There were the fucking hunters who had done worse to Delsanra, but Rayhan had hunted and killed them all. We had lost Raf because of that fight. There were also corrupt witches who had helped the hunters… I knew Rayhan hated the hunters with even more vengeance than he had the Sangue Pack, but he had killed all those involved. I sighed heavily.
“There were many who hurt her willingly, many who were commanded to hurt her, blackmailed, or out of fear of being beaten themselves, for survival… and those who were brave enough to refuse were then compelled under magic to hurt her. These rogues were all gathered by Endora, and she built her army by fear and control.” I looked between both of them. Both were quiet. “Rayhan did what he felt was right. Seeing what his mate had gone through would fucking affect anyone; we would destroy the world for our mates. The need to protect them is so fucking intense that, until you have a mate, you won’t understand that. I’m not saying that it was completely right; I’m just saying when your mate is hurt, you don’t see anything but to make it better,” I said quietly.
I could feel Leo’s anger rising, but he didn’t speak, although I knew even with my command he could if he wanted.
“Rayhan, do you want to put your points forward? Do you want to tell Leo exactly what happened when you went to the Sangue Pack long ago?” He gave a curt nod before slipping his hands into his pockets.
“I first took the files from you after promising that I wouldn’t show them to anyone. You were reluctant to give them to me. I then asked Delsanra which ones had hurt her. She pointed out those that she remembered, and then we went to the Sangue Pack. I had told Marcel which men it was, and so they were already gathered.” He sighed, turning to look out at the moon. The pain in his eyes was clear. No matter how much fucking time passed, it was obvious it didn’t go away entirely. I glanced at Leo, who was smoking away indifferently, tapping his foot silently as if bored. “Delsanra told me that there were those who had been forced to hurt her and not to do this.”
“But you didn’t listen,” Leo said. Rayhan frowned.
“They couldn’t just get away with it. I first separated those who were forced and had felt guilt to step forward, deciding they would get one beating and be let off. I only beat a few of them because Delsanra pleaded with me to let them go, and I did.” As I had thought and heard, but still, Leo didn’t seem to look surprised, almost as if he knew that. I frowned as Rayhan sighed, “I let them go. That group felt remorse and had been under spells. There was an older man who even talked about some she-wolf who hung with Delsanra when she was mid-mutating to a wendigo or something,” he continued. “Then, I sent Delsanra with Liam. After that, the group who were compelled and felt no remorse were-”
“Beaten and bound in silver for a month,” Leo cut in.
“Yeah. And the rest who hurt her willingly, I killed.” Leo smirked and nodded.
“Yeah…. Anything else?” He asked. Rayhan frowned but looked down.
“Maybe I was too harsh, but there were guards in your pack who had hurt her, too. Those in the upper ranks of the Sangue Pack. Should people like that be given a second chance? Rogues are exiled wolves; either they committed crimes or weren’t worthy of staying in a pack because of disobedience to begin with. Having ranked wolves who had committed that many crimes? That isn’t something that should ever be allowed. “
“And then there are those who were born rogues. Does a child need to suffer for their parent’s sins?” Leo asked, sitting forward as he turned and looked at Rayhan. “The thing is, this is the last time I’m going to talk about this because it’s obvious you both will never fucking get it. Dad was born a rogue. He knew nothing but what Endora had taught him. Most of those men were born to rogues that Endora gathered. That’s the only life we knew. Obey or be killed. Survival – it’s the basic instinct all living things have.” He licked his lips, exhaling sharply as he stood up. “You mentioning where we came from, that was the fucking last straw, and it shows that you’ll never get it. We will always be beneath the ‘elite,’ you folk.” He raised his hands in a mock surrendering gesture.
“Leo-” I began when he shook his head.
“I’m not fucking done,” he said quietly, his eyes flashing. There was something different in the way he was talking, and deep down, I worried that if I didn’t get through to him tonight, my chance would be gone. I nodded, motioning for him to carry on.
“You know those men that you killed? The ones that hurt her willingly? Do you know they were told to beat a witch, which, if you forget, was the common enemy for us werewolves? Or did you all forget that little detail when you changed your opinion the moment a Rossi had a witch mate and a witch daughter? When it affected the Lycan King’s family, of course, he was going to suddenly change sides or consider acceptance.” I frowned, as did Rayhan, my stomach twisting. He had a fucking point.
“But that’s because we saw the good in them. Del and Ri showed us that not all witches were bad. We were wrong to judge them all as one,” I said quietly. He nodded.
“Yeah… but how do you explain that to a man whose own mate was threatened to be killed off if he didn’t beat a witch? A monster as we were taught? Obviously, he’ll choose to attack a monster who was helping Endora, who was a fucking psychotic bitch.”
“And that is why the rogues were given a chance at a fresh start because I don’t agree with Rayhan there. They deserved a chance at a new life-” I began.
“Sure, but you took that promise right fucking back when you gave him access to those files! You gave us so much fucking hope that me and the other kids were so fucking excited to live a life like we heard others had. We’d get to go to school, train, watch movies, listen to music, have proper homes, and have fucking fun like normal kids, but everything was taken away the moment you let another alpha walk into our pack and force our alpha to submit.” The pain in his voice was thick, yet his tone remained hard and angry as he glared at me. His eyes held a haunted look that I had seen on the faces of many back in those caves…
“Leo-”
“I’m not done… Dad never mentioned it, but years after the effect of that massacre, and what Rayhan did was a fucking massacre, it haunted us. When you killed all those men, you killed their mates. You made so many children orphans. Dad is at fault, you are at fault, and, above all, Rayhan is at fault. I don’t care about the reasons, the way that was handled was wrong. I watched those killings, those beatings through a fucking vent. I watched how Dad sat in an adjoining room, head in his hands, as his pack members were beaten! You did it all for your mate, yet you took away the mates of many!” Leo continued, his eyes going from me to Rayhan, blazing a steely blue. I could tell it was hard for him to talk about it, and I got it… I had fucked up.
“And you know, from those who were compelled, who had been brave enough to refuse to beat her? Let me give you an example, you know one of them: he had refused to beat her, and Endora ended up killing his daughter. His mate also struggled to carry a fucking pup due to being beaten because he tried to do the right fucking thing. So, when you asked him if he felt remorse, why would he? She was just a witch to him. He was still mourning the loss of his daughter! What did you want him to say? Yeah, I fucking felt bad? And to top it off, his mate, who had suffered beatings, was pregnant when you showed up, was classed as high risk, and she almost died when he was bound in silver for a fucking month by you. You hurt a pregnant woman, almost killed their miracle child.” Rayhan was looking down, and I saw the guilt in his eyes.
“Dad could do fucking nothing because he’s a fucking coward, one who had just found his family and feared losing you all, but if he was half the fucking man he should have been... he should have protected his pack. Not appeased his so-called family because his real family was meant to be his pack. Blood does not make you family.” Leo shook his head and smirked coldly. “And that’s why I will never consider you all my real family, because my fucking duty is to my pack, to make sure no one ever abuses them the way you all did. Yeah, you, too, Alpha King Alejandro. You created fucking files on us like we were fucking criminals! Given a chance, sure, that’s what it was… but we had thought we were given the chance to a fresh start. Fresh start, yet criminal files? Doesn’t fucking sound like a clean, fresh fucking start to me.”
“That was for the safety of all packs, Leo,” I said quietly.
“Oh yeah? Then tell me, did you have a file on me and Dad?”
I frowned. No. I knew where he was going with this, and I knew he was fucking making fair points.
“No? Surely the Rogue King had an entire fucking list of crimes on his back. He should have been on the records. Shit, I forgot, he’s a Rossi. You get an entire fucking pass, right? Let’s be honest, it’s the only reason I can behave like a dick, and none of you does shit, right?” His words were bitter and full of resentfulness.
“I get it. I made a mistake… I didn’t think it through. I’m sorry, Leo. I’ll admit to it. If I can make up for it, then tell me what you want,” Rayhan said quietly, to my surprise, and he meant it. I could see it in his eyes. But even before Leo replied, I realised it wasn’t going to be enough. It was too late, and Leo’s hatred wasn’t going to go away…
“You’re sorry… your sorry won’t bring back all those lives you destroyed. The Sangue Pack has so many people who suffer from PTSD due to everything we witnessed and suffered, but the mate of an elite was far more important than all those other lives, right? Well, carry on. No fucking sorry, no fucking regret will bring that back, and what fucking gets to me the most is that you all are so far up your own asses that you needed me to fucking lay it out to you, years later, for you to even consider that you lot fucked up?” He tossed the cigarette he had crushed in his hand onto the ashtray, looking at us both with unmasked hatred.
“You’re right, and I’ll work on this. I’ll try to fix things. I get that we-” I tried again.
