Unforgivable

After searching for their son for almost two hours, Alpha Sloan and Luna Vanessa were able to detect his scent which led them directly to John’s house. They found Sage in his wolf form destroying the remains of a body. He was tearing it to shreds. It was a bloodbath. It was a horrific sight for his parents and by the smell they knew he had just killed Dr. Adicost, but why? What was going on with the teenagers in that pack? Were they all losing their minds?

“Back off Sage! Stop this madness right now!” Alpha Sloan ordered his son, but to no effect. Sage was blinded by his rare and he didn’t even hear his father’s order.

“Please Sage! You’re scaring me.” Luna Vanessa begged.

She tried to approach Sage but Alpha Sloan stopped her.

“Do you think John kept anaesthetics here for his emergency procedures?” He asked.

When she nodded in the affirmative, he instructed her to go get them. Clearly Sage was out of control and needed to be neutralized. He couldn’t talk sense into him now. While his mate was off looking for someone to neutralize Sage, he looked around. He already knew that he was in a secret room, but it was not at all a panic room as it might expect. No, it was actually a BDSM dungeon. Who would have thought it? A television was attached to one of the walls and a video library was available. His good eyesight allowed him to read some of the titles on the CD covers and he couldn’t believe his eyes. Mara’s name was written on almost every one of them, along with naughty titles that left no doubt as to the content of the videos.

Noticing that one of the covers was open and the CD was missing, he took the remote control to turn on the TV, which he immediately regretted. For the second time today he watched helplessly as a rape scene unfolded. John was raping his own daughter with another man. A young man, according to what he saw on the video. A scream of horror brought him out of his stupor. Luna Vanessa was back. He had never had his mate so pale!

This scream also brought Sage out of his rare madness. And looked at his parents and transformed back into his human form. He began to cry like a baby, his tears were unstoppable and his pain beyond measure.

Luna Vanessa crouched down in front of her son and took him in her arms. She didn’t yet understand the full extent of the situation, but she could feel the distress that Sage was in. He needed help and support right now. Explanations would have to wait.

Connecting the dots - between the images he saw on TV, Liam’s theory about Orion and Mara - Alpha Sloan concluded that indeed Mara was destined to become a Luna, not just any Luna but theirs. Mara was his son’s mate and contrary to what he had told them she was not dead, not that he knew of anyway. Mara was still missing after all.

“She’s your mate, isn’t she?” He asked his son. It was more a statment than a question.

He nodded: “I should have known better. She wanted to keep our mating a secret. And when Aaron and Niels found out about us, she was terrified. That day, Niels took her home. I found it touching that he already felt protective of her. When in reality, he...”

Sage couldn’t finish his sentence. Her tears flowed more freely.

“They tortured and raped her until she agreed to reject me. I didn’t understand why she rejected me. I should have known something was wrong. I should have seen it, she was so scared!How could I have been so blind?” He continued his voice twisted with grief.

His mother’s heart broke at his words, as did his father’s.

“You couldn’t have known. John is - was - my friend and I never imagined he would do this. Even now that I’ve seen him, I still can’t believe he was actually a monster. He was so sweet.” Luna Vanessa commented.

What a mess! How could all this have happened? Here, in a so peaceful pack. Who could have believed that underneath the appearances, there were monsters hiding. How to clean up all this mess, when you were a devaster yourself? Alpha Sloan had no idea how. At this very moment, he was torn between his responsibilities as Alpha and the plight of his son and soul mate. He wasn’t sure he could handle it all and for the first time in his life was doubting himself.

A few days later, when Niels woke up in a hospital bed he was surprised to see that he was handcuffed to the bars of the bed. He panicked and a nurse entered his room, alerted by the beeping of the machines. She injected him with something and he fell back into unconsciousness.

The next time he woke up, he found Sage sitting beside his bed. He looked cold and dead.

“Hey bro, what’s going on? Why am I handcuffed?” He asked in a voice hoarse from lack of water.

“Sometimes I wish Orion finished you. I look at you and try to understand even though I don’t feel like it. How could you go from being my childhood friend to a monster. I’ve not idea who you really are? Are there other victims?” Sage inquired.

“I don’t know what you are talking-“ Niels stated, trying to deny anything but Sage shut him raising his hand.

“I mean did you rape and tortures anybody else than Mara and your own sister?” Sage clarified.

“I-I”

“Save it for somelse. I don’t to hear any of your bullshit. How could you behave as if nothing had happened when you had raped my mate? Were you ever my friend? What kind of monster does what you did to your sister. How do you live with yourself? You can’t imagine how many times I’ve wished you dead in the last few days... But that would be too sweet a punishment. No, you’re going to stay alive and I’m going to do everything I can to make your life a living hell.”

Sage left Niels' room without saying another word.The month after,Niels was sentenced to life imprisonment in total isolation.

Sage went to Dr. Adicost's house every day, and although he couldn't watch videos, the titles were evocative enough to leave little to the imagination. He realised that the day of his first shift was the day of Mara's first rape. He had been able to shift when he was younger than expected because of her pain. Just as he had sensed his mate before his time because of the danger she was in.

He also discovered the doctor's notebooks where he described all the awful experiments he put her through, testing the wildest theories on her. Understanding the pain Mara was in became an obsession for Sage. It was the only connection he had with her since he had accepted her rejection. As the days passed, he became a shadow of his former self and was unable to control his wolf, who became unstable.