Let Them Kneel (kaelani and Julian) novel Chapter 54

Julian’s lips pressed into a thin line, his father’s words landing heavier than he wanted to admit.

His father’s glare hardened. “So what’s changed, Julian? Aside from you sneaking off and fucking around with some whore?”

Julian’s wolf surged, teeth bared in his chest — feral, outraged, snarling at the insult. Not to him, but to her.

To his.

The creature didn’t care about politics or reputations — it knew only that she had been reduced to filth by another man’s mouth.

Julian’s head snapped up, fury flashing across his features. “I have been with no whore,” he bit out, his voice sharp enough to cut through the air.

His father leaned forward, unflinching. “Whore, fling, side piece—it doesn’t matter what you call her. It ends now.”

Julian’s hands clenched into fists against his knees, but his father pressed on.

“You have a duty to uphold,” he said, his tone low but blistering with authority. “You will not tarnish this pack’s reputation because you can’t keep your cock—or your emotions—in check. If word gets out that you’re stepping out on Alpha Garrick’s only daughter, the girl he treats like the Queen of the fucking Nile, he will sever ties with us in an instant. And when he does, others will follow. Our alliances, our stability, everything this pack has built—gone. Do you understand what’s at stake here?”

Julian’s jaw tightened, his teeth grinding together as the words forced their way out. “I understand,” he said through clenched teeth. And he did. That was the problem. He understood too damn well—what was at stake, what was expected of him, and what it would cost to keep pretending he could balance both.

His father’s shoulders eased slightly, his tone lowering but no less firm. “Good. Then what’s it going to be, Julian? Are you finished with this… recklessness?”

Julian didn’t answer right away. His gaze flicked toward his mother. There was something in her eyes—a glint of sorrow, maybe guilt—like she was holding back words she wasn’t allowed to say.

Then his eyes shifted to Jace, who stood silently near the edge of the table. The Beta’s expression said everything without a sound: Don’t look at me. I can’t save you from this one.

Julian’s throat tightened as he turned back to his father. Every fiber of him felt like it was splintering beneath the surface—duty on one side, desire on the other—neither offering mercy.

Finally, he spoke, voice steady but hollow. “I won’t disappoint you again,” he said quietly. “I’ll put the pack first. As a true Alpha should. And I’ll honor my Luna-to-be.”

The words tasted like forgery on his tongue.

His wolf recoiled at them—growling low, ears flat, pacing just beneath the surface like it could feel the lie more than he could.

Luna-to-be? the creature all but spat.

That left only his mother.

Julian felt her gaze before he looked up. When he did, she was already smiling softly at him—the kind of smile that carried warmth and sorrow in equal measure.

She rose from her seat and crossed to him, her hand brushing his arm lightly. “You remind me so much of your father,” she said, her voice tender. “But there’s a part of you he’ll never understand.”

Julian frowned. “And what part is that?”

Her eyes shimmered with something unspoken—something that seemed to reach back through years of silence.

“The part of you that reminds me of myself,” she said quietly. “Especially the part that was too afraid to disappoint my father.”

Before he could respond, she turned and left the room, her fragrance lingering faintly in her wake.

Julian stood there a long moment after she was gone, her words looping in his head like a whisper that refused to fade.