The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter-Chapter 290: Shattered Deals and Shattered Dreams

Jacob~

The hallway was so quiet it felt like I was walking through cobwebs. I rested my forehead against Easter’s door, letting out a shaky breath as her last words kept looping in my mind. She dreamed of me as a killer... but also remembered me as her protector.

That meant she didn’t just see the fake memories Mariel wove into her head a few minutes ago. She saw the real ones too – the ones I’d buried deep and had Mariel lock away forever. Usually, erasing someone’s memories was easy. Quick and clean. But with Easter, that wasn’t enough. I needed Mariel, the Dream Weaver. She didn’t just erase memories; she rewrote them so they could never crawl back up to the surface. Her work was supposed to be flawless.

But hearing Easter speak today... I knew it in my bones. The threads of Mariel’s weaving were starting to unravel. And for me, that was all the opening I needed.

I stepped away from the door, clenching my fists so hard my knuckles popped. Anger burned through me like a wild animal tearing at its cage, hot and relentless. I could almost taste it – sharp and bitter on my tongue. My powers stirred inside me, restless, vibrating through every bone.

I took one last lingering glance at the door, at the fragile woman trembling just beyond the wood, and whispered softly, "Hang in there, little dove. I promise... I’m going to fix this."

I turned and walked away, my footsteps heavy with finality down the narrow hall. As I moved, my body blurred, melting into silver mist that drifted into the shadows. The world hit me all at once – scents, sounds, every tiny vibration humming through my senses with raw, ancient power.

I called on the strength coiled deep within me. I am Mist. Father of wolves. Creator of werewolf spirits. The one Mariel thought she could turn into a puppet.

She was wrong.

I followed her energy and I found her in her favourite haunt – the old abandoned opera house at the edge of the city, with cracked stained-glass windows and rotting velvet seats. The scent of her magic lingered like mildew and roses, sickeningly sweet and poisonous.

She stood on the shattered stage, bathed in moonlight pouring through broken glass. Her trinket covered dark hair glimmered, falling down her dark velvet dress like dark oil. Her arms were folded, lips curved in a smile too calm for what she had done.

"Well," she drawled as I emerged from the shadows, my body solidifying with a silent thunderclap, "I assume you’re here to comply? I hope it isn’t to beg."

I stared at her, silent, letting my gaze strip away her illusions until she shifted uncomfortably under the weight of my stare. Finally, I tilted my head, lips curling in a humourless smile.

"Beg?" I asked softly, my voice carrying across the stage with quiet menace. "No, Mariel. I’m here to end this."

She flicked her hand dismissively, violet light sparking from her fingertips. "Jacob, darling, let’s not pretend you have choices here. You signed the contract. Ten years of service for a dream-woven reality where Easter would never remember her pain. Where she’d live happily ever after with her children. That was the deal."

"That was the deal," I agreed, my voice soft but cold. "But you failed to uphold your side."

She frowned, her smile slipping just slightly. "Excuse me?"

I took a step forward. The floorboards groaned under my boots. The shadows of the hall reached for me like loyal wolves greeting their alpha.

"You said your dream weaving would be flawless," I said, my power pulsing through every syllable. "That no memory of her old life would creep back in. But guess what, Mariel? Her memories came back tonight. She remembered a lot of things. Who I am. Who she is to me (not true but...). Even your weaving couldn’t hold against her truth."

Her eyes widened, silver flashing with rage and panic. "That’s impossible. I crafted her dreams myself. She shouldn’t remember."

I took another step forward, the shadows wrapping around my ankles like mist. "But she did. Which means your contract with me is broken. You failed, Mariel. And you know what that means."

She staggered back, her magic sparking violently around her in chaotic bursts of violet light. "No... no, you can’t... you can’t break free. I own you!"

I tilted my head, my smile growing wider, darker. "Not anymore."

She screamed, her power exploding outward in a dome of violet light that rattled the broken glass windows. "If you don’t do what I asked," she shrieked, "I’ll destroy her! I’ll tear her mind apart piece by piece until she’s nothing but a hollow doll. You hear me?! I’ll ruin her if you don’t strip the Wolf Claw pack of their wolves and also stop whatever nonsense you’re trying to do!"

My body moved before my mind caught up. One moment she was screaming threats, the next I was in front of her, my hand wrapped tightly around her throat. I could feel her pulse fluttering beneath my fingers like a trapped bird.

Her eyes widened, fear and shock dancing in the moonlit depths. "You... you can’t hurt me... the contract—"

"—is broken," I finished for her, my voice a low growl rumbling from deep in my chest. "Because of your sloppy weaving."

She clawed at my wrist, her nails biting into my skin, but I didn’t flinch. I leaned in close, so close she could feel the heat of my breath against her ear.

"You threatened her," I whispered, my voice trembling with contained fury. "You threatened my little dove. My family. You thought you could use her as leverage. You thought wrong."

With a flick of my wrist, I tossed her backwards. She slammed against the ruined curtains with a shriek, her body crumpling to the rotting floorboards. She tried to rise, violet light pulsing from her palms, but I raised my hand and summoned my power.

The entire opera house shook with the force of it. The walls vibrated with an ancient growl as my powers swelled within me, its intensity echoing from every broken window and cracked pillar. Shadows swallowed the stage, swirling around her like a living storm. My eyes burned silver, reflecting her terrified face.

"Mist... please..." she sobbed, scrambling backwards, her elegant dress tearing on the splintered floor. "Please don’t... don’t do this..."

"You threatened the woman I love," I said softly, my voice steady despite the storm raging around us. "You threatened her mind. Her happiness. Her life. And you thought I’d let that slide?"

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks as she shook her head violently. "I’m sorry! I’ll fix it! I’ll fix her memories! I swear, Mist, please don’t—"

I crouched in front of her, my movements as fluid as a wolf stalking its prey. I reached out and brushed a tear from her cheek, watching it tremble on my fingertip before falling to the floor.

"Do you know what wolves do to those who threaten their pack?" I asked gently. "We don’t just chase them away. We teach them never to return."

Her screams rose into the rafters as I pressed my palm to her chest, flooding her with my power. Her body convulsed violently as my moon powers tore through her magic, burning it from the inside out. She gasped and sobbed, clutching at my arm, her nails drawing blood.

"I’ll do anything!" she screamed, her voice raw with agony. "Anything! Please, Mist! Forgive me! Forgive me!"

I watched her for a long, silent moment, her trembling body bathed in silver moonlight. Her sobs echoed through the ruined opera house like a broken violin.

Finally, I rose to my feet, letting my power pull back. She collapsed onto the floor, shaking violently, her magic shattered and her body weakened.

"Forgiveness is not mine to give," I said quietly, turning away from her. "You threatened Easter. You threatened Rose you threatened the baby unborn. Only they can forgive you. And I doubt they ever will."

She whimpered behind me as I stepped off the stage, my boots echoing through the silent hall. I walked towards the moonlit exit, the scent of her burnt magic thick in my lungs.

As I reached the door, I paused and turned back to her one last time.

"If you ever come near them again," I said softly, my voice carrying like thunder through the stillness, "I will not leave you alive to beg for forgiveness."

Then I stepped out into the night, the cold wind whipping through my hair, carrying away the scent of her tears.

I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply, feeling the world settle into its natural rhythm once more. My spirit hummed with quiet approval inside me, my love for Easter and Rose blooming like wildfire in my chest.

She was waiting for me. My little dove. My family. My home.

I shifted into mist, letting the shadows carry me swiftly back to them. Back to her. Back to the woman who made my ancient, weary heart feel young again.

And as I soared across the moonlit sky, my power crackling through the night like silver lightning, I whispered to the winds:

"I’m never running from you again. My Easter."