Chapter 106 INSOLENCE
Gallahan's POV
Not a single response came out from my lips as I found myself unable to weave a coherent response. I couldn't even manage a proper reaction.
I just went lax on the bed with my blank eyes glued to the pristine white ceiling.
Meanwhile, William kept his mouth shut as well in an odd act of compassion, leaving me alone to dwell in my racing thoughts.
Because damn it all!
I had bollocksed things up again.
I had messed up. Again.
I did something to jeopardize my place in my family's life.
I let my emotions win and gave the monstrous side of me the leave to take charge and let fucking loose.
Maybe Willa was partially right to see me as a cruel man.
Fuck.
Thoughts of how the twins might look at me after what I did were fleeting in the forefront of my mind, and a harsh pang of pain struck my right at my chest. It was so painful that I had to take a sharp and shuddering breath to ease it.
"Hey, Wick?" William called cautiously from his comfortable perch on the armchair.
I slowly turned my head towards his direction and arched a questioning brow. I didn't dare utter a single sound, afraid that my voice would break beneath the weight of my heavy thoughts and rampaging emotions.
And really... I would rather behead myself than have a mental breakdown in front of any Alfiero. With Willa as the exception, of course.
"Any..." William paused, looking at me warily as if he thought I would snap and lose my grip on my sanity any time. Then, ever so slightly, his eyes squinted and his head canted as he said, "Any problem?"
I shook my head in response, peeling my gaze from his wary face to stare right back at the ceiling.
"Nothing," I murmured for good measure.
But the word came out so softly that for a moment, I wondered if he even heard it.
A curt hum told me he did.
Then, just as we were about to descend into another wave of heavy silence, there was suddenly a heavy rapping against the door.
It sounded almost angry and urgent.
William rose from his comfortable seat, stretching his back a little as he did so.
"Yeah?" he casually chirped once he had swung the door wide open.
But it wasn't an Alfiero who stood there. Not even a member of their staff.
It was my father.
"Oh..." William dumbly blurted.
Then his eyes widened, and he immediately scrambled to properly greet my father as the Alpha King.
Dad merely grunted in acknowledgment, not bothering to return a proper greeting that the heir of the Wolverham Alpha seat deserved.
If William was disgruntled or offended by it, he did a damn great job in hiding it. His face remained impassive yet respectful to a certain, and he was quick to side-step and usher my Dad inside the room.
Greggory hobbled in after him, his cane hitting the floor in a rhythmic yet grating pattern that seemed to induce in me a throbbing headache.
"Dad," I said as cheerily as I could, having half the mind that my current state could trip off my father in a blood feud with the Alfieros as if our history wasn't already tart and bitter enough. "Fancy seeing you here, huh."
"We are going back to Moonshire right now. I cannot believe Zuleika and Maliya had allowed this kind of treatment to be given to you. We are leaving, Gallahan. Immediately, and I will not hear any objection about this matter. You are to-"
"Calm down, Lucio. You are giving your son a headache," Greggory piped in, having the wisdom and awareness to coat his voice with a warm grandfatherly lilt.
Dad did not appreciate it, though. He whirled around to face Greggory, his face looking ready to combust with how flushed with anger he was.
"Calm down?!" Dad bellowed, his voice booming so loudly that I could almost swear the room reverberated because of it. "This treatment you have given my son, the soon-to-be Alpha King, is beyond preposterous. It's the very definition of insolence, and you want me to calm down?! How dare you and your ilk chain up my son?!"
"Dad," I cut in, highly alarmed that things would blow out of proportion.
If there was one thing I was sure I inherited from my father, it was his short fuse that seemed to shorten when it came to things about me.
"He ingested an alarming amount of blood of rogue wolves," William interjected politely yet firmly. "While we are grateful beyond words for the bravery of your son, taking on creature hunters and three rogue wolves all on his own while my sister made sure their children were safe and away from the fray, we found it imperative to isolate and quarantine him for the safety of everyone in this manor."
Dad sneered. "And this is the best you can give him? A lousy room, a small bed?! Manacled and muzzled like some lowly beast?! With Zuleika and Maliya being present, I am certain of the fact that Gallahan had already received the elixir to counter the blood of the rogue wolves. Isn't that right?!"
William remained unfazed. He didn't flinch. He didn't even blink. His unwavering composure almost invoked a sense of respect inside of me, except I was too prideful to allow myself to.
"Be that as it may," he responded calmly, "We are not willing to take chances. Not with the kind of violent history your son has. And especially not when his children are within the walls of this manor. His comfort is not a priority when it could cost us the lives of-"
Dad suddenly laughed, sardonic and scathing. It silenced William, who pressed his lips tightly in an angry line.
Greggory remained quiet, merely holding the head of his cane with a frighteningly tight grip.
"Could cost you lives?! My son is on his own here. You think he could easily overpower everyone in this manor and territory? Are you and your pack so weak and incompetent that you must resort to this?"
Dad gestured at my pathetic state without bothering to glance at me.
"You are giving me a reason to believe so. Because really... How could three rogue wolves and creature hunters enter your territory undetected? I am afraid the once illustrious Wolverham pack is on a rapid decline."
"Dad, enough!" I sighed with my eyes closed. "That's enough. They are probably just unused to handling cases like this. No one is as reckless as me who would ingest so much blood of a rogue wolf. They are just taking precautionary measures. Let us not make a mountain out of a molehill. Please."
Dad's nose flared in anger, and he almost looked purplish in the face.
"The family you are insulting is my mate's family, Dad. I..." Another sigh escaped my lips. "Let's just go."