Chapter 23 SOME TRUTH
(Adam's POV)
Kael didn’t speak right away.
Then he breathed in.
“Adam… I need you to stay calm while I explain.”
I gave a shaky nod.
He took another breath, as if bracing himself.
“I investigated your adoptive family,” he began.
My stomach clenched even before he said the first thing.
“Marcus and his wife…”
He paused. His jaw flexed.
“Adam, they never legally adopted you.”
I stared at him.
The words didn’t make sense. They just floated between us, waiting for my brain to catch up.
“…Never adopted me?” I whispered. “Then—why—how—”
He gently raised a hand, telling me to breathe.
“That’s not all,” he said quietly. “A man delivered you to them. He dropped you off, handed you over, and vanished.”
My mouth opened but nothing came out.
Delivered.
Handed over.
Like a package?
Like an object?
And not a child?
Kael continued, voice low. “Marcus’s family… are werewolves. All of them.”
I felt cold crawl up my spine.
“What…?”
“Yes.”
I swallowed hard. My throat felt too tight.
Marcus… a werewolf? So I was the only one who didn't know about werewolves.
Every warning he gave me suddenly sounded like something else…
“You’re weak.’
“You’re sick.”
“You’re unstable.”
“You don’t need friends.”
“You need your pills.”
“Don’t ever skip the pills.”
Kael’s next words hit me even harder.
“And the man who gave you to them is also a werewolf.”
A beat of silence.
“He’s widely known for his corrupt nature and gambling addiction.”
The room tilted just a little.
I grabbed the blanket beneath me like it could anchor me to the bed.
Kael didn’t stop there. His voice softened, but the weight behind the words didn’t.
“There are no medical files on you. And there is no record of your existence before age 5.”
Thinking back, I don't have a birth certificate.
“I–I don’t remember anything before that… I've never even thought about my childhood; I have no memory of childhood and I've never thought about it because I assumed people forget childhood memories when they get older.” I whispered.
My head felt light, like my thoughts were floating.
Kael leaned forward slightly. “Adam… there’s more. All the pills Marcus gave you? The ones he said were medicine?” He swallowed, anger flickering behind his eyes. “They’re unlabeled suppressants. None of it was ever prescribed.”
My ears rang. I pressed my palms to the sides of my head.
“My entire life…” I breathed out. “Everything he forced on me, everything I took… it was never for my ‘condition’?”
Kael shook his head slowly.
My chest tightened so sharply it hurt.
“So what?” My voice trembled. “What does that even mean? Why would he suppress me? Why give me pills for years? Why did I get delivered like a package? Why—Why—Why me?”
Kael reached out. His fingers brushed mine, slow enough that I could pull away if I wanted to. I didn’t.
He took both of my hands gently, holding them in his warm, steady grip.
“Adam…” His voice was so soft it almost broke me. “I’m keeping watchful eyes on that family. And the man who gave you to them. There must have been a reason behind drugging you for years.”
Reason.
That word hit me like a punch.
There was a reason.
There had always been a reason.
Something I didn’t know.
Something I wasn’t supposed to know.
Kael’s thumbs brushed over my knuckles.
He looked at me like he was searching for the right way to say what came next.
“I don’t think you’re human, Adam.”
My heart stopped.
He kept speaking, gentle and steady. “I think all those drugs they made you ingest… suppressed your wolf before it could awaken.”
My breath caught.
No.
No.
No.
“What?” I breathed, shaking my head so fast it made my vision swim. “No—no—Kael, I—I would know if I wasn’t—if—this doesn’t—humans don’t just— I’m human. I’m human.”
I wasn’t shouting.
I wasn’t crying.
But I was breaking into a bunch of pieces.
Kael scooted closer, careful, calm, warm. “Adam—”
“I don’t have a wolf,” I whispered, but the whisper cracked. “I’ve never felt anything. I’m not like you.”
“You were drugged every day since childhood,” Kael said gently. “Enough suppressants can bury a wolf so deep it never got the chance to rise. But that doesn’t mean it’s gone.”
I shook my head again, harder.
“No. Please. Stop. I—I can’t— I can’t think about that. I can’t have another thing wrong with me.”
Kael’s expression softened, melting into something warm and heartbreaking.
He reached for me slowly, giving me time to pull away.
But I didn’t.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a hug.
His chest was warm. His scent was calming. His hands slid up my back, holding me like I was something fragile and precious and real.
“It’s okay,” he murmured against my hair. “I’m here. I’ve got you.”
My breath shook against him.
“I’m not trying to push you,” he whispered. “I’m not trying to force anything. I just want you to have clarity. You deserve that. You deserve the truth.”
I closed my eyes.
Because even if I didn’t want to hear any of it…
Even if my mind was spiraling…
Kael felt safe.
Too safe.
And that scared me even more.
\---
Later, when the panic had dulled into a slow ache in my chest, Kael suggested a small walk outside. Nothing far. Just enough to ease my nerves.
The pack grounds were quieter than usual. Warriors were training in one corner; a few pack members swept the courtyard. The air smelled like fresh grass and wood smoke.
Kael walked beside me, not touching me, but staying close enough that I felt his presence like warmth on my skin.
I kept replaying everything he said in my head.
Never adopted.
Delivered.
No records.
Suppressants.
Not human.
My steps felt heavier with every thought.
Kael looked at me now and then, concern softening his features, but he let me stay silent.
We were halfway around the training field when someone jogged toward us.
The man that's always coming to pass messages to Kael.
The man bowed slightly, breath uneven, eyes sharp.
“Alpha,” he said. “We found something.”
Kael’s posture straightened immediately. “What is it?”
The man's gaze flicked to me, apologetic, almost warning.
“The man who delivered Adam to Marcus…” he said slowly. “He was last seen entering Star Moon Pack territory.”
The world seemed to freeze.
“Star Moon,” Kael repeated, voice flat and cold.
The man nodded once. “Yes, Alpha.”
Kael’s hand found my back, steadying me as I swayed just slightly.
Because that one sentence changed everything again.
My past wasn’t just unclear.
It was tied to another pack?
Kael exhaled slo
wly and looked at me, his eyes steady but filled with something that made my stomach twist.
“Adam,” he murmured, “this… complicates things.”
And I had no idea if “complicated” was the right word.
It felt much worse.