My Daughter Died Because of My Cheating Mate

"I said apologize to Lilith," Orion's voice was laced with contempt as he commanded me to apologize to Lilith, the very woman who had disrespected my daughter’s grave. The demand struck me like a physical blow, a surge of overwhelming sadness threatening to drown me.

I squared my shoulders and met his gaze with unwavering resolve. “Never!” I spat, my voice trembling with emotion.

Lilith, ever the manipulator, seized the moment to deepen the rift between us. She turned to Orion with a soft smile that barely concealed her malice. “Alpha, you always praised your mate for being generous, but look at her now. She’s behaving like a madwoman. Imagine the humiliation you’ll face when people find out about this. They’ll laugh at you for having such a mate.”

The moment he heard what Lilith had said, Orion's eyes filled with disgust as he glared at me. “Do you hear that, Seraphina? Don’t embarrass me. Go home and stay with Lyra. How could you leave her alone at the pack house?”

His words were a bitter irony. I stared at him, my teeth clenched in anger. “Do you even care about Lyra anymore?” I demanded, my voice cracking.

Since Lyra’s death, Orion had been absent. He hadn't shown his face at the pack house, hadn't been there to support me or to mourn our daughter. Even as the pack's leader, he had failed to acknowledge the losses suffered by his own wolves.

My wolf, always simmering beneath the surface, growled with a rage that mirrored my own. The thought of him deserving to die rather than Lyra gnawed at me.

Orion, oblivious to the depth of my anguish, replied with an air of self-assurance. “What are you talking about? Of course, I care about Lyra. I may be busy, but everything I do, I do for her. She’s my only daughter. One day, when she’s mated, I’ll give her the grandest gift imaginable. I want her to be proud of having an Alpha as her father.”

His words struck a nerve, igniting a firestorm of emotions within me. “Stop pretending, Orion!” I shouted, unable to contain my fury. “If you truly cared about Lyra, you wouldn’t have abandoned us at the border for Lilith. She was only six years old. Did you ever consider how terrified she was?”

Orion’s patience snapped. His face twisted in anger. “Why do you keep harping on about this? It was a minor issue. You’re making a mountain out of a molehill. Why can’t you just let it go?”

As if to punctuate his words, he kicked the urn that lay near the disturbed grave. It tumbled across the ground, spilling its contents—ashes that had once been Lyra—into the dirt.

The sight of her ashes scattering sent me into a state of shock. My mind went blank, and my wolf’s anguished howls filled the void. The grief I felt as I watched Lyra cornered by wolves was nothing compared to the pain of seeing her remains disrespected by her own father. The world around me darkened, and I barely noticed my own transformation. My heart turned black, mirroring the darkening of my wolf’s fur.

A gust of wind whipped through the cemetery, carrying Lyra’s ashes into the air. “No, don’t!” I cried, struggling against the wolf warriors who held me back. I reached out, desperate to grasp the fleeting particles, but they slipped through my fingers, disappearing like my daughter’s life.

"No..."

The last connection to Lyra was gone. I collapsed to the ground, trying to gather what little remained of her from the soil. Tears of despair streamed down my face, each one a silent testament to my overwhelming guilt and pain.

Lilith stepped forward, her voice dripping with false concern as she ground her heel into the scattered ashes. “Seraphina, it’s just a stranger’s ashes. Why are you putting on such a pitiful show? If you wanted to prevent Farrow from being buried here, you didn’t need to go to such lengths.”

Her words snapped something inside me. I surged to my feet, shoving her away with all the strength I could muster. She staggered back and fell, but the satisfaction was fleeting.

Orion’s face twisted with rage as he marched toward me. Without a word, he slapped me hard across the face. It was the first time he had ever hit me, but the physical pain was nothing compared to the torment in my heart.

“You left Lyra at home alone just to come here and bully Lilith out of petty jealousy. You’ve disappointed me beyond measure, Seraphina! How did Lyra end up with such a pathetic mother?”

His words were daggers, each one plunging deeper into my soul. Orion’s face was a mask of fury as he continued, “You like crying over strangers’ ashes? Fine, cry all you want! From now on, Lyra will be with me. You’re not fit to be her mother. I won’t let you poison her with your bitterness.”

Through the mind link, the Alpha gave an order. “Beta Herbert, take Lyra from the pack house and bring her to my private residence. Seraphina is no longer allowed to see her without my permission.”

There was a long pause before Beta Herbert replied hesitantly, “Alpha, Lyra... Lyra died in an ambush the day you were supposed to fetch her and the Luna at the border.”

Herbert’s voice broke slightly as he continued, “And Alpha, the grave Lilith chose for Farrow is where Lyra’s ashes were buried.”