Secrets of the Unity

Chapter 10: “How could I have been so cruel?”

Trevor

The air was tense as June stared Tyler down with her signature death glare. It was no secret to anyone who knew her that his question angered her. And the deep breath that she took confirmed it. Kyson and I knew she was about to go off.

Although Liv’s never voiced her disdain for Todd, she always has for Tyler and Sage. Every time we spoke on the phone while we were away, she’d say something like; “I don’t know why you’re friends with those jackasses! They don’t deserve your friendship after everything they did! They don’t deserve your kindness!” Kyson and I would just brush her aside, telling her that we knew what we were doing and that we trusted them, and to let it go. As you can see, she never did. But honestly, who could blame her?

Whenever we’d come home with a split lip or a black eye in high school because of Sage and Tyler, OJ was there to patch us up. There was even a time when she tried to tell Conner about the abuse, but we stopped her before she could. Don’t get me wrong, we would have said something, but we knew the consequences that we’d face if we did, so we kept our mouths shut.

Deciding to keep our abuse on the hush, hush was one of the hardest decisions that Kyson and I have ever had to make. Not just because we were in pain every week from the beatings, but because our depression had gotten worse.

Our depression got so bad that we started having thoughts about suicide and self-harm, and sometimes we tried to act on them.

The number of times Kyson and I tried to slit our wrists with silver blades or poison ourselves with wolfsbane were endless. Thankfully, OJ was there to stop us every time and bring us back to our senses with words of encouragement and support. She’d given us hope for the future; a future we didn’t know if we wanted to live. Liv had been our rock for the three years that we attended Mountain-Hills High, and to this day, she still is. And for that, I will forever be grateful and loyal to her.

I’ve always admired the fire that burned in her heart at such a young age. I was in awe of it, honestly. My entire life I’ve aspired to be as strong as Olivia; I envy her.

Truth be told, I had a major crush on her back then; I still do. I'm in love with her. I don’t know how to explain it, but I’ve always had this feeling deep down that I was meant to be with her. I firmly believe that June could be my mate. However, I don’t think she feels the pull as much as I do. I wouldn’t even be surprised if she thought of me as a brother and nothing more. The only way to be certain would be to wait for her birthday in three months. And once she shifts, I’ll know for sure, so until then, I'll watch from a distance.

Ishar, my wolf, yipped in approval of my plan. He thinks Olivia is our mate too. How I hope he’s right.

I hope I’m right too, bud. I hope I’m right too. Ishar mumbled.

Bringing me back to the present, OJ cleared her throat and spoke. “Tell me something, Estevez… How many times did you go home with a split lip and a black eye in high school?” She crossed her legs, narrowing her eyes at Tyler. He was confused and shocked by her question.

“Pardon?” Tyler asked. He wasn’t expecting that from her.

“You heard me. How many times did you go home with a split lip and a black eye in high school?” June paused for a second to let Tyler think about it.

When he provided no answer, she continued for him. “Since you’re a little lost, why don’t I answer that for you…” She said sarcastically. “You didn’t. Your high school experience was lovely! You were the captain of the basketball team, you had a hot girlfriend, and everyone praised you. The same goes for you too, Sage,” Olivia said calmly, sending glares in both their directions as they looked at her in utter confusion.

Did they seriously not remember all three years of high school? Ishar questioned.

I mentally shrugged. We agreed to let the past stay in the past and move forward. We don’t ever talk about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if they forgot. I reasoned.

Ishar scoffed. Even I would remember if I hospitalized someone. That was pretty careless of them to forget that… I’m very disappointed. He grumbled.

I had no reply for him; he was right. It was careless of them to forget what they did to Kyson and me, but I wasn’t going to feed into his disappointment, we needed to move on. It was in the past. But I will definitely be talking to them about it when the time comes.

“From what I remember, no one went through any of that…at least to my knowledge,” Tyler said. He was truly confused. His ignorance only angered Olivia further; she was seething.

A low ferocious growl rumbled through her chest. “Are you f*****g kidding me?!” She gritted.

“Olivia!” Kyson gritted. He didn’t want her to bring up our past. We liked it there, and we wanted to keep it there, but June had a problem with leaving things be. It wasn’t in her nature to just let things go without closure, it was a gift and a curse really.

“Do not try to stop me, Kyson, because if you do, your ass is next!” She glared at her brother.

Kyson didn’t want to be on the shitty end of his sister’s stick, so he sat back with a sigh and crossed his arms, waiting for her to continue. OJ turned her glare back onto Tyler, Toddrick, and Sage.

She’s about to make them feel like piles of s**t. Ishar chuckled.

I snickered at my wolf. Don’t I know it.

******

Olivia

The ignorance of these two idiots across from me pissed me off. How do you not remember beating the s**t out of someone and putting them in the hospital?! They’re about to feel this heat!

“So you mean to tell me that all the times your fists connected with Kyson and Trevor’s faces don’t ring a bell in those self-centered minds of yours?” Tyler and Sage’s eyes widened slightly in realization.

Maybe they aren’t as ignorant as I thought.

“Oh, so you do remember?! So, since you remember now, I know you’ll remember the time you nearly beat Trevor unconscious! When Kyson jumped in for him, you, Sage, beat him so bad that he could barely f*****g walk! Do you remember that?!” My eyes narrowed as my ferocious growl deepened.

Tyler and Sage stayed silent, not uttering a single word. They refused to look me in the eye, maybe out of the fear that their guilt would multiply if they saw how much anger swam in them. They were ashamed of their actions.

It’s a little too late for that. The echoey voice in my head commented.

Agreed. I replied. I was too angry to acknowledge how vivid the voice sounded; almost like there was another person in my head. But I didn’t dwell on it, I had to focus. Sage and Tyler needed to know what their torment did to us. And I refused to stop until they understood just how much damage they’d done.

I scoffed in disbelief. “Now you want to look guilty?!” The audacity!

“Do you have any idea how many times, at the ages of ten, eleven, and twelve, I had to sneak Trevor and Kyson into the house because they were covered in bruises and cuts that they didn’t want our parents to see?! I had to force them to go see the pack doctor because of what the two of you did!” My voice broke as the tears of anguish, anger, and sadness rolled down my face as the memories of my childhood flashed before my eyes.

“Trevor suffered a severe concussion the day you kicked him in the head over and over again! I held his head in my lap for hours to make sure he didn’t fall asleep so he could live another day!” That night was one of the scariest nights of my life. Not only was I scared for Trevor, but I was scared for Kyson too.

Sage quite literally beat Kyson black and blue; his body, face, and legs were covered in bruises of every shade with a few cuts and scratches here and there. I tried to bandage his wounds, but he was too hysterical, crying about how scared he was for his best friend’s life. So, while I caressed Trevor's head to keep him awake, I was comforting Kyson too.

I was so stressed and overwhelmed. My anxiety was through the roof, and I was scared for the both of them, but I knew that I had to stay strong for all of us and brave through the night. I called Cousin Lucile—who’s also the pack doctor—when they were both fast asleep, and that’s how Trevor ended up in the hospital.

“Did you know that they tried to kill themselves?! More than once, might I add! Thankfully, I was there to stop them every time! They wanted to end their lives because of what the two of you put them through! You nearly killed my brother and his best friend, who is nothing less than family to me, with your childish, stupid, and aggressive f*****g behavior!! And there is no excuse for it!!” I yelled, as a matter of fact.

“It pissed me off that they didn’t want either of you to get into trouble for it! They knew if your parents found out about what you did, then you would’ve lost your positions as the future Alpha and Beta of this pack! They didn’t want to mess up your reputations!” I spat. “I’ll never understand why they cared for you idiots, but it was their call, so I had to respect it, but I wish I hadn’t!” Another wave of tears came and fell with ease.

“So now you know what my problem is with you, Tyler! I don’t like either of you because you hurt them, which, in turn, hurt and traumatized me.” I summarized, but I wasn’t done yet, I still had Toddrick to b***h about.

“Now you, Toddrick. I don’t like you because you thought you could do the same thing your brother did to mine, to me, minus the physical abuse. You have done nothing but taunt and tease me since the ninth grade, and on top of that, you didn’t know my f*****g name! So, I may not hate you, but I sure as hell can’t stand you!” I finished with a huff, and harshly wiped away my tears.

I had nothing more to say, so I got up without another word and stormed off to my room, slamming the door shut for the second day in a row.

******

Tyler

I’m ashamed of the person I was in high school. Thinking back on it now, those beatings we gave Kyson and Trevor were gruesome.

Not saying it’s an excuse for my actions, but I was going through a lot with my dad back then. The only way to release the anger was to take it out on someone and Kyson and Trevor were the easiest targets.

I remember the day I almost beat Trevor unconscious. My dad and I had gotten into a huge argument about the Beta position that morning—as usual—and I was boiling the entire day.

To top off my bad mood, my girlfriend was being really bitchy about us not spending enough time together since my shift, I’d gotten a bad grade on my exam, Titan—my wolf—wouldn’t stop hounding me about our mate, and how I was being unfaithful to him, I was frustrated trying to figure out how I was going to come out to my family and friends about my sexuality, and coach Jay was on my ass the whole practice, so my anger was through the roof.

On my way to my car, Trevor accidentally bumped into me, and I snapped. I pushed him against the lockers and started punching and kicking him with no mercy. I saw a bit of blood, but I refused to stop because I was overflowing with anger; I didn’t care about his well-being, all I cared about was letting out my anger.

Kyson jumped in to help Trevor, so Sage jumped in to help me, and he had his own problems that he was dealing with that day too. While Sage started beating the s**t out of Kyson, I went back to beating Trevor until a few after-school teachers came and broke it up.

Sage and I got called into the principal’s office two weeks after the fight and our parents were there. Dad was so angry with me that he threatened to take the title away. I didn’t want to get my title taken away, I just wanted to go to school for a degree before I took over, and so did Sage. That’s why we always got into it with our dads; they wanted us to take over right after we graduated like they did, but we didn’t want that much responsibility at such a young age. We weren’t ready for that yet.

Sage got the same title threat from Conner, and we were livid. We beat Kyson and Trevor up again that same week for snitching. We thought they told on us, but it was Conner who put the pieces together and wanted to talk about it with the principal in front of my mom and dad.

I feel terrible. I had no idea what Sage and I did affected June so badly. I owe her an apology. I concluded.

Yes, you do, we both do. But right now, I think we should apologize to our brothers first. Titan said. The regret and sadness laced into his words were felt from deep within my soul. He was disgusted by our actions back then too.

Titan made my anger episodes more vicious than ever senior year, which is why I beat Trevor so severely. My wolf was just as guilty as me for what happened.

You’re right. Kyson and Trevor first… Goddess, I can’t believe I-

Tyler, I know you feel bad, I do too, but you have to focus! Titan barked, cutting me off. I could always count on him to pull me back to my senses. He always had a way of balancing me out, and I was so grateful to him because of it. Titan didn’t respond, he just nodded in acknowledgment and retreated to the recesses of my mind as Sage spoke.

“Did the two of you really try to kill yourselves because of us?” He asked in a small voice. Stray tears ran down his face as he spoke. His guilt was eating him alive too, as it should. What we did was horrible, and I hope the Moon Goddess doesn’t damn us to an eternity in the shadow realm because of it.

I held my breath and looked at my best friends, who are like brothers to me, and waited for their reply. They nodded. My heart sank.

How could I have been so cruel?