"It's true," Caleb spat, his gaze venomous. "He murdered him in cold blood."
Krystal let out a choked sound of distress and denial. She lunged forward, slapping Caleb hard across the face.
"Don't you dare speak of my father that way!"
Caleb just laughed, a cruel, brittle sound. He jerked his chin towards the other room.
"I have proof. There's a letter in my bag." His smile was sharp and vicious. "My mother got it years ago and hid it from me. I only found out about it after she died. Ever since then, all I've wanted is to make you all suffer the way I have. The way they did."
My mind was reeling, a maelstrom of confusion and dread. None of this made sense. Quinn, a murderer? It wasn't possible... Was it?
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to think past the pounding in my skull. When I opened them again, Rissa was watching me, her gaze steady and full of quiet strength. She gave me a small nod, letting me know without words that she was with me. That we would face this together.
I blew out a long, slow breath. Then I turned toMarcus.
"Go get that letter."
"Your mother, Cara, she's dead?" Kendrick asked. “We thought she moved. You told us she moved.”
Caleb's face twisted with grief and rage. "She withered away. Died of a broken heart after losing her true mate."
The words hit me like a punch to the gut. I understood that pain all too well, the gaping, endless void left behind when your other half was torn away. My heart ached for Cara, for everything she must have endured. And for Caleb, so lost in his fury and despair.
Marcus returned, the letter clutched in his hand. He passed it to me wordlessly, his expression grim.
I unfolded it with shaking fingers, steeling myself for what horrors it might contain. Then I began to read aloud, my voice rough with dread.
Dear Cara and Caleb,
For the last seven years, I have lived day in and day out with this guilt. I never meant to hurt Jonah.
It was when we were having all those problems with the Greene pack. I was alone when I was ambushedby two of their wolves. I fought hard, and when it was over, there were three bodies on the ground. Two I didn't recognize and one I did. Jonah Calloway.
A choked sound escaped me. Krystal pressed a shaking hand to her mouth, tears spilling down her cheeks.
He must've jumped in to help me fight them off, but in my blood rage, I killed them all. After that, I panicked. Buried the bodies and covered the scents by burying skunks with them. I can't live with what I did to you anymore. I'm so sorry, and all I can do is hope that my sacrifice gives you peace knowing that the wolf who murdered your loved one is now dead.
The letter crumpled in my fist. I couldn't read anymore. Couldn't bear to see Quinn's anguish and self-loathing laid bare in his final words.
I remembered Jonah well. He'd been a good man, loyal and true. Always the first to volunteer for extra patrols, to put the pack's needs above his own. To think that Quinn… that my own brother had…
No. I couldn't process it. Couldn't reconcile the male I'd known and loved with this confession of unthinkable violence.
I thought of Quinn, his easy smile, his terrible jokes, the way he'd always ruffled my hair. The brother who'd been my best friend and staunchest ally.
How could this be real? How could any of it?
My vision blurred as hot tears spilled down my face. I pulled Krystal into my arms, holding her tight as the letter fluttered to the floor. Her slender frame shook with silent sobs, and I stroked her hair, trying to offer some measure of comfort even as my own heart shattered.
"I never knew," I whispered brokenly. "All these years, and we never knew why he..."
Krystal's fingers dug into my back. "He must've been in so much pain. Carrying that guilt, that shame."
A harsh, bitter laugh cut through the room. "Pain?" Caleb spat. "You want to talk about pain?"
I lifted my head, meeting his cold, accusing glare. The anger radiating off him was palpable, a living, breathing thing that sucked the air from the room.
"I've spent the last five years living with the knowledge that my father was murdered," Caleb snarled. "Murdered in cold blood by your brother. And you have the audacity to sit there and cry about his pain?"
