Page 127 of Untamed

I hear a shaky breath and look at Mama. My blood ices over at the stark look of dismay on her face.

Old Alpha's jaw flexes. "Fourteen males raped her." His eyes meet mine, not the Moon or Mama. Me. The blue is washed away; grey irises are stark with remembered pain. No, it isguilt. He is guilty. But of what?

"What is that?" I whisper.

His eyes widen in surprise before he nods in acknowledgment. "Your Mama kept you from knowing these things, Little One. Rape is a terrible thing. It is when a male... or female, I suppose... forces sex onto another wolf."

I feel my own eyes widen. That is what it is called. I think I know this. "That isterrible; ghastly, vile, lamentable."

"It's evil, Little Luna. And it's all my fault it happened."

Mama moves fast, but Old Alpha is faster. If he wanted, he could have stopped the hard slap she delivers right across his face. His head turns sharply with the blow. We all stay still. Old Alpha exhales out slowly, eyes flashing with his wolf. Mama is heaving heavy breaths and glaring at Old Alpha's turned head. The Moon whimpers softly, little choking sounds of tears, lost in memories.

Me, well, I am quiet because the puzzle of Old Alpha's secrets is churning away and just not fitting.

"How could you?" Mama whispers.

Old Alpha turns back to Mama, his hands steady, but his voice cracks. "I have no excuse. I am the alpha. There is no excuse."

His secrets are coming out faster, the leaking hole widening to a rusty flow. I poke at the gaps, trying to find the unsettling truth in his words. He is skimming the surface of the soup, but what lies beneath the broth?

"How could you Shame a female like that? Any female? To be ra-... to have that happen!" Mama cries woefully to the male, who is clearly torn between respecting her distance and comforting her.

Mama is the spoon, stirring, stirring.

"It is my greatest wrong, Dove."

"It's over, Jax," the Moon says quietly, dully. "It happened and can't be undone. Enough." Gnome wanders back, reaches out, and takes her hand, his wrinkled face covered in his tears.

"I can keep paying for it," Old Alpha proclaims, almost arrogantly. A male determined to pay the price for his shame. His shame, not the Moons, in the end... all because he allowed her to beraped.

Oh. "You said youallowedher punishment," I blurt out. "Allowed; permit, let, authorize."

I hear the cracks in the bottom of the soup pot as Old Alpha's gaze swings sharply to me, his face paling. The Moon inhales sharply, but I don't turn my attention away from Old Alpha. Poke, poke. The hole is widening in the soup pot. Crack it open. Spill it out.

"You said that you are alpha. You are in charge. You are the leader. But... I am luna. And the Moon. And your mate? Was she luna? Luna's are leaders too. Youallowed..." I spit out the words as fast as they occur to me.

He steps toward me, but not in a threatening way. He brings his hand to his face and jams his forefinger and thumb into his eyes, futilely trying to stem the tears. "Please, Little One, leave it alone," he rasps out.

"Your mate was the one who ordered the Shaming. She was the leader, too. A luna, like me." I smile, triumphant. Old's Alpha's eyes tell the truth of my words. A secret, Old Alpha. One that was simmering and boiling you alive.

The Moon lets out a soft cry of pure woe, "Why did you not say anything, Jax?"

Old Alpha's hand shakes as he lowers it down to his side. "I did nothing to stop it. I convinced myself that it was just. It's my fault. I'm the alpha. I am the alpha." He slams his fist into his chest, digging the claws into flesh that tears and bleeds. Mama lets out a soft protest and grabs his hand with both of hers. She's not strong enough to stop him, but he goes still, regardless. He watches Mama with his silent plea.

I frown dismissively as Mama cries with Old Alpha. He draws strength from her and she from him. The Moon and Gnome are holding each other. And here I stand, without my Mactiir to keep me warm.

"Who is she?" I ask abruptly, minutes later. "Who is your mate?"

Old Alpha brings Mama's hands to his mouth and kisses her knuckles. She allows it, that small comfort. He closes his eyes and inhales Mama's scent, her sweetness driving away whatever ill stench he must have lingering from just the memory of his mate.

Slowly, Old Alpha replies, "her name is Jessie. I've been tracking her down to stand trial for her crimes for nearly a decade."

Jessie...

Jessie.

A grey room with lichen growing on the walls. Icy water and even chillier eyes. The scent of lies. Stinking of crimes against the very nature of wolves.

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