A/N: Sorry for the late update. Hope you enjoy <3

Vince's POV

It was pushing one in the morning by the time I showered and found myself sitting in the kitchen of the Northern Lights packhouse. Rina had set some food out on the kitchen counter while the pack's alpha and beta continued to banter in the living room.

She could've possibly been handing me poison on a plate, but with how exhausted and hungry I was, I dug right into the leftover pasta dish. It wasn't as good as carbonara, but it beat going to sleep starved.

"Just ignore them." She glanced at the two before setting the glass of water down. "They're not usually like this, but once they start, it's hard for them to stop."

"Must've been rough growing up," I remarked. Although still confused about which was Rina's father, I jeered my thumb toward them. "Having a dad leading the pack."

"They both were rough on the edges, but they're sweethearts; when they're not holding a grudge or argument, that is." A soft smile graced her face as she watched the two. Judging by the arguing leaders, she was probably around the same age, maybe younger than me. "Lots of expectations to uphold, as you would know."

It was impossible to not overhear their exchange given how quiet it was in the packhouse. "Art, you can't be serious."

"I am. It's about time, Clay." Arthur lowered his voice, his arms firmly crossed. "We talked about this."

I could feel the tension between them thicken as Rina dried and put away dishes, almost unfazed by their argument.

Clayton scoffed. "He doesn't need to know."

"Know what?" I whirled around in my chair, even Rina tuning into the conversation. 

"You two aren't exactly subtle," Rina said under her breath, mouthing so loud to me with an eye roll. "I'm surprised you haven't woken up anyone with your fighting."

"We aren't fighting," Clayton insisted. "You have to admit that this is a terrible idea, right hun?"

Hun? So she was the alpha's daughter? Arthur rolled his eyes before looking at Rina. "Sweetie, tell him that I'm right and that it's only fair that he knows the truth."

Sweetie? Was she Arthur's after all? "Wait, the truth? What truth?"

Rina ignored the question and instead pointed at the two. "I'm not going to be your tiebreaker, geez." 

I nodded, my sleep-deprived brain trying to wrap my head around this entire situation. "Tell me what exactly?"

"About your father," Clayton spat, before muttering under his breath, "fucking asshole."

Arthur pinned him a glare. "Enough."

"Can't we discuss this in the morning?"

Despite Clayton being the alpha here, it appeared Arthur held some formidable power as they stared each other down. Finally, with a clenched jaw, Arthur gritted out, "fine. Tomorrow. I'll show him to our guest bedroom."

And with that, the conversation ended as abruptly as it had escalated. Clayton huffed but followed behind as Arthur navigated us through the halls. Despite how cold and quiet it was, the halls felt as open and liberating as how the pack felt the time I had been here before.

As they led me to a guest room the size of a decent hotel room. I could sense the tension between the two, possibly a continuation of their argument through their mind-link. I didn't have any of my belongings, not even my phone on me, so I settled on taking in the sight of the room. One window near the bed faced out what I assumed would be a beautiful view of the mountains. The queen-sized bed was staged as any hotel room would; even the wall decorations were like an old-fashioned room. A mirror and a painting were on either side of the dresser. 

Although the painting was quite creepy, it was a realistic portrait of a couple in fancy garb. Still, their eyes seemed to follow you wherever you went.

Ignoring it, I turned to face the two. "Can't you at least tell me how you two know him?"

Clayton scowled before saying cautiously. "Let's just say the entire pack knows who his true mate was, and we all really hate what he did to him."

"So, he was from here?" The air got tense as the two clenched their jaws, sparing each other a glance. "His true mate?"

"Yes," Clayton gritted out. "He was the—"

"Clay." Arthur interrupted, sending him a glare. "I'm sure our guest would like some rest; it's getting late."

"Didn't you want to tell him?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Not like this."

"No, it's alright," I told them. "I'd like to know."

Even though it was the dead of night and my eyes were heavy, it was as if the answers were right there. Knowing his actual mate had been from here would explain many things yet opened a whole can of worms. Assuming he rejected his mate, what else had he done? Was it worse than what I'd done? And who was he, was he even around?

Arthur let out a sigh before looking around the room. Walking over to the creepy portrait I tried to ignore earlier, he pointed between the faces. "You've probably heard of them. This pack's founding alpha and luna, Archie, and Diane."

"I have," I told them, recalling the countless documents regarding pack relations Xavier had needed help in organizing. "Not in detail, though."

"Well," he drew out, studying their faces. "They had one son, their only child, and heir. Lived a fairly normal life until he met Damon."

Recalling the memories of going through the papers our father left behind, he hadn't kept many records of the Northern Lights pack. I remembered seeing their first alpha's name along with Diane. Maybe I had even seen the name of their heir on the documents, but it had been a while since I meddled in those papers since Xavier took over. He had assured me that he had everything covered and wanted me to relax from the stresses of alpha duties.

"His mate."

Clayton nodded. "And your douchebag of a father made his life hell."  

"Sorry," I muttered out, even though there was no way I could have possibly known the extent of what he had done here or make up for it. The questions I didn't dare say circled my head. Had he died, suffered till the very end? Or was he still suffering, possibly even gone rogue from all the years without my father alive? Had my mother known about this, or had he hid this from her as I had with Sarah?

But it was clear my father had erased his mate from the documents, never mentioning it or talking about it, even in the medical records we had pulled out from the previous pack doctor's files. Had Michael never announced it, I would've died believing my mother had been his mate all along.

"Is he—" I stopped myself. "Is he alive?"

Arthur let out a breath before glancing at Clayton. "I think Clay's right. We can discuss more about your father in the morning. It's getting late, and I think it'd be better to discuss things once we're all well-rested."

"But, I—"

"Besides," Arthur interjected. "I'd like to show you around here. You didn't get that opportunity the last time. We can discuss more later. For now, rest."

"Yeah, I guess." Clayton was already halfway to the door, motioning for Arthur to follow. "Well, good night then."

"Good night, Vince." Arthur shut the door, leaving me with the portrait of their pack's founders, my father's mate's parents. An unsettling feeling of guilt from having their photo staring me down in the middle of the night. Whoever their son was, I only hoped he had found some solace from my father's wrath. 

Maybe because it was because their son reminded me of what I had put Simon through, I only hoped Simon found his solace too.

Until then, I'd wait to learn more from Arthur and Clayton about my father, his mate, and whatever else this pack had against my pack and me.

And yet, I shut my eyes, left with more questions than answers.