Rise Of The Wolves: The Beast Within

The Blood That Binds

To his relief, when Marcus entered the house, it had not been as grizzley as he'd expected. However, he wasn't expecting what came next either. He had been hoping that it wouldn't be as stressful and shocking as the last surprise.

Hearing the voices of his parents, and another voice which he did not recognize, he made his way into the kitchen. It instantly became obvious to him that he had walked in on something that he wasn't meant to hear as when his presence was noticed, the room fell silent, leaving it up to him to speak first, yet again. There was no going back once he did.

"What's going on?" He asked, aiming the question particularly at his dad since he'd noticed the tears escaping his mother's red eyes and rolling down her puffy cheeks. Whatever it was, it must have been really bad to have his mother upset like that.

"Son...we need to talk. All four of us." William answered, which led to a confused look from Marcus. Four of them? Shouldn't there be five of them, he thought to himself.

"Four of us? What about Layla?" He asked, noticing the absence of his sister. That explained the silence, he thought jokingly for a second before getting serious again.

"She's too young to understand this. So we sent her to your grandma's house for the night." His dad explained, before gesturing for Marcus to join the three of them at the dining table.

It was then that Marcus got a proper look at who the third voice had come from. There was a boy sat at the table, in what was usually Layla's seat. He had messy blonde hair and cat-like green eyes. He looked tall, and clearly older than Marcus. Must have been about nineteen from the looks of it. He also looked somewhat like a younger version of his father.

Being so lost in thought, Marcus hadn't noticed when the boy made eye contact with him, and when he finally did notice, he looked away as the eye contact they had made sent a heavy shiver down his spine. He turned his attention to his father, waiting to hear what was going on. He already had his suspicions. He was just waiting on his father to confirm it.

"Now before I explain anything, I think I ought to introduce you two. Eric, this is our eldest, Marcus, and son, this is Eric.....your half brother." William introduced them, leaving Marcus speechless. So his suspicions were correct then.

He wasn't sure how many more bombshells he could take and he hoped that this would be the last secret. All these years, he had a half brother that he didn't know about? How was that possible? He thought, more questions piling up in his head. This was not what he had expected when he walked into this scene, and he still wasn't over the first bombshell they'd hit him with that morning. Only now he couldn't ask them any of the questions he had planned to on the walk home.

"What?...B..but how?" He stammered, barely able to get his words out.

"About three years before you were even born, your mother and I were on the verge of being married, and my alpha buddies threw me a stag do. I ended up sleeping with one of the w****s that was dancing on the table. A few weeks later, after your mother and I had married, the woman came to me and told me she was pregnant. I told her to get rid of it, but she wouldn't listen. And if it weren't for this little bastard showing up now simply because his mummy was killed, then you nor your mother would have to know any of this." His father explained, with those words, his mother broke down in sobs, while Eric sat there, not letting it show that the words little bastard, had gotten to him. Marcus however, couldn't even begin to process what he had just heard. He had never expected his father to say something like that.

Silence set in as Marcus was in shock and couldn't get his words out. He felt so many different emotions right now. Sorrow for his mother, he couldn't bare to think of how she must be feeling.

Worried for his sister Layla, she was none the wiser about any of their families secrets because if she was, it would destroy her cheerful personality and her happiness.

Guilty for the boy who'd grown up without a father while he'd grown up privileged, and most of all anger.

Anger at his father for his infidelity and for abandoning his first born son. Anger for all the secrets his father had managed to keep, not just from him, but from all of them.

Lost in his thought, he was startled when the older boy slammed his fist on the counter, rose to his feet and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him. Only after he had gotten up did Marcus realise where the blood had come from as the boy had left a crimson trail behind him.

"Wait....did you...beat him?" Marcus asked, feeling sick once again. He never thought that his father was capable of beating his own children.

"What was I supposed to do? Let him waltz in here and ruin our perfect life." William responded arrogantly. The look he gave Marcus, made him not want to be there at all.

"You're sick. I never thought I would say this but....I hate you." He replied, whispering the last part to stop his voice from wobbling as tried to hold back his cries. How was it possible for his whole world to fall apart within the matter of half a day? Everything was happening all at once.

"Oh...and he may be a wolf but he is not part of my pack. Nor is he part of our family." His father finished, pushing him over the edge. His heart pounding, he knew he had to get out of that house straight away.

Jumping up, he darted out of the house, and down the street. So much anger and emotional pain coursing through him, he did not stop, even when he was no where near his house. Instead he just kept running, and running until he came to a stop because he did not recognize where he was. It was some kind of tomb that he had never seen before no matter how many times he had been in the cemetery. Finally though, he was alone.

Exhaustion took over and he felt his legs give way as he collapsed to the floor. Finally he could let his emotions go, and with that he took a deep, long breath and let out a crying howl of anguish, anger and pain.

How could he have fallen so far in the space of only a few hours? If he wasn't broken before when he found out what he truly was, he sure was broken now. Shattered into tiny little pieces, like a mirror. At least that's how he felt. It was as though a dagger had been driven right through his heart. One more blow like that and was almost certain that he would be dead inside.