Myths & Rejections

Chapter 6 - It's Over

Word Count : 5041

Reese

Reese sat silent for a few more moments before heading toward his father's office. There was a part of him that was angry that he had not been included in any of this, that it had been dropped like a bomb on him with everyone else. But another part of him realized why; it was because this was his fault, all of it, that's why they didn't include him. Did they know? That he'd been one of the bullies? He'd made it clear to the other students that his parents weren't to find out who did it, but they knew about Harper and Celie being bullied and abused at school. Celie's letter had laid it out, but he had tried to keep the fact that he'd been involved from his parents, they were disappointed enough in him just for the rejection.

Reese was nervous about going to his father's office now, things had changed in the past couple of months, his father and mother did not talk to him as they once had. The chatter around the dinner table was tense, his mother barely spoke to him or looked at him at all. He remembered the devastation on her face when they'd found Harper missing, how frantic she'd been to find her, and the way she'd cried when she'd read Harper's note and Celie's letter to her father. He remembered her tears in his room when she spoke of Harper's mother never forgiving her for what she let happen, he remembered her blaming herself for everything.

Luna Sophia had always been extremely fond of Harper, she'd enjoyed spending time with her in the kitchen, trying new recipes, talking with her about school, books, and cooking. She'd been Harper's mother's best friend and had immediately taken Harper under her wing when Cassie had died, Sophia had thought she'd been like a second mother to Harper. Learning Harper had been being abused right in front of her without her noticing had been heartbreaking for her, she felt like she'd failed Cassie and Harper. Reese would never forgive himself for making his mother feel that way, if he'd just stood up for Harper, none of this would ever have happened.

Reese couldn't figure out why he'd never done anything about it, why he'd participated in it, he'd always liked Harper. It didn't make sense to him and he'd spent months trying to remember his reasons for doing it, he could never come up with anything, but he knew it boiled down to one thing, or one person, rather. Charla. Charla had always hated Harper, he didn't really understand why, but she'd started the bullying and he'd never done anything to stop it because he'd wanted to get into Charla's pants and be with her. So he went along with her, let her get away with it, turned the other cheek and pretended it wasn't that bad, even though he'd known in his heart that it was that bad, and that it was wrong. Lately he'd found himself staring into the mirror wondering who the person in front of him was, how he could have done such terrible things.

Reese knocked softly on his father's office door, half wishing he wouldn't be told to come in, but he was.

"Reese." His dad said, looking up from his desk, his eyes a little hard, but his mother didn't look at him at all.

"Dad, why didn't you tell me about all this?" Reese asked sitting in the chair in front of his dad's desk, some of his anger about being kept in the dark bubbling up. "How can I take over the pack in a few weeks if I'm kept in the dark and have no idea what is going on?"

"We didn't tell you because we didn't feel you would be any help in coming up with solutions to these issues or creating these laws and rules. Considering you were one of the main perpetrators in the abuse our investigation discovered." Alpha Lucas said flatly.

Reese's stomach hit the floor and he swallowed hard; they knew.

"And as far as you being named Alpha, that is not happening for a long, long time." Alpha Lucas stated.