Blessed By The Moon

Chapter 22

Skye's pov:

I approached him slowly, each step weighed down by a mix of emotions that were almost too much to bear. 

When I sat beside him, he barely looked at me. Instead, he took a deep, shuddering breath, his eyes cast downward. But when he finally met my gaze, his eyes were filled with something I hadn't expected—regret. A kind of raw, tortured regret that made him seem like a different person entirely.

"Skye," he said, his voice low, almost pleading, "I want to apologize. Just... just let me talk, please, without interrupting. I have to get it all out."

I nodded, though my heart was pounding, my stomach twisting with every word he hadn't yet said. He reached for my hand, holding it tight. I was tempted to pull away, but something made me hold on, my fingers tightening around his. A part of me didn't want to lose the connection we'd made just by sitting here, sharing this painful moment.

He took another shaky breath and started, his voice thick with emotion. "My whole life, I thought Alison and Howell were my parents. They were the ones who held me, who kissed my bruises, who taught me everything I knew about family and love. I remember them cheering for me at school plays, spelling bees, scolding me when I messed up or got bad grades, being there for every big moment."

He paused, his jaw tightening, and I could see the tears he was fighting to hold back. "Then, just before my first transformation, everything changed. Alison and Howell gave me my dad's old car as a birthday gift, one day before my actual birthday because they were both working that specific day. It was nothing fancy, but I loved it. We took it for a spin together, even grabbed dinner to celebrate. But I forgot my phone at the restaurant, and after we got home, I decided to go back for it."

His gaze grew distant, caught in the memory. "The streets were empty, the night air cold. I remember driving through the newly fixed street, you know by those houses with pale-colored balconies... they were just getting built back then. And, suddenly, pain—like nothing I'd ever felt. My arm snapped first as I gripped the steering wheel, then my leg, my ribs... every bone breaking, twisting. I thought I was being torn apart. I couldn't even call for help. I tried to scream, but there was no one there."

He looked away, his voice cracking. "I barely managed to get out of the car before I collapsed. I thought I was possessed, that some demon had crawled into my skin. And then, suddenly, I wasn't human anymore. I was this... this creature with four legs, and I could feel this strange mind in my head, like a voice I couldn't control. I was terrified."

A small shudder went through him, and I could feel it too. The horror of that night, that feeling of losing yourself, becoming something you don't understand.

"I didn't tell Alison and Howell," he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I couldn't. I didn't know who I was anymore, or what I'd become, at first I thought I was a freak, and over time, I started to question everything. I knew deep down that I wasn't really their child. So I started spending nights in the forest, trying to understand what was happening to me, trying to feel some sense of control. I even... I even turned to drugs, Skye. They made it easier, calmed my nerves. Made this other world seem a little less terrifying."

He closed his eyes, his voice tight with barely controlled pain. "One night, I ran into other werewolves—Caleb and a couple of his packmates. They thought I was a rogue, and they almost killed me. But when I explained everything, they listened. They brought me to their pack, where I met the Alpha—the man who looked at me and saw his son, the resemblance was striking."

He looked at me then, his expression haunted. "Skye, I found out the truth. My biological parents were driving through the mountains when their car broke down. I was barely two years old, and my mom was pregnant. My dad left her in the car with me and went to the nearest town. That's when Alison and Howell showed up. My mom couldn't shift Skye, because she was pregnant ... They took everything—her money, her phone... and me. They just... took me."

I felt a chill go down my spine. I could see the anguish in his face, the pain of discovering his entire life had been built on a lie.

"My mom... she never recovered," he said softly, his voice breaking. "When she gave birth to my sister, she was too weak and... she died. She never got to meet me, she never got to found out I was still alive, my father told me she never stopped looking for me. And my sister... she grew up without a parent, only to then find out she has a brother very later on in life."

He took a deep, unsteady breath, his grip tightening on my hand. "I didn't let my father kill Alison and Howell. They may have stolen me, but they raised me. They loved me in their own way, twisted as it was, but that wasn't the real reason, I wanted to punish them in my own way. My father couldn't accept me in the pack immediately, he said I was weak—mentally and physically. I needed to prove myself."

His gaze hardened, a flicker of old resentment flashing in his eyes. "So, I lied to Alison and Howell. Told them I was accepted into a university, even forged documents. They were so proud. But in reality, I was with Caleb, training. He pushed me hard, harder than anyone ever had. He taught me to fight, to channel my wolf, to survive. And when my father finally thought I was ready, he made me fight him to take over as Alpha. I won, Skye. I became Alpha."

His voice dropped, thick with guilt. "But the power changed me. I had to learn quickly that to lead, I had to keep control. And fear... fear was the easiest way to do it. The pack feared me, respected me—and I liked it. I fed off it, and it gave me strength. I built myself up as the Alpha, someone they couldn't challenge, couldn't defy."

His jaw tightened, his eyes glistening with pain. "Then I came back one day, planning to break Alison and Howell's hearts, to fake my death and disappear, the summer you and I met, you were the perfect distraction that night, but that whole scene was only to break their hearts, I never thought they would blame you... Anyway, while I was gone, my father was attacked by his own servants. They poisoned him with wolfsbane, weakened him, then killed him with silver. I couldn't let it go unanswered. I tracked them down, and I killed them myself—with an axe, no powers, just my own hands. And that's where my name came from. That's how I became who I am, everyone started calling me Alpha Axe instead of Alex"

He turned to me, eyes pleading. "That's why I'm so harsh on servants who step out of line. I can't risk losing control again. I can't risk letting history repeat itself. And then you showed up."

His grip on my hand loosened slightly, his expression torn. "You... reminded me of everything I'd tried to forget, everything I'd lost. I was drawn to you, but I couldn't let myself feel it. I couldn't let my guard down, not in front of you, or anyone else. If the pack saw me bending for a servant... if they saw me treat you differently..."

He trailed off, pain flickering across his face. "I tried to help you escape, Skye. I arranged it with Kaiden, the one who told you to run straight and turn right. We had a car waiting for you. I was going to pretend I'd killed you, put some rogue's blood on me as proof, and send you away to safety. But then... then you shifted."

He swallowed, his voice barely above a whisper. "When you shifted, it hit me like a punch to the gut. I realized you were my mate. My other half, the one I'd been waiting for. And in that moment, I knew I'd ruined it all. I'd destroyed any chance of us being together."

"Skye, I know I don't deserve forgiveness. I know what I did was unforgivable. But... I'm asking for a chance. A chance to show you who I am beneath all this. I know it won't be easy. I know I've hurt you. But I'll do whatever it takes."

He paused, his hand still holding mine, his eyes pleading with a depth of emotion that nearly broke me. "I'm not asking you to forgive me, not yet. I just want... a chance to make things right. To try to be someone you could care about, even a little."

In the silence that followed, I felt the weight of everything he'd told me. The years of pain, the layers of anger, and the glimmer of something more—a quiet, desperate hope that there was a path forward.

When I hugged him, it felt strange, like my body was moving on autopilot. My arms wrapped around him, but it was a foreign gesture to me. But when I looked up and finally pulled him into a kiss, everything shifted. The moment our lips met, it was like fire igniting in my veins, sparking something raw and undeniable. I felt every part of him, every heartbeat and breath, as if we were woven together.

There was no numbness anymore, no empty movements or autopilot—just an overwhelming, consuming awareness. In that kiss, I came alive. The walls I'd carefully built around my heart crumbled, and I felt truly, painfully real, like I'd stepped back into my own skin for the first time. I wasn't hiding, wasn't holding back. I was just... me.