Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce!-Chapter 25

Kael’s POV

The city blurred past my windows. Red lights. Stop signs. Speed limits. I ignored them all.

Mother’s message had been three words. "Please come home."

I already knew what I’d find.

Father.

It was always him.

The Blood Crown estate gates swung open automatically. I didn’t slow down. The tires screeched against the driveway. Gravel sprayed. I was out of the car before the engine died.

The front door was unlocked.

Wrong. So wrong.

I burst inside. The foyer was dark. Silent.

Then I heard it.

CRACK.

The sound of leather against flesh.

My blood turned to ice. Then fire.

I ran toward the sound. Through the hallway. Past the portraits of ancestors who’d built this empire on blood and bones. Through the living room archway.

And stopped.

The scene before me made my stomach revolt.

Lucian was on the floor. Curled into himself. His shirt was torn. Blood seeped through the fabric. Fresh welts covered his back. His arms. Everywhere.

Father stood over him. Belt raised. Face twisted with rage.

And Mother—

God, Mother.

She was crumpled in the corner. Her silver hair was matted with blood. One eye was already swelling shut. Tears streamed down her face.

She was trying to crawl toward Lucian. Trying to shield him.

"YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT!" Magnus roared. The belt came down again.

Lucian didn’t even scream anymore. Just took it. Like he always did.

Something inside me snapped.

"ENOUGH!"

I crossed the room in three strides. My hand shot out. Caught the belt mid-swing.

Magnus whirled on me. Those red-gold eyes blazed with fury. Tyrant—his wolf—lurked just beneath the surface. Ready to destroy anything in his path.

"Stay out of this, boy." His voice was a growl. "This doesn’t concern you."

"Like hell it doesn’t."

I ripped the belt from his grip. The leather burned against my palm. I didn’t care.

Magnus lunged at me. His fist connected with my jaw.

Pain exploded across my face. I staggered. Tasted copper.

But I didn’t fall.

Fenrir surged forward. My vision went gold. Power flooded my veins.

I grabbed Magnus by the throat. Slammed him against the wall.

"Touch them again," I said. My voice was barely human. "And I will kill you."

For one second—one beautiful second—I saw fear in his eyes.

Magnus Blood Crown. The Alpha King. Afraid of his own son.

Then he kneed me in the stomach.

Air rushed out of my lungs. My grip loosened.

Magnus shoved past me. Kicked my shin hard enough to make me stumble.

"This isn’t over," he snarled.

Then he was gone. The front door slammed.

Silence.

I stood there. Breathing hard. My jaw throbbed. My shin ached.

None of it mattered.

"Kael..."

Mother’s voice. Broken. Small.

I turned. She had crawled to Lucian. Was cradling his head in her lap. Her fingers stroked his hair. Blood smeared across her knuckles.

"It’s okay," she whispered. Not to me. To him. "You’re okay. You’re going to be okay."

But Lucian wasn’t okay.

His eyes were glassy. Unfocused. His body twitched with pain he couldn’t feel properly anymore.

Because he was high.

I could smell it now. That bitter, chemical undertone mixed with his blood. Wolfsbane. The drug that had already stolen everything from him.

"Help me get him to his room," Mother said.

I nodded. Couldn’t speak.

I bent down. Slid my arms under Lucian’s broken body. He was lighter than I remembered. Smaller. Like the drugs were eating him from the inside out.

He groaned as I lifted him.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I’ve got you."

Mother walked ahead. Opened doors. Cleared the path.

We moved through the house in silence. Past rooms filled with expensive furniture and empty promises. Past photographs of a family that had never really existed.

Lucian’s bedroom was at the end of the hall. Mother pushed the door open.

The room smelled like him. Like medicine and sweat and something dying.

I laid him on the bed. Carefully. Like he might shatter if I moved too fast.

His eyes found mine. Dull. Empty.

"Kael." His voice was a rasp. "You came."

"I’m here."

Mother appeared with a first aid kit. Started cleaning his wounds. Her hands were steady even though tears still flowed down her cheeks.

I watched. Waited. Let my pulse slow.

Then I asked.

"What the hell happened?"

Mother flinched. Her hands paused on Lucian’s back.

Lucian tried to laugh. The sound was wet. Horrible.

"I was in the living room," he said. Each word cost him. "Father came home early. Found me... not at my best."

Not at his best.

That was one way to put it.

I stared at my brother. At the man he used to be. At the shell he’d become.

Lucian Blood Crown. The golden child. The heir apparent. The Alpha who’d shone brighter than anyone in our generation.

Now he couldn’t even shift. Couldn’t feel his wolf. Couldn’t do anything except exist in this permanent twilight.

"Tell me you weren’t using again," I said.

Silence.

"Lucian."

"I wasn’t." His eyes met mine. Clear for a moment. Almost convincing. "I swear. I haven’t touched it since... since the hospital."

I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to believe him so badly.

But I’d heard this before. The same promises. The same desperate eyes.

"Then why were you ’not at your best’?"

He looked away. "Bad day. The cravings were... worse than usual."

Mother finished bandaging his back. Her hand lingered on his shoulder.

"You need to rest," she said softly. "Both of you."

"I’m fine, Mother."

"You’re bleeding."

I touched my jaw. She was right. My knuckles came away red.

"It’s nothing."

"It’s not nothing." Her voice cracked. "He hit you. My son. My baby."

She reached up. Her fingers trembled as they touched my face.

I caught her hand. Held it.

"I’m okay," I said.

I looked down at Lucian. He’d closed his eyes. His breathing was evening out. The drugs pulling him under.

"How long has this been happening?" I asked. "The beatings?"

Mother’s jaw tightened. "Kael—"

"How long?"

A pause. Heavy. Suffocating.

"Since Lucian came home from the hospital."

Months. It had been months.

And I hadn’t known. Hadn’t been here.

"Get some sleep," I told her. "I’ll stay with him tonight."

Mother hesitated. Then nodded.

She kissed Lucian’s forehead. Then mine.

"I’m glad you came home," she whispered.

Then she was gone. The door clicked shut behind her.

I sank into the chair beside Lucian’s bed. Let my head fall back. Stared at the ceiling.

My mind raced.

Father was getting worse. The violence. The control. The absolute authority he wielded over everyone in this house.

And Lucian—

I looked at my brother. At his gaunt cheeks. His hollow eyes. The way he flinched even in his sleep.

Cain Shadow Moon did this.

That name burned through my thoughts like acid.

I’d never forget the day I found out. The investigation after Lucian’s second overdose. The trail leading straight back to Shadow Moon territory.

Cain was the supplier. The one who peddled Wolfsbane to spoiled rich wolves looking for a thrill. He didn’t care about the consequences. Didn’t care about the lives he destroyed.

He’d turned my brother into this. A ghost. A husk. A wolf without a wolf.

Every time I saw Lucian like this, my hatred for the Shadow Moon family burned hotter.

They were poison. All of them. That whole bloodline was rotten to the core.

The mother who sold her body. The sisters who cared about nothing but men and status. The brother who dealt drugs to anyone with money.

I despised them.

Fenrir growled in agreement.

I closed my eyes. Tried to find some semblance of peace.

Instead, I saw her.

Silver-grey eyes. Moonflower scent. That soft voice calling my name.

Aria.

My chest tightened.

I’d left her at the hotel. Drunk. Vulnerable. Asleep on the couch like a fallen angel.

I wanted to hate her. Wanted to lump her in with the rest of her trash family. And tried not to think about her.

Failed.

Because fate had a sick sense of humor.

My fated mate—the one woman my wolf would die for—was the sister of the drug dealer who had destroyed my brother.