Sins of the Fathers

Chapter 8: Sins of the Fathers

Liora

The ride back to the castle felt like a funeral march. I sat in the corner of the carriage, clutching my mother's necklace so tightly that the chain cut into my palm. The triplets sat across from me, their faces carved from stone, but through the mate bond I could feel everything they were trying to hide.

Guilt. Shame. Fear.

And underneath it all, something that felt like panic.

Nobody spoke. What was there to say? They had murdered my parents. I was mated to my family's killers. The silence stretched between us like a living thing, thick and poisonous.

When we finally reached the castle, I didn't wait for them to help me down. I jumped from the carriage and walked straight inside, my bare feet slapping against the cold stone floors. I could hear them following me, their heavy footsteps echoing in the corridors.

I made it to the main hall before I couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop following me," I said, spinning around to face them. My voice cracked, but I didn't care. "Just stop."

"Liora," Rowan started, reaching toward me.

"Don't." I stepped back, holding up my hand. "Don't touch me. Don't come near me."

Through the mate bond, I felt his pain at my rejection. It hit me like a physical blow, making me gasp. But I pushed it aside. I didn't want to feel sorry for him. Not now.

"We need to talk about this," Damon said quietly.

"Talk?" I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "What's there to talk about? You killed them. You killed my parents."

"It wasn't personal," Riven said, his voice rough.

"Not personal?" My voice rose to a shout. "They were my parents! How is that not personal?"

Rowan stepped forward, his golden eyes intense. "Your father was challenging our authority. He was trying to claim territory that belonged to us."

"So you killed him for it?"

"He wouldn't back down," Damon added, his scarred face grim. "He kept pushing, kept testing our borders. We gave him chances to submit."

"And my mother?" I whispered. "What was her crime?"

The silence that followed told me everything I needed to know.

"She was there," Rowan said finally. "She tried to protect him."

I stared at them, these three men who had claimed me as their mate. Who had marked me and bound me to them. Who had killed the two people I loved most in the world.

"You said you didn't know about me," I said, my voice barely audible.

"We didn't," Riven said quickly. "If we had known they had a child..."

"What? You would have killed me too?"

"No!" The word exploded from all three of them at once, their emotions crashing through the mate bond so hard I staggered.

"We would never hurt a child," Rowan said, his voice shaking. "Never."

"But you'd make that child an orphan," I shot back. "You'd take away everything she had and then claim her as your mate years later."

"We didn't know," Damon repeated, but his voice sounded hollow.

"Kael said you kept trophies," I said, holding up the necklace. "Is that what this is? A trophy from your victory?"

Rowan's face went even paler. "We don't keep trophies."

"Then how did he get this?" I shook the necklace at them, the bloodstains catching the light. "How did Kael get my mother's necklace if you didn't take it?"

The triplets exchanged looks, and I felt confusion ripple through the mate bond.

"I don't know," Rowan admitted. "We left them where they fell. We didn't take anything."

"Someone did," I said. "Someone took this from my mother's body."

Through the bond, I felt a chill of realization from all three of them. Something was wrong with their story. Something they hadn't expected.

But I didn't care about their confusion. I only cared about the truth.

"Tell me what happened," I demanded. "Tell me exactly what happened that night."

Rowan ran his hands through his dark hair. "Your father, Marcus Thorne, had been pushing at our borders for weeks. Taking prey from our lands, marking trees in our territory. We warned him to stop."

"Marcus Thorne," I repeated. The name felt strange on my tongue. I barely remembered my father's name.

"He was a strong Alpha," Damon continued. "Proud. Too proud to submit to us."

"So we went to his home to end it," Riven finished. "We found him and your mother, Elena, in their cabin at the edge of the forest."

Elena. My mother's name was Elena. I'd forgotten that too.

"They fought?" I asked.

"Your father did," Rowan said. "Your mother... She begged us to spare him. Offered to submit, to give us anything we wanted. But Marcus wouldn't stop fighting."

I could picture it in my mind. My proud father, refusing to back down even when facing three Alphas. My gentle mother, trying to save him.

"How did they die?" The words felt like broken glass coming out of my throat.

"Quickly," Damon said softly. "We made it quick."

Rage flared in my chest, hot and bright. "Quick? That's supposed to make it better?"

"Liora, please," Rowan stepped toward me again. "It was a different time. We were younger, more violent. If we could take it back..."

"But you can't," I cut him off. "They're dead. They've been dead for twenty years, and I grew up thinking they died in a rogue attack. I grew up with people who hated me, who called me cursed, who made me sleep in stables and eat scraps."

Through the mate bond, I felt their horror at my words. But it only made me angrier.

"While I was being beaten and starved and told I was worthless, you three were living in your castle, ruling your territory, never thinking about the child you'd orphaned."

"We didn't know," Riven said again, but his voice was breaking.

"It doesn't matter!" I screamed. "It doesn't matter that you didn't know! They're still dead!"

Something was happening inside me. The rage was building, growing stronger with each word. My chest felt tight, but not with the usual pain. This was different. This was power.

"I hate you," I whispered, and through the mate bond, I felt my words hit them like physical blows. "I hate all of you."

That's when I heard it. A voice that wasn't mine, rising from somewhere deep inside my soul.

KILL THEM.

I gasped, stumbling backward. The voice was wild, savage, filled with a hunger for violence that took my breath away.

THEY MURDERED OUR PARENTS. MAKE THEM PAY.

"My wolf," I breathed, pressing my hand to my chest. "I can hear my wolf."

The triplets went very still, their eyes fixed on me.

RIP OUT THEIR THROATS. TASTE THEIR BLOOD. MAKE THEM SUFFER AS WE HAVE SUFFERED.

The voice was getting louder, stronger. My body started to shake, but not from fear. From power. From rage. From twenty years of suppressed wildness finally breaking free.

"What is she saying?" Rowan asked quietly.

I looked up at him, and I knew my eyes had changed. I could feel them burning, and I could see the reflection of gold light on his face.

Liora's eyes flash gold as she whispers, "My wolf wants your blood," just as her body begins to convulse with the beginnings of her first shift..