110 What Happened With Vander


    <b>Lucian </b>


    <i>A </i>few <i>hours </i>ago


    I had just wrapped up training and was heading out with Darian when the call came in, our father had been rushed to the hospital. Martha had phoned her son in a panic, barely coherent. ns forgotten, we made our


    way there immediately.


    By the time we arrived, he was asleep. The doctor assured us he’d be fine. A severe shock, they said. Nothing


    life–threatening.


    Darian turned to our mother. “What happened?”


    She crossed her arms, already seething. “Ask that <i>b***</i><i>h </i>your brother married what she did.”


    My stomach tightened. Mara? I didn’t see how she could’ve had a hand in this, until Lacy spoke.


    “She told Uncle Vander, right in front of me, that Aunt Martha’s been stealing to pay off a ckmailer. For twenty–three years. She said that’s why she doesn’t trust me to work in the corp. And because of that, she got


    me fired.”


    I didn’t react at first. I looked at Martha. “You told me you’d handle it. You <i>begged </i>me not to tell him.”


    “Lucian, you <i>promised</i><i>,</i><i>” </i>she said, looking more betrayed than remorseful.


    “What happened <i>before </i>she said all that?” I asked, voice calm but cold. “Mara doesn’t throw usations


    around for fun. What pushed her?”


    Lacy hesitated. That was all the answer I needed.


    “Uncle Vander wanted me to work closely with Mary now that you’re not there. Mara refused,” she finally said.


    Darian shook his head immediately. “That’s not enough to trigger her like that. I’ve known Mara for years. She doesn’t just <i>explode </i>without reason.”


    “This <i>b</i><i>***</i><i>h </i>almost killed your father, and you’re <i>defending </i>her?” Martha snapped.


    That did it.


    “No, Martha,” I said, stepping forward. “<i>You </i>are the one who nearly killed him. You’ve been hiding this from


    him for <i>decades</i>. What did you think would happen when it finally came out? If Mara had kept a secret like


    that from me, and I found out from someone else, I’d feel the same way. He didn’t copse because of


    He copsed because <i>you </i>lied.”


    Her eyes narrowed, and before I could brace, her hand cracked across my face.


    I didn’t move.


    She pulled back to strike again, and this time, I caught her wrist mid–air. My grip was tight, too tight, but I


    didn’t let go.


    Our eyes locked.


    Gone was the panic. Gone was the guilt. All I saw was pride and rage in her expression. A woman backed into


    a corner, still refusing to own what she had done.


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    But this time, I wasn’t the child who cowered.


    I looked her dead in the eyes and said-


    “Don’t you <i>ever </i>do that again, Martha.”


    My voice came out cold–low, but with the kind of weight that filled a room. She froze. Her body stiffened. For


    the first time, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.


    “Next time, I won’t care that you’re family. I will deal with you ordingly. Never raise your thieving, filthy hand at me again.”


    Darian stepped forward. “Lucian, please. Let her go. She’s sorry. She won’t <i>do </i>it again.”


    I didn’t move. Not yet.


    “And the next time you speak of my wife with disrespect,” I said, looking Martha dead in the eye, “I won’t hold back. That goes for your niece, too. Consider this your final warning.”


    She began to cry, pulling against my grip.


    “Monster!” she screamed. “Vander would never treat me like this!”


    Lacy rushed tofort her, but it was Darian who silenced the room.


    “You asked for it, Mother,” he said tly, and the look in his eyes made it clear–his forgiveness was gone.


    There was a time I believed Darian only wanted Mara out ofpetition. I’d been wrong. He hadn’t been ying games. His love for her had been real–quiet, respectful, deep. If things had turned out differently, <b>I </b>might’ve stepped aside for his happiness.


    But that choice had never belonged to us.


    Mara had already stolen my heart before either of us realized what was happening.


    We waited at the hospital until Father woke. Once he was alert, we apanied him back to the mansion. I used the stop as an excuse to shower and change in my wing. When we sat downter, he told me everything -how he’d pressured Mara, how she’d held her ground, and finally, how she’did the truth out without fear.


    “She told me she needed someone she could hold ountable. That with Martha’s financial situation, she couldn’t trust Lacy in that role,” Father admitted. “And she has proof. Two years of offshore transfers. She didn’tsh out, Lucian. She responded to pressure. To protect yourpany.”


    He shook his head, eyes distant. “It wasn’t her words that broke me—it was that your stepmother never told me any of it. Decades of secrets. That’s what hurt.”


    He paused, then smiled faintly.


    “She’s a tough one, your wife. I’m d you chose her. We’ve never had a Luna like that in our pack–fearless, smart, loyal to the bone. She didn’t flinch. She didn’t beg. And even while facing me down, she never stopped loving you. You’ve done well, son. This… <i>vacation</i><i>… </i>it’s working. All that’s left now is pups.”


    Darian stood nearby, silent, his expression unreadable–but I knew him. I could see the pain buried in his stillness. There was nothing anyone could say to fix that.


    Mara was mine. And that would never change.


    Later, I called Mary and instructed her to forward all of Martha’s banking records to me. I needed to see


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    everything for myself.


    But even as I reviewed my father’s words in my mind–his pride, his praise–I was already thinking about Mara. About how I’d walk into that house and see her again. About how I’d show her just how proud I was.


    But first, she needed to learn a lesson.


    She didn’t mean to hurt my father, but she’d shocked him. She hadn’t considered the weight of dropping <b>that </b>truth without knowing how far it might shake him.


    It hadn’t killed him. He was a wolf. But it had left a mark.


    I considered punishing her with something simple–spanking maybe–but I wasn’t sure how she’d respond to that kind of discipline. So I chose something she <i>did </i>love.


    Orgasms.


    Mara lived for her pleasure–and that would be her undoing tonight.


    Before leaving the mansion, I took time to calm myself, to prepare. I couldn’t risk finishing too early. She was too tempting. But I needed control. I needed time.


    Because when I touched her next, I nned to <i>own </i>every second of it.


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