The Witch and Her Four Dangerous Alphas-Chapter 240: Father you are mistaken, I am not your daughter!

Chapter 240: Chapter 240: Father you are mistaken, I am not your daughter!

Selene’s POV~

I stopped walking.

My feet refused to move any further, even though my father was still pulling me forward through the narrow passage hidden behind the palace walls. The stone beneath my shoes felt cold, damp, like a grave waiting to close. My chest felt tight, my breathing shallow, and every step away from the palace felt like betrayal.

Just as we were about to enter another dark passage that would take us far away from everything I loved, I finally opened my mouth.

"Father," I said, my voice shaking but clear. "I’m not going."

He stopped so suddenly that I almost crashed into his back. In the next second, he turned sharply toward me, his eyes wide with disbelief, his face hardening like stone.

"What did you say?" he asked in a deep, dangerous voice.

"I said I’m not going," I repeated, my heart pounding violently. "I can’t leave like this. I can’t abandon them and hide while everyone I love is left behind to die."

"No," Maximus said immediately, stepping toward me, gripping my shoulders. "You are going. You cannot stay here. This place is no longer safe."

His voice cracked as he spoke again, lower now, desperate. "You are my only child. If something happens to you, I would never forgive myself. Do you understand that?"

For the first time, I saw him plead.

And that shattered something inside me.

My throat tightened painfully as I looked at his face, the fear etched deep into his eyes, the worry trembling in his hands. I didn’t even know if he was truly my father, not really, yet the way he looked at me felt too real, too raw to ignore. If he sacrificed himself trying to save me, would that not be the cruelest fate of all?

My heart felt like it was being squeezed from all sides.

I didn’t want to leave my mates.

I didn’t want to leave Vaelen.

And I didn’t want my father to die for me.

Tears burned my eyes, but I forced myself to speak.

"Father," I said slowly, pulling my hands away from his grip and stepping back, "maybe I am not your child at all. Maybe... you are mistaken."

His eyes widened instantly.

"What nonsense are you speaking?" he snapped, his brows furrowing deeply. "Have you lost your mind?"

But I kept stepping back, my chest rising and falling rapidly. "You are wrong," I said, my voice trembling now. "I am just a simple witch with no parents. My mother died when I was very young. Elarliya is not my mother. She never was."

His expression froze. "What?" he asked hoarsely.

"She used me," I continued, the words spilling out with years of buried pain. "She used me to gain your affection. She made me play a role, made me live a lie. She is not my mother. I met her only recently."

The air between us felt heavy, suffocating.

"You... are not Elarliya’s daughter?" he asked slowly, as if afraid the words themselves might shatter him.

I nodded. "No. She is not my mother."

For a moment, Maximus said nothing. He took a deep breath, then another, like he was trying to stop himself from falling apart. Then suddenly, he stepped forward again and grabbed my hand tightly.

"Whether Elarliya is your mother or not," he said firmly, his voice rough with emotion, "you are still my child," he said.

I stared at him in shock.

"I can smell my blood on you," he continued, his eyes glowing faintly. "A wolf father can never mistake his own cub. Never."

My heart skipped painfully.

"How can you be so sure?" I whispered. "This isn’t even my real face."

I swallowed hard before continuing. "Elarliya manipulated me. She erased my memory. She changed my appearance so I could resemble your daughter. This..." I gestured to myself, "...this is not me."

Before he could stop me, I lifted my hand and made a simple gesture.

Magic rippled through the air.

In seconds, my appearance changed. My features shifted, my illusion dissolving like mist. Silver hair cascaded freely, silver eyes shining under the dim light, but the face was different. Softer. Sharper. No longer Serena.

"I am Selene," I said quietly. "This is my real face. Look at me carefully. How could you mistake me for your daughter?"

Maximus went completely silent. He stared at me as if the world had shattered in front of him.

The silver hair. The silver eyes. So much like his. But the face...

His breath hitched violently. His hand flew to his chest as his knees suddenly buckled beneath him. He dropped to the ground with a sharp gasp, pain tearing through his expression.

"Father!" I cried, rushing to him and dropping to my knees beside him, gripping his shoulders. "Are you alright? Please... look at me, are you okay?"

He didn’t speak.

He just stared at me, as if I were a ghost pulled out of his worst nightmare, something his mind refused to accept as real. His eyes moved slowly over my face, tracing every line, every familiar curve, and with every second that passed, his expression broke further, as if the truth was tearing him apart piece by piece.

His lips parted, but no sound came out.

Then his breath shattered.

A sharp, broken gasp escaped his chest as his hand pressed hard against his heart, fingers clawing at his coat like he was trying to rip the pain out of himself. His shoulders began to tremble, not with rage, not with fear, but with something far worse.

Regret.

"No..." he whispered hoarsely, shaking his head again and again, his eyes never leaving my face. "This is not real. This cannot be real."

He leaned closer, as if the distance between us was unbearable, his gaze desperate, searching for a flaw, a lie, anything that would prove this was an illusion. "Say it’s a trick," he pleaded under his breath. "Say this is magic. Say you are not her."

His fingers hovered inches from my cheek, trembling violently. He couldn’t touch me. He was afraid that if he did, I would vanish.

But I didn’t.

And that was what destroyed him.

A strangled sound tore from his throat as his knees finally gave out completely. He collapsed forward, his forehead nearly touching the ground, his breath coming out in ragged, uneven pulls.

"I have wronged my mate... how can I even be called her mate... she... she has suffered because of me," he said with a hoarse voice, tears now flowing from his eyes.