1 Christian Valez

My voice sounded foreign to me. I'd been hearing it my whole life and never once did I think I could sound the way I did.

My blood-curdling screams wrung out over deaf ears as I sobbed over my mother's dead body.

She was a sweet woman that married a hateful and abusive man. They should have spared her life. The lives of my dead family, friends, and packmates should have been spared.

They left their bodies scattered around me, some of them as their wolves, others still unshifted and still in their human bodies.

No one had the right to commit genocide. While my father was an evil, hateful man, and the members of our pack were always eager to follow his orders and commit atrocities, family and pack were family and pack.

My mother had two children, me and my brother Noel. I was an alpha, and Noel was an omega. He was as sweet as can be, a product of such a gentle mother. A mother who kept us away from our father's evils as best as she could.

I helped her to protect Noel when I got older. When I was old enough, I endured punishments for not listening to my father's orders, and extra when I refused to let Noel listen. The lashes that he gave me still marred my chest, stomach, and back and were always a reminder that while I suffered, I did the right thing.

Despite all the beatings, I believed that family is family and they must always be protected. I wasn't sure where I got that kind of deep-seated loyalty from, especially for such horrible people. Maybe it was because they were all I'd ever known.

My pack handled a massive drug operation. They created something that killed thousands of humans and wolves alike. My father tried to get my brother and me to join a group of wolves that were sent to kill those who wouldn't pay. They flooded the US with the drug and not only that; they made it a point to do kills for hire. Thankfully, my mother taught my brother and me the right, and thankfully the moon goddess gave me the iron will to do the right thing, despite the punishments that followed.

I hated what our pack did. I hated what they stood for, but I didn't believe in genocide. Their faith would have been decided by the moon goddess, and they would have suffered the consequences. My father had already taken ill, and as his firstborn, I was going to take over and make a change, but that wouldn't happen anymore.

My innocent, pure mother attached to my father by a mate bond, afraid of separation and rejection, would not get to experience the peaceful life I had planned to give her.

As tears dripped from my eyes, creating mini pools on my mother's face, I tried will all my might to will her back to life. All I wanted her to do was wake up.

Soft hands gripped my tense shoulder, and if it was anyone else touching me, I would have attacked, but it was Noel. I could smell him. When I turned to look at him, he was crying too. Letting go of my mother's body, I enveloped him in a warm hug. My body was still tense, but I wanted to comfort him.

The man whose pack had just committed genocide walked up and stood behind my brother. He stood at least two inches taller than me at about six feet five. He had his arms crossed over an impressive chest and looked rather intimidating. His pale blue eyes bore down on me in condescension as he watched my brother and me.

I would have considered him attractive in another setting, but all I saw now were big blood-red letters on his forehead, spelling murderer.

"I have decided to spare you," he spoke. "At your brother's request, of course."

I scoffed at the giant. "I would rather die than be spared by you. I'm not going anywhere with you." I was ready to put up a fight. He might have been built compared to my leaner frame, but one thing I had never turned down from my father was the training he had given me, and with the anger from me and my wolf together, I could take him.

"You can't die," my brother cried out. "Please." When I looked away from the monster, my brother's tears were now flowing harder.

"You want us to go with this monster?"

Noel looked offended at the man. "He's not a monster. He's my mate," he whispered. His voice was so soft that I almost didn't hear him.

"Chrissy, please come with us. Come with me."

I could feel my lips twitching into a snarl at his ridiculous request. "He just killed our whole family, our entire pack. Mate or not, family is family, and they were people we've known our entire lives."

I rarely got mad at my brother, but he had to have been losing his mind if he wanted us to go with such a man.

"Why is that so hard?" he asked, his voice now rising. "You hated them too."

He grabbed my shirt, lifting it to expose the scars on my body. From the corner of my eye, I could see the eyebrows of his mate shoot up, but he didn't comment, thankfully.

"You hated these people. Look what dad did to you, just because you didn't want to kill people or push drugs. The rest of them were just as bad, they deserved -"

I cut him off and snatched my shirt back. "Did mom? Did mom deserve to die?"

Noel seemed taken aback by my question. I scrambled to my feet, rage surged through me at him, piling our mom in with the rest of the evildoers, how could he do that?

I all but wanted to smack my brother, but his small hands rested on my shoulder in a calming manner.

"Please, Chrissy, come with me. If not for anything else, then come for me. I want you to."

I deflated a little. How could I deny him? If he was going to go with the monster anyway, then I would need to protect him. I was almost sure he would come to his sense, eventually, and if anything happened while we were wherever we were going, I would spend the rest of my life making sure the stranger and his pack paid, in the worst way.

My wolf Gael was screaming at me to just attack the monster now, but I used everything in me not to and keep him at bay.

"Ok, Noel." I gave my brother a small smile before steeling my expression and looking at his mate and addressing him. "While my father was an evil man, who I hated with all my heart, and while the rest of the pack members were drug-dealing killers, who I had no respect for, they were still our family. Worst of all, the woman lying by my feet was a noble woman, who never hurt a fly, and you still killed her. I'm giving my brother a week to have his time with you. I'm almost sure he will reject you, and probably before the week has passed."

When I finished speaking, the monster did nothing and said nothing, so I turned to address my brother. "Have your fun and reject him soon, so we can start over, build a new life. There is always a chance at a second chance mate."

Noel looked at me but said nothing either, only taking my hand and leading us away from the back of the large estate. We walked together hand in hand, away from my mother's dead body as we stepped over countless other dead men and women until we came to the gates.

There were six buses already loaded. As we approached them, something made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but I was feeling too many other emotions to pay it any mind.

I was leaving a place I'd known as home but never felt at home. It was still a big loss either way. Noel and I followed behind his mate and got onto the first bus.

My nose crinkled at the scent of unfamiliar wolves as I was led to a seat at the front. I didn't spare them a glance as I took my seat beside the window. They all would have the same bright red lettering on their foreheads that my mind would conjure, and it would distort their faces.

Noel took a seat beside me, and his mate took a seat across the row. He looked expectantly at my brother, who shook his head and remained seated next to me, which I was grateful for. I didn't interact with him though, instead, I looked out the window as the bus started.

The chatter of the unfamiliar wolves started up like they had no care in the world. I felt the same disgust for them as I felt for my family. They were back to being their regular selves after destroying lives.