Gray Valley

s i x t y - n i n e

WARNING: This chapter contains some obscene language

I KNEW WHO THE MAN WAS.

"Lucian Bronze."

I moved in front of my Soulmate to protect him.

"And you're the little Alpha." He tilted his head to look at me. "Aren't you?"

He tried to approach me, but was stopped by a growl that sounded from Genesee, who was in her Wolf form beside me.

"What do you want?"

"You have my son... Blayze Walker. I want you to give him to me."

Son?

I could not help but laugh at his demand.

He lied to him... He made him believe that he loved him.

He was no father to Blayze.

And Blayze was no son to him.

"No," I told him. "I would never give him to you."

"Never? He is the Beta of my Pack, little Alpha. You're not allowed to say never."

I was starting to get unnerved by his name for me.

"He's hurt."

"I know. That's why I'm here."

I gritted my teeth. "I'm his mate."

He chose to ignore that.

"Do you know why he was hurt, little Alpha?"

"The bitch you made an alliance with attacked him."

"That was how he was hurt." He mocked me with a smile. "But, I did not ask you that. Tell me, little Alpha... Why he was hurt?"

"He-"

He interrupted me. "He was hurt because of you."

"He's hurt because Mary attacked him," I replied.

"No. She attacked you... You! And my son protected you." I noticed the hostility in his voice. "And he is hurt because he protected you when you were attacked by Mary. Now... I am not going to ask, again, Alpha. He is hurt... And he is not safe." He paused. "I want you to give my son to me."

I could feel the familiar sensation of my burning mark.

"HE'S NOT YOUR SON!"

"He may not have my blood... But I turned him into the man he is. His blood does not matter. Blayze is my son."

"All you've ever done is lie to him."

"Parents lie to protect their children all the time, little Alpha. I thought you would know that."

"How would I know, Lucien?"

"Didn't your mother lie to you to protect you from your brother?" I froze at his words. "I am no different. I wanted to protect my son from this war. I did lie to him... But it was to protect him. "

I knew that.

My mother lied to protect me from West. Michael lied to Martyn to protect him from his own hostility. Melanie lied to protect her son from the hostility of her Pack. Lucian lied to protect Blayze from the hostility between Werewolves.

But I knew that there were times when they also failed to protect their children.

"But he was hurt... You couldn't even protect him with your lies. How dare you refer to yourself as his father?"

"And are you better than me? I may not be his father because I failed to protect him. But if that is true, you are no better than me! You failed to protect him. You are not his Soulmate!"

There was silence.

"Please give him to me, Alpha. And the Brown Wolves and Mary will have no reason to attack him."

It was true.

Blayze would be safe from both the Brown Wolves and Mary if he was with Lucian.

"He'll be safe with me, little Alpha."

"No."

I could see that he was determined.

"Give my son to me."

I averted my eyes from him.

"Please."

My mark was no longer burning.

I no longer sensed the hostility from the shifted Brown Wolves.

Lucian Bronze.

This was not a fight.

He did not want to fight me.

He approached me, in the forest, because he was determined to protect a man that we both loved.

This was not a fight.

But I couldn't help but feel defeated.

"I hate you."

It was a lie.

He was not the one I hated.

I hated myself.

I was too weak.

I hated that I was too weak to make own decisions. I hated that I was too weak to be independent. I hated that I was too weak to embrace my own flaws.

I hated myself because I was too weak to protect the ones I loved.

My heart tightened as my eyes fell on the unconscious Blayze.

"You were born for it."

He had told me that.

Yes, I was. It was my fate. I was born to be an Alpha. Yes, I was.

But... I was not an Alpha. And I was too weak to be an Alpha. I was pretending to be an Alpha... An Alpha like my father.

"Protect him..." I let out a breath. "Please."

"Yes."

And with that, I watched in silence, as my Soulmate was taken from me.

"You were born for it."

I was born to be a leader.

It was the fate I was born with.

But my fate changed.

Now, I would forever be a broken little girl pretending to be like her father.