NINETY-THREE

NINETY-THREE
ISABEL’S POV

We found an empty bench in the garden, the morning sun spilling gently across the grass. The air smelled of fresh earth and dew, and for a moment, we just sat there in silence, soaking it in.

‘So,’ I began, tilting my head at him when I noticed his frowned face ‘Are you sure you are okay? You don’t look too good.’

‘I have had worse,’ he said, shrugging, though the slight wince that followed told me otherwise.

‘Drake hits hard. Always has, but I’m tough too that’s why I didn’t make it so easy for him either.’

I snorted ‘Yes, you are quite strong and tough obviously that’s why you are wincing so much’

He scoffed ‘I thought you are my friend’

‘I am’ I responded.

He waved me away with a frown and we started laughing.

There was a pause. His gaze drifted to the trees, his jaw tightening slightly.

I hesitated before asking, ‘Why is he… like that? Why does he treat people like they are beneath him?’

Aiden’s eyes shifted to me, and I could tell he was debating how much to say.

‘So, you want to talk about Drake today?’

‘Why are you saying it like that?’

He shrugged ‘Because that’s what it looks like. I actually thought you wanted to ask me some personal questions’

I scoffed ‘Hell no…I just…it’s just a question Aiden, it’s no big deal’

He scoffed too ‘Sure, whatever’

‘Why are you acting weird?’

A long pause.

I was confused at the way the conversation was going, Aiden was really acting so weird and I couldn’t understand what was going through his head.

‘You are right, I’m sorry for acting that way. You can blame it on the pain.’

I said calmly ‘It’s okay, I understand and we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to’

‘It’s okay, I want to talk about it. Listen, Drake didn’t come out of nowhere, Isabel. He was…he was made this way.’

I frowned, waiting for him to continue.

‘Our father… was a different kind of man. He was old school you know. Cold, brutal, obsessed with strength and power. From the day Drake could walk, he wasn’t treated like a child….he was treated like a soldier. Everything was training, discipline, punishment. If he failed, even slightly, our father would make sure he regretted it. And I don’t mean just lectures. I mean bruises. Scars.’

Aiden’s voice was steady, but there was an undertone of old anger there.

‘Drake learned young that emotions were weaknesses. Love was a distraction. Mercy? A liability. The only way to survive was to shut down and become what our father wanted….a weapon.’

I felt my chest tighten.

‘When I was born, things were… different for me. Drake took most of the weight. My mother was always there to shield me from my father’s wrath, but she didn’t do the same for Drake. So, I wasn’t treated with such ruthlessness. I just watched my brother suffer and I couldn’t help him, I was my mother’s joy.’

‘He didn’t feel loved, but I was loved. I didn’t want it to be so, but I was just so young and I enjoyed the attention I received mostly from my mum. Then, our father died. Just like that…gone. Drake was barely an adult, but suddenly every responsibility fell on him. The pack, the business, the alliances. He didn’t have time to grieve. He just… stepped into the role, because there was no one else.’

‘And his mate?’ I asked softly.

Aiden’s eyes darkened. ‘I didn’t meet her, I left the pack when my mom died. But, I know that Drake loved her so much because he has always believed he was incapable of love. To think the only woman, he fell in love with, died giving birth to Shirley is really terrible. He still misses her greatly; I can see it through his thick mask no matter how hard he tries to hide; I can see how much he loved her and how he is still grieving for her. Shirley is hurt too, she didn’t meet her mother and she feels her father has abandoned her. But Drake is hurting and he doesn’t share his feelings. He is a loner, he has always been one. So, it’s just making things more complicated for everyone.’

I stayed quiet, letting his words settle.

For a long moment, the only sounds were the rustle of leaves and the distant call of birds. My mind replayed every encounter I have had with Drake…..the threats, the sharp words, the way his gaze could cut me down to nothing. But now, layered beneath that image, I could almost see the boy Aiden was describing. A boy forced to grow up under the weight of a world he didn’t choose. A boy who had been told kindness was weakness, and then had it proven to him in the cruelest way.

It didn’t erase what he had done. But it explained the armor.

‘Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it’ I said quietly.

Aiden studied me for a moment, and with a stern look he said. ‘Don’t go feeling sorry for him just yet. He is still not a saint.’

I managed a small laugh. ‘I’m not sure what I feel right now.’

‘Good,’ he said. ‘That means you are thinking. Just… don’t underestimate him, Isabel. Drake might be hurting, but that doesn’t make him harmless.’

I nodded, my thoughts tangled. I had come here wanting to understand why Drake was such a monster. Now, I wasn’t sure if monster was the right word at all. Maybe he was just a man who had learned too well how to survive in a brutal world.

And somehow, that was even scarier.