Chapter 85
Grayson’s POV
“I think it’s time for you to go home.”
The words sliced through the silence, dragging my attention from the glowing laptop. I snapped my gaze upward, annoyance flaring before I even knew who was speaking. Liam stood in the doorway, watching me with a look that said he wasn't leaving until I acknowledged him.
I tried to ignore him, but his next words made that impossible. “It’s been five days.”
I raised an eyebrow, keeping my voice controlled but not quite masking the irritation. “And how would you know that?”
“Elaine told me,” he said casually, as though his point were already clear. “And, well, given the recent circumstances… I’m sure your rotten attitude has something to do with Ava. I didn’t want to say anything, but it’s starting to affect my work. Everyone’s on edge because of you. They’re trying their best, but everything’s falling apart. Eliza was crying when I came up here.”
My jaw tightened. I resisted the urge to snap back with something bitter. Instead, I let my gaze darken, my tone low and hard. “She’s lucky she’s not fired. No one can do anything right.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe you’re the problem?” Liam’s voice was unwavering, despite the sharpness in mine.
The ice in my stare froze him, but he wasn’t done. “I mean, you’re clearly upset about something that happened with Ava, and now everyone else is suffering for it. Why don’t you go home, figure this out, and give us all some breathing room? It’s bad enough that you’re angry on a normal day, but now that it’s related to her, it’s just another level. Go home, fix it, and tone down the broodiness.”
I opened my mouth to tell him to watch his tone, but he cut me off, waving his hand dismissively. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I should watch my tone because you’re all-powerful and scary.” He didn’t wait for a response, turning on his heel and leaving without another word, leaving me with only the silence of my office.
“I killed them.”
The words echoed in my mind as if I were still standing in that room. It was bad enough that this sentence haunted me—the memory of driving a silver blade through my father’s chest, of staring at my mother’s blank eye, knowing I was responsible.
I don’t know why I said it. Maybe I needed her to understand the darkness I carried, the horrors of what I was capable of. Maybe I wanted her to know just how deep the monster inside me ran, to see if she would stay despite it—or because I didn’t want to hide that part of myself anymore.
It wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thought; the words had formed before I even consciously thought them, and her shock mirrored everything I needed to know about how she saw me now.
That’s why I’d been avoiding her. As much as Liam irritated me, he was right. My anger was a fire that would consume everything around me until I did something reckless. I didn’t want to burn her, too.
But as I walked through the door of my mansion, my first instinct was to find her. The need to seek her out was stronger than the urge to retreat. She was in the kitchen, I was told, and I found myself moving toward it before I could stop myself.
My feet carried me faster than I intended, driven by something I couldn’t name—something that pulled me to her despite the chaos inside me. But what I found there was a conversation I hadn’t expected, one that instantly set my blood boiling. It was disrespectful—especially from my pack. If there was one thing I would never tolerate…
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Chapter 85
I stood in the doorway, staring at the old man who was so clearly afraid of me that he looked seconds from soiling himself.
And then, I heard her voice—soft and questioning, cutting through the tension. “Who is a great king that everyone likes?”
I narrowed my eyes, already knowing what she was doing. It was a distraction—a deliberate attempt to steer me away from what was happening. But before I could react, she grabbed my hand, pulling me away from the confrontation.
I didn’t resist as she led me away, though I could feel the heat of my gaze still burning into the old man’s back. I shot him one last glare, the message clear: This isn’t over.
Then, Ava turned to me, her face surprisingly calm, free of the disgust I had expected. Instead, she was smiling softly as if nothing had happened. “I didn’t know you were coming back today.”
I couldn’t stop myself from pausing, momentarily disarmed by her smile. But the weight of the conversation I had just interrupted quickly hit me again. I wasn’t in the mood to be distracted.
“What were you doing in the kitchen?” I demanded, my voice more forceful than I intended.
Her smile didn’t falter. “I wanted to meet the Omegas. It was going well. They even invited me to their feast later.”
My fury flared instantly. “What feast?”
The fact that she wasn’t fazed only irritated me further. “The one you and I will be attending this evening. It’s so you can meet your pack members. They need to see that you’re a human being.”
A laugh of disbelief almost escaped me. “There will be no feast.” My voice was low and dangerous, the anger inside me rising. “I didn’t sign off on anything. If I find out who is responsible for this nonsense, I—”
She interrupted, her smile fading into a sharp look of irritation. “You’ll what? Threaten someone? Kill them? Just like you were ready to kill that old man back there if I hadn’t stepped in?” She crossed her arms, glaring at me with a mixture of disbelief and frustration. “You didn’t even know what he was going to say, but you were already thinking of ways to murder him.”
Her words were like a slap in the face. I tried to speak, but she cut me off, her tone unwavering. “Things were going well until you showed up and ruined it with your bad attitude.”
I blinked, stunned. “My bad attitude!”
“Yes, Grayson,” she said, her eyes hard as she met mine, unflinching. “You have a terrible attitude. Let’s start with the fact that you’ve been disappearing for five days, without a word. Don’t even tell me you texted me.” She pulled out her phone and started scrolling. “Tuesday: ‘I won’t be coming back.’ Full stop. Wednesday: ‘Dealing with killing issues. Won’t be returning.’ Full stop. Thursday…”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she held up her hand, silencing me. “Let me finish. I get it. I pushed too far with asking about your past. But you need to understand something. You can’t keep acting like this. Elaine punishes Omegas for staring at her, but you’re too busy hiding on your high horse to notice that. You refuse to even acknowledge the people who work hard to keep you up there.”
She was relentless, and for the first time in a long while, I felt exposed. “The people in this pack—the Alphas in this realm—they make you king. And they’re people with feelings. You act like you find reasons to be angry when there’s no reason to be. You’re like a storm waiting to break, and everyone else has to suffer because of it.”
I tried to speak, but she wasn’t done. “I’m not finished. I will make things right with the pack. I’m going to show them what it means to be a leader—one who earns respect, not through fear, but through understanding. There will be a feast, and I’ll make sure it happens. You can choose to be there and show them that you’re human, or you can stay stuck in your attitude. But either way, that’s your business.”
She paused, looking at me with a finality that left no room for argument. “And you tell Elaine to stop punishing Omegas, or…”
(Time stamp removed as irrelevant to the text)
Chapter 85
I will.”
With that, she turned on her heel, walking away, and then shouted back in Italian, “Tu sei assolutamente impossibile!” (You are absolutely impossible!)
And just like that, she was gone. Leaving me standing in the hallway, speechless, unsure of what to say—or what to do next.
I let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through my hair as I tried to shake off the suffocating tension that had built up inside me, still trying to digest all her words. So, I decided to go with the original plan and headed for the exclusive open-air bath held on my estate, where I usually let loose.
The familiar breeze hit me as I began to undress, the cool air against my skin comforting in its own way. But as I started to stretch, something felt… off. It was a subtle shift, like a whisper I couldn’t quite place, an absence I hadn’t noticed until now. My instincts kicked in, and I reached out.
Nothing.
I paused, trying to ignore the strange tug in my chest, brushing it off as nothing. I reached again, this time with more urgency, more focus. Still, nothing. The emptiness stretched further, the absence of that connection—his presence—becoming clearer, more distinct.
My breath hitched, my body going rigid as the full weight of the situation hit me. I reached out again, my heart hammering in my chest.
Silence.
No growl, no sharp, instinctual pull. Just an overwhelming void.
And then it hit me. A cold, paralyzing realization that crashed through me like a wave. I couldn’t feel him. I couldn’t sense him.
It was like my wolf… was gone.