The Demon Alpha

Half Truths

Thorn's POV

I nearly collapsed in my seat with the words that Jake had just spoken to me. My mother? Another packs Luna? Questions began racing through my mind and before I knew what I was doing, rage had taken hold of me and I was storming towards my bedroom door. All this time and all this secrecy simply to cover the fact that my father had stolen another pack's Luna.

As soon as I reached my hand out to open my door, Jake grabbed me by the wrist and whirled me around to face him. He planted both hands firmly on my shoulders. "You're not going anywhere like this Little Wolf. You need to calm down before you go talk to your father. Please, also allow me the chance to inform my father that I already told you this. It will make things go over more smoothly."

"Get off of me Jake. I don't want to hurt you, but you know I both can and will." I was thrashing under his hold, but just enough to get his attention, not enough to actually escape. Why? Jake's touch usually bothered me. It would drive me crazy when we were growing up and he would hold me down to tease me with the other boys. But now, I found his touch to be oddly comforting. Still, I needed to speak with my father...but it couldn't hurt to be more well informed.

I stopped struggling against Jake, took a few deep breathes, and once he released me I strode back over to the couch and sat down. This time Jake chose the seat next to me and curled into himself as he waited for me to speak.

"I need more Jake. You know I do. Please, tell me what you know." I tried to be gentle with him since he was giving me answers I had been searching for my entire life.

"I don't know the whole story Thorn. All I know is that your mother was not Black Forest's true Luna. Alpha Ezra took your mother as a chosen mate because of her strength and abilities. It was only a few weeks before he was due to marry his true mate. He rejected her and took your mother as his chosen. They married and ran a truly successful pack for nearly five years. The annual summit was held at Black Forest that year and when your father showed up he recognized your mother as his fated mate and laid a claim to her. The elders were there and told the Alphas that it had to be your mother's choice since she would have to surrender her Luna title and leave with her true mate. Your mother chose to leave with your father and Black Forest has been after your father ever since."

I was struggling to process everything that Jake was telling me, but one thing in particular stuck out to me. "My mother was my father's true mate? He's always told me that she was his chosen because he couldn't find his true mate. He told me that he assumed his true mate was dead or married to another. Why would he lie about that?"

Everything was swirling around in my brain so quickly I didn't know where to start, who to be most angry with, or how to approach this situation. I stood to pace and the room began spinning....and then it went dark.

Jake's POV

She passed out. What the hell was I thinking? I should never have told her anything. I should have just kept my mouth shut. I managed to catch her before she hit the ground and I scooped her up in my arms. Do I take her to the pack hospital? Do I just lay her down and leave? I couldn't figure out what to do so I panicked and mindlinked Eric.

'I f****d up dude. Can you come to Thorn's room?'

The panic I was feeling was not being helped at all by the electricity coursing through me from having her this close. It was almost painful. I was sitting on the couch with Thorn in my lap when Eric came bursting through the door. "What happened?! JAKE! WHAT DID YOU DO?! I swear if she's hurt I'll kill you."

I chuckled slightly. "She's not hurt. I'd never hurt her and you know that. I did, however, break some news about her mom. She didn't handle it well. Clearly." With the last word I gently nodded my head in her direction.

Eric stopped in his tracks. "What do you mean you 'broke some news about her mom'? What did you say to her? We agreed we weren't going to say anything. It isn't our place."

I put Thorn down onto the couch as quickly, yet gently, as I could before I stood up to tower over Eric. Standing at only five foot eleven, he had to look nearly straight up to look into my eyes at this distance. "Not our place Eric? She's walking into what could very well be a trap, her death even, and you want to send her in with no knowledge whatsoever? No. I'm not going to do that to her. I can't."

Eric ran his hands through his curly, sandy brown hair and sighed deeply. "You're right. But if she doesn't kill us....Alpha Lucien will." He was right. The Alpha hadn't told Thorn these things for a reason. What reason? I didn't know. But I needed to get to him. Now.

"Can you stay with her? You don't need to take any heat for this man. I need to go talk to the Alpha."

"Yeah man. I got her. You go. Link me if things go south. You know I'm his favorite." He shot me a cocky grin and went over to tend to Thorn. She was still out cold.

Before I walked out I looked back at them. He doted over her like she hung the moon and she had always favored him. It was part of the reason that she and I weren't very close. They would make the perfect couple. He'd be good for her and she'd teach him to stand up for himself. The moon goddess was cruel for not fating them to each other. With one last peek I closed the door behind me and headed toward Alpha Lucien's office and prayed to the moon goddess that this wouldn't be the death of me.

Thorn's POV

When I came to all I could smell was honey. Eric must be here. But if Eric was here, where did Jake go? Why did I care? As I sat up I realized that I didn't have any pain in my body. I should have if I hit the ground...shouldn't I? I slowly sat up and started looking around and realized that Jake was gone. Eric was watching some hockey game on my TV and completely ignoring me. Typical. Eric was not the best at comfort or care.

As I was organizing my thoughts, something came to me. I would need to play this carefully, but I need to figure out how much Eric knew. Jake knowing these things and not telling me makes sense. But Eric? If Eric knew and had kept it from me, I'd never forgive him. He was my best friend and we told each other everything. So for him to keep something like this from me, it would shift my view of Eric forever.

"What happened?" I kept my voice just loud enough that Eric would be able to hear me over the game. Eric turned the TV off and turned to me with a bored look on his face.

"You fainted. Apparently you don't take bad news very well anymore."

"Bad news? What are you talking about?" If I didn't know Eric so well, I would have missed the brief flash of guilt across his face.

"Jake told you he's escorting you to the summit and you hit the ground."

"That's not all Jake told me Eric. He told me about my mother. How she was the Luna of another pack before she met my father. That her and my father were fated mates. That my father has lied to me about it my entire life." The quick flash of recognition across Eric's face was all I needed. He knew. He had known for goddess only knows how long...and he'd never told me. Why?

I may not know or understand now. But I would find out. Quickly.