“Oh honey,” Cecilia looked close to tears, “How long has that been happening? Has it happened here?”

“A long time, and no, not yet,” Scott sighed, propping his elbows onto the table and covering his face with his hands, “He’s always so scared to leave the house because of the Paige wolves. All of them,” he raked his fingers back through his hair, “Amos was the only one who never looked at Rebel with contempt of hatred, he was the only adult there who wouldn’t scoff or shove him aside.”

Tears were building in his eyes now, and I could feel my chest getting tight as Wade spoke, “Why would they do something like that? He’s just a kid.”

“Because his blood is dirty,” Scott whimpered, bowing his head lower, “Priscilla isn’t his mother, he was born outside of my chosen mate, so that made him a filthy bastard in their eyes and prone to the lowest, dirtiest, most horrific insults and abuse. He’s only eight…”

Wet spots bloomed on the white tablecloth beneath his bowed head, his shoulders trembling as he cried, and I wanted to help him, I wanted to pull him into my arms, but he may push me away, and… Rebel wasn’t his mates… that meant… when he left me…

“What, did you sleep with some random skanky wolf when you left?” I asked, and it came out a little more bitter than intended.

Scott lifted his head to send me a furious gaze that was brilliantly lit from his tears, “I may as well have for all the shit I’ve gotten from it.”

“Malcolm, enough,” Cecilia hissed at me, and I leaned back as Wade put his glass down.

“If your chosen mate isn’t Rebel’s mother, then who is?”

Scott didn’t look up, he just kept his head lowered, his fingers tangled through his hair holding the sides of his head, which he shook after a moment, “I’m so sorry, but I can’t… I can’t,” he stopped, dropping his hands, and looking up with a pained expression on his face, “Why are they hurting him and not me?” he asked in a whisper, “He’s just a baby, it wasn’t his fault, I’m the one who broke customs! If the Paige wolves want to beat up on anyone it should be me!”

“Don’t be a fucking idiot,” I snapped, but he didn’t look at me.

“I can actually defend myself, Rebel can’t,” he glared over at me, “How is that fair?” he looked down again, bowing a little, “I’m sorry alpha Wade, Luna. I can’t imagine how disappointed you must be in me.”

“Damn right,” Wade grunted, and I tensed up, fully prepared to launch myself at him, but he didn’t look angry, he looked… exhausted, “I’m disappointed you think you deserve to be physically punished for bringing a pup into the world,” Scott looked up, confused, “You’re hardly the first wolf to break customs, Scott. Sometimes we don’t understand why the goddess lumped us with the mates she did. Some of us get lucky,” he smiled at Cecilia, then frowned and looked back at Scott, “Some of us, not so much. Do you get along with your chosen mate?”

Scott winced a little and looked down, “No…”

“You’re not the first, and you won’t be the last.”

“If it helps,” Cecilia smiled weakly, “You’re not even the first in your family to break custom like that.”

Scott’s eyes widened, and Cecilia looked over at Wade, who folded his arms and grumbled something before speaking, “Your father rejected his chosen mate so he could marry someone else.”

“Really?” Scott breathed, and I followed suit.

“Seriously?”

“You never talk about him,” Scott said warily, and Wade clenched his jaw, a familiar sign that he was done and wouldn’t say any more. Scott sighed and bowed his head again, rubbing his hand over his eyes, “I’m really sorry I ruined dinner.”

“Don’t be silly, we can make up for it later,” Cecilia reached over and squeezed Scott’s hand, “You look horrid, sweetie, why don’t we put this night on hold and try again tomorrow, hm? This time bring Rebel and that former lone of yours.”

Scott laughed, “I don’t know if that’ll fly for Shaede, but I’ll see if I can’t convince him,” he stood up, and Cecilia stood with him to hug him.

“Go get some rest.”

“Thank you.”

We watched him leave the room, and I tensed when I felt uncomfortable pricks on the back of my neck, turning to see both Wade and Cecilia glaring at me, arms folded, “What?!”

“Go after him and make up,” Cecilia ordered, “I won’t accept you two fighting, and I want you back to normal by tomorrow. Any of that tension will terrify the poor baby.”

I sighed and pushed myself to my feet, “Fine, I’ll be back. Tell Cliff I went to mend a rift or something.”

I had mixed feelings about the situation now. I’d somehow convinced myself not to hate Rebel because I thought he was born between Scott and Priscilla, but now Scott has to drop a bomb that Rebel is an abnormal born outside of his chosen mate? He was eight years old, and Scott had been gone for nine almost. That… that meant whoever he slept with… he did it almost immediately after he left me.

How am I not supposed to feel betrayed and in pain because of that? Did he just not care about the fact we had sex? We were both virgins, did that mean nothing to him? I rejected my mate for him, I was so in love with him, but… maybe he didn’t care as much as I thought.

My hand lifted and curled into a fist in my shirt, over the pocket where his last letter was always tucked close to my heart. The things he wrote, were they a lie? Promising that we would get married if we didn’t find our mates, that was a lie too?

No, there was no way. Scott didn’t lie, I saw the truth in his eyes when he said he loved me, that morning when we kissed, the way he clung to me, the way he cried, there was no doubt that he loved me as much as I loved him. So how the hell did Rebel come into the picture? Maybe he slept with someone else from the Paige Clan just to get back at Priscilla because they got along so poorly?

Maybe… maybe it was worse than that. Maybe when Scott was travelling, by foot, alone, cross-country, rogues captured him, and some dirty, crow food stinking monstrous she-wolf raped him, forced him to impregnate her, kept him prisoner for nine months, then dumped the kid on him and let him go? Maybe he was gangraped by a whole pack of rogue she-wolves and he actually had more than one kid out there because of it! Maybe Rebel was the only baby he could grab when he was escaping! Maybe-!

“Malcolm,” I looked up to see Wade was staring at me, looking irritated, “The door is behind you.”

“Oh! Sorry!” I spun around, “I’ll take care of it! I promise! Those fucking rogue bitches won’t touch him ever again!”

“What?”

“I don’t know, he takes after you.”