The savage wild

8. The betrayal of blood

Rafe nodded at Conry, his alpha. Conry was the strongest wolf in the werewolf-world, and had been so for ten years. His name meant literally ‘the king of the wolves’. It was a title that was fought over every five years at a conference of werewolves, called the Blood Fight. He won two times in a row, something that was unheard of in werewolf history. He had fought in the pack wars eight years ago and came out a victor and an alpha. Rafe didn’t know Conry’s real name, but he was determined to find it out one of those days.

Surprisingly, Conry had taken a special interest in Rafe. He knew of the situation between Rafe and his father and decided to take Rafe under his wing for some reason. Rafe was okay with it, even glad. It gave him a purpose; something to do. It also meant that he wouldn’t have to be home too much.

In the beginning Conry ordered Rafe to do little odd jobs, like delivering packages to old ladies. But after a while he started training him, teaching him how to fight and how to be stealthy. How to be a true man, Rafe liked to believe.

He knew his other age mates called him a sucker behind his back, but he didn’t care. He liked being with Conry and he despised the childish ways of his age mates. More so because he couldn’t be childish himself.

Conry nudged Rafe softly, “what are you thinking of, little lad?” Rafe stood up and stretched, the muscles on his arms and legs sore because of the training. “My age mates,” he answered, playing with the belt of his jeans. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, like usual. Almost none of the werewolves wore shirts when they were at home.

Conry stayed silent, waiting for him to elaborate. Rafe sighed. “To tell you the truth, I’m jealous of them. I’d like to be as carefree as them.” Conry looked at him thoughtfully. “Why not join them in their games then, their carefree attitude might rub off on you a little.” Rafe smiled sadly at that, knowing he couldn’t risk it. “No, I’d rather train with you.” Conry watched him, his eyes almost seeing through him. Then he nodded slowly, “you know, when you all reach puberty it won’t be the same anymore. You’ll feel more related to them. You shouldn’t worry about it.” Rafe nodded and quickly changed the subject. Conry saw more then he should.  

“I’m off to grab some stuff back home,” Rafe told him. “So you are permanently going to live in the pack house?” Conry asked. “Yea. Home doesn’t feel like.. Home anymore,” he said softly. With that, he grabbed his bag and started jogging towards his old home. It wasn’t far from the pack house, most of the werewolf houses weren’t, and in a matter of minutes he stood at his back door, fishing his keys out of his pocket.

He entered the house and let the scent of newly painted walls enter his senses. His father had been renovating the house ever since he got his new mate. With every day passing, the house became more and more foreign to Rafe.

He heard his father and his mate in the living room, but he ignored them and quickly walked upstairs. Even if he would greet them, they would just ignore him anyway. They never heard of manners, apparently.

When he reached his room, he halted and he cursed under his breath. His whole room was a mess. The stuff he hadn’t taken with him before were thrown around the room. His clothes ripped and his desk broken. Shards of glass from one of his photo frames lay on the floor, as were pieces of his old toys. He walked over to his closet, glass crunching underneath his shoes. The closet door was slightly ajar. He caught the scent of blood and he froze. Then he slowly opened his closet door. Inside lay the rotten, mutilated body of a dog.

He threw the closet door closed and gagged, trying to hold back the bile that was rising in his throat. What the hell was that?!

He heard someone chuckle behind him and he quickly turned around. The mate of his father, Gabriella, was leaning against his doorframe, smiling as she looked at his horrified expression. He quickly composed himself, knowing his reaction was exactly what she wanted. She had blond hair, slightly curly on the ends. Her eyes were baby blue and her skin was porcelain. Her legs were long and curves evident. She was beautiful. He knew that from what the older boys always said. He found her as ugly as the witch in Sleeping beauty. There was no warmth in her eyes. But he might be biased because of the situation with his own mother.

“Do you like my little goodbye present?” She taunted him. He didn’t react, simply watched her. He knew she hated that. It was one of the reasons why she kept abusing him.

“I found the little cutie yesterday when I was taking a stroll and immediately thought of you. I hope your little friend won’t be missing him too much.”

I frowned. “Little friend? What do you mean?” Her lips curled up and she studied her nails. “You know, the one you were talking to last week.” He froze. He remembered asking Jake if he knew were Conry was last week. He remembered the cute little guy who was the same age as he was and how he actually liked to talk more to him. He remembered remembering his father’s mate and had quickly shut Jake out. It must have been enough for Gabriella though. Enough to target Jake.

His lips curled up and he snarled at her. He clenched his fists and tried to stop the impulse of hitting her so hard she’d bleed and decorate his room with something beautiful for once. To let her resemble the dog in his closet. He didn’t though, recalling what Conry had told him. Woman, no matter what, are supposed to be treasured. And if you dislike them too much, at least don’t hurt them.

“Bitch,” he growled at her. Her face twisted itself into one of pure hate and rage. “What did you just say?” She hissed and lashed out. Her claws were extended, but he was able to escape any damage thanks to the training Conry had given him. She wasn’t done though and jumped at him. He avoided every attack. She hissed in frustration. “Little rat,” she snarled at him.

Suddenly his father entered the room. “What is going on here?” He growled. Gabriella stopped in her tracks and turned around, while smiling innocently at him. “Sweetie, there you are! I needed you.” She prowled over to him and kissed him softly on his lips. “Can you please restrain your son so I can hurt him a little?” She whispered, but loud enough for Rafe to hear.

Hope had filled Rafe when his father entered, but when his father ran his hand through his hair like he had done so many times before, sighed heavily and then made his way over to Rafe, that same hope was crushed and stepped on like trash on the ground. Instead of escaping, he stood frozen with disbelief and shock.

His father grabbed him by his arm and kicked Rafe’s kneecap so hard that Rafe fell on this knees. Rafe didn’t resist. “How do you want him?” His father almost sounded bored. Was this really the same man who had loved his mother? “Well, I rather like him on his knees,” Gabriella answered, smiling. Then she took a step towards Rafe and leaned forward. “You are not going to enjoy this,” she whispered in his ear, “but I am.”

Then she extended her claws and slashed his back open. Pain ripped through him and he screamed.  Gabriella laughed hysterically and kept on slashing his back. Rafe screamed at the pain, but he didn’t cry out because of the pain in his back. No, the betrayal of his dad cut deeper than any claw could ever cut.