Words Beyond the Grave – 1

Thea’s POV

That blood-stained paper sat on my table like a fucking time bomb. I stared at it, unsure what to do. I’d been home for an hour and still couldn’t decide whether to read it. The damn thing had been burning a hole in my bag the entire ride home, and now that I’d finally taken it out, I was paralyzed with indecision. How fucking ironic—I was afraid of a piece of paper.

Part of me wanted to know what Derek Sterling had written. Another part couldn’t give less of a shit. This man had never shown me a kind face since I had memories, so what good could his last words possibly contain?

I grabbed the paper, ready to tear it to shreds, when that strange voice in my head spoke up again.

“Read it. How bad could it be?”

I almost laughed out loud. How bad could it be? That was the stupidest comfort I’d ever heard.

How bad? The worst-case scenario was that he’d taken his final chance to stick one more knife in me before dying. Wounds from words healed slower than those from wolf claws. The things the Sterling family had said to me were carved into my soul, never fully healing.

But my hand had already betrayed my thoughts. I picked up the paper and unfolded it.

[Dear Thea,

If you’re reading these words, it means I didn’t survive the operating table. To be honest, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. The doctors are fighting a losing battle, and I can feel my life force draining away, the Goddess calling my soul. Maybe it’s just the delusion of a dying man, but I believe the Goddess will banish me to the darkest place for what I’ve done to you.

You were such a bright pup when you first came to us, and we extinguished that light in your eyes. We Sterlings destroyed your spirit, and that’s the greatest sin of my life.

I remember when Elaine first adopted you, how I enjoyed watching you play with Roman and Aurora in your baby blankets. You were so adorable, and those evening hours spent with all three pups became the part of my day I looked forward to most.]

I stopped reading, completely confused. If he had once enjoyed being around me, what the hell happened? Why did my entire childhood memory consist of him looking at me with a coldness I couldn’t understand?

With trembling fingers, I continued reading.

[I don’t know where I went wrong. I don’t know why I became the monster in your heart. But when Elaine asked us to adopt you and we finally did it to repay her, something deep inside me changed. All of us changed. When you were just Elaine’s daughter, we could enjoy your company without burden, because the responsibility of raising you wasn’t ours. But when you suddenly became our obligation, that carefree joy transformed into something complicated and heavy, a duty we had to bear.

I’m not making excuses for myself. There’s no justification for how we treated you. It was disgusting.

I know that what’s happening now is my punishment. As the Alpha of Sterling, I should have protected all members of the Pack, especially you, the smallest one who became part of our family, but instead, I hurt you deeply. I think this is the price I’m paying for it.

Before I join the Moon Goddess, I want to tell you how much I regret it. I’m sorry for being a stupid bastard. I’m sorry for being the worst father. I’m sorry for destroying all your beautiful expectations of family.

I won’t ask for your forgiveness because I don’t deserve it. My only request is that you give your mother a chance and stay by her side. She’s not naturally cold-hearted, and once she realizes what she’s done to you, she’ll be devastated.

Believe it or not, I love you, Thea. I may never have shown it, but I truly do.

Goodbye, my sweet daughter.]

My fingers went numb as I shoved the letter back into my bag, a surge of anger rising from my chest.