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Beta Vincent is staring in horror at his fellow Beta. His body shudders involuntarily from Alpha Liam’s intense aura. “No…” he gasps, “Tell me it isn’t true, Calvin? Tell me it’s a misunderstanding.”

“Talk!” Alpha Liam shouts in fury. He pulls Beta Calvin away from the wall, only to slam him back against it once more. I can see the wall crumbling from the impact.

“It was long ago,” Beta Calvin breathes out while gasping for air.

“It wasn’t that long ago,” Alpha Liam yells. “You only stopped when he was a teen. Besides, what does it matter? It could be an eternity ago, and I would still rip you apart for it!”

Beta Calvin’s face changes. He doesn’t look like the friendly and quiet uncle anymore. Instead, his eyes are cold and detached.

“He was just a little child!” Alpha Liam screams, slamming him into the wall again, “An innocent little kid! And you violated him. You raped him! How could you do that!?”

The room falls silent at Alpha Liam’s words. Luna Flora’s hands drop down to her sides, her eyes shut. She trembles slightly.

“He was such a pretty child,” Beta Calvin finally says, his voice as cold and detached as his eyes.

I want to throw up.

“I’m going to rip your dick off, you fucking bastard!” Liam bellows, slamming Beta Calvin’s head into the wall yet again.

Alpha Elden recovers from his initial shock and disbelief. I didn’t know it was possible, but he looks even more furious than Liam. Luna Flora moves first though; she pushes past him and goes straight for Beta Calvin. There is nothing ethereal or sweet about her anymore. Liam moves aside for her as silver strings of light suddenly surround her. She forms them into actual objects right before our eyes. She’s somehow holding a dagger made from the light, stabbing it forcefully through Calvin’s hand and essentially pinning it to the wall, before wrapping another one of the strings around his neck. His skin blistering under the effect of the silver. He screams in pain.

My ears start ringing with the realization of what I just heard. Alpha Elden is yelling now, mostly profanity and threats. Finn was horrified at first, then shocked, but now even his anger is slowly bubbling to the surface.

Amidst it all, I suddenly feel a hand wrapping around my mouth. His luscious scent engulfing me… I was so absorbed in the scene unfolding that I didn’t notice him leave the room, let alone approach us. Nox’s cheeks redden guiltily at the revelation that we’ve been caught eavesdropping. “I’m sorry, Prince Eric,” he whispers. “We were coming to the kitchen when we heard the commotion …and then…”

Eric removes his hand from my mouth and places a finger over his lips, signaling us to stay quiet. He quietly leads us away from the kitchen. He closes the door, and we can no longer hear the others. “Uncle Elden really needs to check for people in the kitchen in future,” he mutters.

Eric takes my hand and starts leads us upstairs to one of the empty lounge rooms.

“I’m sorry,” Nox apologizes again. “It’s not right to eavesdrop. We thought there might be an attack at first. And then…”

“I know,” Eric says. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone.” He pauses. “I’m sorry you two had to witness that,” he says quietly.

Nox looks horrified, sad. “Beta Calvin… he’s… he’s always been well respected, and then he did… that’s just… how could he?”

“I don’t know,” Eric says quietly. “He is a monster.”

I’m taking a wild guess that we haven’t even heard half of the story yet. My stomach churns when I imagine the things Beta Calvin probably did to Marius.

Eric looks at us. “Just keep it to yourselves for now, please.”

Nox looks at him nervously. “I can’t keep this from Aurelia,” he says. “She will never forgive me if I keep this from her. I will lose all the trust she has in me, and rightfully so. If you don’t want me to tell her, you are going to have to use an alpha command on me.”

Eric shakes his head. “Then link her and take her somewhere away from here. You can tell her,” he orders. “But make sure she understands the need to keep this private. We’re still looking for other possible victims. Besides, this is Marius’ story and his trauma, and we should respect his right to privacy.” He pauses. “It was our mistake not to check if the kitchen was vacant beforehand. It’s the only room that wasn’t checked before we arrived.” He looks at Nox consideringly. “Can you assure me that Aurelia will keep this secret?”

“Aurelia is like a second alpha to me,” Nox says, sounding pissed that someone would even suggest that Aurelia couldn’t keep a secret. “She always thinks of the pack first, and she would never spread rumors or secrets.”

Eric smiles and nods, allowing Nox to rush off to find Aurelia.

When he’s left, Eric pulls me into his arms. He’s shaking a little. “Liam, Marius, and the others… they are like siblings to me. I’m an only child, you know? It’s just my father and me, and we don’t get along all that well. I know Marius and I haven’t always gotten along perfectly, but he’s family; they all are. When Liam told us what had happened to Mari today, I couldn’t believe it… I just… I wish we’d known sooner!”

I hug him tighter, brushing my fingers gently through his hair.

“When Liam connected to Marius’ mind, he saw snippets of what happened to him in the past, but it wasn’t until today that Marius finally opened up to share the full extent of what happened to him, and the name of his rapist.” He almost stumbles over the word rape. “Shit,” he curses, rubbing over his forehead. “Liam doesn’t know if there are more victims we don’t know about. All these years, this monster has lived under this roof, and did Goddess knows what. I don’t even know how Uncle Elden and Aunt Flora will handle this.”

I rest one of my hands against his chest, trying to give him some of my energy. I don’t know if it will work, as it’s not a physical wound I’m healing, but I figure it’s worth a try. Eric seems to get calmer after a while. “This is no one’s fault,” I say quietly. “No one knew, Eric. Perpetrators like Beta Calvin know what they are doing and how to hide it. He’s disgusting and will pay for what he’s done.”

“Calvin has special gifts,” Eric says bitterly. “Camouflage is one of them. He is the perfect perpetrator.”