CHAPTER 88: 88 - NOT YOU

88

~Belinda’s POV

I looked at Lisa. Her eyes were already glossy, but I wasn’t done. Not yet.

"You think what I told you was bad?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. "Let me tell you the one that still makes my mom cry at night."

Lisa stared at me silently, afraid to say a word.

"This happened the day the triplets were born," I began, my voice low and tight. "I wasn’t there, I was just a baby myself. But my mom... she was the one who saw everything. She told me."

Lisa shifted on her seat, bracing herself.

"You know how everyone says Garrick loved his wife? How he changed after she died?" I gave a bitter laugh. "Yeah. But what they don’t say is what he did when she died."

"W-What did he do?" Lisa asked, already sounding scared.

"He lost it," I said simply. "Completely. My mom said the moment Luna died giving birth to the triplets, Garrick went mad. Not just angry. Broken. He trashed the room. Threw things. Shoved healers out of the way. Screamed at the top of his lungs."

Lisa was quiet, but her breathing had quickened.

"He blamed the babies," I said. "Said they killed her. That if she hadn’t gotten pregnant, if those three hadn’t come into this world, she’d still be alive."

Lisa let out a shaky breath.

"My mom said she was there when he walked past their tiny cribs. They were so small, Lisa. Not even a full day old. Kael was barely breathing. And Garrick just stood there, staring at them with hatred in his eyes."

"No..." Lisa whispered. "They were just babies..."

"Exactly," I said, emotion rising in my throat. "But that didn’t stop him. He told everyone that no one was to touch them. No one was to feed them. No wet nurses. No formula. Nothing. Said if they wanted to live, they should’ve brought their mother back."

Lisa gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.

"My mom tried to step in," I said. "She begged the guards. Pleaded with the healers. She said she even tried to sneak into the nursery at night with a bottle, but Garrick had guards posted at the door twenty-four seven."

Lisa shook her head, tears now running freely.

"By the second day, the triplets had stopped crying," I said. "They didn’t have the strength. Damon’s lips had turned blue. Rowan couldn’t even move. Kael was the worst. My mom said his breathing was so shallow, she thought he was gone."

"Oh my God," Lisa whispered. "How could he... how could he do that to his own babies?"

"Grief makes people cruel," I said bitterly. "But Garrick? He was already cruel. The grief just made him careless with it."

Lisa was now crying silently.

"My mom said it was one of the midwives who finally snapped," I continued. "She locked herself in the nursery when Garrick was out and fed the babies herself. And when Garrick found out, he almost killed her."

"What?" Lisa cried. "He tried to hurt her for feeding his starving children?!"

"Yeah," I said. "He threw her down a flight of stairs. She broke her back. Was in bed for months. And no one dared question him. No one."

Lisa covered her face with her hands.

"It wasn’t until Alpha Magnus came to visit from the neighboring pack, about a week later, that things changed. He found out what Garrick had done. And he threatened to call a council. Said if the babies died, Garrick would be put on trial for murder."

"What did Garrick do?" Lisa whispered.

"He backed off," I said. "But not because he cared. He just didn’t want to lose his position. So he assigned maids to care for the babies. But he never once held them. Never once looked at them with anything but hatred. That’s what they were born into."

Lisa shook her head slowly. "They never had a chance."

"They did," I said, my voice breaking. "Because they had each other. And my mom said even as babies, the triplets reached for one another. Damon would cry until someone laid him next to Rowan. Kael would always settle when he was near his brothers."

Lisa let out a long breath, clearly overwhelmed.

"I don’t tell you this for pity," I said softly. "I tell you this so you understand why they are the way they are. Why they don’t trust easily. Why Kael never feels good enough. Why Rowan is always angry. Why Damon wants to protect everyone but doesn’t know how to protect himself."

Lisa looked at me, tears running down her cheeks.

"I never knew..." she whispered. "I mean, I knew Garrick was harsh but... starving his babies?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

She didn’t say anything for a while. Just sat there, silent and crying.

And I didn’t blame her.

Because even I still cry when I remember the way my mom described those three helpless boys, alone in a crib, slowly wasting away because the one person who was supposed to love them the most chose to punish them instead.

They survived.

But it came with scars no one can see.

Lisa was quiet now. Completely quiet. Her hands rested limply on her thighs, her eyes swollen with tears. I didn’t feel sorry for her. Not even a little bit. Not this time.

I stood in front of her, arms folded, chest heaving.

"You done crying?" I asked, my voice sharp.

She looked up slowly. "Belinda..."

"No." I cut her off harshly. "Don’t say my name like you care. Because if you did, you would never question why we did what we did."

"And they would kill you too," I hissed, stepping closer to her, my eyes blazing. "Do you hear me, Lisa? If they ever feel even half the betrayal from you that they felt from him... they will not blink. They’ll end you without flinching."

She flinched now. I saw it.

I smirked bitterly. "You’re scared, aren’t you? Good. You should be. You’re walking around this place like it’s yours, like they’re your brothers. But I’m the only one who knows the pain they’ve lived with. The nightmares. The blood. The punishments."

I moved even closer and pointed at the door.

"I was there, Lisa. Not you. Me. Me. So don’t sit there and cry like you’ve got the right. You don’t. I’ve earned my place beside them. I understand them. You never will."

She stood up shakily. "Bel..."

"I am the rightful Luna," I shouted. "Not you. So get the hell out of their lives. Out of my room. Out of this pack if you can’t handle the truth."