The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter
Chapter 233: Chains and Confessions

Chapter 233: Chains and Confessions

Natalie~

The dungeon welcomed us like a rotting mouth—cold, damp, and stinking of mildew, rust, and something older, fouler, that clung to the stone walls like a curse. The torches flickered as if they too feared the silence, drawing long shadows that danced across the iron bars.

Griffin stood at my side, wide-eyed and trembling slightly—not from fear, but shock. His eyes swept the cell before us, lips parting.

"Oh... goddess," he whispered.

Inside the cell, slumped and defeated in heavy chains that clinked with every movement, was Alpha Darius—his uncle, the same monster who once destroyed my life. His once proud posture was now stooped, his hair disheveled, and his clothes caked in grime. But he still had that damn arrogance in his eyes.

And beside him, curled like a coward against the far wall, was Timothy.

My teeth clenched.

Timothy.

I hadn’t laid eyes on that disgusting bastard in years, but the moment I laid eyes on him, my body betrayed me—flinching, tensing, remembering every awful detail like it had been burned into my skin.

I remembered how his hands used to grip my ass—rough and shameless—like I was some sort of game he had every right to play. He’d do it out in the open, in the middle of the damn dining hall, sometimes when no one was looking—and worse—sometimes when everyone was.

That smug, twisted grin he wore when he got too close, like he thrived on pushing boundaries and watching people pretend not to see. The way his voice would slither into my ear, low and filthy, like a secret no one wanted to acknowledge.

He laughed when I cried. Actually laughed—like my pain was a punchline only he understood.

And when he found out I didn’t have a wolf? He carved it into my identity like a brand. "Sweet little wolfless nothing," he’d say, soft as honey, cruel as hell.

Yeah, I remembered. Every word. Every touch. Every laugh. My body remembered, even if I wished it didn’t.

My fists clenched at my sides. Jasmine stirred in me, her growl like a rumbling storm.

"Let me rip his throat out. Just give me a second. Two at most."

I didn’t answer her. Couldn’t. My vision was red. I could feel the air around me crackling as Jasmine’s power tried to seep through my skin. But I held it together. Barely.

Beside me, Griffin’s expression shifted from stunned to deeply confused. His brows furrowed and he turned to his father.

"Dad," he whispered. "How... how did he get here? Who did this to him?"

Before Michael could speak, a deep chuckle rolled through the shadows.

It was Zane.

Standing just behind us, still cradling Alexander in his arms. Zane smirked. "The King did," he said coolly. "My father. He arrested Darius, Timothy, and a few other lovely members of your former pack for their crimes against Natalie, her parents, and others."

Shock rippled through Griffin’s face again—but this time, it lit up with something unexpected.

Joy.

His lips curved into a slow, wide smile. "Good," he muttered. "Good."

I blinked at him, stunned. Of all the reactions I expected—guilt, horror, maybe grief—joy was the last on the list. But it was genuine. He looked like someone who had waited years for justice and finally saw it caged before him.

Funny. I felt that, too.

Oddly enough, despite the sharp senses werewolves were supposed to have, Darius and Timothy still hadn’t noticed us. Maybe it was the shadowy corridor or maybe Jasmine was cloaking our presence, but they remained unaware. Timothy hadn’t looked up once—he was hunched in a pitiful ball, silent and small. The man who once made my life a nightmare was now a whimpering heap of regret, and I didn’t feel the slightest pity.

Griffin took a step forward, steel in his spine.

The sound echoed.

Darius’s head snapped up.

His dark eyes locked on his nephew, and they flared. "Griffin?"

There was a beat of silence before he sneered. "What the hell are you doing here? You’re not my family anymore."

Griffin’s jaw tensed, but he didn’t flinch.

"Ever since your sorry excuse for a father and my so-called father decided to crawl behind my back and spill everything to the king about that tiny misunderstanding—you know, the one where I accidentally killed Princess Katrina—I’ve been done with all of you."

He sneered, pacing like a caged predator, venom lacing every word. "And before you get all righteous—no, I didn’t know she was Michael’s mate. Would it have stopped me? Maybe. Maybe not. Doesn’t matter now."

He turned sharply, eyes burning with betrayal. "But you? You were supposed to be different. I trained you. I was shaping you to take over the Silverfang Pack. My legacy. My blood. And what did you do? You join the rest of them to stab me in the back."

"Families don’t stab each other in the back!" Darius roared, lunging forward. The chains at his wrists snapped tight with a harsh metallic clank, the collar around his neck jerking him backward like a dog on a leash. His fury crackled in the air like lightning before a storm.

From the edge of the room, another voice cut through the chaos—calm, quiet, but colder than steel.

"Then you never had the right to call us family in the first place," Michael said, stepping out from the shadows.

His expression was unreadable. Voice like winter. Steady. Icy. The kind of cold that doesn’t just freeze—it burns after years of silence and betrayal.

"You destroyed Griffin the moment you laid your filthy mark on his mate. You knew she belonged to someone else. You knew she was vulnerable. And you did it anyway."

Michael’s stare was unwavering. "Don’t talk to me about betrayal. You lost the right to speak on loyalty the day your madness tore this family apart.".

Darius scoffed, the picture of wounded pride. "Please. She was just a wolf-less orphan girl. I was doing the pack a favor."

Griffin growled.

"You made me reject her!" he snapped. "You humiliated her, and you ruined my bond with my mate. I rejected her because of you! Because you marked her like some trophy and made me believe she was—" He stopped, his voice shaking. "You told me she wasn’t worth it. That she wasn’t even a real wolf."

Darius just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, spare me the melodrama. You made your choice."

"I’m not denying that," Griffin spat. "I was a coward. But you were the one who laid the foundation. I came here today not to argue or fight. I came to say something that’s been choking me for years."

Darius raised a brow. "And what’s that, boy?"

Griffin’s lips trembled, but his voice didn’t falter. "I’ll never forgive you. For what you did to Natalie. For turning me into someone I hated. I was supposed to protect her, and instead, I let her go because of your poison. I hope you rot in this dungeon. I hope you never see sunlight again. I hope the darkness swallows you whole."

Timothy still hadn’t moved. His shoulders curled tighter like he wanted to vanish into the stone. A far cry from the arrogant pig who used to press himself against me in the hallways, breathing down my neck like a demon.

Now he was just... quiet.

Broken.

Darius didn’t share his Beta’s defeat. He laughed.

Laughed.

"You really think this is the end?" he sneered. "Please. I’ve got friends in high places. I won’t be in here long. The King can’t keep me forever. So enjoy your little moment of rebellion, Griffin, because I’ll be free before the moon turns again. And your wish?" He grinned. "Won’t come true."

That was it.

Zane and I stepped out of the shadows, finally making our presence known.

Zane’s presence filled the corridor like a storm rolling in. His hair shimmered under the torchlight, his cold eyes locked on Darius with deathly precision. Alex still sat quietly in his arms, content and oblivious inside the invisible protective bubble I’d conjured. He hummed softly, fingers curled in his father’s shirt, unaware of the cruelty caged before us.

And me?

I stepped forward slowly, letting my voice fall like a blade.

"Is that what you think, Darius?"

He stiffened.

That voice—my voice—pierced through his arrogance.

He looked up.

His eyes met mine.

And for the first time since I’d known him... Alpha Darius looked afraid.