The Secret Heirs of the Lycan King (Bella and scott) novel Chapter 148

Chapter 148

Troy

5

It had been a few months since Millie died, but time hadn’t healed anything inside me. If anything, the emptiness only grew bigger.

The pack kept moving forward, not pausing just because their Luna was gone. It was impossible for me to recover and be their Alpha because the weight in my chest dragged me down again. A thick wall of grief surrounded me.

I sat alone in my house with a bottle of whiskey on the table and a glass in my hand hoping it could dull the ache in my heart. I gulped my fourth, but the pain stayed. So I picked up the whole bottle and drank until it was half empty.

My mind slipped into the memory I hated most. Of Millie’s funeral.

That day the sky had been covered in gray clouds, copying the state of my mind. I remembered standing there with my hands clenched at my sides, staring at the pyre as fire engulfed her. My body had gone numb on the verge of collapsing.

Millie’s parents had been there, broken and crying. Her mother had wailed, her father had stood rigid with tears sliding down his face. Julie was there too, crying openly, her face swollen and red as she clung to their mother. All I could do was stand there and watch it all as they said their final goodbyes.

The guilt returned. I blamed myself for her death because I couldn’t protect my mate. I wanted to punish Rowan or kill someone, but punishment chose me every time. I should have allowed Millie to go with Bella that day. I should have insisted on more guards. I should have kept her closer instead of letting her step into danger without knowing it was waiting.

My hand rose to my chest without me thinking, pressing over my heart as if I could physically hold it together. The alcohol wasn’t enough to stop the memory that followed, the memory that came to me no matter what I did.

Millie’s body lying in a pool of blood. The road, the crowd, the screams. Her hair spread out on the ground, her body limp. Time had felt frozen then. I remembered stumbling forward as if my legs didn’t belong to me. I remembered dropping to my knees, pulling her into my arms, holding her close to my heart, my mind going numb. I remembered thinking I had to be dreaming. I wanted it to be a nightmare so badly that my mind tried to make it one, but the cruel reality had stayed.

Guilt and despair became part of my living. It had been my job as her mate to protect her. As an Alpha I should have kept my wife safe. But I had failed in the worst way possible. Sometimes I felt like I didn’t deserve the title anymore or deserve to breathe.

Sorrow made my chest tighten painfully. A rough and broken sound ripped from my throat, and I slid off the chair onto the floor. My glass tipped, whiskey spilling across the wooden boards. I crawled forward, one hand clutching at my chest as if I could dig the pain out.

“I shouldn’t have marked you,” I whispered hoarsely. “I shouldn’t have tied you to me. I should have protected you.”

I lay there and cried like a man who had nothing left. I cried until my throat hurt, until my eyes burned, until the sobs turned into shallow breaths. Somewhere in that mess of grief, anger rose.

“I’ll avenge you,” I said in a shaky voice. “I swear it. Even if it’s the last thing I do.”

Marking Millie as mine had once been one of the best things in my life. She had been my chosen mate. I had chosen her because after my heartbreak she made me laugh, because she made my home feel like a place worth returning to. I remembered the day I marked her and the way her eyes had shone with happiness. I remembered believing that nothing could take her from me.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I ignored it. Whoever it was would leave. Everyone knew I didn’t want visitors. The knocking continued, softer this time, and irritation flared. I tried to push myself up, but my body was heavy, uncoordinated. I slipped sideways, and the bottle in my hand rolled away across the floor.

Sed away crows the

Chapter 148

The door creaked open.

“Go away,” I growled. I couldn’t focus enough to care. I only lay there, breathing hard.

A scent reached me, cutting through the cloying smell of whiskey and stale grief. Of jasmine and wild roses. Of Millie and…?

Footsteps moved closer, and someone stopped beside me. “Troy…” a soft voice came.

I forced my eyes open and looked up. My vision was blurry, my mind hazy, and for a second I thought I was seeing her. “Millie?”

The person didn’t reply. They only bent down and helped me up from the floor. An arm slipped around my back, steadying me, and I found myself leaning onto their shoulder. I leaned on that person to inhale the scent. They guided me toward the bedroom slowly. When we reached the bed, they cased me down carefully and pulled a blanket over me. I felt a hand brush my hair back from my forehead, and then the warmth moved away. I tried to lift my head, but the room spun.

“Don’t leave, Millie…” I whimpered, my voice breaking. “Please don’t go…”

But the footsteps retreated. The door closed quietly. And the darkness swallowed me.

When I woke up, my head felt like someone had driven an axe into it, and my mouth was dry. Sunlight poured through the window, making me squint. It was late morning. I exhaled roughly, already hating the day, already wishing I could sink back into sleep and disappear.

I stared at the bed, trying to remember how I had gotten into bed. My memory of the night was fragmented. The whiskey, the floor, the scent, the voice in my mind that had called my name. Had someone really come into my house? Or had it been a hallucination?

I was still trying to put the pieces together when my phone buzzed on the bedside table. The sound made my head throb harder. I reached for it slowly and saw Brandon’s name on the screen.

I answered with a rough, tired voice. “What?”

Brandon didn’t waste time. “Troy,” he said quickly, “the King and Queen have come to the pack.”

My jaw clenched. Scott and Bella were here. She had sent me many messages to ask about me. But I just didn’t want to talk to her. I hated her. Because of her, Millie had died.

I got out of the bed with a quick resolve–I would go after the killers of Millie, renounce my position as the Alpha of the Silver Mane pack, break my alliance with the King, and go rogue.