Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 204

204 Treason in the Blood

Lucian

My father sat on the bench like someone had pulled the ground out from beneath him. He didn’t speak. Didn’t blink. Just stared, hollow and still. I signaled one of the nearby nurses, fearing he might collapse. His silence was louder than any outburst. The truth had hit him like a freight train.

This secret… it was massive. Crushing. And she’d carried it alone for decades.

I turned to Lacy and looked at her-really looked. Same eyes. Same cheekbones. Same quiet defiance that Martha always wore like armor. How hadn’t we seen it? They were inseparable. Always protecting each other. It was right there in front of us. We were just too wrapped up in our own drama to see the obvious.

“Do you know where he is?” I asked, my voice rough.

Lacy shook her head. “She tried. She sold her jewelry-everything she had-and hired a private investigator

to find him.

He died the same day he took the job. After that, she gave up and started sending him the money directly. She said it was the only way to keep him away from us. She left behind two envelopes-one for me and one for Darian. Each with a check. She told me Alaric wouldn’t stop until she was dead. That ending her life was the only way to protect us.”

She swallowed hard, her voice barely holding together.

“I didn’t think she’d go through with it. When she didn’t do it the night of the handover, I thought she’d changed her mind. I thought… maybe she found a reason to keep living. Maybe being here helped.”

My father finally spoke, his voice cracked and low. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

Lacy turned her eyes on him, and for the first time, they weren’t angry-just tired. “Because you shut her out. Just like twenty-three years ago. We were on our own again. I had to wait for her to tell me what to

1. I had no choice.”

I stepped closer. “Does he ever contact you?”

She shook her head again. “I’ve never met him. My mother said he tried to force her to get rid of me, but she refused. He never wanted me. Never even called. I don’t know his voice. I don’t know what he looks

like.”

Then she broke. Her face twisted, and the sobs poured out. “She’s all I have. And now…

Mara moved to her, wrapping her in her arms. Tiffany followed. None of us could fully comprehend the

weight this girl had carried.

How did Martha endure this alone?

I wanted to think about it, to try and process the layers-but I didn’t have the luxury. My brother and niece

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204 Treason in the Blood

were exposed now. We all were.

“This can’t get out,” I said, my voice firm, final.

Everyone turned to me.

“No one can know Martha was married to Alaric,” I continued. “Not for the public. Not for the pack. Not for my father’s sake-and not for Darian’s. If the truth spreads, it’ll destroy them both.”

Darian looked at me then-eyes wide, caught off guard. Maybe he didn’t expect me to shield him like that. Maybe part of him had believed I’d choose legacy over family.

But I wouldn’t. Not again.

“We can’t let them label you a bastard,” I said, turning to Darian. “Because you’re not. You’re a Nighthorn- through and through.”

His eyes snapped to mine, still wide with shock, but there was something else now too. Focus. Fire. The kind of clarity that always came to him when the situation demanded it.

“I need you to snap out of this and do what you do best,” I said. “Get your people on these numbers. He’s used too many. He got careless. He believed Martha would never speak. That she’d die with her secrets. That kind of arrogance always leaves a trail. Find it.”

Darian stood a little straighter. His mind was already working behind his eyes.

“Alaric Moongrove is now top priority,” I added. “He threatened a Luna. A Nighthorn. That’s treason.”

And in that moment, I saw it-the silent thank-you in Darian’s eyes. I didn’t care about the marriage, the scandal, the twisted lineage-not now. That could wait. First, we had to find the bastard who pushed our family to the brink.

The medical staff arrived just as we finished. They helped my father into a room. He was too young for heart trouble, but this wasn’t about age. This was shock-the kind that cracked you open from the inside. He’d been mated and married to a married woman for twenty-three years. You don’t just walk that off.

As much as I hated to admit it, Alaric reminded me of Chase. The manipulation. The long game. The layers of secrets. What if Martha and Lacy weren’t just victims-what if they were part of what my father to ok from Alaric? What if this wasn’t just blackmail-it was revenge?

I didn’t want to believe it. But it fit.

Alaric was sloppier, more emotional. But maybe that was because he was dealing with Martha. Or maybe… they were working together. That possibility turned my stomach.

I reached out to Mara through the link.

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