When they get to the entrance and Justine opens the door, Kyle hesitates, standing at the threshold.
His body stiffens for a second as if caught between instinct and reason.
"Look, I've told you I'm not your enemy here, and I'm actually doing you a favor. Come in," Justine says, moving aside for Kyle to enter.
"So, you were saying?" Kyle asks, he decides then walks in. His voice neutral as he steps further inside.
"I was saying, it's not your fault you're like this. Your parents are to blame." Justine walks over to a nearby fridge, pulling it open casually.
He grabs a drink, then sinks into the couch like the weight of what he's about to say is nothing at all.
Kyle's jaw clenches. "And what do you mean by that?"
Justine shrugs lightly, unscrewing the cap of the bottle. "I know they must've told you they didn't have a child for a very long time, and the packs were starting to talk. They were Alpha and Luna of Moonvale Pack, your pack.
And since they didn't want people talking and all that, they visited a place forbidden in the wolf world—witches.
Wolves and witches don't mix, never have. Because of some ancient war that I don't know details about. But your parents, leaders, no less, broke that rule. They betrayed the wolf world.
"They went to the witches. I don't know how they managed to convince them, but the witches agreed to help.
Their rituals needed a sacrifice, a trueblood alpha bloodline. Your parents were supposed to offer one before you were born.
But they didn't. Instead, they took me there,_ a useless omega. Maybe they thought the witches wouldn't notice. Maybe they thought magic could be fooled."
His tone hardens for the first time, something bitter slipping through.
"So the sacrifice didn't happen. And you were born before it could. The witches were furious_ for being tricked, for being made fools of, for being denied the sacrifice they demanded.
So they claimed you before your first breath. The mark you were born with It was to mark you as theirs. In short, you don't belong to the wolf world, because you are not one of them. You belong to a magic and beast world."
Kyle doesn't say anything. The words hit like punches, each one heavier than the last. He is unable to digest any of them.
"What I'm trying to say is… you're the witch's weapon. You're meant to finish their mission.
Wipe out all wolves.
And when I say wipe out, I don't mean killing. You've already started turning wolves into puppets.
That's what the witches decided to do to the wolves.
Instead of just killing wolves, they've decided to use you use your powers to gather them, change them.
Make them bend to your will.
You don't even have to try. You just are. And if you agree to this, if you embrace it, the witches will leave you alone to rule them however you want.
That's all they want: the wolves gone. And they figured, why waste energy killing them when they can make them suffer instead?
And Since you are the weapon, that makes you superior to wolves. That's why you're able to turn them and be the ruler of those pu..."
"What nonsense are you sprouting right now?!" Kyle snaps, unable to take it any longer. His voice breaks, and so does the air around him. He can't breathe. His chest tightens, as if the very truth is choking him.
"Nonsense?" Justine turns to him sharply. "How do you explain the beast inside you? The one taking over little by little? Kyle, I'm telling you the truth, raw and direct, because tantrums won't change it. Nothing will. You are that beast now. You can't run from the witches, either. Think about it. You could be a god of..."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Kyle screams, his voice raw and shaking. The room spins. His hands tremble at his sides. A scream claws at his throat, but it's not just anger, it's despair. Panic. Truth. And it crushes him.
He knows it. He feels it. It's the truth.
Justine's words ring in his ears like a curse spoken too clearly. Kyle wants to reject it all, deny everything, but deep down, he can't.
The truth, no matter how twisted, has weight. And now, it's settling into his bones like ice.
But despite all the madness, Kyle believes… maybe the witches have claimed him, maybe he's a beast, maybe he's cursed, but deep down, he knows the Moon Goddess sees him.
She knows him.
She values him.
If he didn't belong in the world of wolves, the Moon Goddess wouldn't have given him a mate, let alone an Alpha. In fact, she wouldn't have mated him to anyone at all.