Chapter 81

Arthur

I bolt out of Iris’s apartment, barely remembering to close the door behind me. The Mindlink from Ezra still rings through my head.

“Alpha, we found the car. It’s a Lotus Eletre. Only three in all of Ordan…”

“Selina,” I mutter under my breath as I slam my car door shut and turn the ignition. The engine roars to life.

Her family loves those fucking cars.

I always knew Selina was ambitious. But this? Attempting to murder Iris? Sending CPS to take Miles away? This crosses a line I didn’t think even she would breach.

By the time I reach her home, an expensive modern mansion overlooking the city, my wolf is demanding vengeance. I pound on her door.

“Selina! Open up!”

A moment later, the door swings open to reveal Selina. Her eyes widen slightly at the sight of me, but she recovers quickly.

“Arthur, darling, what a pleasant surprise.”

I push past her. “What did you do, Selina?”

“What?”

“Your silver Lotus. Are you really dumb enough to think that I wouldn’t recognize it, or did you hope I would?”

A flicker of something crosses her face before she quickly masks it. “I have no clue what you’re talking about, Arthur. The Lotus is being serviced. The alignment was off.”

“Bullshit. A silver Lotus was caught on camera hitting Iris’s cab. The same day she almost fucking died.”

Selina doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t even blink. “Huh. What a strange coincidence.”

“Is it?” I can feel my control slipping. My wolf wants to shred into her throat. Right now, so do I. “Just like it’s a coincidence that CPS showed up at Iris’s door today? After an anonymous complaint?”

Her red lips curl. “Oh, did they? How unfortunate for her.”

The casual admission hits me like a punch to the gut. I knew it, but hearing her practically confess it with a fucking smile on her face sends a new wave of rage through me.

“So it was you,” I snarl. “You tried to kill her. And when that didn’t work, you tried to take Miles away.”

Selina walks past me to pour herself a drink at the bar in her dining room, her movements graceful and unhurried. She pours gin into a glass, then plops a slice of lime in. “I was just trying to do what’s right, since you clearly won’t do it.”

My blood runs cold. “So you admit it? Just like that?”

“Why deny it?” She takes a sip of her drink. “We both know what’s at stake here, Arthur. Your presidency. Your legacy. Our future.”

“There is no ‘our future,’” I snap. “I ended our engagement. Rather publicly, if you might recall.”

“A temporary setback,” she says with a wave of her hand. “You’ll come to your senses eventually. Especially once that human and her damaged spawn are out of the picture.”

I freeze. “What did you just call my son?”

Selina’s smile turns vicious. “Oh, don’t act so surprised. I’ve seen his medical records. Developmental delays. Possible autism spectrum disorder. Learning disabilities.” She shrugs. “All typical in hybrid children, apparently. The human DNA corrupts our superior werewolf genetics.”

My wolf howls with fury, and I feel my eyes flash gold. “Miles is a wolf. And even with his disabilities, he’s no less important to me or Iris.”

“Wolf or not, he’s still half-human! A mongrel! He’ll never be a proper Alpha heir. Is that what you want for your legacy? A weak, defective child who can barely string two sentences together?”

I lunge forward, grabbing her wrist hard enough to make her drop her glass. Neither of us looks down as it shatters on the floor. I know she wouldn’t care, anyway—she’d just order a servant to clean it up for her. “Don’t you dare speak about my son that way.”

Selina doesn’t even flinch. “It’s the truth, Arthur. Iris ruined him with her inferior genes. But I can give you strong, pure-blooded children. True Alpha heirs worthy of your line.”

“You’re sick. You need help.” I release her wrist and take a step back.

“I’m only trying to save you from yourself,” she replies. “Think about what you’re throwing away, Arthur. All for what? Some human you fucked five years ago? A defective half-breed child?”

My control snaps. “That ‘human’ is my mate! That ‘half-breed’ is my son! And you tried to kill her and have him taken away!”

Selina seems completely unbothered. “Miles would be better off in a specialized facility anyway, with his… challenges. And Iris is… well, she’s going to die much sooner than you anyway. Everyone knows humans have shorter lifespans than we do.”

I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. The cold calculation in her voice, the utter lack of remorse. This woman was going to be my wife. Maybe only in a contractual sense, but still. It makes me sick.

“You’re insane,” I breathe.

She laughs. “I’m practical. I’m thinking of your future—our future. A proper Luna by your side. Strong, pureblooded children carrying on your legacy. The respect of the entire country of Ordan. The entire world.”

“And all it would cost is the lives of my true mate and firstborn son. Did you really think I would choose you over them?”

“You already did,” she points out. “For five years, you chose me. You chose power and position over your little human plaything.”

The truth of her words stings, but I push past it. “I made a mistake. One I’m correcting now.”

“It’s too late for that,” Selina says, stepping closer to me. “You know what will happen if you formally acknowledge Miles as your heir. The traditionalists will revolt. You’ll lose support. Your presidency will crumble.”

“I don’t care.”

“You will,” she says with certainty. “When it all falls apart, when you’re left with nothing but that broken little family, you’ll care then.”

I turn away from her, unable to stomach another moment of this conversation. “We’re done here. Stay away from Iris and Miles. If anything happens to either of them—anything at all—I will personally make sure you regret it.”

“Arthur, be reasonable,” Selina calls, following me as I head for the door. “Everything I’ve done has been for us. For our future.”

I whirl around, my patience completely gone. “There is no ‘us’! There is no ‘our future’! Get that through your fucking head!”

“You don’t mean that,” she says, reaching for me. “You’re just confused. That human has gotten into your head—”

“She’s my mate.”

“She’s nothing! A nobody! A pathetic human who trapped you with a defective child!”

Something in me snaps. Before I can stop myself, I’ve surged forward, backing her against the wall. “Don’t you dare speak about them that way!”

“Or what?” she challenges, lifting her chin defiantly. “What will you do, Arthur? Kill me? Go ahead!”

I realize how close I am to losing control completely. My wolf is right at the surface, his claws itching to emerge. “Kill her,” he hisses. “She tried to kill our mate. Fucking kill her.”

“No.” I step back, trying to calm myself.

“This conversation is over,” I say, turning my back on Selina.

“If you walk out that door, I will destroy you,” Selina warns. “I’ll tell everyone about your human whore and your half-breed son. I’ll make sure Miles is taken away. I’ll—”

I spin around, my control finally snapping. “ENOUGH!”

I don’t mean to push her. I really don’t. Just a reflexive gesture to create space between us. But Selina stumbles backward, her heel catching on the edge of the step down to her sunken living room. For a moment, time seems to slow as I watch her eyes widen with surprise, her arms pinwheeling as she tries to catch her balance.

Then she falls, tumbling backward down the short flight of stairs. I hear the sickening crack as her head connects with the marble floor at the bottom.

“Selina!” I rush down the stairs, dropping to my knees beside her unmoving form. Blood pools beneath her head, dark against the white marble. “Selina, can you hear me?”

She doesn’t respond. Doesn’t move. With shaking hands, I check for a pulse, relief flooding through me when I find one.

Without hesitation, I scoop her up and race for the door, mindful of keeping her neck stable. I carefully place Selina in my car and speed toward the hospital, every second feeling like an eternity.

By the time we arrive at the emergency room, her breathing has grown shallow, her skin pale and clammy. Medical staff rush out with a gurney, taking in the sight of the Alpha President covered in blood, carrying the unconscious ex-Luna-to-be.

The next hour passes both too fast and eternally slow at the same time. The police are called. I answer their questions truthfully, describing the argument, the fall, how I brought her in immediately.

They seem satisfied, for now. I’m the Alpha President, after all. My word carries weight, and Selina’s house is filled with cameras. But I can still see the impending backlash already. The recently-ex-fiancee of the Alpha President, suddenly suffering a life-threatening injury in his presence.

It’s not going to be good.

Eventually, they let me see her. Selina lies motionless in the hospital bed, a breathing tube down her throat, monitoring equipment beeping around her. A thick bandage covers part of her head where they must have operated to relieve the pressure on her brain. They had to induce a coma.

Despite everything, seeing her like this makes my stomach twist with guilt. I did this. Not intentionally, but my actions led to this outcome.

I sink into the chair beside her bed, burying my face in my hands. How did we get here? How did everything spiral so completely out of control?