Chapter 135

Chapter 135: Chapter 135

Dominic’s Point of View

Ivy and I slipped past the perimeter walls, expertly avoiding the routine patrols of the Silvermoon Pack house. We sprinted in complete silence until we breached the backyard compound of the Azure Leafs pharmacy, entering the vault where my father had locked away the evidence to get his late mother the justice she deserved.

Inside the cell, two old maids who had served my grandmother, the old Luna, before her tragic passing decades ago sat on two stools.

Ivy glanced around the room, her eyes settling on the elderly women before turning to me.

“What are we doing here?” she asked.

“I’m here to make them talk,” I replied.

She scoffed. And I knew exactly why she scoffed.

“Their tongues were cut out,” she said. “They can’t talk.”

“Then we’ll have to find another way.” I pressed.

“How?” she asked, looking at me incredulously. “How are we supposed to make these elderly women with no tongues talk?”

“That’s why I brought you,” I said. “You’re brilliant. I know you’ll come up with an idea.”

Ivy stepped forward, dropping her hood as she knelt directly in front of the trembling, elderly women.

"I know your tongues were cut out to keep you silent," Ivy said softly. "But I don’t need words to uncover a poison. I am going to ask you about the white ginseng roots. Look into my eyes."

The two old maids stared at Ivy. Ivy pulled a charcoal rendering of Mrs. Margot from her side bag and laid it flat onto the table.

"When the late Luna fell ill, was it this woman who brought the pre-soaked resin into the kitchen?" Ivy asked.

Truly, the two old women gasped hoarsely, their bodies shivering with fear as they looked at the illustration. They didn’t hesitate for a single second as they frantically nodded their heads over and over again to confirm the identity, their trembling fingers lifting from their laps to point directly at Margot’s picture.

"And did she threaten to slaughter your entire families if you ever alerted the old Alpha?" I pressed.

The mutes let out a sob, nodding as tears spilled down their cheeks. Ivy immediately took her pen and wrote down the horrific truth on paper. Once she was done writing, she pressed their ink-stained thumbs against the bottom of the page, bringing this undeniable evidence and the maids’ handwritten thumbprint signatures securely into our possession.

"I think we’re done here, Dominic," Ivy said to me, putting the jotter back into her purse as we prepared to return to the pack house overnight.

*

*

*

The Next Morning:

Ivy and I took our twins, Ethan and Selena, in our arms to pay our respects to my mother. The exact second the doors swung wide, we found that nearly all the noble women of the pack had gathered together in a dense, hushed circle.

"Oh, look who we have here." Mrs. Margot cooed smoothly, a sweet, radiant smile anchoring to her wrinkled face as she sauntered over to my wheelchair. She leaned her head forward, pretending to be deeply concerned about my condition as her eyes mapped my legs.

"Tell me, Dominic, did the doctors manage to repair your shattered legs, or are you still crippled?" Mrs. Margot continued, indirectly calling me crippled.

"The journey was a complete failure," Ivy interrupted, stepping tightly to my side with a serene, submissive smile. "Even the most divine doctor could not cure his leg injury. The bone remains entirely stagnant."

The moment the words left Ivy’s lips, Mrs. Margot and Lady Otessa secretly exchanged a swift, triumphant look and breathed a sigh of relief.

"A pity," Margot muttered flippantly, her tone rapidly turning cold as she raised her chin. "But your weakness is nothing compared to your incompetence. The council is whispering that the two of you completely failed to find the ancestral iron box. You returned with empty hands!"

Before I could parry her venom, the door flew open. Bastian walked into the main drawing room in an incredibly dusty, haggard state, his battle armor caked in trail dirt.

"Bastian! My sweet boy!" his mother shrieked in distress, rushing forward to clutch his soiled mantle.

"I’m home, Mother," Bastian grunted, his face filled with exhaustion.

Suddenly, my father entered the palace room. He marched straight to the head dais, not offering a single greeting to the gathering elders.

"Silence!" My father roared. "Our rival country—the hostile Bloodmoon Pack Kingdom—has just officially sent their entire troops. A war is standing at our gates! I am ordering Bastian to rest, and then he will immediately lead our army to go to war! And he will be accompanied by Fred!"

"No!!! I oppose this madness!" Lady Otessa screamed, as her face turned pale. "Fred is my only child. You cannot send him to his early grave."

"This is an execution decree, Alaric!" Mrs. Margot chimed in with intense anger, her fingers clawing into her robes.

Within minutes, the door handle clicked again, and Lord Khalid got inside. Seeing his wife weeping, he immediately dropped to his knees before my father’s desk, pleading for mercy with a desperate, trembling voice.

"Brother, I beg of you, spare my son from this battle." Lord Khalid pleaded hoarsely. "The Bloodmoon armies are merciless! My son cannot go"

"Enough!" My father barked, as he slammed his fist flat onto the wood. "My son Bastian, and your son Fred... both of them are heirs to the prestigious title of this pack; they are fundamentally required to take on the defensive responsibility of this entire pack. If they refuse to bleed for the Silvermoon Pack, then we have nothing more to discuss."

"If you do not agree to match my decrees, I am proposing right now to permanently divide the household rooms! I will strip your branch of our funding, allowing your family to pack your own bags and manage your own separate territory on your own resources.”

Lord Khalid froze on the spot, his mouth hanging open in silence as he realized my father was fully prepared to cast them out.

My father stood up and left without another word, The tension that had choked the room finally broke. I turned to my wife, reaching down to take little Ethan as she gently cradled Selena against her chest.

"Let’s go back to our wing, Ivy," I said softly, guiding her out of the room.

Ivy and I left with our children, keeping our paces light as we slipped back across the courtyards. The moment we settled the twins onto the soft nursery rug, the armor of the court completely fell away. We sat cross-legged, and we deeply discussed what my father had decreed.

We spent the rest of the day doing purely fun things with our toddlers, laughing uncontrollably as Selena tried to mimic Ethan’s clumsy crawls, eating a grand feast of fresh roasted venison and sweet honey pastries.

When you are truly having a fun, peaceful time with the ones you love, time flies with a beautiful speed. By evening, the sanctuary was suddenly cut short by a hushed commotion near the outer gates. We heard from our scouts that my father was officially summoning everyone—every elder, commander, and branch member—to the central hall tomorrow morning.

Ivy and I looked at each other. We wondered what it would be, guessing what final card my father was prepared to play.

"Whatever it is, we’ll know by tomorrow," Ivy said, resting her head against my chest.

We cuddled close beneath the wool blankets and slept peacefully for the night.

The Next Morning:

My father sat on his alpha chair, holding Ivy’s signed paper tightly in his hand. Yesterday, we had given him the paper before going to see my mother.

"I bet you all are wondering why I have gathered you all under one roof this morning," my father said.

Everyone looked confused, not having any idea what he’d say next.

"By the supreme authority vested in me as the ruling alpha of the Silvermoon line, I stand here today to execute a decree of blood and law. Acting on behalf of my late father, I am executing a decree of total divorce against Mrs. Margot.” My father said.

Gasps erupted.