The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter-Chapter 96: Lifeless

Cassandra~

I needed clarity. I needed to think.

The penthouse was silent when I returned, the sunlight seeping through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I stood in the middle of the living room, my mind a tangled mess of unanswered questions and fragmented plans. I was at a crossroads, and for the first time in a long while, I had no way out.

Nera stirred within me, her energy restless and erratic. "We can’t kill our mate," she hissed in my head, her voice low and unsettling. "This wasn’t how things were supposed to go."

I ran a hand through my hair, frustration bubbling under my skin. "No kidding," I muttered under my breath.

The door burst open with a loud slam.

I turned sharply just as Griffin stormed in, his face contorted with fury, his hands clenched into tight fists. He looked like a man on the verge of ripping the entire place apart.

"You—" His voice was a sharp snarl, his gray eyes burning with rage. "You ruined everything!"

I narrowed my eyes, my patience thinning by the second. "Griffin—"

"You think this is a game?!" he yelled, pacing back and forth like a caged beast. "Do you even realize how much work I put on this? How much time I wasted on you?! And for what? For you to mess everything up with your impulsive, reckless decisions?"

I clenched my jaw. "Shut up."

But he didn’t. He stepped closer, his rage boiling over into venomous words. "I can’t believe I actually thought you were worth my time. I built everything—everything—for this moment, and you? You just tore it apart like it was nothing."

I crossed my arms, glaring at him. "I said, shut up. I’m trying to think."

Griffin let out a bitter, humorless laugh. "Think? Now you want to think?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "You know what your problem is, Cassandra? You rely too much on that pathetic excuse of a demon. You drink vampire blood just to keep yourself from falling apart, clinging to scraps of power like a leech. And for what? To pretend you’re something more than a half-broken, pitiful excuse of a hunter?"

Something inside me snapped.

Before I could respond, the temperature in the room plummeted.

A dark, swirling presence filled the space, thick and terrifying. The very air trembled. Shadows stretched unnaturally along the walls, and the scent of something wrong—something ancient—coiled around us like a noose.

Kalmia had arrived.

Her demon’s form materialized out of the darkness, a wraith-like figure with obsidian eyes that pulsed with barely restrained malice. Her presence sent a chill crawling down my spine.

"You dare insult me?" Her voice was silk and razors, a whisper that carried the weight of death itself.

Griffin turned, his anger momentarily shifting into unease. "I—"

He didn’t get the chance to finish.

Kalmia’s clawed hand shot forward, wrapping around Griffin’s throat in an iron grip. His eyes widened in shock as his body lifted off the ground. He struggled, his hands grasping at her wrist, but it was useless.

"Great mother, no!" I screamed, stepping forward.

She didn’t even look at me.

"Arrogant brat," Kalmia murmured, tightening her grip. "I no longer have use for you."

Griffin gasped, his face turning pale as his legs kicked uselessly in the air. He tried to say something—maybe to fight back, maybe to plead—but the words never came.

With a sharp twist, Kalmia snapped his neck.

The sound of breaking bone echoed through the penthouse.

Griffin’s body went limp in her grasp.

She let go, and he crumpled to the floor like a discarded rag doll, his lifeless eyes staring at nothing.

Fear sank its claws into me.

My breath caught in my throat, my pulse hammering. My brain refused to process what had just happened.

"You killed him," I whispered, my voice shaking. "Why?"

Kalmia took on a human form before she turned her dark, soulless eyes toward me, unbothered. "He was unnecessary. A liability. His usefulness had expired."

I clenched my fists, my entire body trembling with rage. "You told me to get close to him! You were the one who said we needed him—so why the hell did you just kill him?!"

Kalmia tilted her head, her lips curling into a faint smirk. "Are you deaf? I just told you he was no longer needed." She stepped over Griffin’s corpse as if he were nothing more than an inconvenience. "Besides," she murmured, her voice dripping with amusement, "his constant whining was getting annoying."

I sucked in a sharp breath, fury clawing at my insides.

Griffin was many things—a pain in the ass, a reckless idiot—but he had been useful. A useful pawn, yes, but he was just a kid, he still had a lot to learn. He didn’t need to die in such a cruel manner.

Now he was gone.

And for what?

Because Kalmia had decided on a whim that he was no longer worth the effort?

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The rage inside me was a wildfire, burning hotter with every passing second.

Kalmia’s eyes narrowed slightly, sensing my hesitation. "Tell me, my little wolf," she purred, tilting her head, "weren’t you the one who wanted him dead more than anyone else?"

My breath caught in my throat.

I couldn’t answer.

I had wished for Griffin’s suffering—had fantasized about revenge ever since he set a trap for me using the vampires, but now that he was lying there, lifeless, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle... something twisted painfully in my chest.

Kalmia’s smile faded, her voice dangerously soft. "I hope you’re not going soft on me, dear."

I forced myself to meet her gaze, swallowing down the lump in my throat. If she sensed weakness, she would be disappointed in me, and her disappointment always came with a cost. I couldn’t afford to be weak.

I shook my head quickly. "Of course not," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. "I’m just... surprised, that’s all."

A slow, knowing smirk crept across her face. "Good."

A sudden vibration cut through the tense silence.

I snapped my head toward Griffin’s body, my eyes widening as his phone buzzed against the marble floor. The screen lit up with a name that made my blood run cold.

Sebastian.

I held my breath.

Of all people, why did he have to call Griffin now?

Kalmia’s chuckle sent a fresh wave of unease through me. "Now, what are you going to do about that?" she mused, eyes gleaming with dark delight.

I turned to her, voice sounding very small. "Well now that Griffin is dead, I don’t know. Griffin had been the one making the plans on how to approach Sebastian."

Kalmia threw her head back and laughed, the sound echoing hauntingly around the room. "Oh, Cassandra, my dear little wolf, don’t you see?" She leaned closer, her fingers trailing along my jaw, her touch as cold as ice. "We don’t need Griffin anymore. Sebastian will be dying to see you now—no matter what. You’re his mate after all."

A sick feeling coiled in my stomach.

Sebastian.

My hand trembled as I reached for the phone, my thumb hovering over the power button. I could shut it off. End this right now.

But Kalmia’s hand shot out, gripping my wrist with crushing strength.

"Ah-ah," she tutted, shaking her head. "Let it ring."

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Let him grow desperate," she continued, her voice laced with amusement. "Let him wonder why little Griffin isn’t answering. Let the panic set in. Let him search for you. And when he’s at his most vulnerable..." She leaned in, whispering against my ear, "That’s when you strike. That’s when you kill him."

I felt like the ground had been ripped out from beneath me.

Sebastian.

No.

I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

In that short time I had spent in his office, looking at him, staring into those deep, dark, knowing eyes, something inside me had snapped into place. It was crazy—insane, even—but I knew, without a doubt, that I would do anything just to protect him.

And now Kalmia wanted me to kill him?

Hell no! Not in this life or the next.

Nera stirred inside me, growling in protest. "We’re not going to sit back and watch our mate die," she snarled. "I won’t allow it."

I lifted my chin, forcing myself to look Kalmia in the eyes. "I can’t do it," I said, my voice firm despite the terror in my veins. "No matter how many times you ask me to do it, I won’t be able to kill Sebastian. I’m sorry, Great mother, but I just... I won’t."

A slow, eerie smile stretched across Kalmia’s lips.

And then—

Pain.

Her fingers wrapped around my throat, squeezing with inhuman strength.

I gasped, clawing at her wrist, my vision blurring as my airway was crushed. My legs kicked uselessly beneath me.

She pulled me closer, her voice as sweet as honey, as deadly as a viper.

"You’ve disappointed me, little wolf," she whispered.

Then she threw me.

The impact was brutal. My back slammed into the wall, the force cracking the plaster. My body crumpled to the ground, pain exploding through me in waves.

Before I could even process what was happening, Kalmia lifted her hand—and darkness swallowed me whole.