Chapter 51: Theron: Bound By Blood (I)
Theron~
I went completely silent after hearing Rael’s words. My eyes locked on his emerald ones, and only then did I realize that the fire burning inside them wasn’t just anger.
It was mixed with disappointment ... and sorrow.
But why? I couldn’t understand.
"Kick you out?" I repeated, confused out of my mind. "What are you talking about, Rael? Father said you ran away from the palace, and that you were the one who burned down our old house, but why—"
Before I could finish, Rael pulled me by the collar, his grip tightening like steel. His voice cracked with rage. "Are you fucking dumb?! Why the hell would I burn down our own house? I know I can act like an ass sometimes, but for the love of the Moon Goddess, why would I ever destroy something that meant so much to us?!"
Rael’s words shook me, but my father’s voice still echoed in my head. He had always told me Rael was the one who ran away ... that Rael was the one who burned everything down.
The truth was, our relationship had always been complicated. Rael and I shared the same mother, but we had different fathers.
Still, for almost seventeen years of my life, I believed we came from the same parents. How could I not? Rael’s biological father—the former Alpha of the Nocthra Pack—treated me like his own son. He never once drew a line between me and Rael, never once made me feel like I didn’t belong.
Back then, our family had been whole. We had a gentle Alpha Father and a kind mother, and for a while ... everything truly felt nice and beautiful.
Unfortunately, sometimes destiny always finds a way to shatter that happiness in a single night.
The Nocthra Pack was suddenly attacked by a larger and stronger pack. Their warriors came like shadows in the dark, tearing through our defenses with brutal force.
That night, our father, the Alpha who had always stood like an unshakable wall, was struck down. No matter how fiercely he fought, no matter how hard he tried to protect us, he was overwhelmed and killed before our eyes.
Meanwhile our mother ... our kind, gentle mother ... was taken. They didn’t just capture her, but they enslaved her. From a Luna who once carried herself with dignity, she was reduced to nothing more than property in the hands of our enemies.
The home we knew, the warmth we shared, the laughter that once filled the halls, it all vanished in an instant. All that was left were broken walls, bloodstains, and the unbearable emptiness of loss.
Rael was only thirteen back then. His wolf form wasn’t even perfect yet, and for a boy with a face as beautiful as his, they would usually give him only two choices: become a slave ... or be killed.
But he didn’t get to choose because I made the choice for him.
I chose to fight.
I chose to drag him out of that living hell, no matter how much it cost me.
And I chose ... to leave our mother behind in that cursed place, because if I turned back for her, I would have lost him too.
Rael’s voice cut through my thoughts. "We built that house to honor our mother. Why in the world would I burn it down?"
My fists tightened, and I found myself taking a step back. "I thought you were angry with me," I admitted. "Because I refused your idea of rebuilding the Nocthra Pack."
"Of course I’m mad at you!" Rael’s voice cracked with rage, his grip trembling as though he was barely holding himself together. "You ... you chose that fucking old man over me! You chose that fucking old man who was the mastermind behind our parents’ death!"
"Rael!" I shouted, my chest burning with anger. "My father would never do that! He’s not the one who sent those wolves into our home!"
Rael laughed at me, but it sounded more like a mockery. "Oh, don’t be fucking ridiculous. You think I don’t know the truth? You think I haven’t pieced it all together after all these years?"
His smile was filled with pain as his voice dropped lower. "Those wolves didn’t come out of nowhere, Theron. They were sent, and do you know who had the most to gain from Father’s death? From tearing our pack apart?"
When we ran from that nightmare, we hid in so many places that I can’t even remember them all anymore. Until one day, a man suddenly came to us and told me that he was my biological father.
He wasn’t my mother’s fated mate, but ... they had once shared a night together, before she ever met Rael’s father.
Back to Rael, his eyes darkened as he stepped closer, his voice trembling with fury. "Don’t you see, Theron? You were the living reminder of that mistake. The king wanted you because you carried his blood, and he hated me because I didn’t."
He let out a bitter laugh that held no humor. "He told us he wasn’t our mother’s fated mate, but that was nothing more than bullshit. The truth is, our mother rejected him because he was a cruel bastard. He made her life a living nightmare, Theron. That was why she ran away from him and found my father instead."
The more Rael spoke, the more lost I felt. My chest tightened with every word, because I had never known any of this before. Everything I thought I understood about our past was starting to crumble.
But it still didn’t make any sense and I still thought that Rael was only imagining things.
Rael’s voice grew heavier, filled with anger and grief. "He destroyed our pack on purpose, Theron! He wanted revenge on my father for stealing our mother away from him. And after we ran, he swore he’d take her back from those monsters. He promised ..." Rael’s voice cracked, his hands curling into fists, "but that promise was nothing but a lie."
In the end, yes, he brought our mother back, but she wasn’t the same woman we had known. She no longer spoke, no longer looked at us, and would scream whenever anyone tried to touch her.
She was still alive, but she lived like an empty shell, like a doll with no soul.
"Our mother was traumatized," I said. "That has nothing to do with my father."
Truthfully, it was my fault for abandoning her.