Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 194

Chapter 194

Her gaze flicked back to him.

“Couldn’t use all that money of yours to get something a little more… upscale?”

Garrick let out a faint breath, his attention following hers as he looked around the cell.

“My family cut me off,” he said. “Completely.”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“They’re my only tie to any of it–my resources, my name. And I haven’t received so much as a letter… or an answer to any of my calls.”

A bitter laugh slipped out of him, low and humorless.

“You’re the only one who’s come to see me.”

His eyes lifted back to hers, something almost ironic flickering there.

“Funny, isn’t it?”

He looked up at her with a small smile.

“The one person who has every right to shut me out… and here you are.

Kaelani didn’t soften.

“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Well, your children are a bunch of assholes.‘

A slight tilt of her head.

“I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”

Garrick didn’t meet her eyes.

“I guess it didn’t…” he mumbled.

A pause followed, like the words didn’t come easily.

“You, though…” he added, his voice snagging in his throat. “You turned out… you turned out wonderful.”

He finally looked at her.

“Despite everything.”

The words caught her off guard.

Kaelani swallowed, something tightening in her chest before she could stop it. It wasn’t a feeling she wanted. Didn’t understand. Didn’t trust.

And she refused to let it take root.

Her expression hardened slightly as she drew in a steady breath.

“I’ve got some things to settle with the Council,” she said. “I might put in a word about your release.”

Garrick’s head lifted, his attention snapping fully back to her.

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“That’s… very kind of you,” he said. “More than I deserve.”

A faint shake of his head.

“I don’t deserve any kindness from you.”

“No,” she agreed. “You don’t. But we’ll call it even.”

Her gaze held his.

“For not throwing me out of the pack with nothing to live off of.”

Garrick didn’t look away this time and that was the first time she saw it clearly.

The weight in his eyes. The regret. The things he could never take back.

It sat there, unhidden.

She didn’t let herself fixate on it.

Kaelani pushed off the wall, adjusting her jacket

else from settling where it didn’t belong.

“Goodbye, Garrick.”

to occupy her hands, something to keep everything

The air shifted faintly around her, violet just beginning to gather-

“Kaelani–wait.” Urgency cut through his voice.

She stilled, her gaze settling on his as she waited.

Garrick didn’t hold her gaze for long. His eyes dropped to his hands, fingers curling slightly against his palms like

he needed something to ground himself.

“When you were brought to me…” he began, the words slow, measured, “I didn’t want to believe you were mine.”

A faint breath left him.

“My wolf knew better.”

He shook his head slightly, almost at himself.

“There was something in him… something instinctive. A need to protect you. To nurture you.

His shoulders sank a fraction, barely noticeable.

“But I was too stubborn. Too selfish to let that truth disrupt the life I’d already built.”

He kept his focus down.

“Still… my wolf never let it go. Neither did my conscience.”

His fingers curled loosely against his knee.

})

“I started going to the orphanage. Early mornings, ordering anyone who noticed to keep quiet about it.“.

His voice softened, almost without him meaning it to.

“I’d hold you. Feed you. Change you.”

Chapter 194

A small pause.

“You were a beautiful baby.”

Kaelani looked away, her teeth clenching as something unfamiliar stirred beneath the anger. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

Garrick didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he continued.

“As you got a little older, I started coming in the afternoons,” he said. “During playtime.”

His gaze lifted slightly, though not quite to her.

“I’d watch you out on the playground. You were always laughing back then. Smiling.”

A faint, almost distant expression crossed his face.

“You looked… happy.”

It faded.

“Until you didn’t.”

His voice lowered.

“Somewhere around your early teens, something changed. That light in you… it just wasn’t there anymore.”

His eyes hardened slightly–not with anger, but with recognition.

“I saw how the others treated you. Like you were… less than. Especially when your wolf didn’t emerge.

He took a second longer than he needed to.

“It got worse.

Kaelani didn’t turn back.

“}

“I moved you to the packhouse,” he went on. “Put you with the kitchen staff. Older women. I thought… they’d look after you. Treat you better.”

A pause stretched between them.

“But that emptiness…” he added quietly, “it never your eyes.

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His gaze finally lifted to her.

“And I knew…‘

Another

pause.

“I was the reason for it.”

Kaelani closed her eyes, willing away the sting rising behind them before it could take hold,