes remained locked on mine. I wanted to look away but couldn’t. I needed to see him, to remind myself just how stupid I’d been.

“Thea, look at me.” Sebastian’s voice pulled me away from Kane’s icy stare. Only then did I realize Sebastian had returned to human form and was standing right in front of me.

Looking at him up close, all those emotions I’d been suppressing came rushing back. Thinking about what he’d said to me a month ago, I nearly burst into tears.

He quickly undid the chains binding me. Right now, he was my only anchor—maybe if I focused on him, I wouldn’t be swallowed by the waves of pain crashing over me.

“I’m here. I’ve got you,” he said softly, his voice gentle—completely different from the ferocious Alpha wolf he’d been moments ago.

His arms encircled me as I clenched my jaw to keep the tears at bay. When I looked up, my eyes met Kane’s again. He was being pinned to the ground by Kestrel and others, with police officers handcuffing him. Blood was flowing from his wound, but nobody seemed to care.

I watched them take Kane away, my heart breaking into pieces. I had fallen in love with someone who’d betrayed me so completely, suffered for a future that never existed.

“Are you hurt?” Sebastian asked quietly, gently pulling me away from his embrace.

I felt a bone-deep chill—not just on my skin, but deep in my marrow.

“Thea?”

I just shook my head, unable to say a word. Maybe if I pretended none of this happened, it would all disappear. Maybe I’d wake up and find this was just a nightmare.

My mind was a mess. Sebastian was saying something, but I couldn’t make it out. I saw Roman rushing in, supporting a pale-faced Iris. Damien followed with several Pack members and police officers. But these images were like looking through fog—blurry and leaving no impression on my mind.

I was numb. Or beyond numb, if that’s even possible.

Why would he do this to me? If he’d been planning to kill me all along, why bother getting to know me? None of it made any sense.

The more I thought about it, the more dead inside I felt.

I sensed movement, with Sebastian’s arm around my waist supporting my weight. I was so lost in my own misery that I only realized we were in a car when it hit a bump in the road.

The Truth He Brings (Part 1) – 2

The drive was short. We soon arrived at the police station.

Sheriff Hawthorne greeted us and took us inside to give our statements. I don’t remember what I said or how long I was out of it.

“Thea…” Sebastian gently shook me.

I looked up and found myself in a white room. Not just us–Roman, Damien, Iris, and even Aurora were present.

Iris had a bandage wrapped around her head. I touched my own head and discovered I had one too. I didn’t even remember when it was applied.

“There were paramedics at the warehouse. They checked you and bandaged you up. Apart from minor head abrasions, you don’t have any other external injuries,” Sebastian explained, as if reading my confusion.

“Why is she here?” I asked, pointing at Aurora.

The last thing I needed was for Aurora to see me this vulnerable.

No one answered. They just looked at me with sympathetic eyes. I stared down at the floor, unable to face their gaze. Just as I was about to ask them to leave, the door opened.

Looking up, I saw Kane and Hawthorne enter.

Kane was still handcuffed, his arm bandaged. His eyes were like dead water–completely still, making me wonder if the man I’d fallen in love with had ever existed at all.

“Ms. Sterling, you wanted to know the truth, and here he is. Maybe he can explain why he deceived everyone, including the entire police department,” Hawthorne said wearily.

“He hasn’t said anything?” Roman asked, pulling Iris closer. I noticed she looked particularly weak, her skin deathly pale.

I knew exactly how Iris felt. She’d gotten to know Kane through me, and we’d even gone out together a couple of times, the three of us. The pain of his betrayal hit her almost as hard as it hit me. And it seemed the hunter had injected her with suppressants when kidnapping her, blocking her connection to her wolf and preventing her from shifting to break free. What a terrifying experience for a normal werewolf.

“Not a single word,” Hawthorne shook his head.

I turned to Kane, meeting his cold stare.

“Why? Why did you do this to me, Kane?” I asked, my voice trembling.

He continued to stare at me emotionlessly, sending chills up my spine. I couldn’t understand how the once gentle and caring man could be this cold- blooded stranger. Was he that good an actor, or was there some switch he could flip to turn his emotions on and off?

“I wanted that Pack,” he answered calmly.

I was shocked that he’d actually spoken, but even more shocked by his answer.

“What Pack?” I asked, confused.

I was born into the Sterling Pack as their unwanted wolfless daughter, but I’d rejected them as my family months ago. I didn’t belong to any Pack. And in my professional life, I had neutral organizations like the Dawnhaven Foundation, some investments, but I’d never truly owned any Pack.

“What are you talking about? I don’t have a Pack,” I pressed when he didn’t speak again.

“I want your parents’ Pack. I’ve given so much for it, it should be mine,” his words completely baffled me.

“This makes absolutely no fucking sense,” I said with a bitter laugh. “You know I’ve already rejected the Sterling Pack. My father was even ashamed to acknowledge me as his daughter. If you wanted Pack leadership, you should’ve gone after Roman.”

Roman glared at me, but I didn’t care. Everyone knew my parents hadn’t left me any Pack position or power. I didn’t even have a place in the family like Aurora did. As a wolfless, I’d always been the family’s disgrace.

Kane took a deep breath, then spoke words that completely shattered my world: “I’m not talking about the Sterling Pack. I’m talking about your real parents’ Pack.”

The Truth He Brings (Part 2)

Thea’s POV

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman roared, jumping to his feet. “Don’t listen to this bullshit, Thea. He’s obviously lying.”

I remained silent, staring at Kane. His black eyes held mine steady, unflinching.

“I’m not lying,” Kane snarled through gritted teeth. “Tell me, Thea, haven’t you always felt deep down that you didn’t belong to the Sterling Pack? That they weren’t supposed to be your family?”

I wanted to deny it, to throw his words back in his face, but I couldn’t. How many nights had I lain awake wondering if I truly was a Sterling? Why I never fit in?

Werewolves get their wolves at fourteen during their first shift. After discovering I was wolfless, my position in the family plummeted, and I was never treated well again. But the truth was, even before that–even when I was just five or six years old and barely forming memories–my parents and grandparents treated me differently than Roman and Aurora. I was always the afterthought, less important than the other two in their eyes. My needs and happiness always came last.

My grandparents would visit and bring gifts for Roman and Aurora. I usually got nothing. No hugs, no kisses. All I received from them was indifference and coldness. I never understood why they were like that. It made me question if I was truly one of them.

“You’re silent because you know the truth,” Kane said softly, his voice cutting through my thoughts. “You know you never belonged with the Sterling Pack. That’s why you’ve always felt so alone and disconnected.”

I looked away, not wanting them to see into the depths of my deepest insecurities, my greatest source of self-doubt.

“So you really don’t think of us as your family?” Roman asked in a small voice, hurt seeming to tinge his words.

“Does that surprise you?” I shot back, finally finding my voice. “I was never treated like part of the family. I was always the one left out, the one watching you all be happy together while I stood in the cold.”

“Stop feeling sorry for yourself!” Aurora interrupted with a sneer.

“Why the hell is she here?” Kane and I asked at the same time.

I glanced at him, then quickly looked away, hating that we still had anything in common.

“She is your sister after all, Ms. Sterling,” Sheriff Hawthorne said with a tired sigh.

“No one in this room is my family except Iris,” I said firmly, my voice steady despite the storm inside me. “So I want them all to leave, especially Aurora.”

I felt Sebastian tense beside me, but I didn’t care about his reaction. I was speaking the truth. Family is people who care about you, and no one in this room except Iris had ever cared about me.

“Can we get back to the point?” Damien asked, his eyes watchfully scanning everyone in the room.

Kane shrugged, the handcuffs rattling slightly. “Then let me start with a story about Seraphina.”

The room fell quiet. I leaned forward despite myself.

“Seraphina came from an ordinary werewolf family. Her father was a farmer in a traditional Pack. She was taught to be loyal to the Pack, to obey her parents’ wishes, and she did–until she met a young, handsome wolf named Maximus.”

Everyone in the room was drawn in, hanging on his words.

“They met when they were eleven. Though she tried to stay away from him, she couldn’t fight the pull she felt. They were friends first, then started dating secretly when they were thirteen. Seraphina knew this went against her Pack’s and her parents’ beliefs, that she would be exiled if discovered, but she loved Maximus and couldn’t let go.”

“She thought she could keep the secret until they were adults. By then, she would leave and join another Pack, giving her the freedom to be with Maximus like she wanted. It should have been simple, and everything was going well until the accident happened.”

Kane took a deep breath, his eyes flickering with what almost looked like pain. “Seraphina got pregnant at fourteen, and on the same day, she received her wolf and discovered that

Maximus wasn’t her fated mate. But Maximus was willing to take responsibility because he loved her, but her parents found out the truth. Her father was furious and demanded she give up the child. Seraphina refused, so she was thrown out of the Pack.”

The more he spoke, the heavier my heart became. I didn’t know why, but I felt that what he was telling us would change everything. I wasn’t sure I was ready for more changes.

“Maximus’s parents were very kind, actually the strongest Pack in their state. After learning what happened, though disappointed in their son, they took Seraphina in.”

“Despite their youth, they decided to keep the baby. Seraphina’s pregnancy progressed well. However, when her parents discovered that Maximus was the Alpha heir from a powerful Pack, they suddenly changed their tune, wanting to profit from the situation.”

It was disgusting. What kind of parents would exploit their own daughter just because they discovered the boy who got her pregnant was an Alpha heir?

“Months later, Seraphina’s parents showed their true colors. They demanded to raise the child, hoping to gain benefits from Maximus’s Pack. Of course, Seraphina, Maximus, and his family refused. To make them back off, Maximus’s parents promised protection for them.”

I watched Kane tell the story, his eyes devoid of emotion, as if he was simply stating facts that had nothing to do with him.

“Seraphina unexpectedly went into labor a month early. Maximus couldn’t make it to the medical center, and his parents were handling Pack business. It was a lonely and difficult birth. When she finally delivered, there was no cry. She knew something was wrong. But due to exhaustion and blood loss, she quickly lost consciousness.”

“When she woke up, she heard the most painful news–her pup hadn’t survived, was stillborn. Can you imagine their pain? Losing a long-awaited pup is the cruelest thing in the world.”

Fear washed over me like a tidal wave. My hand unconsciously rubbed my chest, that familiar dull ache suddenly becoming more intense.

“Why are you telling us this?” I asked, my voice trembling.

His eyes met mine, cold and direct. “I’m telling you this because Seraphina and Maximus are my parents.” He paused, but his next words made me collapse to the floor. “More importantly, they are also your parents. You are that child Seraphina got pregnant with at fourteen. You are the pup who supposedly died during childbirth.”