Forbidden Fruit

Chapters 12: Pasts & Curiosities

Alex's Dad- Former Beta Johnathan

Alex's POV

"What do you mean?" His words are fragile, as if someone might snatch them and break them against the ground into nothing. Like he almost didn't say anything at all.

But my ears are able to catch the quiet words, and even expecting them, I flinch as the memories and the frustration that I've tried my best to forget and forgive, bubbles towards the surface. "My parents died seven years ago right before my thirteen birthday. My sister left not too long after that." I'm able to answer, but tears are already stinging my eyes and my teeth grind crushingly against one another, pain tearing in my chest from the inside out.

But he continues, unaware of the scabs that have only begun to heal over, being stabbed and destroyed, leaving the wound fresh once more and worse off than it was. "Died? Or were killed?" His words are like ice carved daggers piercing my chest, embedding into my lungs, stealing the air from my soul. He unwittingly unlocks a closet full of skeletons and locked away fury, desperate to get free.

Though Tobias is silent, but even still, I can feel every ounce of fury, distrust and resentment that we do our best to keep to ourselves.

It is our vendetta, after all.

Not even James knows the details, only Briana, my little sister by a little over two years, truly knows what happened to our family that day.

A part of me isn't sure I should tell Chloe, unsure that he won't use the information against me or just laugh in my face.

'You're being bitter and projecting. You felt rejected, I get it. But you weren't and you have a second chance. Stop sabotaging it.' Tobias growls at me, getting fed up with my stubbornness. 'If we want him to trust us at all or feel comfortable sharing then we have to give up some things, too.' He reminds me.

"Fine." I sigh out loud, wanting Toby off of my case but also realizing that I can use this to my benefit as well. "I'll answer your questions. But you have to answer mine, too. No lying allowed." Is my only rule, not that I expect Chloe to be all the way forthcoming about the years he spent turning into the person he is today. I remember that Incubi and Warlocks both can live well beyond their seventh century, so I would imagine, that Chloe has seen and felt things in those years, that would overwhelm any lifetime. Even still, I want any information I am allowed to have and to hold, to be authentic and true to the soul that I find myself bound to.

He narrows his eyes and his tail shakes in annoyance but he concedes, perching himself softly in the edge of the couch he's next to.

He lifts a hand and gestures for me to continue as he wraps his delicate arms around himself, as if trying to protect himself from something. Recognizing the procrastination within myself, I feel myself take a deep sigh before finally allowing myself, after all these years, to finally truly revisit and think about what happened all those years ago.

"They were killed. And the murderer walks free to this very day." I admit as calmly as I can, closing my eyes against the assault of memories that rise from within. I ignore the way my voice shakes, knowing that there no point in postponing the inevitable. Chloe was going to hear some version of the truth eventually. I would rather he would hear the truth from me. Even still, I feel like my mouth is full of glue when I go to continue, my words dense and sticking to my throat as I speak. "Just like me, my father was the Beta of the Autumn Falls pack. He met my mother the same year he his father passed on the mantle to him, at twenty four, and together they started to raise a family and working with the Alpha Richard and Head Warrior Elijah at the time to keep our region safe. When I was about seven years old, my parents came back from a mission one night with Briana, my sister clinging to my mother crying her heart out. They said that she was going to be apart of our family now because at only four, she had lost everything, and was no longer safe. From then on, you could say I had the perfect childhood. The ones they talk about in fairytales. Except, in this story, my parents were Beta and Lune first and foremost, they had a duty to their people and ultimately, it's what lead to their death in the end." I reach my limit, my words no longer understandable through my tears that leak from my eyes and fall against my cheeks, a solitary reminder of all the pain that day brought. "What about you?" I manage to get out, and at first Chloe doesn't answer, just stares at me with that maddening unreadable expression of his.