Gray Valley

f i f t y - n i n e

WARNING: This chapter contains some obscene language

"THAT'S ENOUGH, MARY." I didn't need to turn around to know who was standing behind me. "Let go of her."

"West..."

In the moment she was distracted, I slammed my arm into her wrist and forced myself out of her grip. From the corner of my eye, I saw my brother nearing me.

"Why are you here, West?"

"What?" His face clouded with confusion. "I'm here to protect you-"

"Protect me...?"

"You don't have to protect her, West." I took a sharp intake of breath. Liam... "Her life will never be at danger. Because... She's already being protected by Luna."

"I'm her brother," he murmured. "When she was nine, I should have protected her. But I didn't. Instead, I made her lose everything... And everyone she loved." He paused. "So... It doesn't matter if Weslyn already has the Angel's protection. I still want to protect her... So I can be the brother that she deserves to have."

"Aren't you going to tell him?" Liam's voice resonated through my mind. "Doesn't he deserve to know that he's unguilty?"

West didn't know that our father had given up his life for my protection... He didn't know he wasn't guilty of murdering him.

"You know, Weslyn..." My eyes met his. "Hiding the truth is more painful than the truth itself."

I didn't want to hide the truth from West. But... If I told him that he wasn't guilty, I would also have to tell him that I was guilty.

And he... Would he still feel the same about protecting me, after finding out that I was responsible for our father's death?

"This again?" The sound of Mary's voice brought me back to the present. "Even though I'm your mate, you're protecting her... And not me?"

A pained expression appeared on her face.

"Why?"

"For the past 8 years... I've been in hell," he murmured. "And all along, I needed someone... I needed you. But... Where were you? Mary... The reason I can't choose you, is because..." His voice trailed off. "You weren't there for me when I needed you the most."

"But, that's because Weslyn survived the attack and I-"

"DON'T BRING HER INTO THIS!"

Darkness seeped into his eyes, making me flinch involuntarily.

"This is between us," he growled. "Weslyn has nothing to do with this."

"She has everything to do with this, West. This is all entirely her fault."

"Her fault?" West repeated.

"It is her fault... Don't you remember?" For the first time, there was something undeniably gentle about her voice. "Don't you remember how you felt when she was born? And how you felt, when your father broke the his promise... For her?"

"What promise?" I asked, glancing over at my brother for an answer. But if anything... He seemed more confused than I was. "West...?"

Our father... The legendary Alpha Wesley, had broken the promise that he made. He had broken the most important code among Gray Wolves... The Promise Code.

And it wasn't just any promise that he had broken. He had broken a promise that he had made to his own son.

"Shut up, Mary," West gritted out. "My father never did anything like that."

"So, you don't remember," she whispered. "Before Weslyn was born... Your father promised you that you would become the next Alpha of the Luna Pack. But... When she was born with the Alpha Marks, he announced to the entire pack that she would become Alpha after he died. He betrayed you... And broke his promise without hesitation."

"He did what he had to do." I froze at the sound of Blayze's voice. "A Gray Wolf born with the Alpha Marks is destined to become the Ultimate Alpha... If Alpha Wesley had disregarded Weslyn's Alpha Marks and announced West as the next Alpha, the Pack would have opposed him."

"Stay out if this, mutt."

"Mary," West warned.

At the sound of his voice, her face softened ever-so-slightly.

"West, after your father announced Weslyn as the future Alpha... You started to develop a strong hatred for him."

"Hatred? Hatred... For father?"

"Is Mary lying?"  I asked.

For a while, Liam didn't reply.

"No, I don't think she is... Why?"

"Why doesn't West-"

A familiar Latin phrase flashed across my mind and disrupted my thoughts... Mala praeterita evanescere.

I repeated the phrase to Liam.

"Tainted past shall disappear," he translated. "It was one of the phrases that Luna had chanted when she changed his memories."

It wasn't that he didn't remember. He couldn't... Because the Angel had made him forget the memories that tainted him.

"Why?" When I heard my brother's voice, I turned to look at him.

"All I ever wanted... Was to save you, West," Mary told him. "I wanted you to lose your hatred... I wanted you to be my West. I wanted you to become the Alpha of the Luna Pack. So, I... I had you confront your father and-"

"I never asked you to save me! I didn't need you, or anyone, to save me. I only needed you, Mary." West exhaled sharply. "But... you weren't there when I needed you."

A painful silence lingered in the air.

"West-" she began.

"Back then, when I needed you the most... You left Gray Valley without me." My brother's eyes turned completely black. "And now... You're on your own, Mary."

Seconds after the words left his mouth, I sensed a strong presence near us.

"Martyn is here..." Liam stated. "With the Pack."

"Bryan is wounded," Blayze reminded me. "Should I take him to the Safe Place?"

"No," I replied. "Leave that to Martyn." He was... Bryan's Soulmate. I someone needed to take him to the Safe Place, it needed to be him. "Both of you will stay here to lead the Pack... With me."

With that, I looked back at Mary.

"This is it, Mary. If you surrender-"

"Like hell I'll surrender..." she snarled. "Bitch."

"You're going to regret this."

"Regret?" She was suddenly dangerously close to me. "If anything... You're the one who's going to regret ever existing."

A ravenous glint appeared in her eyes, as she lifted her claw to her face.

No... My blood ran cold. I have to...

"You have to fight, filia mea."

I knew that.

But my body... My boy was refusing to move.

"Vale, Wes."

As she swung her claw forwards, I instinctively closed my eyes and braced myself for the pain that would inevitably follow.

But it never came.

Instead, the scent of blood flooded my senses.

"W-Weslyn."

I stared at Blayze,as he stood in front of me, with blood flowing from his abdomen.