Betrayal And Redemption (Wolves of Hollow Ridge Book 1)

Chapter 10. Confronting the Wrongs Committed!

Zack stormed through his parents front door, angrier than he could ever remember being.  "Mother, father, where are you?" He shouted.

"In the study!" His father called out.  As Zack threw open the study door he saw his mother perched on the edge of her chair, his father was stood behind the imposing desk that took up much of the space in the cosy room. As he walked in further his mother stood and started toward him a frown marring her still beautiful face.

"Son," She said firmly. "What is this nonsense about you calling a meeting to challenge your father for the Alpha position?" She demanded. "Surely he is mistaken. You would nev........"

"Just like you would never hide my mate from me Mother?" He retorted harshly. "For two years you purposely and wilfully hid the presence of my mate from me. How could you do that to her?  How could you do that to me?  And I haven't even begun about the conditions she has been living in, if you could even call what she has endured as living. What were you both thinking?" He all but screamed at them.

"Don't you dare take that tone with me boy!" His dad barked. "I am you father and your Alpha and you will show me respect!"

His mother, her face red with either anger or shame, he wasn't sure which and at that moment he didn't care which, sucked in a shocked breath.  "Son, surly you understand why we made the choice's we did."  She said, confusion clear in her voice. "She is totally unsuitable for the mate of Alpha heir. She is a no one. She doesn't have the strength to fulfill the duties it would entail. You are far better off without her. We will find you a suitable mate, one who......."

"Can you even hear yourself mother? It isn't up to you to find me a mate! I have a mate. One who has been here all along. Did you know what was happening to her? Did you know he was abusing her?" He asked.

His mother turned her head away, looking at her mate, and he had his answer. "Oh my God! You did! You knew what he was doing to her." He growled. "How long have you known? When did it start? When she realised I was her mate? Before?" He roared at them.

"It doesn't matter when it started." His father said. "What matters is what we do now. Obviously you will have to rescind your challenge, I can't have the pack thinking there is discord within the alpha family."

"Discord? You mean you are worried the pack will find out what you did? That you allowed a member of your pack to be beaten for years and did nothing to stop it!" His father blanched looking away, guilt showing on his face for the first time.

"What?" Zack demanded. "What aren't you telling me?"

His mother moved to stand beside her mate. "What else could there be?" She said briskly. "We will admit that we could have done more, but we did not know for sure he was doing anything worse."

"What do you mean worse? What could be worse?" He scoffed. As he spoke the words, Zack's mind began to race and his heart froze in his chest. The only thing worse than constant beatings was........ No! They couldn't mean that. Horror rushed in, as his mind tried make sense of what was running through it.

"You mean he was...." Zack chocked on the words, to horrified of the possibility to even say them. He looked at the faces of his parents and he saw the truth there. "He raped her, didn't he?" He said, his voice hoarse.

His father shifted uncomfortably before him, opening and closing his mouth several times but ultimately said nothing in the face of his sons wrath.

"He wasn't just beating her, he raped her didn't he?" He could not believe the people standing before him, the people who raised and loved him could have allowed this to happen. Oh they could say they didn't know what was going on for sure but he knew them better than that. They had known and did nothing. He wanted, no, he needed to know why. He knew they were not monsters, a bit pompous and a lot arrogant, but never cruel.