TRUTH & BLOODSHED

~KAEL

In the end, the Alpha died right before my eyes and there was no way I could ask him for the real truth.

Arden and Father's laughter filled the room. Father brought out another bottle of wine which had not yet been tampered with. He poured us drinks and handed them to us.

"To victory!" He announced.

"To victory," Arden answered but I could not bring myself to say a word. 

I found myself stuck in a trance. The dead Alpha's words continued to replay in my head. My wolf stirred with uncertainty and nervousness.

What real truth was he talking about? What was the true story? Or was he only saying that to get to me? 

He was a man on the brink of death. What would he gain from telling a lie when he was dying anyway?

"Kael? Won't you drink with us? What's wrong? You shouldn't be looking down like this! You should feel alive and celebrate! We won! We have completed our revenge!" Arden exclaimed as he shook my shoulder. 

Yet, all I could do was stare up at him but without any emotions.

Father suddenly butt in on our moment. "What do you mean our revenge is complete? This was just the tip of the iceberg. We still have a lot of work to do," he stated.

Arden furrowed his brows at him and I only stared anywhere else but at him without saying a word.

"You mean cleaning up this site and cleaning away every connection to us?" Arden asked.

Father scoffed before breaking into a chuckle. "I did not bring you both up to be so naive. Our revenge just began and we need to finish what we started. We killed the Alpha and next, we have to kill the Luna as well as their daughter!" Father exclaimed and I felt my heart skip a beat.

My eyes shot at him and my wolf came alive. "What?" I asked in shock.

Father shook his head at us. "This man's blood is running through his veins. He is responsible for your mother's death and for that, both his mate and his daughter have to pay for it!" he stated firmly.

My eyes went wide with shock. 

"This is going too far. The Alpha was the one to commit to the task, not his family. All we can perhaps do is lock them up," I shot at my father.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you trying to question my plans?" He demanded.

I stepped closer to my father. "Maybe I am. What was he talking about before he died? What real truth was he saying? Tell me!"  

My wolf came alive and was waiting patiently to be unleashed so that he would cause a massacre.

"There is no real truth! He was just trying to mess with your head! He is the murderer!" Father roared back at me.

My wolf stirred with anger. 

I did not believe a word my father had to say yet at the same time, I did not want to believe that my father was just a power-hungry murderer.

"If there is no real truth, why then are you hell-bent on killing them? Why do I feel as if you're trying to cover up something?!" I shot at him.

Immediately, my father reached me and landed a hard slap across my face. I staggered back from the mere force of it.

"It may seem that you have forgotten your manners! Get out of my sight! You have lost the right to witness the fall of our enemies! Get out!" He ordered.

In anger, I stormed out of the room and raced down the corridor. My wolf fumed with anger and I could not control it. I needed some fresh air or I would risk lashing out at the first person who crossed paths with me.

I spotted Zira as I stormed out of the hall and she never uttered a word. She only watched me leave. She had no idea that her doom was slowly coming for her. Maybe she deserved it too, she was not any better anyway.

I reached outside and raced into the grand fields of the White Moon pack house. The air felt fresh and slowly, my anger began to subside.

Maybe I was wrong to talk back at my father like I did. Why would my father lie to me? It made no sense because he had no reason to. He only had our best interest at heart.

Yet the Alpha's words kept coming back to my head and I could not ignore it. It nagged and tugged at my heart. 

There was something my father was not telling me and I needed to find out this thing before it was too late.

My heart began to pound as I tried to think of someone else other than the Alpha who could know this real truth.

The Luna!

My eyes went wide with shock. My father and brother were about to kill her too. I needed to stop them or I would never find out this truth.

I rushed back into the pack house to find that most of the people who had attended the mating ceremony were long gone. Only maids and guards roamed the space.

"Where could my father and Arden be?" I asked myself out loud.

Knowing them, they would be at the most obvious place —her room. I raced up the stairs toward her room. 

I successfully reached the Luna's room and barged in just to meet my father stabbing her with a dagger he always carried. I froze in my tracks as I stared in horror as I watched her gasp.

Arden joined my father in laughter and when they looked up to see me, they only brushed past me as if I was nothing.

I ran to the Luna and caught her in my arms. Crimson liquid began to flow out of her stomach and she clutched my shirt.

"You have to save my daughter. Please, save her. . ." She cried.

I searched her eyes for any form of truth and when I did not find anything. I decided to come clean.

"How did my mother die?" I asked her.

"What?" She cried, shocked that I was demanding such a question out of the blue.

"Answer me, please. If you tell me the real truth, then I'll protect your daughter, Luna Athena!" I vowed.

She parted her lips slightly before accepting the deal with a nod. 

"She died while in labor. Your father and my mate had gone on a mission. I remember Tyrone asking him to stay —your mother did too but he refused and chose to fight by Tyrone side. . ."

Her voice was strained and I could see the pale hands of death already clutching her but I begged the goddess to let her finish. I had to know the whole truth.

". . .On getting back, he met her dead with you two in my hands," She answered while tears streamed down her face.

I felt rage build to the top of my throat. 

I was not supposed to believe her but something about what she said, made me believe her. She could not have cooked up this story so fast.

Where then did my father get his version of the story?

"Please, I have answered your question. . . go save my daughter," she begged. Her lips had gone paler and she struggled to utter every word.

I bowed to her and she smiled back at me before going limp. 

Then I got to my feet in anger and went after my father. He had a lot of explaining to do but before that, I needed to save the woman who I had believed to be my enemy my entire life.

Zira Dragon. The alpha's daughter whom I hated.

As I ran to her room, I could only pray to the goddess that I was not too late.