Can you heal old scars?

Chapter 25

Disclaimer- this chapter speaks of historic child abuse, violence, rape and murder. If this is something you are uncomfortable with then please don't read it. This is done so for plot, to give a clearer view of Quin's past trauma and to explain his current emotional state.

Quin took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the fluttering bird inside him and control the anxiety symptoms enough to speak.

"This isn't going to be easy, but please bare with me. I went to the Lunar Council because I couldn't understand what went wrong with us, and I wanted answers. I told you I was in pain around you, those feelings lessened when I left but they didn't go away. I talked to my friend Xander and he took me there, and I spoke to a Shaman. She told me what was wrong and we performed a ritual to fix it, as you can tell our bond is normal now, the way it should always have been." Quin took a breath, his fingers falling onto the file by his side.

"To explain what the problem was I have to tell you about my childhood, this is going to be very hard for me, so just let me get it all out or I might not make it through..." Quin picked up the folder and shaking rather violently, he handed it to Ryan.

Ryan took the folder and looked through it, his brow knitting in confusion. There was a police report inside, a picture of a rough looking man in his mid 50's, dark receding hair, sallow skin, what looked like a permanent sneer to his mouth, and a creepy hollow stare. As he read the list of criminal charges he could barely believe his eyes, 62 counts of murder, sexual assault charges, child abuse charges, theft, assault... This guy was an animal...

"Who the hell is this?" He half muttered as he closed the file, not wanting to look at the picture anymore.

"That's the man who ruined my life..." Quin said slowly, a slight vacancy to his voice.

Ryan gave Quin a concerned look as Quin visibly dulled before him, his fingers clinging to the bedsheet below him so tightly his knuckles were a pale white.

"Do you remember I told you I lived off grid, in a place similar to you? Well there were about 90 of us, living happily on a reserve. We had no contact with the outside world, kept to ourselves and didn't bother anyone. I had just turned 12 when it all changed, and my life was turned upside down.
Everything was fine until 2 rival packs started warring, we were caught in the middle. They tore through us like paper, like we weren't even there... We were petrified, we had no experience of Werewolves or any other supernatural beings. Eventually one pack came out on top, the Raging Blood pack. That man, Jason Callow was their Alpha. He declared that our land and everyone on it belonged to him, those of us who had survived the battle were rounded up and taken to our community hall."

Quin frowned as feelings from that pit inside him started to claw their way out, memories he would rather forget trying to invade his mind. Instinctively he reached for his neck, but when he felt no bumps and punctures his mind sort of refocused and he continued.

"My father was our chief, he was brought before Callow. He pleaded for us, told Callow we would all leave without a fuss, that he could have our land. He never fought, never shouted, he simply asked for us to be allowed to leave... Callow just laughed, said he had no right to speak to him, that Callow was our chief now and he would prove it."

Quin's voice wavered, he really didn't want to bring all this back up again, but he had no choice.

"One second he was a man and the next there was this dirty looking giant grey wolf stood in his place, it howled so loudly that everyone was crying and shaking. The rest of his pack all laughed at us, the elderly, women and children cowering in fear... They thought it was funny..."

Quin swallowed, his anger and fear still as raw as that night. He still couldn't comprehend such lack of compassion.

"It happened so fast, my Papa was begging Callow not to kill us, and then Callow's wolf was on my Papa... His teeth ripped through his throat like it was nothing... He dropped him and Papa tried to crawl away, holding his throat... There was so much blood.. I broke free of Mama's grip and ran to him, I tried to stop the bleeding, I really did but I couldn't... I saw the light go out of his eyes.. I..."