Five

OAK

I placed a hand on my thigh as I struggled to rein in my emotions. But all I could think of was my mate, Rose, being in that damn cell all by herself. I could only hope that she wasn’t tortured so badly. I needed her to be fine and without any form of fear of clouding her senses. But that seemed like an unachievable wish at this moment.

Rubbing my short brown hair, I looked at Raven, who was seated at the opposite side of me, pressing his tablet without a care in the world. How could he be so chill when everything was falling apart like this? I just didn’t understand it!

His eyes suddenly connected to mine as though he knew I was looking at him, and I looked elsewhere at once. "Some people keep siding with murderers," I grumbled under my breath as I tapped the handle of my chair. "It would have been perfect if we praised Alpha Kael’s killer for sniffing his life off after how he treats women in his fucking life."

"Hey!"

I looked up in shock as Raven suddenly grabbed a hold of the collar of my T-shirt, pulling me up. "What the hell are you doing, bro?"

"Shut the fuck up, Oak!" He snapped at once.

I rolled my eyes lightly as I looked at him. "Why should I? Leave my shirt right now, Raven!"

"I won’t do that until you take back all that nonsense you spewed about our father. Did you think that I wouldn’t hear it? Answer me!"

With a grunt, I shoved Raven back, watching as his hair bounced around his chiseled face. It annoyed me even more. I calmly straightened my collar as I glared at him. 

Raven growled as he grabbed my collar once more, his eyes as cold as ice. "You think because we are twins, you can easily sprout any nonsense from your mouth about our father, and I would let you go?" He taunted.

I smirked. "I honestly don’t give a rat-ass about what you think. All I know is that Alpha Kael deserved everything that came his way, Raven. He may have brought us to this world by his sperm, but I would never accept his tyranny!"

"What tyranny? He was just a man with urges. Tell me, what is so wrong about that, that he deserves to die?"

I stared at Raven in disbelief. "Did you just say this?"

His eyes were wild in rage, and I could see that he was barely thinking straight anymore. "So, what?"

"You’re asking me that? Don’t you have a problem that father’s ways were brutal and mean?" I asked slowly. Closing my eyes against the pain, I whispered. "He literally hurt women, Raven." It was at that moment that I sprung my eyes open to look at him. "He must have done the same thing to our mate, and you don’t even care?"

Raven rose his left fist to hit me, but I held his hand midway, knocking it to the side. 

"Hello, Sirs," came a quiet voice behind.

I gritted my teeth as Raven turned to look at the person, but I found myself staring at the couch as I struggled to rein in the last control I had. I slowly pulled at my Polo shirt as I tried to control my anger. It was so annoying that it has come to this. I was completely disappointed that my brother was trying to bully our mate for a man who wasn’t worth it.

"Did you come here to look at my face? What do you want?" Raven snapped.

I could hear the slight way the intruder's breath caught in his throat. It quickened my curiosity, and I turned to look at the guard, Tom, as he moved from one foot to the next with his head bowed.

He suddenly looked up as though he were battling with his own emotions. "The priest is here to see you," he said simply.

"Then, why did you have to take your sweet time to say it? Get him in already!" Raven snapped in irritation.

The guard abruptly left, and I scoffed in response, moving over to sit where I had vacated. I watched as Raven snapped at a maid to bring in his father’s corpse, but I didn’t even look at them. Rose’s release lay in the priest’s words. I could only hope that he would force the right things to favor her. I couldn’t just bear if anything happened to Rose because of my father’s abuse. He got what he deserved, and that was all that mattered.

After five minutes, the priest arrived wearing a white outfit as he held on to the white staff. Everything on him was white, including his hair and the rings on his nose and ears. It was so unsettling.

"Greetings to the next Alphas of the Blood Moon Pack," he whispered.

I nodded once. "Greetings, priest,’ I mumbled simply. 

He sat down on the black tiled carpet in the middle of Raven and me. I couldn’t believe the way that he seemed so collected despite losing an Alpha. Maybe, like me, he knew that father was a fucking monster and didn’t deserve one ounce of sympathy.

"Priest, should I send for the girl that hurt my dad? I mean, I want to see the punishment that is fit for her," Raven mumbled.

I turned to him as my eyes flicked with rage, but he had his eyes on the priest. The damn bastard!

"No, Sir Raven," the priest mumbled.

"What do you mean by no? I need my father’s murderer to be punished and not be free from the curse. Is that too much to ask?"

I scoffed. "You can at least allow the damn priest to talk before you try to intimidate him, right?"

Raven turned his icy green eyes at me. "Just shut the fuck up, Oak! This is not the time!"

"Enough!"

We both turned to see the priest, placing some wolf urns on the black cloth he had kept on the floor. The priest slowly shifted his plain white eyes on me, causing me to swallow inwardly.

"You both have been talking so much. If you know everything, why did you send for me?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I shall remain silent, priest," I said slowly.

"Good! Where is your father’s corpse? It’s the only thing that I need to know the truth about his death. You should know that I never do anything unprepared, and I would not punish an innocent soul without proof that she did it,’ he said simply.

I smiled lightly. 

That means I was right. Rose didn’t do anything, and she could be free from all these problems that surrounded her. I couldn’t wait for that to happen.

Raven grunted slightly. "It’s here... my father’s corpse," he clarified.

I looked up to see two maids carrying the casket. Their faces were ashen with fear, but I couldn’t care less. They slowly placed the casket at the side of the priest and retreated as quickly as they had arrived. I stared at the casket as I hoped my old father was burning in hell wherever he was. It was definitely what he deserved for the cruelty we had all endured from him.

"I," the priest suddenly said, pulling my attention back to him. "Priest Gale of the Blood Moon Pack is here to see your death, Alpha Kael Ridgewood!"

His eyes snapped shut then, and I waited. I could feel eyes on me, and I looked to see Raven looking at me. He was about to cry. I rolled my eyes and looked off. The sudden love he had for his father was disgusting to see. After everything that man had done, he deserved nothing from us.

"Thank you, Goddess Selena," Priest Gale said at once.

He pulled his hand back and looked at us calmly. "Your father died because the lady who he molested laid a curse on him."

"Molested? Are you sure that you saw that well? I mean, there must be some sort of mistake. We were at home." Raven cried.

Priest Gale sighed. "I’m sorry, Sir Raven, but I have said the fact. He really hurt that girl, and she in turn decided to make him pay for it. It is how our great Alpha died... in the arms of a woman."

I rose to my feet then. "I would see you to the door."

"Does it mean that..."

"It means that the curse said he would die in the hands of a woman, and he did so," Priest Gale said as he rose to his feet. "And, you have to find the person who has been molested. She is the only one who can revert the curse."

I watched as the things he had brought out vanished into where they had come from, and he signaled to me that he was ready to be escorted back to his place. I easily pulled my t-shirt before I made my way out with him. 

At the door, he turned to look at me. "Stop your brother from making more mistakes," he mumbled before walking off.

How was I going to do that? 

Raven barely listened to a word I said because we were twins, and he had come out first. I would have to break his head with a hammer to put things into his head. There were no two ways about it. But one thing was sure: I knew the priest meant that someone else had laid the curse, but Rose had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was definitely that.

'Goddess, please give me strength,' I whispered inwardly before turning back to the sitting area.

Raven was pacing wildly in front of the sofas, and Father’s casket was gone. I shunted my gaze at him as I moved closer to him. "What is up now?" I queried.

He turned to me, his eyes red. "You win. I would bring Rose out of the dungeon."

"Does that mean you have some sense now?"

"It means that I’m going to change the punishment. I realize that... Father may have hurt her, but that didn’t give her the right to take him from me."

"You’re an idiot," I spat out.

He rose his finger in my face. "I don’t give a fuck what you think. I would do things my way now, Oak. Try to stop me if you can," he snapped.