"WEST," I called out, spotting him in the garden, sitting among the long blades of grass. He turned to see me, at once and smiled gently. 72Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGJSCFtZL5
copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡa12a6QGeXQ
"Weslyn," he stretched out his arm, calling me over to him. "Over here."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5BldqUmSA
"How are you doing?" I asked, as I crossed my legs and sat on the ground next to him.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡsalmo3S3Qi
"I feel... Light," he murmured.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31j6bqXRFU
"That's good, isn't it?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡHo0jJdKEzC
"Yeah, I guess." For a few minutes, we both sat silently, breathing in time with the stillness of the garden.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2MAobEheu
"I'm going to meet a Brown Wolf today," I announced, carefully waiting for his reaction.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡziwTpHjmzZ
"Lucian?" He asked, staring at me. "You're meeting with Lucian Bronze?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhnhB7vmL5
"No..." I hesitated. The way West spoke of him; it sounded as if they were friends. "Alpha Bronze has fallen ill. I am meeting his Beta."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡY07LBwXfNb
"I..." he trailed off, a lost experience on his face. "He was a friend..." I sighed deeply.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡKnuggTYAfx
"West, I need you to tell me about it," I told him. "About this agreement you had with him."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡzxPXOq4kNQ
"Why, so you can hate me even more?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLQxxr3uGR
"I don't hate you."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡGqeaHv3F6j
"Well, you should."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGQ2DFtI0g
"For the love of Luna, just tell me," I urged. "I have to know what it is, West. It's for the safety of the pack. I am the Alpha; you know? Now, it's my responsibility to protect them all."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡyq2pYAQ14x
"Our father made peace with the Alpha before Lucian. It was basically a peace treaty to keep to ourselves. The Gray Wolves weren't to associate with the Brown Wolves; and they weren't allowed to either. When father..." he took a sharp intake of breath.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡTKY8VFEZlK
By Luna... It would be hard for him. Hard to speak of our father. My chest tightened, as I placed my hand over his.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡiyq9B4P5NP
"West, you don't have to say it."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlfpLdZBf3
"But it's true," he muttered. "I killed our father."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99O7hKNVJ8
"It wasn't your fault. You may have gone too far, but you had every right to be angry. As the oldest child, you should've been named future Alpha at birth. But when I was born, I was much younger than you. It wasn't right. Not when you were... Wait, how old are you?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1H7bjb0oZ
"I'm 24."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLl6a6jaHz
"What?" He looked much older; at least 28 or 29 years old. "I mean; you don't look like it."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRJ2Y1MMWv
"Gray Wolves grow fast, early on in our lives," he explained. "But we barely age later on. We still have a human life span, though."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡVDxDKIWWJl
"So, Twilight got that part right?" I asked, smiling slightly.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡVz7gFhmZr4
"You could say that."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFViIUjvHg
"But..." I realised after a minute. "That would mean you were only 16, back then."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1CTzfDhcA1
"It was long after the first time I shifted," he replied, staring at the overgrown grass.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvBFLgX8go
"You were a teenager," I muttered. "You were younger than me, you know?" He nodded gently. "I think they would've forgiven you for all the wrong-doings you've done, West."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡdP488N3siK
"Who?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡIknCTDgaQQ
"Mother and father. If they'd known how hurt you were, they would've understood. But they didn't. They didn't know you well enough to sense how you felt. Our parents weren't the best people, were they?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡcomN3741gk
"No one is perfect," West whispered.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡqt9uCiiFKA
"I couldn't agree more... But what was your agreement with the Bronze Pack, West?"copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtUO6NsmYi
"Three years after I became Alpha, I found Bryan and Bryanna. They were only 12 at the time, but their life was so painful; they chose to be turned. I brought them to the Grayson home and commanded William to bite them... The Brown Wolf pack, which was named McLean Pack hack then, had laid low for a while. I was the teenage boy, who had slaughtered his own father. Obviously, they were too scared to act out against me. But eventually, they confronted me for breaking my father's treaty by keeping Bryan and Bryanna in the Luna Pack... The fact that they had a new Alpha may have had something to do with their sudden courage."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbGzYKH2LX
"Lucian."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbrwG3PYJA
"That's right, Weslyn. He wasn't like most Brown Wolves. The way he didn't back down; his confidence; how he carried himself... I took an instant liking for him. It was as if he was born to be a leader."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡza3uY9iqwh
"Did he ever tell you how was he turned?" Someone that powerful... He couldn't have been turned easily.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJspjra0uW
"He never told me that," West admitted. "But together, we made an agreement so the peace could remain; even with Bryan and Bryanna on our side..."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡYR8qoOteNd
"What did you have to do in return?" I asked him, for what seemed like the tenth time, that day.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnnRSl1aMx
"I looked up to him, actually. I thought he would treat me better than our father... But Lucian was much worse, of course. I agreed to his terms, thinking he had my best intentions in mind... But I was such an idiot," he stated. "In return for keeping the two of them..." West went on in a low voice. "I had to turn one human..."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡsvhVVBn6CR
My whole world spun out of control. No. Forcing that much pain onto a human? It was something I wouldn't and couldn't do.copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AJb180umN
"I had to turn one human," he repeated, his face grim. "Every single full moon."copyright protection68ＰＥＮＡＮＡHab513r2ed
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