Chapter 71: I was being blackmailed

The dragging echo of nothing but silence in the room as I waited for Loki to give me an answer about my grandfather was infuriating, and yet, I was patient, hoping that I would not have to lose my damn mind before someone gave me an answer.

But after a couple of prolonged silence, I stood to my feet, looked Loki directly in his eyes, and said, "Nero, get up. We are leaving!"

This wasn't me calling a bluff. My anger was going like a bat out of hell, and I felt like talking to Loki about this now would only make me even more frustrated, and I might do something insane.

Even though rage was the only emotion I felt at that moment, the instant Nero didn't hesitate and woke from his seat, I felt a sense of comfort like I wasn't alone in this mess.

Before all this, I thought I had some kind of identity for myself. The wolfless hybrid whose mother abandoned her, leaving her in the care of the monster and his wife.

But now, I don't even know who I fucking am anymore, and when I gazed at Nero's alluring eyes, I couldn't help thinking that although there is a lot I don't know about him, at least he's not lying to me like these bunch of hypocrites.

Darting my gaze away from Nero, I stared around the table at the faces of the elders, and gosh, it was pretty clear that they were all liars. They couldn't even look me in my eyes without a look of nervousness spiking in theirs.

All along, I thought my mother was this self-absorbed woman who didn't give a shit about me, and now, I suddenly find out that I have a grandfather who these deceivers know!

It is so annoying because now I am wondering and frustrated about just how much of my life and my identity have been ripped from me, and why the heck did they feel the need to hide that aspect of me!

"Are you ready to leave?" Nero whispered, placing his hand on my waist.

Staring at the touch of concern in his gaze, I squeezed my phone to calm my rage and mumbled, "Yeah, the last thing I want is to lead this pac…."

"Let's talk in the study!" Loki blurted out, standing to his feet.

"No. I don't think I can trust a single word of yours right now!" I let out in frustration.

At that moment, I caught him eyeing Nero, and within a split second, Nero patted my back, whispering, "If you need an answer, you got to talk to him, but if… Umm, you two should talk."

Although I wanted to leave because my anger was getting in the way of my reasoning, when Nero said those words, I took a moment to hold my breath, stabilizing my heartbeat before giving him a faint smile.

Then I focused on Loki, wondering if the truth is something I was going to get finally, and mumbled, "Fine. Let's talk."

For a second, Nero's grip on my waist got a bit tight before he let go and sat back down in his seat.

Before I followed Loki out the door, I took a quick peek at Nero and then headed out of the room with him.

The walk was silent, and I managed to hold my peace until we got to his office. But the moment Loki locked the study door, I let out, "Who is he?"

"Scrolls was talking about my father, Lon Hayes. Since you don't know, he was a quite powerful leader and Alpha, although most people were scared of him because he ruled with an iron fist." Loki explained, his tone casual and stable.

No words could express my emotions at this point when I lashed out, "Don't you dare try to mess with my head and treat me as a fool!"

"I will never," Loki said, looking so damn serious as though that was going to make me believe him. "I am sorry I never told you about my side of the family."

The anger that I thought I had control over broke loose, making me so infuriated that I refused to speak for a while because I knew that I was going to explode if I did.

Finally, when I felt a sense of control again, I slowly exhaled and said, "We both know Scrolls wasn't talking about your father, Loki. The atmosphere in that room the moment he uttered those words had nothing to do with Lon Hayes but my mother's father! So let's not act a fool, okay?"

In between a scoff and a smirk, he frowned and mumbled, "Your mother's father? Come on Blake…"

"Stop! Stop with the lies, Loki!! I just want to know the truth! So stop toying with my damn emotions!" I screamed so loud, feeling a mild sense of relief afterward.

The room instantly fell silent after my meltdown, and Loki didn't break eye contact with me for quite a while before he let out, "Fine. You were right. It's was your mother's father Scrolls spoke about."

"Okay," I mumbled the only word that I could think about at that moment.

"Scrolls made that remark because your grandfather is an Ultima and your grandmother is a human, which makes your mother a hybrid."

"Oh…"

"You had a fifty-fifty chance of getting your grandmother or grandfather's side of genetics as your mother did. But she, well… she was more human than wolf, and never did go through her transformation."

For so long, I have been longing for such a moment, and now that I have a glance at it, I felt numb and my mind went blank because I didn't know how to process everything.

"That's why I never give up on you because an Ultima is a rare kind of breed, and even though your mother wasn't one, I trusted that you were going to have the gene," Loki said with a glint of pride in his expression like he had won a trophy or something.

"So my grandparents… Are they alive? Is my mother with them? Why did you… you guys keep their identities from me? Who are they? Do you know where they stay?" I mumbled, putting all my thoughts into words one after the other.

"Wow! Hold up now. Remember, this is a trade. You get information for doing what I want, and so far, I can say, 'it has not been a fair trade on my end."

"Are you kidding me right now!"

"No. I am serious."

The audacity of this devil I called, "Father," is a curse… a punishment for whatever the fuck I did in my past life because that's the only logical reason I can think of that won't make me lose my damn mind.

"Now, how about we head downstairs, you behave, and go through your transformation so the elders can be convinced that you are truly your grandfather's bloodline, an Ultima, okay?" Loki said gently, and yet, it felt as though I was being blackmailed.

When I didn't utter a word because I was trying to get past my frustration, Loki let out, "I promise to keep my word to you, Blake. I swear to you. All you have to do is put in the effort in being the pack leader and succeed at it."

"Why are you so obsessed with me running this damn pack? Luna is your daughter too!" I mumbled, knowing once again, that Loki had me tightly in his grip, and escape was not an option.

"Are you willing to go back downstairs and play nice?"

"Hmm…"

He dodged Another question, and I don't think I will even get an honest answer for it… at least not today, and the only thing I could do was continue playing Loki's sick game.

But at least it seems not to be in vain so far because I know three family members already that exist. Just a bit longer, and I will be able to find out the truth, hopefully.