"I am so ashamed of you"
"I'll just... I-I'll leave you guys alone," Ryan smiles awkwardly as he tried to take a few steps forward to walk past Damien; nobody ever wants to deal with an angry Damien.
"Get back to where you were," his voice boomed. Ryan stumbled back over his own legs as went back to his original place.
Xavier would have laughed. But the weight of his mistakes and of the disappointment of his father is too much.
Damien looked right at his son's eyes. His eyes shifted to Ryan's but soon were back to Xavier's again.
"Take a seat, both of you."
Both the boys sat on the other side of the alpha's table as Damien sat on Xavier's chair. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't even have dared to think about it. But Damien was the alpha before Xavier and was one of the most respected individuals in Xavier's eyes.
Damien knew that his son was his pain. His mate was unconscious in the hospital, it didn't need a specialist to know he was in pain, but he could see the guilt in his eyes. However, the guilt was not enough to stop him from asking the questions bothering him.
"Why could you not trust your mate?" Damien leaned on the desk, going straight to the point.
"Dad..." Xavier stared.
"No, Xavier. A wolf's, especially an alpha's, first instinct would be to trust his mate. He'd need proof to not trust the mate."
Ryan looked at the table or his fingers all the time. He didn't speak and he had no intention of speaking until he was asked a direct question.
"Now, son," Damien continued, "I know I didn't raise you to be a man who can just take such a huge decision on an impulse. Something happened, something that was related to the incident with Sean." Xavier and Ryan both looked up at Damien making the man smirk, "You'd be foolish to think I didn't notice the worried look in your eyes ever since then."
"Sir, Sean had killed Devon."
"I know that Ryan. I am asking, which part you two decided to omit." He said sternly.
"Sean said that he isn't the only traitor." Xavier looked at his father's eyes for the first time that day. "He said that betrayal is gonna hit me close to him. He winked at Selena."
Damien stared at Xavier for a second before he spoke again, "So?"
"Dad, she didn't look surprised. I don't know exactly what bothered me, but she didn't say anything. She didn't even try to deny it.
"Maybe because she thought that there's no way you will think it's your mate."
"I know I made her life hell." Damien leaned back and took a deep breath. "I didn't know how bad it was until Ryan told me today, but I knew it was bad. I was looking for any evidence to make me believe that the video was fake. That it wasn't her. But there was nothing dad, absolutely nothing. It was like magic! Any lead I had only led to a dead-end."
"You didn't want to believe it. You went out every day to search for evidence, then why did you punish her in the first place?" Damien questioned.
"I..." Xavier paused, "I got angry."
"Xavier you cannot let anger..."
"I know, dad. I know. But in that one second, all I could think about was that the one who is supposed to stand by my side is the one doing all these. The video was not hampered. I had some men look into it. All I could think about was that why did I have to be one of those unfortunates mates?"
His voice was shaking and Damien's look changed.
"Zion threw a dream at me. A memory, the day we accepted her in the pack. That's when I started going out to look for something, anything. Even Ryan didn't know. We had decided that since there is a traitor here, and it can very well be someone high of rank, I had to keep it a secret. I didn't even risk talking to Selena about it."
"You didn't even think of connecting to her with a mind link?"
"She had blocked me off. I tried at random times on a few occasions. But..."
Damien slapped his hands on the table and stood up, "This is unacceptable. You both are leaders of this pack. From my experience, I can tell you that Selena cannot be a traitor. Now I know you two don't have much experience being a leader. But you have been trained. I have trained you two myself!"
His voice vibrated through the room. His understanding voice was gone now that they were done speaking. His boys needed to understand how badly this can turn out for them.
"The punishment you gave her, Xavier, is an extreme one. That is not to be issued on impulse. She was an alpha. She was the future alpha of the strongest pack. You punished her, but you didn't inform the council. While it is good, because she isn't in the wrong, if the council gets to know, they will come after you."
"They should know," Xavier said without missing a beat. Ryan looked at his alpha while Damien stood with his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You didn't teach me to run away from the consequences of my actions either. I made a mistake, whatever the consequences are, I will face them."
Damien was proud but he didn't let his face show that. He was angry, furious; at Sean, at the hunters, at the Goddess for making his family go through so much of a trial and also at himself, for not being here to guide his son when he needed him the most.
"I will let them know myself. I will mail them. But for now, can we just please, go and see if she is okay? It has been long enough and I need to know how she is doing."
Damien nodded and in an instant, Xavier was out of the room. Ryan looked at Damien.
"Sir, is including the council necessary?" Ryan stood up too.
"They are an important part of our community, Ryan."
"Please, sir. I don't mean any disrespect, but you and I both know this council of Elders is not the very best." Damien had never heard Ryan speak his opinion so strongly in front of him, he was pleasantly surprised. "The main reason a council was made to exist was to make sure that we could exist in peace with the humans. Their job was to communicate with them and ensure peaceful coexistence. They had been growing corrupt for years now and this lot is the worst."
"We have to inform them. In case they get to know from some other source, they will twist it more to make Xavier seem like a bad person." He sighed. Damien himself had no urge to inform the council. But they could destroy his son's life and reputation and he wouldn't have that.
"What if Selena speaks for him. Ileana had spoken to Selena about it once. She had said that even if she doesn't want to, she understands why he had to do it. That is good, right?" Ryan asked hopefully.
"We won't ask her to do that," Damien said strictly. "She has gone through a lot, Ryan. We cannot ask this from her."
When Xavier reached the pack hospital, it didn't take him long to find the room where his mate was. His whole family was out there along with Connor, who was sitting alone in a chair.
He had been standing there for quite some time now. He saw how angry his father was, he couldn't even imagine what his mother would say. Even though the relation between Adriana and Selena was rocky at first, his mother had grown to love her as much as she loves her own daughters. Just as Damien and Ryan entered the floor, Xavier took a deep breath and walked up to where his mother sat.
When his scent reached his family, Adriana stood up with fire in her eyes as she glared at her son. Just as Xavier stood in front of her, her hand rose as she slapped him. A few audible gasps were heard and even Connor's mouth dropped open slightly.
"Adriana!" Damien said loudly as he ran towards her. Ryan too looked at the sight with his mouth open. Adriana had never even raised her voice on any of her kids. And to see her raise her arm on one...
"To think I was worried that she would hurt you. I am so ashamed of you."
Adriana sat down again as Damien sat beside her too. Xavier didn't look at anyone, he couldn't dare to see the look on their faces. Taking a deep breath, he turned around. He was about to go find Doctor Stevens, but Stevens walked right up to them.
"She is sedated. The pain was too high and it'd take a while for it to go. I performed a lot of tests on her, Sir. There is nothing wrong with her. We will wake her up two days later, hopefully the pain will be gone by then. But I would still like to keep her here for observation one more day. Then she can leave." Mason smiled.
"Can we see her?" Adriana asked before Xavier could say anything.
Mason smiled and nodded and all the family walked towards the end of the corridor where her room was. Xavier saw Damien, Adriana and Connor going in first, but he didn't move from his place.
Xavier took slow steps he stood outside her room and looked at her. She looked peaceful, like she was sleeping.
"You won't go in?" Ryan asked.
"I..." Xavier hesitated before whispering, "I don't think I am wanted in the room right now. I will come back later tonight."
Ryan could hear the heartbreak in his alpha's voice. He wished he could help him but there was nothing he could do.
As he was watching Xavier walk away, someone clearing their throat, brought his attention to Connor.
"He didn't come in?" Connor asked looking around, as if looking for someone.
"He said he will be back later." Connor nodded.
"It's not gonna be easy."
"Connor," Ryan began, "I know she is your sister, and in these few months here, she is one of my closest friends. I know you are angry with him. But please, as his beta and his best friend, I am requesting you, don't make it any harder for him."
Connor chuckled and shook his head, "I meant it will be hard for him." Ryan looked at him surprised, Connor shrugged. "Believe it or not, I do believe that he loves her and it has hurt him a lot too. I saw his father's face and I saw his mom's reaction. Aiden and Evelyn... they were here but they walked away right before he entered." Ryan noticed the shift on Connor's face when he spoke off Evelyn, but didn't comment on it, Adriana must have introduced them. "I know my sister, she has been pushed down but she will come back. But that man, he looked like he has no hopes of getting his people back. He loves her, I can see that. But it won't be easy. And I expect him to not give up."
Connor walked back inside the room just as Evelyn and Aiden walked into the floor and into her room. Ryan saw their red eyes and flushed faces and was sure they had been crying somewhere. Connor was very observant, Ryan thought. But as a beta, Ryan was taught to be observant too, he didn't miss, how Evelyn and Connor stole glances at each other and Evelyn made sure to keep some distance between them.
"There is way too much complication in our lives right now," Ryan muttered as he walked into the room and stood by his mate.
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There... That's chapter 18... Things are constantly being hard for Selena and Xavier, Do you think they'll make it? ð¥º
Thanks to all your support, the reads and the votes... Means a lot guys! I hope you enjoy this chapter too â¤ï¸â¤ï¸