Let Them Kneel Chapter 94

**The cell held the kind of darkness that never fully lifted, even when the lights came on.**

**It smelled old—damp stone, rust, something faintly sour like mildew that had settled deep into the walls over time. The air felt stale, unmoving, as if it had been trapped there too long.**

**Somewhere beyond the walls, water dripped in a slow, uneven rhythm.**

**A quiet, persistent sound.**

**The only one that ever seemed to last.**

**Garrick shifted on the narrow cot, a low groan slipping from him as discomfort dragged him halfway out of sleep. The thin padding beneath him had long since stopped offering anything resembling rest. His body ached in ways that didn’t fade, joints stiff, muscles tight from too many nights spent on unforgiving stone.**

**A harsh buzz cut through the corridor.**

**Loud. Mechanical. Grating against the silence.**

**Garrick’s brow furrowed as he stirred, one arm dragging over his face.**

**The lights overhead flickered to life—dim, uneven, buzzing faintly as they struggled into a steady glow. Not bright enough to banish the shadows, just enough to remind every prisoner that another day had started.**

**Footsteps echoed down the corridor.**

**Measured. Unhurried.**

**A guard moved past each cell, a long baton in hand—its charged tip humming faintly as he dragged it along the metal, tapping against the doors as he went.**

**A sharp crack of contact.**

**Pause.**

**Another step.**

**Another crack.**

**Counting.**

**Always counting.**

**Garrick pushed himself upright slowly, shoulders stiff as he rubbed a hand over his face, dragging it down his jaw. He blinked against the light, still not fully awake, the sound of the guard moving past his cell barely registering.**

**The footsteps continued.**

**Faded.**

**Moved on.**

**Garrick lowered his hand and finally looked up.**

**And froze.**

**She stood in the far corner of the cell, half-shadowed, leaning back against the brick wall like she had every right to be there.**

**Arms crossed.**

**Watching him.**

**Garrick jerked slightly, the movement instinctive, his breath catching as his eyes locked onto her.**

**“Kaelani…?”**

**His voice was uncertain, like he wasn’t sure if saying her name would make her disappear.**

**“Hello, Garrick.”**

**The words were calm. Even.**

**Garrick stared at her for a second longer, like he was still trying to make sense of what he was seeing.**

**“Is it really you?” he asked, his voice rough from disuse. “I mean… are you actually here, or is this a—”**

**“This isn’t a dream-walk,” she cut in. “If that’s what you’re asking.”**

**Something in his expression shifted. Relief, maybe. Or something softer.**

**A faint smile touched his mouth.**

**“You came to see me?”**

**Kaelani’s gaze slipped away, her expression cooling as she looked off toward the opposite wall.**

**“Just wanted to see if you’d dropped dead or not.”**

**The smile didn’t hold.**

**It faded slowly, something flickering behind his eyes—there and gone before it could fully settle into anything she cared to name.**

**She didn’t linger on it.**

**“No,” he said after a moment, quieter now. “I’m… still kicking. Thanks to you.”**

**Kaelani didn’t respond.**

**The silence closed in, heavy but not empty.**

**Garrick shifted slightly where he sat, his attention still fixed on her.**

**“You look well, Kaelani,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about you… hoping you were alright.”**

**She let out a short, humorless scoff.**

**“That’s a first.”**

**Something shifted across Garrick’s expression.**

**Not defensiveness this time.**

**Something quieter.**

**“I deserve that,” he said.**

**The words came without resistance, like he wasn’t trying to fight them.**

**He hesitated after, his mouth parting slightly as if there was more he wanted to say—but whatever it was, it didn’t come.**

**A hush settled between them again, thicker this time.**

**Kaelani didn’t let it sit for long.**

**“Well,” she said, her tone anchored, “despite you trying to hide my existence and feeding the Council some story that painted you as faultless and me as the problem…”**

**Her gaze held his now.**

**“You were a victim of the woman who birthed me.”**

**A slight pause.**

**“She was malicious. And she used you.”**

**Her expression didn’t soften—but it shifted, just slightly.**

**“And for that… I suppose I feel sorry for you.”**

**Garrick stared at her.**

**“You met her?” he asked, the question lingering. “Your mother?”**

**“Yes.”**

**Kaelani’s voice didn’t stammer.**

**“And it wasn’t pleasant.”**

**A breath.**

**“But she won’t be bothering you—or anyone else in this realm—again.”**

**Garrick’s brow tightened.**

**“How can you be sure?”**

**Kaelani held his gaze.**

**No hesitation.**

**No emotion.**

**“Because I killed her.”**

**The words struck—firm, irreversible.**

**A flicker of shock crossed Garrick’s face.**

**His focus dropped,  settling somewhere on the stone floor as if he were turning something over in his mind.**

**“Well,” he said after a moment, “I suppose that’s… relieving.”**

**Kaelani didn’t respond right away.**

**Her attention shifted instead, drifting around the cell—the worn stone, the dim light, the narrow cot.**

**“This is what they gave you?” she said, her tone edged with something dry. “A powerful, wealthy Alpha… and this is where you end up?”**

**Her gaze flicked back to him.**

**“Couldn’t use all that money of yours to get something a little more… upscale?”**

**Garrick let out a faint breath, his attention following hers as he looked around the cell.**

**“My family cut me off,” he said. “Completely.”**

**His jaw tightened slightly.**

**“They’re my only tie to any of it—my resources, my name. And I haven’t received so much as a letter… or an answer to any of my calls.”**

**A bitter laugh slipped out of him, low and humorless.**

**“You’re the only one who’s come to see me.”**

**His eyes lifted back to hers, something almost ironic flickering there.**

**“Funny, isn’t it?”**

**He looked up at her with a small smile.**

**“The one person who has every right to shut me out… and here you are.”**

**Kaelani didn’t soften.**

**“Yeah,” she said flatly. “Well, your children are a bunch of assholes.”**

**A slight tilt of her head.**

**“I guess the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.”**

**Garrick didn’t meet her eyes.**

**“I guess it didn’t…” he mumbled.**

**A pause followed, like the words didn’t come easily.**

**“You, though…” he added, his voice snagging in his throat. “You turned out… you turned out wonderful.”**

**He finally looked at her.**

**“Despite everything.”**

**The words caught her off guard.**

**Kaelani swallowed, something tightening in her chest before she could stop it. It wasn’t a feeling she wanted. Didn’t understand. Didn’t trust.**

**And she refused to let it take root.**

**Her expression hardened slightly as she drew in a steady breath.**

**“I’ve got some things to settle with the Council,” she said. “I might put in a word about your release.”**

**Garrick’s head lifted, his attention snapping fully back to her.**

**“That’s… very kind of you,” he said. “More than I deserve.”**

**A faint shake of his head.**

**“I don’t deserve any kindness from you.”**

**“No,” she agreed. “You don’t. But we’ll call it even.”**

**Her gaze held his.**

**“For not throwing me out of the pack with nothing to live off of.”**

**Garrick didn’t look away this time and that was the first time she saw it clearly.**

**The weight in his eyes. The regret. The things he could never take back.**

**It sat there, unhidden.**

**She didn’t let herself fixate on it.**

**Kaelani pushed off the wall, adjusting her jacket—something to occupy her hands, something to keep everything else from settling where it didn’t belong.**

**“Goodbye, Garrick.”**

**The air shifted faintly around her, violet just beginning to gather—**

**“Kaelani—wait.” Urgency cut through his voice.**

**She stilled, her gaze settling on his as she waited.**

**Garrick didn’t hold her gaze for long. His eyes dropped to his hands, fingers curling slightly against his palms like he needed something to ground himself.**

**“When you were brought to me…” he began, the words slow, measured, “I didn’t want to believe you were mine.”**

**A faint breath left him.**

**“My wolf knew better.”**

**He shook his head slightly, almost at himself.**

**“There was something in him… something instinctive. A need to protect you. To nurture you.”**

**His shoulders sank a fraction, barely noticeable.**

**“But I was too stubborn. Too selfish to let that truth disrupt the life I’d already built.”**

**He kept his focus down.**

**“Still… my wolf never let it go. Neither did my conscience.”**

**His fingers curled loosely against his knee.**

**“I started going to the orphanage. Early mornings, ordering anyone who noticed to keep quiet about it.”**

**His voice softened, almost without him meaning it to.**

**“I’d hold you. Feed you. Change you.”**

**A small pause.**

**“You were a beautiful baby.”**

**Kaelani looked away, her teeth clenching as something unfamiliar stirred beneath the anger.**

**“Why are you telling me this?” she asked.**

**Garrick didn’t answer right away.**

**Instead, he continued.**

**“As you got a little older, I started coming in the afternoons,” he said. “During playtime.”**

**His gaze lifted slightly, though not quite to her.**

**“I’d watch you out on the playground. You were always laughing back then. Smiling.”**

**A faint, almost distant expression crossed his face.**

**“You looked… happy.”**

**It faded.**

**“Until you didn’t.”**

**His voice lowered.**

**“Somewhere around your early teens, something changed. That light in you… it just wasn’t there anymore.”**

**His eyes hardened slightly—not with anger, but with recognition.**

**“I saw how the others treated you. Like you were… less than. Especially when your wolf didn’t emerge.”**

**He took a second longer than he needed to.**

**“It got worse.”**

**Kaelani didn’t turn back.**

**“I moved you to the packhouse,” he went on. “Put you with the kitchen staff. Older women. I thought… they’d look after you. Treat you better.”**

**A pause stretched between them.**

**“But that emptiness…” he added quietly, “it never really left your eyes.”**

**His gaze finally lifted to her.**

**“And I knew…”**

**Another pause.**

**“I was the reason for it.”**

**Kaelani closed her eyes, willing away the sting rising behind them before it could take hold.**

**“I think I’ve heard enough.”**

**But Garrick didn’t stop.**

**“When you turned eighteen… and you were still wolfless,” he said, the confession weighing in his voice, “I’ll admit… I used that.”**

**He dragged a hand over his face.**

**“For my own benefit. And for yours.”**

**He shifted slightly, like the words themselves were uncomfortable to hold.**

**“It gave me a way to release you from the pack. To reduce the risk of the truth coming out.”**

**He pressed his lips together briefly before continuing.**

**“And to give you a chance to build a life somewhere else. A better one.”**

**His gaze dropped again.**

**“I could have done better, Kaelani. I see that now. But I did what I thought was best at the time.”**

**His gaze found hers again, the control in it faltering just enough to show what lay beneath.**

**“I did care about you.”**

**Kaelani shook her head, her eyes still closed.**

**“No,” she said, her voice sharp, unmoved.**

**“You only cared about yourself.”**

**Garrick shook his head slightly.**

**“I cared for you,” he said. “Whether you believe it or not.”**

**Kaelani’s eyes snapped open.**

**And this time, she didn’t hold back.**

**“If you cared about me,” she said, her voice slicing through the space between them, “you would have been a damn father to me.”**

**She stepped forward, the distance between them closing just enough to make the words land harder.**

**“You wouldn’t have left me in some orphanage to grow up alone and rejected. Year after year, watching other children get adopted—go to happy homes, to people who actually wanted them.”**

**Her voice threatened to break, but she didn’t let it.**

**“While I was left wondering what the hell was wrong with me.”**

**Her expression left no room for doubt.**

**“But you heard it, didn’t you?” she went on. “The whispers.”**

**A bitter edge crept in.**

**“She’s weird… her scent’s off… she’s a wolfless freak.”**

**She let out a short, unamused breath.**

**“And it didn’t stop there. Not when you moved me in to the packhouse.”**

**She held his attention.**

**“If anything, it got worse.”**

**Her features settled into something colder.**

**“Only this time, it came from your own spoiled-ass children.”**

**Her voice dropped slightly, but the weight behind it only grew heavier.**

**“And you saw it. The way they treated me. The mental abuse. The physical abuse.”**

**Her fingers curled against her palm, nails pressing into skin.**

**“And you did nothing.”**

**Silence stretched for a fraction of a second.**

**Then—**

**“So don’t you dare sit there and tell me you cared,” she finished, her tone rising with indignation. “Because you never gave a shit about me.”**

**Kaelani wiped at the tear that slipped free, brushing it away with a sharp flick of her hand—more irritated that it had fallen at all than anything else.**

**Garrick pushed himself to his feet and moved toward her slowly.**

**“You deserved more,” he said, his voice fraying at the edges. “I know that. You needed me to be there. You needed a father… and I failed you in every sense of the word.”**

**He took another step, closing the distance between them.**

**“But it’s not too late for us,” he went on, the words catching as something real finally pushed through.**

**“If you give me a chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for it… for all of it.”**

**He stopped just in front of her.**

**“I’ll be the father you needed me to be.”**

**He lifted his arms slowly, uncertain.**

**Kaelani flinched.**

**It was immediate. Instinctive.**

**Garrick stilled, something tightening across his face—but he didn’t step back.**

**Slowly, carefully, he placed his hands on her shoulders.**

**And then he pulled her into him.**

**She went rigid.**

**She didn’t lean into him.**

**She didn’t return the embrace.**

**But she didn’t pull away either.**

**Every muscle locked, unfamiliar with the closeness—with the warmth of it, the weight of it—something she never expected from him, of all people.**

**“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice breaking open. “I’m so sorry… my daughter.”**

**And that was it.**

**Something inside her cracked.**

**Tears poured down her face, soaking into his shirt as she clutched at him without thinking, without stopping herself, all the restraint she’d clung to shattering at once.**

**Garrick’s arms tightened around her, holding her like she might slip through his fingers if he didn’t.**

**His own eyes filled, tears slipping free as he held her, one hand moving over her hair—gentle, careful—like he was trying to soothe something that should have been comforted years ago.**

**“It’s okay,” he murmured, his voice unsteady, thick with emotion. “It’s okay… I’ve got you now.”**

**And for the first time in her life—**

**she let herself be held.**