Page 146 of His Forsaken Alpha

The odd looks came at the announcement.

“They do things differently in Alexandra?” Harris asked. “You give the kids their father’s first name, but not their last?”

Wynter took Cavanaugh’s hand in his. He worried they wouldn’t approve of the truth, but he was done lying and covering things up. Either his brothers accepted them, or they didn’t. “While Cavanaugh is my fated alpha—our parents forced me into a mating another alpha years before he and I met, and because of that, we couldn’t be together except for a brief affair we shared. CavanaughisWilder’s father, but the two have just learned of one another’s existence a few days ago, after the death of my mate—the man Wilder grew up believing was his father.”

“You mated another man named Jaymes?” Harris asked, frowning.

Wynter frowned, stunned thatthatwas the question that came after what he’d just shared.

“Ah,”Arthur interrupted. “I think Wynter and his brothers need to gather in private to discuss things. If you all don’t mind giving us a few minutes?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Georgie, Arthur’s omega, said. Wynter picked up on an unusual accent and grew curious. “You need some family time. We’ll keep ourselves entertained out here.Go.”

Arthur urged Wynter toward the front door.

Wynter stared at that door, the sudden desire to run away slamming into him. He didn’t want to step inside that house. There were far too many painful memories inside those walls.

“Are you good?” Wilder asked. “You want Cavanaugh or I to go in there with you?”

“Both?”he asked, gazing at both his guys. “Yes, both.”

“Whatever you need,” Cavanaugh said.

They entered at a slow pace. Wynter paused in the entryway, shocked it still looked exactly the same. Nothing seemed new or changed. It was like walking back in time, and not in a good way. He glanced at Arthur. “You didn’t changeanything?”

“I have plans once our parents are gone,” Arthur said. “No point in changing anything when it’s all going to go.”

“Allgoing to go?”

“All in due time,” Arthur said, adding a grim smile. “Let’s hear this story of yours before we talk about the present, hmm?”

Wynter followed Arthur to the family room, clutching his son and alpha close. He took a seat on the couch, surrounded by them, and faced his brothers.

“How much do you remember about the summer I left?” Wynter asked.

Arthur turned to eye Anders, and they shared an odd look. “We’ve been up most of the night, talking about the past and the bits and pieces we remember. It was Warden, wasn’t it? They sent you away with Warden Jaymes.”

Wynter frowned. “Yes.”

“Fuck,Wynter. I remember them arguing—and your name and his name coming up multiple times. I knew something had happened and from the sounds of it, it was bad, but they wouldn’t answer my questions. Soon after that, we were told you’d died. There seemed no point in asking the questions anymore.” Arthur released a slow breath. “But I’d always wondered what the hell happened.”

“I snuck close to Dad’s office door to listen to the big argument, but Papa caught me eavesdropping before I’d gotten anything of consequence. He boxed my ears and sent me to our bedroom.” Anders sighed. “Whatever was going on inside that room, I knew it was bad, but I had no idea.”

“Itwasbad. I was sent to live with Warden. Forced to mate him,” Wynter whispered. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You were fourteen,”Harris murmured. “Who mates their fourteen-year-old omega to a grown man?”

Anders scoffed. “You went into heat early, didn’t you?”

Shame filled Wynter’s face. He wanted to vomit. For some reason, telling his brothers what happened was worse than any of the others. Gripping Wilder and Cav’s hands tight, he breathed through the disgrace. Cav removed his hand, wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and captured his free hand with the other, leaning in close.

Wynter silently gave thanks Cav was there.

“You havenothingto be ashamed of, Papa,” Wilder murmured at his side.

“Ashamed?”Anders said. “I didn’t mean to imply you should be, Wynter. Youshouldn’t.”

“Our parents, especially papa, made me think it was my fault. He blamed me and inferred I was inherently evil and caused myself to go into heat early.”

---