The Return of the Prodigal Alpha

10. Poisoned with lies

AIDEN

Despite her peachy scent following me everywhere, I tried to keep my distance. She was in shock when I told her about our mate bond. I had the impression that I even frightened her. It was all so confusing and it kind of hurt. Didn’t she want me as much as I wanted her?

“You are pushing it too hard, Aiden. She is not a she-wolf. Witches feel the bond differently. Moreover, she is not entirely a witch. I sense a lot of human in her. Thus, the effects of a mate bond may not be so intense for her.” Remy was disappointed with my behavior. He said we should have given our mate enough time to process the big news. And I just couldn’t understand how come he was so calm and patient. Being away from her was literally frying my brain. I was going mad. I needed her close, I needed to feel her skin under my fingers.

“It’s not easy for me either. I’m dying to see her. But you scared her with all the rush. For the Goddess’s sake, Aiden. You told her about marking her a minute after the first kiss.” The wolf’s paw landed on his forehead. Maybe I was pressing the topic too much. But I didn’t know how to take things slow. I was used to being constantly in a hurry, my whole day planned to the smallest detail. Efficiency was my number one priority.

Davina was different. She was shy and perhaps a little inexperienced. I didn’t mind. I never wanted a female who was tasted by many. That wasn’t what I had considered a 'good mate material'. I cared about entirely different qualities in females and Davina seemed to have them all. She was smart, kind, humble, she loved nature as much as I and, in addition, she was fvcking hot! I bet she didn’t even realize how stunning her body was.

“Aiden.” Mom’s voice appeared in my mind. She was using our mind-link channel. “Come to your dad’s office, please.” She said.

I just finished initial training of new recruits for one of our warriors’ programs. We had plenty of those. Black Forest was the most military oriented pack within the whole Yukon territory. We had many applicants from various packs, even some international students from other parts of Canada. There was tons of work related to overall organization and management of our forces and the security of Yukon depended on our pack. The threats were no longer coming from the west – from the kingdom in Alaska. A few years ago, peace was successfully established by a fellow Yukoner. However, there were still many dangers coming from the east and south and we had to stay put, prepared, alerted all the time.

I left the training arena and headed back to our pack mansion. Mother was waiting in father’s office, but she wasn’t alone. There was someone else with her. Someone I haven’t seen for almost two months.

“You.. you are here?” I murmured, meeting the hazel eyes of my father.

“Yes.” He confirmed, smiling at me warmly. He came closer to me, spreading his arms widely and taking me into a hug. I tapped him on his shoulders gently, not sure if I appreciated all the hugging. After years of regular distancing, my feelings for him got cold.

I loved my parents, of course. They were good people, good leaders and they valued family. But ever since I can remember there was something wrong with my dad. He kept disappearing. First, it was just for a few days. Then it got worse, and he was gone for weeks. My mom spent the majority of her days trying to hide her tears. I didn’t understand what was going on. I had the impression that my parents didn’t love each other anymore and parted their ways. It really looked as if they were separated.

I asked mom about it countless times, but she always scolded me for prying. She said things were complicated, but it did not change the way both of them felt about me and Carrie. And she sounded quite convincing, telling me how much they loved each other. In spite of the affection between my parents, which truly seemed to be real, something was definitely fishy about the whole situation.

They were chosen mates. They met in the Golden Meadows pack and their relationship was turbulent. Mom used to be a human, turned into a werewolf by some guy from her past. I didn’t know much about that because she never liked speaking about her time before choosing my dad. She said, when she and dad met, her wolf Imani was still dormant. It was my dad who helped her awaken her wolf and supported her during her first shift. And after that, she fell completely in love with him.

I was around 14 years old when I went to the top floor of our mansion. It was always a restricted area and no one except for mom, auntie T and Beta Jerome were allowed to enter that floor. As a teenager, I was clearly curious. They must have been hiding something in there, perhaps a secret laboratory or something similar to that. Anything that could attract a young adventurous soul of the future alpha of the pack.

So, one day I sneaked in just to discover that it was nothing else than a fancy penthouse. Did my parents use it for some top-secret parties? Or was it their love nest? But why hide it? There was nothing inadequate about the way it was decorated. It looked pretty normal to me.

But someone’s scent kept attracting me. Someone was there in the bedroom. I carefully opened the door, just to yelp in horror. There was my father lying on the bed, and he looked as if he was dead.

I screamed from the top of my lungs, making my mom and Beta run to the penthouse. They thought something terrible happened to me, they thought I was injured significantly. In fact, I was just scared to death because back then I was certain my father was not alive.

Mom had to come clean and unfold all the secrets to calm me down. She explained that my father was poisoned by wolfsbane when I was only 1 year old. They didn’t know who was behind the assassination attempt and until today the identity of the person responsible was still unknown. Mom always declared that the former Alpha of White Eclipse pack must have been involved. He used to be in a close alliance with our pack and disagreed with many of my father’s decisions. He especially disliked my mom for turning a power-hungry alpha into a family-oriented man.

The sight of his pale and motionless body haunted me for years. The side effects of wolfsbane were beyond horrible. Abnormal pain which felt as if thousands of sharp razors tried to cut out from the insides. Hot shivers which burned the skin layers. Lungs and throat were clenched as if there was not enough air. The wolfsbane attacked the whole immune system of werewolves, making them weak and suppressing all their enhanced abilities. There was no cure once the poison entered the blood circulation. The only outcome was death.

Luckily, there was auntie T. She was a powerful witch, using ancient spells which helped to ease the pain. The spells managed to prolong my dad’s life. But it was just a temporary solution and year after year it was harder to suppress all the side effects. To avoid what was inevitable.

My father did not have much time left. More and more often, he remained hidden in his penthouse, taking a rest. Fighting a battle which he could never win.

It was a surprise to see him today. I assumed he would be gone for at least one more week. Yet, he was standing next to me, some healthy color in his cheeks. Theresa must have boosted him with many healing spells. But the empty eyes gave him away. Behind the smile, there was a dying man.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you resting?” I asked suspiciously.

“Can’t the old wolf see his son? The future Alpha?” He winked at me, but I did not buy it.

“Are you stepping down from your position, father?” I arched my brow high.

“No, Aiden. And stop asking this!” Mom meddled in our conversation. She was upset.

“Then what is this meeting about?” I pulled away from dad and walked behind him to his drawer. The best liquor was always locked in that small drawer. I poured myself a glass of bourbon, not even trying to offer one to my father. He was not allowed to drink alcohol.

“Hmmm, smells nice. I miss that taste.” He remarked but lowered his gaze when he noticed mom piercing him with her emerald eyes, growling in disapproval.

“So, who wants to brief me on the topic? Why am I here?” I demanded answers after I emptied the glass. They exchanged looks, mom looking nervous and avoiding my gaze.

“Your brother is coming back.” It was the voice of my father which dropped the bomb on me.

“Who?” I was utterly dumbfounded. Not in a positive way. Was this some kind of a sick joke? I didn’t have a brother. I had only Carrie, she was my only sibling.

“You know that you have a younger brother, Aiden. We spoke about it.” Mom took the lead in the speech. But I still couldn’t believe the words which were leaving her mouth.

“It’s true, Aiden. You were very little when you saw him for the last time. And we stopped talking about him because…well, because a lot has happened in our lives.” She glanced at my dad, sadness and desperation filling her eyes.

“Did you know about this?” I turned to Remy, expecting better clarification, at least from my wolf.

“Nope. First time I hear about it. They must have discussed it with you while I was still dormant. And you have most probably pushed the memory away from your mind.” That could be a correct statement. But still! I got my wolf at the age of 9. Did it mean that ever since then my parents have not bothered themselves with informing me that I had another sibling? That was insane.

“Why doesn’t he live with us? What did he do to you?” I asked, feeling how my veins boiled with wrath. I always thought family was the most important thing for the Lenoir clan. But it was obviously just a big lie. I had a brother and he was sent away.

“He… He is not my son.” Father said in a low voice.

“What the fvck?! Mother, did you cheat on him?” I yelled at her, watching how tears rolled down her cheeks. She was ashamed. Well, she should be.

“It’s complicated.” Her voice drifted through the anger and tension which filled the room.

“Sure! So, you abandoned an innocent pup because you were irresponsible and fvcked someone else.”

“Aiden!!!” Father’s voice carried a powerful growl. It made me bow my head in submission. He was still acting alpha and his aura demanded my respect.

“It’s OK, Tristan. Let him filter out all the rage. He has every right to do that. I failed as a parent. I am very much aware of it. It haunts me every single day.” She wiped her tears away, trying hard not to lose it. But I could feel she was very close to an emotional breakdown.

“What about Carrie? Does she know?” The question did not need an answer. If I didn’t know, my sister must have been even more clueless. Father wrapped his arms around mom, pulling her into his embrace. I didn’t know what a greater shock for me was. The realization that they both lied to me for so many years or that father acted as if having a cheater for a mate wasn’t a big deal. Shouldn’t he be dramatically pissed? Smash things around his office? Reject her?

“Not yet. But she will find out soon. He is waiting in the garden.” She said, her heart beating like a drum.