Chapter 116

Darren

The clearing was quiet, save for the soft rustle of leaves in the wind and the distant call of birdsong. The air was crisp, carrying the faint scent of pine and earth, and the sunlight filtered through the trees in golden shafts, illuminating the weathered stone marker that bore my sister’s name.

Emilia.

I stood there, my hands shoved deep into my pockets, my chest tightening as a mix of emotions overtook me. Guilt. Grief. Anger.

My father was standing a few paces away. He was leaning on his cane, his knuckles trembling slightly. His hair, once as dark as mine, was streaked with silver, and his face was lined with deep wrinkles.

But his eyes—those deep blue eyes—were the same as always. If only I could look directly at them.

For a long moment, neither of us spoke. I wasn’t sure where to begin, or if I even wanted to. But he broke the silence first.

“I haven’t come here in far too long,” he said, glancing at my sister’s grave. “Far too long.”

I didn’t respond right away. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I just couldn’t. I wanted to be angry with him for not coming, but at the same time, I knew the truth behind his absence now: poisoning. Poisoning by his Beta, the man who was supposed to be his closest confidante and friend.

“I’m sorry, Darren,” he said after a moment, his voice cracking slightly. “I’m sorry for… everything.”

That caught my attention. I turned to look at him, my jaw tightening as I studied his face. “Everything?” I repeated, my voice coming out sharper than I meant it to. “That’s a pretty broad apology.”

He flinched, his grip tightening on his cane. “I know,” he said quietly. “And I know it’s not enough. But I need you to hear it. I need you to know that I… I failed you. I failed Emilia. I failed your mother.”

His words hung in the air between us. I didn’t know how to respond to that.

“After your mother died,” he went on, his voice trembling, “I… I lost myself. I didn’t know how to keep going. She was my everything, Darren. My mate. My heart. And when she was gone, it felt like… like I was gone too.”

I swallowed hard, my chest aching at the pain in his voice. I remembered those days—the days after my mother’s death. After I finally returned to the pack following my months of being nursed back to health by Aria, I had thought that things would go back to something resembling normalcy.

But I had been wrong.

My father had disappeared into himself, leaving me and Emilia to fend for ourselves. If it weren’t for our grandmother, we might not have survived at all, and I wasn’t sure if my father would have even noticed because he was so disconnected from the world.

“And then Emilia…” His voice broke, and he looked away, his shoulders shaking. “When I lost her too, it was like losing your mother all over again. I couldn’t… I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else. So I shut down. I shut everyone out. Even you.”

His words hit me like a punch to the gut, and I had to look away, my jaw clenching tightly.

“Charles…” He hesitated. “He saw my weakness. He saw how broken I was, and he… he used it. He started bringing me that tea, telling me it would help me sleep, help me forget. And it did, for a while. But then I realized… I realized what it was doing to me. What he was doing to me.”

I turned back to him, my heart pounding. “You knew?” I asked. “You knew the tea was drugged, and you kept drinking it?”

He nodded, his eyes filled with shame. “I did. And I kept drinking it anyway. Because it was easier than facing the pain. Easier than facing you.”

“So you chose numbness over me,” I said. “Over Lucas. Over the pack.”

“I know,” he said, his voice breaking. “And I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. But I need you to understand, Darren… I wasn’t strong enough. Not after losing your mother. Not after losing Emilia. I wasn’t strong enough to be the father you needed.”

I wanted to scream at him, to make him feel even a fraction of the pain I’d felt all those years. But as I looked at him—at the man who had once been my hero, now broken and frail—I couldn’t.

“You’re right,” I finally said. “You weren’t strong enough. But that doesn’t mean you get to just… disappear. You had a son who needed you. A grandson who still needs you.”

“I know,” he whispered. “And I’m so sorry, Darren. I’m sorry for not being there for you. For not being the father you deserved.”

The tears spilled over then, streaming down his face, and I felt my own eyes burn in response.

“I forgive you,” I suddenly said.

He froze, his eyes widening in shock. “What?”

“I forgive you,” I repeated, my voice stronger this time. “Not because you deserve it. Not because it’s easy. But because… because I’m tired of holding onto the anger. Because I want to move forward. For me. For Lucas. For all of us.”

For a moment, he just stared at me, his face a mask of disbelief. And then, without warning, he stepped forward and pulled me into a hug. His arms were trembling, his grip weak, but I could feel the weight of his grief, his regret, his love in that embrace.

“Thank you,” he whispered, his voice choked with tears. “Thank you, son.”

I hesitated for a moment, my body stiffening from the unexpected embrace. But then I relaxed and let myself lean into him. It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t the reunion I’d dreamed of for years. But it was a start.

When we finally pulled apart, he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and took a shaky breath. “There’s something else,” he said. “Something you need to do.”

I frowned. “What?”

“Lucas. You need to tell him the truth about his mother. He deserves to know who she was. He deserves to grieve for her properly, not… not believe she was his aunt.”

I hesitated, unsure of what to say. Telling Lucas still felt dangerous, the situation between humans and werewolves still too tentative.

But maybe… Maybe he was right. Despite everything, Lucas deserved to know the truth. And Emilia would understand, wouldn’t she? And perhaps, with Aria by our sides… it would be okay.

We would be okay.

By the time I returned to the packhouse, Aria and Lucas were waiting for me. Lucas was playing with blocks in the den, and Aria was going through our backpacks with Wendy, preparing for the hike back to the human world.

“Are we ready to go?” Lucas asked, jumping up the moment I walked into the room.

I took a deep breath and glanced at my grandmother and Aria. “Not yet,” I said, crouching down to his level. “Lucas, let’s go on a walk. I have something to tell you.”

He frowned, his brow furrowing in confusion, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he just nodded and took my outstretched hand.

As we turned to leave, I caught Aria’s eye. I didn’t have to tell her for her to know what I was going to tell him, but for a moment, I cast her a questioning look as if to ask her opinion.

She nodded silently, her eyes filled with encouragement, and I felt myself let out a breath of relief I didn’t know I’d been holding.

With Lucas’s hand in mine, I stepped out of the packhouse and into the sunlight, ready to face the truth—and the future.