Maybe the Moon Goddess finally took pity on me and decided I had enough suffering to last me a lifetime so she took away the physical pain. The thing is, I don't need any more pain, I have enough of that, so I just take my leave completely ignoring Jason. Not that he made any moves to stop me from going, anyway. I dart down the stairs and towards the front door. One small victory for me, because the door is unlocked and I make a run for the forest that can be seen close by. I quickly strip out of my clothes and shift, taking everything in my wolf's mouth.
Ming is silent, just running as fast as she can. She doesn't even howl in pain, she is numb, but I am not. Dark thoughts invade and cloud my mind as I keep reminding myself that I am worthless, nobody gives a crap about me and I just had to get rejected by my mate also. Not even my friends' care and love for me matters right now. I've been nothing but a headache for them since they've met me. I swear, every other week something happens and they need to go out of their way to save my sorry and pathetic ass.
Sure I hadn't felt the physical pain one usually feels when the mate bond is broken, but my heart is shattered, completely and beyond repair, shattered and there's nothing worse than that. I am but a shell of my former self. I am basically dead inside. Jason killed me and there is not much point to me just existing like this, using up space in this world.
I suddenly skid to a stop, my paws digging deep in the dirt. I'm on the edge of a steep cliff, small rocks are falling down because I've disturbed the soft ground around me. It's quite a long way down, and the fall looks deadly. A creepy smile blooms on my snout just as those dark thoughts creep even further into my mind. They are being way louder than any of Ming's pleas.
My mate, my Alpha, my saviour - MY ASS! That stupid bully Rianna was right.
20 - Past
Jason
“You moron. You sorry ass pathetic excuse of a human being!” Luder shouts at me, making me sick to my stomach because of the intense headache his ranting is causing. I ran to the bathroom and threw up a few times, like a fucking pregnant lady. My wolf is right, I am so fucking pathetic. Still, I was expecting more physical pain from the mate bong being destroyed. After a good hour I can't hear my wolf any more. Hell, I can't even feel my wolf anymore. It's bittersweet, because I feel like I've lost him, but I do welcome the quiet that comes with that. I know he's angry, I am too, but apparently for different reasons.
I have to go talk with my father before I need to head back to the Alpha Academy. I didn't even manage to catch up with Brian. I hope he's ready because he's coming with me no questions asked, and I do have somewhat of a plan. I just need to gather a bit more information from the current Alpha first. Luckily for me, that's my dad.
I need to know if our bond is broken or not, because it sure feels like I still have a mate and my body misses her terribly. fuck, it! I have to know more about Samantha's story and about Marie too. Something just doesn't add up, or actually it all adds up too neatly, it's suspicious. I also miss that stupid and hard headed wolf too, even though it kills me admit it, but I know that right now he would be telling me to keep the information about being my mate to myself. For some weird reason, I really doubt my darling cousin will go and tell my parents that I found my mate.
I take long strides to the floor where my father's office is and I quickly knock once, entering the room before he gives permission.
“Hello father.”
“Son.” He acknowledges me with a court nod of his head. I'm surprised to see my father like this. He looks lost, for lack of a better word. It's like he's aged 10 or more years since I last saw him in person, and that was no longer than 6 months ago. Have I missed anything? He didn't look quite like this during our video conferences. And it didn't go unnoticed that he is not that surprised about me being home.
“Has your mother seen you?” I shake my head no and me blinks once. I frown at his simplistic gestures and keep wondering what the fuck is going on here. For a split second I think that Marie might have spilled the beans about me and Samantha.
“I'm here to take Brian to the Academy.” It's not a lie, that was the main reason I came home. “And I also wanted to know more about this whole mess with Marie's friend, or former friend. As future Alpha I feel I need to know everything so as not to be blindsided.” Happy with how I've explained my sudden curiosity about Sam, I look at my father waiting for him to dismiss me, but that doesn't happen.
“Have a seat, Jason.” He walks to the liquor cabinet and opens it looking at some old bottle at the back of it. Smiling, he pours himself a glass of his finest whiskey and before putting the decanter back, he decides to make it a double and pours himself some more. I furrow my eyebrows in deep confusion when my dad takes that glass full of whiskey and hands it to me. OK, who the hell is this, because he's clearly not my father. He's acting too strange. He still has the glass in front of me, moving it slightly as to tell me to take it already, so I reluctantly comply.
“You'll need this, trust me.” He says as a matter of fact and then takes a seat behind his desk.
“The story is far more complicated than anyone could ever imagine. Right now, only me, your mother and the Baileys know the truth about what happened and how Samantha got into our pack. Although the Baileys don't know all the finer details, they know enough.
Son, if you knew everything, you would understand how this girl is more than capable of doing this, of plotting everything so cold heartedly.” I take that as my cue to take the first mouthful of the amber liquid that instantly burns all the way from my mouth to my stomach. It only reminds me why I've never been a fan of liquor. I enjoy beer and lighter stuff, but never been a fan of actual alcohol that burns.
“Samantha's birth parents killed Marie's parents.” Just like that, my dad rips the band-aid and tells me like he would just tell somebody the sky is blue. I froze for a second with the glass of whiskey mid air, but recovered quickly not wanting to expose my relationship with Samantha to my father prematurely. Or maybe there's no more relationship. But I can still feel her, I'm sure our bond is still there and I don't understand why or know how to feel about it. If I choose her will I be betraying my family and my pack or is it already too late for that since I rejected her this morning?
My dad proceeded to tell me how he was in pain and wanted nothing more than to get even and avenge the death of his mate's sister and that of her husband. My mother begged him to get the bastards who murdered her only sister, and my father wasn't the one to see his mate suffering and not give her some sort of relief. So he went after them. After meeting my own mate, I totally get that, even though it's a pill that's very tough to swallow. I take a few more sips of that whiskey and I can already imagine how the story will go next. And I doubt I would like any of it.
He told me that he didn't want to make news of this to the pack, so he gathered his best warriors and sworn them to secrecy. One night they went and attacked the pack and killed Sam's parents. All his warriors lost their lives because Samantha's dad was so strong that he just ripped all five men to shreds. But my dad got to his mate and slit her throat right in front of him. I learned that his name was Alpha Derrick Stone. I remember reading through the archives a while back and came across that name. The Midnight pack was one of the biggest in Scotland. The document I remember reading stated that the pack simply disappeared after their Alpha, his mate and their only heir were killed in an ambush. I found it odd that there wasn't a Beta to rise to the challenge and keep the pack going, but I never went to investigate further.
I take another mouthful of whiskey and divert my full attention back to my father. He told me that as powerful and almighty as Alpha Derrick was, his strength faded as soon as he saw the life drain from his mate's eyes, leaving her just a corpse, a bloodied one nonetheless. One of my dad's warriors who was badly wounded, but still alive, took advantage of the grieving Alpha's distraction, and plunged a silver dagger deep into his back, until it reached his heart. Derrick turned around and ripped his head off clean, but the
damage to his own body had already been done, so the sparkle of life in his eyes quickly disappeared to join his mate and the Moon Goddess.
Another pause follows as my dad recalls those memories, and they almost look painful to him. I take advantage and drink some more, surprisingly almost emptying the crystal glass in my hand. My dad looks so remorseful, he's literally on the verge of breaking down. I can see that he never spoke about this to anyone else, I'm sure him and my mom never spoke of it either.
“I was about to leave when.. Oh Goddess, I swear to you son that if there's anything I were to regret in this life, it's my actions, my stupidly rash actions, from that night. I just wanted to be a good mate to your mother, you know? I wanted nothing but to ease her pain and suffering, so I acted without thinking and so many wolves lost their lives, even innocent ones. But the worst is that... the worst is that I created the monster that is Samantha now.”
“What do you mean you created the monster that she is? Dad, what did you do?” Well, I realise the question I've just asked him asked is plain stupid, but I can't help my reactions.
“I was about to leave the scene before their whole back rose to avenge their Alpha's death, when I heard the soft whimpers of a child. I slowly approached the door that the sound was coming from, and when I opened it, I was faced with a scared little girl, no older than you and Marie. I just froze because she was in the same situation that Marie was. She was just opened. I have created a situation identical to the one I wanted to avenge, and in that moment son, I swear to you that I regretted everything, but it was too late. Obviously, that little girl was Samantha, and I did not have the heart to kill her as I did her parents. I knew that I had done nothing but to cause even more harm.”
My blood is boiling at the thought of my father killing my mate. I'm filled with rage because he killed her parents, took her family away from her. Whatever her father and mother did, it had nothing to do with her. She was a baby for Goddess's sake. She was completely innocent, and my dad was right. If Sam is somehow plotting to kill us all, I have to agree that she is right to want that. fuck, a very big part of me want to help her hiss us all.
“So I took her. I took the little girl and ran out of their pack's territory without even looking back. I brought her back to our pack house, and your mother cried for hours holding her, howling in pain and guilt ridden, because we have done that to a child. We both regretted our actions, and we still do. She was just like Marie, an orphaned little girl who only wanted to be loved. We knew we couldn't keep her in our family, even though her and Marie have bonded since they first met. We knew she also deserved a chance to live a somewhat normal life, so we took the decision that she will remain on our pack grounds and we will find a family to adopt her.”
“And in come the Baileys...” I trail, a bit drunk from the whiskey, but still alert enough to follow the storyline. I appear calm and composed on the outside, maybe thanks to the alcohol I have in me, but I'm enraged, confused and deeply hurt on the inside, and I'm not sure those are all just my feelings.
“That's correct. Our mother and I talked and decided who the best couple would be. We ideally needed someone that we could trust with such a secret, but we needed a family with no other children or prospect of having other children. So we called in the Baileys, because they were well respected pack warriors who were chosen mates and unable to conceive. Both of them had previously lost their true mates and having similar expectations from life they decided to be a couple.
They were unconventional to say the least, but they were loyal and would happily do as their Alpha said. So I told them almost everything and your mother begged for their help. They happily agreed to take Samantha in and raise her as their own. And they did just that. They acted like real parents, caring for her and giving her all that a little girl would ever need.
You've seen Samantha, she was best friends with Marie and was at our house all the time. She was well cared for, she had a good family. The Baileys swore to never tell her the truth about where she came from and as far as I can tell, they kept true to their promise. I'm sure she knows her story, but I'm positive she doesn't know it from their mouths.”
21 - Plan
Jason
So, Samantha is actually an Alpha, I can barely contain the huge grin that's spreading on my face. I clear my throat loudly in a pathetic attempt to cover up my proud smile from earlier. My father is too far gone into his guilt trip that, luckily, he doesn't notice anything.
My beautiful, little mate is strong. I always knew there was something weird about her testing Omega. Then, why did Marie say she helped Sam cheat? If Sam is truly an Alpha, then she would never need to cheat in order to test Alpha. And more importantly, why did my father not spot this? He is literally the one that knows for sure Sam in an Alpha. I decided. To hell with it all, I'm going to take full advantage of my dad's talkative state and just ask him.
“Alright dad, but what I don't get is how Samantha tested Omega?” I ask the question, curiosity dripping from my every word.
“She didn't, Jason. In fact she tested Alpha, for obvious reasons. But the Council doesn't know where she came from, so they figured she must have done something to cheat on her tests. Even though on her physical tests she took down Brian without even breaking a sweat. But again, since Brian was her cousin in everyone's eyes, the Council thought he might have helped her out by taking it easy on her. And because Marie was practically her Siamese twin, Mr Biggins thought that she might have helped Samantha cheat on the other tests. It kind of spiralled from there.” He sinks lower in his leather chair.
“So why didn't you intervene with the Council if you knew better? Surely you could have convinced them to just rank her Beta, or something, without raising any suspicion.”
“Well, here is where it got complicated. I thought Samantha didn't know who she was, so I talked with your mother about the Council approaching me with her test results and sharing their concerns. Your mother suggested the same thing as you. She said to talk to the Council and convince them that Samantha should rank Beta, and tell Mr Biggins that the only reason she got Alpha results is that she was a pure blood Beta and they are usually stronger. Basically spin the truth a bit to fit everyone. It was brilliant, your mother is brilliant.
That day was the first time in years we ever spoke about what I have done. We remembered Marie's parents and the good times, but we also remember the impulsive actions that drove me on that night. We let it all out and cried, but we felt like we had some sense of closure.
I was planning to tell the Council at our meeting the following week, exactly what your mom and I agreed.”
“Clearly you haven't done that, so what happened, dad?” I retorted, started to get visibly more annoyed.
“Well, at dinner that weekend, and that was when you and Brian went on patrol with the Sentinels, Marie told us she had something she wanted to share with us for a while, but she was too scared to do it sooner. It took us a while to convince her, you know how closed off Marie can get, but she finally agreed to tell us. She said that Samantha has been blackmailing her, and threatening to harm her if she doesn't do as told.”
“Does she know about Sam's parents and who she really is?”
“No, I trust you agree is better that way.” I nod in agreement, but I still have that lingering feeling that something's off.
----
We're currently on our flight back to the United States and Brian is fast asleep on the chair next to me, but I can't sleep, I can't do anything but think about my mate. It kills me that I didn't get to see her before I left, and that the last time we saw each other I was such a jerk to her and deeply hurt her.
I keep thinking about her being an Alpha when it suddenly hits me. OK, for once I'm so happy I was stupid. Of course the rejection failed. Of course!!! How didn't I piece this together earlier. She's a fucking Alpha, and I rejected an Omega. Not to mention that her name is Samantha Stone, not Bailey. Oh, man, I'm glad I didn't have all those deta
ils when I tried to reject her.
I haven't even realised I jerked up from my seat during my revelation, and cause Brian to wake up.
“What the hell, Alpha?” He asks groggily. “It's a fucking long flight, can I at least sleep? You know it's basically midnight right now in England, right?”
I smile a guilty smile and motion in surrender that I'll let him sleep.
I must have dozed off as well, because I jumped slightly when the loud announcement advising about the plane landing in the next 5 minutes broke. Brian is just returning to his seat with a satisfied grin on his face, much similar to the one I was sporting on my flight to England. I cringe at the memory of another woman touching me, who isn't my mate. A petit flight attendant with flushed cheeks comes to us, to supposedly check that we have our seatbelt on and that we are ready for landing, but I knew better. Brian flashes her a bright smile and a cheeky wink, and she hurries away awkwardly.
Deciding it's better if I don't say anything, we sit in silence waiting to land.
----
I got Brian to the Academy and showed him around briefly before pulling him into my room and putting my serious Alpha face on. He looks a bit weary, but plays along. If I know anything is that Brian would never question me, no matter how crazy what I say seems.
“Ok, man, so here's the plan. We need to graduate sooner than 6 months, as in way sooner. But we can't tell anyone back home. I need you to be my Beta and put your trust in me, I need you to come with me on a mission, and it involves your future Luna.”
Hi sighs looking deflated. “I knew there had to be a catch. Why else would you come to England to personally bring me here? I was really looking forward to being at the Academy, you know?” I nod, still remaining silent. “Anyway, how soon is 'way sooner'?” The way he says that makes him seem bored, but deep down I know there's a spark of excitement.
Fight For The Highest Wolf Rank Page 10