Chapter 166

166 Legacy Of Ashes

Lucian

“You were named after your grandfather,” Lydia said, her tone softening briefly. “Alpha Lucian Redlock. He was already gravely ill by then, and your grandmother had passed. There wasn’t much he could do, but even in his condition, he said he never doubted Vander’s love for Natasha. And because of that, he let them be.”

I sat motionless, listening as the puzzle pieces of my family’s past began slotting into place-only they didn’t paint the picture I’d always believed in.

“The marriage seemed to flourish in public,” Lydia continued. “But behind closed doors… your mother wasn’t happy. She struggled to conceive. And your father-he loved her, yes-but that love turned cruel when she couldn’t give him an heir.”

She paused, her eyes flickering with restrained anger. “He told her he was the last of the Nighthorn line. That the bloodline

couldn’t end with him. That it mustn’t. And every passing year without a child became another burden on Natasha’s