Chapter 155 What shaped a son
Chapter 155
DARIUS
My eyes widened in shock.
It was Daniel.
Ravenna's father.
The man standing in front of us, smiling calmly like he had just walked into a casual gathering instead of a sacred ceremony, was someone I recognized. Someone I knew.
Someone I had tried to kill.
I stepped back without meaning to, my body reacting before my mind could catch up. My chest tightened, my breathing shallow, and despite every attempt to stay still, I could feel myself shaking.
Richard was worse.
He went pale. His jaw slackened slightly, and for the first time in my life, I saw genuine fear flicker across my father's face.
My mind went back. Back to a time I had buried so deep I thought I would never have to face it again.
FLASHBACK
I was twelve years old.
Still small, timid and learning what it meant to be an Alpha heir.
My father never missed an opportunity to remind me that I was failing.
"You are lazy," he would say, his voice cold and dismissive. "So weak. You’re not man enough. I do not think you are going to be a real Alpha."
My mother tried to defend me. She always did.
But that only made it worse.
One evening, after another failed training session, my father cornered her in the main hall. I was standing at the top of the stairs, watching.
"Stop coddling him," Richard snapped, his voice echoing through the space. "You are making him soft."
"He is a child," my mother replied, her voice firm but trembling. "He is learning. Give him time."
"Time?" Richard laughed bitterly. "He does not have time. He is the heir to this pack. He should already be stronger, faster, more capable. But instead, he hides behind you like a frightened pup."
"Richard, please—"
And then he struck her.
The sound echoed through the hall. My mother stumbled backward, her hand flying to her cheek, tears springing to her eyes.
I gripped the railing so hard my knuckles turned white.
"Do not test me," Richard warned, his voice low and dangerous. "If you keep pampering him, he will never become the Alpha this pack needs. And if he fails, that failure is on you."
My mother did not respond. She just turned and walked away, her shoulders shaking.
That was the moment I knew. I could not let this continue. I could not watch my father beat my mother and insult her because of me.
I had to prove I was a man.
The next day, I went to my father's office.
He was sitting behind his desk, reviewing papers, and he looked up when I entered.
"What do you want?"
I swallowed hard. "I want to prove myself."
He leaned back in his chair, studying me. "Prove yourself how?"
"I will do anything you ask," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady. "I am a man. I will show you."
My mother appeared in the doorway behind me, her eyes wide with alarm.
"Darius, no—"
"I want to be a man now," I interrupted, turning to look at her. "I need to do this."
She opened her mouth to argue, but Richard raised a hand to silence her.
"Leave us," he ordered.
She hesitated, then left, her footsteps fading down the hall.
Richard stood and walked to a locked cabinet on the far wall. He opened it and pulled out a small handgun. He turned and placed it on the desk in front of me.
"You want to prove yourself?" He pushed the gun toward me. "Then kill a man."
I stared at the weapon, my heart pounding.
"There is a man who sabotaged my business plans," Richard continued, his tone casual, like he was assigning me a simple task. "He cost me a lot of money. I need to teach him a lesson. A permanent one. Go there, kill him and prove you are not weak."
I nodded slowly, my hands trembling as I picked up the gun.
The location was a shambled hut deep in the woods. I had drove on my bike for over an hour to reach it, the gun heavy in my pocket, my mind racing the entire way.
What kind of man lived in a place like this?
I assumed he was hiding, running from the consequences of what he had done to my father. That made sense.
I crept toward the hut, my footsteps silent on the soft earth. The door was unlocked. I pushed it open slowly, wincing at the faint creak of the hinges.
Inside, everything was silent.
I moved through the narrow hallway, my heart pounding so loudly I was certain someone would hear it. My hands were shaking. Sweat dripped down the back of my neck despite the cool air. I passed a room and stopped.
A man was asleep on a small bed. A woman lay beside him, her back to the door.
The man was married. That was the reason father had told me to kill anyone in sight. I pulled the gun from my pocket and raised it, pointing it at the man's head.
But I could not do it.
My hands shook violently. My breathing was too loud. My vision blurred with tears I refused to let fall.
I am doing this for my mother, I told myself. I have to prove I am a man.
A creak behind me made me spin around. I turned to find little girl lying on the floor near the corner of the room. She had red hair. Even in the darkness, I could see it clearly. It caught the faint moonlight streaming through the window, glowing like fire. Her face was small and delicate; freckles scattered across her cheeks.
And her eyes. Those hazel eyes were wide, terrified and fixed on the gun in my hand.
The man had a daughter.
My father never told me that.
The girl looked younger than me. Maybe six years younger.
I pointed a finger to my lips, gesturing for her to stay quiet. My voice came out in a whisper, barely audible.
"I am sorry. I do not want to do this. But I have to."
I turned back toward the man but he had stirred. Panic flooded me. My finger squeezed the trigger without thinking.
The shot rang out, deafening in the small space.
I missed.
The bullet hit the wall above the bed, and the man jerked awake with a shout. I stepped back, my eyes wide, my entire body trembling.
The wife woke up, screaming.
I shot her.
I do not know why. I do not know what I was thinking. My hand moved on instinct, on fear, and the gun went off again.
She slumped back onto the bed, blood spreading across the sheets. The man was groaning in pain, clutching his shoulder where a second shot had grazed him.
I turned to run but the girl was still there, staring at me.
"I am sorry," I whispered, my voice breaking. "I had to do this to protect someone I love."
Then I ran.
When I returned home, I went straight to my room and locked the door. I collapsed onto the floor and cried. I cried until my chest hurt, until my throat was raw, until I had no tears left.
My mother knocked on the door all night, begging me to let her in.
I ignored her.
That was my first kill.
That was what shaped me into the man I became.
END OF FLASHBACK
How could I not have noticed?
How could I not have known who Ravenna was the moment she walked into this academy?
The red hair. The hazel eyes. The fire in her that refused to be extinguished.
She was the daughter of the man my father had ordered me to kill.
And my father wanted her gone because he knew she was still alive. He wanted to eliminate her before she could take her revenge.
I should have known.
I should have put the pieces together the moment I felt the bond. But I did not. I was too blinded by pride, by anger, by the lies my father fed me.
Richard was glaring at me now, his body tense, his eyes cold. I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
Daniel laughed.
It was not a kind laugh. It was sharp and mocking, filled with years of rage barely held in check.
"Why are you so shocked to see me, Richard?" He took a step closer, clapping slowly. "Did you really think a frightened child could kill me? You sent a boy to do a man's job. You did not even have the courage to face me yourself."
Richard's jaw tightened, but he did not respond.
"I have been planning this for years," Daniel continued, his voice dropping lower. "Thinking of ways to pay you back for what you did. That attack on my innocent wife? It got her paralyzed. She lived in pain for years before she died. It was all because of you."
Richard finally spoke, his voice tight. "What are you going to do, then? Kill me in front of all these witnesses?"
"I am considering it," Daniel replied calmly.
"You should remember," Richard snapped, "that you stole a million-dollar contract from me. You cost me everything."
Daniel tilted his head. "I earned that contract. You lost it because you are incompetent."
Richard's face went dark with rage. "I should have killed your daughter the moment she stepped foot in this academy. But I left her alone because I did not want to be a monster. When she started openly attacking my son, I ordered him to eliminate her. But he was not man enough to do it because he knew she was his mate all along."
My chest tightened.
"And apparently," Richard continued, his voice dripping with venom, "the moon goddess was on her side. Because she survived the bike race accident. The one I orchestrated."
The words hit me like a physical blow.
"You what?" My voice came out strangled.
Richard turned to look at me. "Yes. That was me. I wanted her dead. She was becoming a stumbling block."
I stared at him, my hands curling into fists at my sides.
"This is unbelievable," I whispered. "This is why she hates me. Because of you."
"It is none of your business," Richard snapped. "I will never accept her. You will never mate with her. So let us settle this now, Daniel. You take your daughter and your son out of this academy for good, never step foot here again and even cross paths with us. And Darius will reject her here and now. That is the deal."
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Daniel grinned widely. "Go to hell with your deal."
Within a twinkle of an eye, two gunshots echoed across the hall.
Richard staggered backwards, his eyes wide with shock.
And then he slumped to the floor.