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"I’m sorry. I was just overwhelmed with emotions," Ashley soon came to her senses and apologized. Then she continued to eat without another word.

It was difficult to understand why she made such a ridiculous request, but it was just because of how she felt a moment ago. Alpha Denzel brought back memories of her mother, making Ashley miss her so much. It hurt that her mother wasn’t there.

The atmosphere turned awkward after that, with no one speaking anymore, but the most remarkable thing was the way everyone cleared their plates.

"Thank you, son, you really made my day," Alpha Lawn said, relieving the air of awkwardness from a moment ago. Alpha Lawn trusted Ashley, knowing she would never betray her sister, but he trusted Denzel even more, that he would also not betray Valerie.

In Denzel, he saw his young self. Not the strength but the power to love and respect the mate bond. After Alpha Lawn lost his mate, he pledged to never love another, for which reason he destroyed his chances of having a second chance mate.

After all, he already had three daughters, having no issues with whom to take over the pack. In Denzel’s case, he would equally do the same if he had an heir from Valerie and had even sworn to never want another mate except her.

If Valerie died, then his reign was equally destroyed. Denzel would never love another. The only thing Alpha Lawn could not discern was if Valerie could also trust Denzel the same.

Denzel smiled not knowing what his going on in the mind of the elder and responded.

"You have no idea how much I want you to stay here with us, but we both know that isn’t possible. You have to return to the Yellow Stone Pack when everything is over."

Burke and Alice cleared the table and went to wash the dishes as Alpha Lawn raised a concern.

"But they saw Ashley. Won’t news go around and prevent Tristan and Scarlet from making it to the coronation?"

Denzel had already thought about that. After the cleanup in his pack involving Alpha Conrad, he was certain that no one would dare to do anything to warrant their death.

"No. I already cleaned my pack of traitors. Everybody is loyal, and I already told them that nothing about the pack should go out."

Alpha Lawn was relieved by Alpha Denzel’s words as Valerie asked him. "Dad, can you tell us now about how everything happened?"

The middle-aged man smiled bitterly. "If only I had known I was being tricked."

Flashback

"Dad, I’m ready to go on your morning inspection with you," Scarlet said to her father early in the morning, looking bubbly. The middle-aged man was rather surprised.

"Since when did you begin taking interest in pack matters? I know each of your strengths and weaknesses and would never force you into what you aren’t capable of," Alpha Lawn spoke to his youngest daughter affectionately.

Scarlet’s smile refused to fade as she hooked her arm to her father’s, ensuring that Valerie does not see them together.

"Dad, I might not be strong like Val and Ashley, but there are still things I could learn from you."

Alpha Lawn frowned and chastised her. "Did I not tell you to not mention Ashley’s name again? She put her personal desires above the pack and is not worthy of it."

Scarlet looked away and smiled. When she faced her father, her face was rather filled with concern. The contrast was spellbinding.

"I understand, dad, let’s go before the sunrise. I will come back to help Valerie with the office matters."

Alpha Lawn felt that his younger daughter was suddenly becoming responsible and could not help being proud of her.

"I’m glad that you are becoming responsible."

When they reached the car, Scarlet suggested. "Dad, I might come back earlier to help Valerie, so I would rather use my car and you go with the warriors."

Thinking that her daughter was merely being thoughtful, Alpha Lawn agreed and left with two warriors. Driving out of the pack and checking the exteriors, Alpha Nick stepped out of the car to walk deeper as usual, when one of the warriors, Sun, hit him on the head with a stick.

Unknown to him, they had been in cahoots with Scarlet. Alpha Lawn’s eyes blurred, as he was weakened by the betrayal. This was his own warriors whom he trained and having an Alpha wolf, his healing was fast, and he punched Sun, sending him into a state of unconsciousness.

But just as his fingers elongated to end his life, the second warrior, Dairus, equally hit him in the same spot on the head, sending him into a state of unconsciousness.

Before everything turned dark, he saw Scarlet walking through the bushes towards him and felt that she would be endangered.

"Scarlet, go back," he said with his last breath before everything went dark. Due to his wolf trying to heal him, he could still hear the voices in his unconscious state.

"I think he’s dead. We hit in a delicate spot, so he won’t be able to survive," Dairus said, but Scarlet did not believe it because her father had just spoken before losing consciousness.

"He just spoke to me. How can you call him dead?"

Her father was shocked, realizing that she was behind it all. His wolf was doing a good job in trying to heal him, but he knew that to survive, he had to feign being dead like the warriors were thinking.

"Those were his last words. He’s not breathing, and we can’t feel a pulse," Sun, who had just regained consciousness did not check when he woke up to see their unconscious Alpha on the floor but Scarlet was still unconvinced.

"He must have had internal bleeding, but I still doubt that he’s dead. Give me a dagger."

Sun was slightly reluctant, wondering if Scarlet wanted to hurt him. "What for? You aren’t going to kill us, are you?"

"How could you think that? My father and Valerie are stumbling blocks, you are not."

Satisfied with the response, Sun passed a dagger to her. Alpha Lawn was heartbroken by his youngest daughter’s words, weakening him to the core and breaking his fragile heart.

The same heart was pierced by the sharp dagger in Scarlet’s hand. His eyes opened to stare his youngest daughter in the eyes.

His eyes, though looking betrayed, were still filled with love. "Why, Scarlet? Aside from loving you, I never offended you in any way."

Guilt dulled Scarlet’s eyes, and she escaped from the scene. By the time Alpha Lawn woke up, weeks later, he was in a strange place, permeating a strange smell, and being offered some green concoction to drink.

"That is what happened." A tear dropped from his eyes as he pointed at Raven. "She was the first person I saw after waking up.

Every eye was teary after the narration as Burke and Alice had joined after washing the dishes. Valerie asked in a teary voice. "Raven, did you see anything?"