Chapter 580: End Of The North Pack
"I even wrote him a letter!" Finn roared with rage. "I wrote him a fucking letter explaining who I was. Who my mother was!" His chest was heaving now, breath ragged. "The least he could have done was seek her out, apologize, or something. Anything! I don’t know, he could have tried to make it up to me."
Finn let out a harsh, bitter laugh. "But instead, some months later, I get chosen to be Alaric’s beta..." He spat the title like it was filth. "He couldn’t bring himself to apologize, but he had no problem making me serve the very son who’s living the life that should have been fucking mine! Is that how much of a joke I was to him?!" His laughter grew wild, edged with disbelief and pain.
Zara’s face hardened. "So let me get this right, you’re angry because your mother didn’t get an apology?"
Finn shot to his feet, shaking with restrained fury. "I’m angry because you all ruined my mother’s life. You ruined me!"
"Oh please, fucking grow up." Zara rolled her eyes, her tone razor-sharp. "Everybody goes through hard shit in life. The fact your mother let one failed relationship dictate her entire existence? That’s on her, not anyone else. It’s her fucking fault, not mine, not Caspian’s, and certainly not my sons’. If there’s anyone who owes you an apology, it’s your fucking bitch of a mother. Go get it from her!"
Finn went utterly still while she spoke, his face blanching. It was as if he couldn’t believe those words had just come out of her mouth. Then, slowly, his features twisted into rage, only for his face to smooth back into eerie calm.
By the time she finished, his lips formed a chilling smile. "You’re not scared."
"Scared of what?" Zara spat, venom dripping from her words. "Your cowardice? Or the fact that you’ll never amount to anything?"
She scoffed. "For a second there, I was almost scared you were Caspian’s bastard child. But to think you’re here bitching because you’re not the Alpha’s heir? Pathetic."
She tilted her chin, her voice cold as ice. "You’re even more cowardly than my husband,and that’s saying a lot. Now, if you don’t mind, get the hell out of my sight. I need to continue my sleep. I have a council judgment to tackle tomorrow."
For a beat, there was dead silence. Then Finn burst into dark, manic laughter.
"You really are as cold-hearted as your reputation precedes you, Zara Storm," he said, his tone almost admiring. "I really made the right choice coming here."
A sinister laugh escaped his lips again. "Even in the face of death, you’re still playing it cool. I love that. Mad respect." He mock-saluted her.
Contrary to Finn’s words, Zara was scared as hell. But she wasn’t going to cower in front of this boy. If she went down tonight, she’d do so fighting.
"I could have waited until tomorrow to watch the fall of the North pack," Finn began his disturbing confession,"To see you and your precious family die together."
His smile darkened. "But after the way you treated your son’s mate, it kind of triggered something in me. I wanted to see the look on your face as I took the life out of you. I want you to know you were killed by one of those children you so arrogantly look down on. I want to see your blood coat my fingers..." His voice dropped to a hiss. "Would it be red, or black like your cold-blooded heart?"
Zara gulped nervously. But one thing stood out in his words. "What do you mean, the end of the North pack?"
Finn’s smile widened, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Oh, that. I had a little help. You remember Patrick, don’t you?" He began to pace, his voice rising with manic excitement. "He treated me back at Lunaris Academy. Said there was something wrong with my head. Maybe he’s right. But I didn’t care, not when he offered me the one thing I wanted most: to see the North burn."
He gestured dramatically as he explained, "Out of all four packs, the North is the most technically advanced, and a fortress. If Patrick destroys the North, the others will fall like dominoes."
He shook his head thoughtfully, "Of course, the west pack is a strong one. But Henry’s death is stirring a bit of political unrest at the moment. One move, they go down. Once the North falls, then the West, and finally the East... the south then is a piece of fucking cake. They’re hopeless."
For the first time, the blood drained from Zara’s face. She had thought this was a foolish boy’s revenge — something she could handle — but this was far bigger than she’d imagined.
"Patrick hates our kind!" Zara snarled through gritted teeth. "He’ll kill us all and you’d still side with him? Betray your own people?"
"Oh, I’m you’re people now," Finn mocked her.
He said, "I told you. I don’t care. Wolves have committed atrocities for centuries. Maybe it’s time our reign ended."
"And now...." Finn slowly reached into his coat and drew a silver-laced dagger, the blade gleaming coldly in the light.
"Are you ready to die?" he asked casually, as if it was a normal thing.
He advanced on her with slow steps, his voice dropping to a chilling drawl. "Don’t worry, Luna Zara. It’ll be a long, painful death."
Finn lunged at her with a feral snarl, but
Zara reacted on instinct, diving off the bed just as he reached her. His momentum sent him crashing into the mattress while she rolled to her feet, her heart pounding in her chest.
With a burst of adrenaline, Zara swung her fist at his face. Her punch connected solidly with his jaw, snapping his head to the side, but without her wolf’s strength, it barely slowed him.
Finn turned back to her with murder in his eyes.
Zara didn’t give him the chance to recover and drove her knee upward, slamming it hard between his legs.