Chapter 526

Cass nodded and rolled away. “That’s what I thought.”

Greyson looked at me; the pain was evident. He slid down and pulled her close. He whimpered, snuggling her, but she remained distant. “You have to get cleaned up, baby,” he whispered, but she shook her head.

“As soon as I shower, he will be gone, his scent will be gone, and I can’t face that yet.” I furrowed my brow. Greyson noticed, shook his head, and mouthed, “Later.” I nodded, attempting to comfort her. I patted her back, but she remained rigid.

“Please, leave,” she said, her voice strained. Turning, she met Greyson’s gaze. “Can you please leave me alone? I just need space.” Tears welled in her eyes; she seemed panicked.

I sensed his fear before anyone else. “We will leave if you allow me to do one thing?” I leaned closer to meet her gaze.

“What?”

“Let me command you…” My voice softened; she shuddered as I trailed off.

“Why?” Her eyes narrowed; I heard her teeth grind.

“Your mate is worried, and so am I.” I breathed. “When my pup died, I was happy because I knew I was going to follow him into the abyss. I wanted to.” A tear traced a path down her cheek as she closed her eyes.

“Don’t ask me to do that, baby,” Greyson murmured. “Don’t ask me to bury our pup and you. I wouldn’t be able to bear it.” He leaned down, his face close to hers. “I’ll leave. If you let an alpha command you not to hurt yourself.”

She shuddered. “Just that?” He nodded. “Fine. But not Amy. Alpha Gavin can do it.”

I felt a pang of hurt, but I nodded and rose as my dad approached. “Cassie, I command you to not harm yourself while you are alone.” The command took effect, and he stepped back.

“Now leave me alone,” she said, tears threatening to overwhelm her as she curled into a fetal position. “It’s okay, baby. Momma loved you so much.” My father nodded toward the door; everyone, even the doctor, filed out.

“Why did you come out?” I asked as he closed the door.

Her wounds were healing—slowly, but enough that I felt the space she requested. He hailed an Omega. “Can you bring me a chair, please?”

“Of course, doctor.” The Omega hurried off, and the doctor turned back to us.

“I’ll sit out here, in case anything happens, but with her healing and the command, I think we will be fine.” L nodded, and my dad turned to me.

“What happened?” He sounded exhausted. I was still angry, but we had more pressing concerns.

Rowan and I recounted everything we saw and heard. Rowan hesitated when describing finding Cass in the clearing. “It looked almost staged,” he said. I looked at him, confused.

“What?”

“What do you mean?” Ronnie pushed himself up from the railing.

“The attack, the clearing—it looked almost staged. It was weird. I’m probably overthinking it, but I don’t know.”

My dad observed him. “Explain what you mean. Don’t worry about how it sounds. Just tell us what you remember.”

Rowan nodded. “When I was a kid, my dad had young Alphas and Betas stage attacks in the capitol.” He glanced at Ronnie and my father. “You know the kind.” They nodded. “It was like that. We entered the clearing; there was debris everywhere, trees down, blood splatter, but it felt…off. Like someone planned it.” He paced. “The other wolf was face down, too bloody to recognize—like Cass wanted to disfigure her.”

Greyson growled. “Are you accusing my mate of something?”

Rowan raised his hands. “Not at all. I don’t think she was involved.”

Greyson visibly relaxed. “What do you mean?”

“Like someone came in after she was out cold and staged it?” I suggested.

He nodded. “Yeah…like that.”

My dad frowned. “But why would they do that?”

Ronnie paced. “I feel like we’re missing something…”

My dad looked between me and Rowan. “Did you check the other body?”

Rowan nodded. “No heartbeat.”

“Are you sure?” My dad raised an eyebrow. “Because magic is very useful in concealing things.”