Shut Up and Kiss Me

Chapter 12: A Little Bit of History

Seven years ago

Wesley ran a hand through his hair, took a sip of wine, and then set the wine glass on the mantle.

"I'm ready to talk. I know you have been asking me to tell you more about my past for a while now." He faced his son, who was seated on the dark leather sofa. "You probably aren't going to like it." Wesley warned.

The boy, freshly eighteen, nods once with a grim expression.

"I was born into one of the earliest wolf packs, the Sanguis Mountain pack. My father and his father and his father's father were all men of tradition. They didn't like change or rule-breaking." He paused to start on a different track. "The thing about being in a pack is, you have levels of leadership. You have the alpha, the betas, the omegas, and the nomads. The only way you can become an alpha is by birth or by challenging the alpha to a duel. My father was an alpha and as his eldest son, that role would pass on to me either when he passed or when he saw fit to pass it on."

"I met your mother by chance. The more time we spent together, the closer we became. I wanted to marry her." Wesley smiled, remembering. "But when I brought it up with my father, he was furious. His son... marry a human? The idea was absurd to him."

The boy frowns, trying to wrap his head around the reasoning.

"Our clan bloodline is stronger when it remains within the same species. Human and werewolf relations don't breed alphas, which is what my father wanted. He was too caught up in the past and wouldn't consider change for the future. So, he gave me an ultimatum. Either I end what he considered a foolish faze or he would end it for me."

"What did you do?"

"I considered it." He admitted. "The man was my father and I had spent my entire life trying to make him proud. But I couldn't end it. I loved your mother too much and I knew he had to be wrong about this. I couldn't let him take it away from me, especially when your mother told me she was pregnant. I wasn't going to lose either of you. So we married in secret."

"But he found out." The boy surmises.

Wesley nods. "I told him. There is no way I could have kept it a secret, nor did I want to. I thought he would be proud I had taken responsibility; I thought I could make him understand... but my father was not an understanding man. He always got what he wanted. After I told him, he beat me." Wesley shook his head. "There was nothing I could do about it. Then he promised I would never take over as alpha."

"But, he can't do that, can he?"

"There are plenty of ways he could have prevented me from claiming my birthright. The current alpha must relinquish his authority before another can take over. He didn't just want me to forgo the role of alpha, though; he wanted me gone. So, he challenged me to a duel. If I won, he would say no more about my choices and forswear the role of alpha to me. If I lost, I would be banished and stripped of my position."

Wesley sighed and paced across the room. "It wasn't a fair fight, though, and he knew that from the moment he suggested it. He bullied me into it and proceeded to humiliate me in front of the entire pack."

"What about the rest of your family?"

"My mother had no decision in the matter. The word of the alpha is law; at least, it was in those times."

"And your brother?"

Wesley looked back at his son, the question unexpected.

His son stared directly back. "Mom told me."

"Of course she would." Wesley peered out the window, thinking. "He's a good kid. He never got into the kinds of trouble I did. He mated young and needed more support than I could offer him."