“What’s the first thing that comes to your mind?”
“A decision that you look more than a decade ago.”
He gives me a confused look.
“Alpha, what I’m going to share with you now is something that I haven’t shared with Albert yet. I wanted to have this talk because I have questions that only you can answer.” After a brief pause, I continue, “Yesterday evening, I was kidnapped by Jake. He took me to the cave where Victoria was held. It was later that Jake was joined by my cousin, Caleb. They wanted to kill me. And when I asked them the reason, Caleb told me that he wanted to punish Albert for killing Alexander. And that’s when I found out that Alexander and Caleb had been friends. He wanted to avenge Alexander’s death.
“We started talking about the past. We talked about Alexander. We also talked about his father. Caleb knows that his father was wrong but he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.”1
The Alpha’s tone suddenly went cold. “Do you know what you are saying? He assaulted his mate in front of his son.”
“I know that,” I say while pretending to be unaffected by his sudden mood change. “But what was the need for you to take matters in your own hands? You could’ve approached the leaders and asked justice for Albert and his mother.”2
“If I would’ve approached the leaders to seek justice then the whole werewolf community would’ve known what had happened. And it would be a shame to Albert’s family and his mother. I value Albert very much, so I cannot let this happen.”4
“So, you trained a ten year old Albert to kill his own father?”
“What was I supposed to do then?”
“You could’ve killed his father but instead, you taught Albert to kill him. You wanted him to avenge his mother.”
“Yes, I did. And I’m proud of it. Albert’s father got what he deserved.” The Alpha said with crossed arms.
“Unbelievable! Do you realize that this decision of yours affected so many lives? You robbed Albert of his childhood. You planted revenge in his young mind. You completely destroyed his life.”3
“You don’t know what it feels like to have your mom violated! But I know… it must be painful for young Albert.” He shouts at me.
“And you don’t know what it feels like to have your father killed!”2
Suddenly, the door opens and Albert enters. “Is everything alright?” He asks when he senses tension in the room.
The Alpha and I remain silent. We continue to share heated gazes.
“What’s going on?” Albert asks again.
I turn to him and say, “It’s time to tell you everything.” I take his hand and lead him to the house. Once, Edward, Herbert, Albert and I are seated in the living room, I start telling them about what happened with me.1
When I was done, Albert said, “I can’t believe that Caleb and Alexander were friends. He was your own cousin! Your blood!”
“Alexander influenced Caleb. He made them a part of his revenge plan,” Edward adds. “Alexander’s plan ruined so many lives.”
“And what about Alpha’s decision?” I ask. “His decision set everything in motion.”
Albert looks at me. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am.”
“So, you are agreeing with Caleb’s words?”
“Yes.”
“You are getting influenced by his words.”
“Didn’t you get influenced by your Alpha’s words?”
“My father assaulted my mother.”
“And you killed him. Was that the right thing to do?”
“He got what he deserved.”
“Oh my God!” I exclaim. “This is crazy, Albert. Two wrongs don’t make a right. An eye for an eye is never the solution to a problem. You don’t realize that your former Alpha’s decision caused a lot of people to lose their lives!”52
“It was Alexander who attacked your pack, not my Alpha!”
“He surely gave the invisible push to Alexander to seek revenge. Your Alpha’s decision ruined so many lives including yours! He robbed you of your childhood. He pushed you in the wrong direction. His decision changed you completely! Because of the past, you were reluctant to even acknowledge me as your mate! Look where we are now, Albert! We will never be like the other couples! And I’ll blame your Alpha not only for this, but also for causing my father’s and cousin’s death!” By the end of it, I have tears in my eyes.20
There is silence in the room.
I say softly, “I just can’t help but think about Alpha’s decision. His decision changed the fate of many people.”3
Albert’s father assaulted his own mate. So the former Alpha trained Albert to avenge his mother. Albert killed his father. When Alexander came to know about all of this, he felt that injustice had been done. He wanted to avenge his father. When he came to know that Albert’s mate lived in my pack, he attacked my pack. In the battle, many lives were lost including my father’s. Albert saved my pack and imprisoned Alexander. When Alexander escaped from the prison, he kidnapped Fiona with the intention of killing her. I came to save Fiona and got injected by wolfsbane. Because of Steve’s antidote, I survived. I came to know that Albert had killed Alexander in front of the leaders. Caleb felt that it was wrong way to seek justice so they decided to avenge their friend. They kidnapped me and wanted to kill me but uncle intervened. In an attempt to stop his son, he lost him.13
I continue, “I wish your former Alpha would’ve taken a different decision, a decision devoid of rage and revenge. He shouldn’t have taken matters into his own hands. Albert, I’m not saying that Richard was right. All I’m saying is that the situation was handled badly. Everything started and ended with revenge. You cannot seek justice when you’re driven by revenge. Your father deserved a fair trial. He would’ve been held accountable for his actions. He would’ve got the punishment he deserved. Only then, justice would’ve been served. If things would’ve gone this way then a lot of lives would’ve been saved.”9
“We can’t change what has happened,” Edward said in a soft tone.
“But we can learn from it.”