Alex and the warriors returned to their pack house. Their hearts were heavy with the weight of their mission. They didn't come back home with Nathalie, but they were finally a step closer to rescuing her.
They had taken the spy captive, but they knew their task was far from over. They needed to gather information from her and find their missing Luna and why the Diamond Shadow pack was a part of all of this.
Their footsteps echoed through the halls as they made their way through the pack house to their respective quarters.
Alex assigned Cainw the task of interrogating the spy, knowing that he would not hesitate to use his skills to get what they needed and would show no Mercy or weakness.
Alex turned to face Caine with his finger pointing at him. "You," Alex said, his voice cold and commanding. "Get everything you can from the spy. We need to know what they're planning, and we need to know it now."
The leader of the warriors nodded, his face set in determination. "I won't let you down, Alpha," he said before turning on his heels with his firm grip around the woman's arm.
As Caine led the spy away, towards the hallway leading to the dungeons, Alex made his way to the room his father was bed-resting in.
The previous alpha hadn't recovered fully from the injuries he sustained when he escaped from the kidnappers. He was still receiving treatment inside the room with nurses attending to his wounds.
Alex opened the door to the room only to find Heartman sitting up on his bed, looking at the bottom of the door. With a solemn look on his face.
Heartman lifted his eyes, which consisted of zero emotions to take a gander of Alex.
"Alex," he said, his tone flat.
"Father," Alex replied, trying to keep his emotions in check.
The nurses bowed as they greeted Alex and left the room, giving the father and son privacy.
Alex's voice was steady despite the anger simmering just below the surface. "We need to talk about something important, father," Alex said to his father.
His father remained silent. His face was emotionless as he stared at Ale , waiting for him to raise the topic he wanted to talk about.
"Father," Alex began. His heart pounded in his chest as he attempted to raise the topic.
He knew his father hated anything that had to do with the Diamond Shadow pack, but he needed answers to know what he was fighting for.
Alex hesitated for a moment, and his mind raced as he considered the topic he was about raising to his father.
A lump formed in his throat when he turned to face his father, determined that he was going to ask the question and get the answers he needed from his father.
"I need to know the long-standing hatred between our pack and the Diamond Shadow Pack. What caused the feud?" Alex asked and proceeded to add, "I want to know the cause of it."
The tension between them was palpable. His father sat in silence for a moment, his eyes fixed on Alex's as if he were trying to read his thoughts.
"Please, Dad," Alex pleaded. "I need to understand." He ran his fingers through his thick locks, waiting for a response.
Still, Heartmam said nothing, and Alex's frustration grew.
Alex couldn't believe his father's stubbornness. For as long as he could remember, their pack had been at odds with the Diamond Shadow Pack, and no one seemed to know why.
It was a feud that had been passed down from generation with no end in sight.
"I need to know, Dad," Alex pressed. "I can't keep fighting a battle that I do not understand."
His father sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping, but he still wasn't saying anything to Alex.
"But this feud started generations ago. Why can't you just tell me what happened?" Alex questioned, puckering his forehead.
Heartman pressed his lips together, giving Alex a blank look.
Alex sighed. "If you can't say what happened, why can't we let it go? Why can't both packs come together in harmony? Why this long-standing hatred? And if it doesn't stop it'll start moving from generation to generation, we can't continue fighting what we do not know. It's absurd."
His father looked at him, his eyes filled with sadness. And for the first time since Alex entered his room, he said, "Because sometimes, the past is too hard to forget. And sometimes, it's easier to hold onto hate than to forgive and forget. It's sometimes better to live without knowing some certain things. "
Alex felt there was more to the hatred and wanted to know more and everything about it.
He didn't understand why his father had been so adamant about keeping it a secret.
His father sighed, his face darkening with emotion.
Alex's heart sank. What could have been the reason for such a long-standing feud?
He couldn't understand why his father held on to whatever it was. Was his father that hard of a person?
"Why are you selfish, Father?" Alex fused his brows into a deep frown. "What could be more important than the life of your wife and pack?"
Heartman paid deaf ears to Alex's rants.
"Or you want to act like you know nothing of what's happening. We didn't come back home with mom, isn't it enough to say what happened? Why is it so hard to just say what the hatred is about?"
Heartman glanced down at the bed and trailed lines on the bed spread, ignoring Alex.
Alex gritted his teeth. "Fine," he said. "If you won't help me, then I'll have to find the answers on my own."
Alex left the room, banging the door as he went out, his anger boiling over.
He couldn't believe that his father would allow such a thing to continue for so long and be selfish enough to keep it from anyone even when his wife and pack members were in danger.
Marching down the hallway, Alex was determined to find a way to put an end to it once and for all.