"Dad, how could you–" Dominic started, but Grayson’s wolf growled wildly.
Cyrus quirked his brows.
This was indeed the first ti his grandfather had been so hard on Dominic.
What changed? Was it really because that bastard insulted Alia? Or was there a deeper aning behind the sudden change in his attitude?
"Shut up! Haven’t you disgraced the family enough by using underhanded tricks during a duel that was supposed to be fair and square? And Amora, I thought you wouldn’t pick sides, at least, but you’re on his side just because he’s our son? Have you forgotten your responsibility as Sebastian’s mother?" Grayson asked.
Amora felt tongue-tied.
When did she pick sides? Wasn’t she the one who accepted the duel deal? Wasn’t she the one who slapped Dominic just now when he was wrong?
And during the match...
The sight of Cyrus lying in the pool of his blood and asking for help from Alia and no one else surfaced in her mind, and her lips trembled.
She didn’t move so quickly when Cyrus was hurt. That attack could’ve been lethal. What if it had killed him for real? They always thought the man was so strong that hurting him lethally was impossible, that she did not even let the doubt creep into her mind.
"I..."
Grayson took a deep breath.
He shook his head at his family and walked to Alia before bowing to her.
"I apologise sincerely on behalf of my son, Alia. He did wrong. We should’ve taught him well," the man said.
This was the third ti the man surprised everyone.
"Grayson," Amora looked at her husband in shock.
The man who never bowed before the demons and vampires when fighting them and establishing the peace, the man who never bowed to the rogues even when he was outnumbered and who led the werewolf Kingdom with his steel-like grip and beast wolf, was bowing to a re healer? A re teenager.
Alia’s mark glowed.
She looked at the faint white glow that didn’t hurt this ti.
That lady’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind. When you recognise your real worth, this will stop hurting you.
Her gaze travelled to Cyrus briefly. The man’s confident eyes told her that she was allowed to respond however she wanted, and he would back her up.
"I understand," she said.
Not the acceptance, nor the rejection of the apology. Just understanding.
Grayson nodded and stood straight.
"He is your culprit. How do you wish to punish him?" He continued.
"Dad," Elysia stepped ahead.
This wasn’t going to go well. First, her son got beaten up like that, and now her husband was being treated like this.
She believed her father-in-law was acting a bit too strictly.
"Dominic, apologise to Alia imdiately. You did wrong. It’s better to admit your mistake than to act tough uselessly," Amora quickly jumped in.
Dominic gritted his teeth.
The odds were not in his favour anymore.
As the proud alpha, he did not want to apologise to her at all. However, as the situation unfolded, he was left with no choice but to follow.
He took a deep, agonizing breath before turning to Alia.
"I..." He started, but before he could continue, Alia raised her hand.
"You don’t need to apologise," She said in a soft tone.
Amora heaved a sigh of relief.
"It’s aningless. Sir Dominic will apologise without aning it. And I hate him enough not to forgive him. This will insult him, and then he will find out ways to hurt my husband, make things hard for us. Let’s stop this cycle. I don’t want this apology. Just don’t bother ," Alia said, looking straight into the man’s eyes.
The images of her past life, when the man had ordered his n to shoot her with multiple arrows, flashed in her head.
It was painful. The betrayal from her sister and Alpha Killian was fresh and hurtful, but the way this man planned everything to kill his own brother’s son because of the throne, for so many years, was agonizing as well.
She might go easy on Hannah and Killian for what they did to her, but not on this man for what he did to Cyrus, for how long he deceived everyone.
"Alia, what are you saying? How can you spout such words? Dominic is akin to your father-in-law," Amora scolded Alia.
Alia didn’t flinch at her words, not when she knew she had her husband’s support.
"A father-in-law who barged into my bedroom? No thanks. Is my hatred illogical, though?" She asked before looking at Dominic.
"What is this hatred from your side for? You always say you deserve this and that, but was anything partial? Among you and Father Sebastian, he won fair and square, yet you keep whining about how you deserved it. Among my husband and Patrick, my husband won fair and square, yet you are here to humiliate to put us down," Alia said.
Then she shrugged at Amora as if challenging the forr Luna Queen to rebuke her with logic.
"I think that’s enough," Cyrus said.
Alia looked at him, and seeing his suddenly furrowed brows, she beca a little confused.
Was what she said wrong? Did he not like it?
She was about to apologise to Cyrus when the man spoke.
"You don’t need to explain yourself. It’s quite hypocritical. One mont, you call her a part of the family, yet you’re scared to announce her as my wife. You want her to respect everyone as if they were her family, yet you keep telling her she is temporary. Save it," Cyrus walked to Alia and held her hand.
He looked at the mark from Dominic’s steel-like grip from earlier, Sylas growling inside him possessively.
He massaged the mark with his thumb before bringing her hand up and kissing it.
Since the mark was positioned right above the glowing mark that was invisible to anyone, Alia felt a sudden burst of energy inside her, and her eyes turned amber for a fleeting second.
Grayson, who was facing her and noticing her from the beginning, noticed the change imdiately, and the mage’s voice echoed in his head like a chant.
He clenched his fists.
This trip wasn’t worthless. It was worth every second of his life. His family was about to rewrite history. And things could change from bad to best, depending on how they navigated through these changes, with the most significant change being Alia herself.
"I am fine. You don’t need to worry. I am sorry you had to co even when you were healing. Sotis I feel like I am a burden to you," Alia looked genuinely sad this ti.
Cyrus smiled at her words.
"If you were a burden, I would happily want to have it on my shoulders for the rest of my life. However, you are not a burden. You are my wife. Cyrus’s Valentine’s wife. Sylas’s wife. And it’s better if everyone starts realising that I am not giving up on you. I don’t give two fucks about the Queen trials. You are my queen," Cyrus said, looking straight at Grayson.
The man nodded absentmindedly.
"I don’t object. We will hold the Queen trials following tradition. However, it will just be a ga between alpha females to beco the strongest she-wolf to attain royal recognition. Alia will stay your wife," Grayson said.
Amora looked at her husband, perplexed. She wanted to ask him why he was doing all this. Why was he suddenly supporting this healer? Was there sothing that she didn’t know about?
However, she kept her mouth shut.
It was better to ask about such things when alone than in front of the entire family.
"Great. I’ll wait for the announcent of the crowning ceremony then," Cyrus smirked, his daring eyes looking straight at Dominic.
Why?
Because this little stunt has just given them an upper hand in things around Dominic.
With the evidence from Kyle on how Dominic had hired the rogues to kidnap Alia, he knew the man was soon going to dig his own grave, and he would happily bestow flowers on it.
Dominic glared at Cyrus.
This wasn’t how he planned his night to go.
"Soone attacked the Bentley Estate. The main building was blown while we were at the duel," Dominic said.
Cyrus nodded.
"As the King, I am well aware of the matters of the kingdom. I heard about it. A little investigation led to the rogue’s link. I’ll ask my people to look into it. Why would rogues particularly target you when you don’t even live in the royal palace?" Cyrus’s gaze was more mocking than his words, and Dominic sighed.
Elysia looked at her husband in shock. Was that the reason he asked her to go to the main palace?
Lilithia, on the other hand, looked at Alia with a complicated expression. When she saved her life earlier, she had really thought she was a good person, but the way she talked about her dad and acted, Lilithia no longer liked her.
Her lips pursed into a thin line.
"Alia, can I have a little chat with you? I know you have classes tomorrow. How about evening?" Grayson ignored everything else and asked Alia.
Alia looked at Cyrus, and when the man nodded, she nodded at the forr alpha King.
"I’ll co look for you," Grayson said before he looked at Dominic and the rest of the family mbers.
Everyone imdiately looked down and exited the Grand Palace one by one.
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