Alpha Wilson stood in front of me, a smirk visible on his face. His usually warm eyes were now unrecognizably cold and hard.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time, Ares," Alpha Wilson spoke, drawing a knife out from his sheath.

I couldn't mindlink him back, since my bond to Red Crescent was broken once Cain marked me. I wasn't too worried he was going to kill me right now, since Jax had said that for whatever reason, Alpha Wilson couldn't kill me himself. That didn't necessarily mean he couldn't torture me though.

Eh, whatever. Do your worst, Wilson.

Alpha Wilson smiled at me, his icy glare making the action extremely unsettling. "I can imagine that you're fairly confused to see me here." I didn't give any indication that I had heard him, just continuing to stare blankly at him in response.

"Where do I begin?" Wilson mused, placing the knife on his cheek in thought. "About 19 years ago, I met a woman while I was traveling through uncharted territory while I was on my way to the Iron Claw pack." Luna Amelia was from the Iron Claw pack, though I didn't understand why she would be important to this story.

"She was on the outskirts of Iron Claw territory. Back then, these were dangerous times for Iron Claw. Rogues ran rampant, and the Alpha had a hard time protecting his people. We actually were going to his territory to work out a deal in which I would send some of my pack warriors over to help him exterminate the rogues, in exchange for land.

The woman was fighting off six rogues on her own. I was enchanted watching her strike the rogues with such sharp, fluid motions. She was shockingly aggressive, so much so that my wolf was instantly drawn to her raw ferocity. Wolves are like that, you know? Attracted to strength.

Not only that, but she was exceptionally beautiful. I later learned that beauty was her Gift from the Moon Goddess. You have to understand that I was powerless against her Gift in order to understand why I did what I did."

Wilson paused, gaging a reaction I didn't give him.

"Anyways, she killed three of the rogues before I shook off the enchantment that bewitched me, and I leapt in to kill the other three. I only killed two of them before she finished the 6th off herself.

I remember what she said to me. I had been expecting her to be grateful, but instead, she told me bitterly: 'I could have handled them myself'. I was surprised by her intensity and penchant for killing. It starkly contrasted with her outward beauty. Light blue eyes, long silvery hair, a small figure, but so easily broke the necks of the rogues. A true contraction. It drove my wolf wild. As you may have learned with Cain, Alpha's have an insatiable sex drive. At the time, I was 24, and still had not found my mate.

The small group of wolves I had traveled with were also enamored by the enchanting young women, and so they didn't question why we escorted her back to Iron Claw territory.

The Alpha of Iron Claw was incredibly thankful that we had escorted the young woman back to him. As it turns out, the young woman was his younger sister. Her being of Alpha blood explained the brute strength I had witnessed in her while she was killing the rogues.

The Alpha of Iron Claw and I discussed an arrangement in which I would send some pack warriors over in return for some of his land, and I agreed to have my Gamma bring over the pack warriors in the morning.

Later that night, I heard a knock on my guest room door in the Pack House.

It was the woman from the forrest.

I'll spare you the details, but we ended up copulating."

My nose wrinkled in disgust. What the hell did this have to do with me?

Alpha Wilson ignored my look, too lost in his memories. "The next morning, my Gamma arrived with the pack warriors that would be venturing into the woods to eliminate the rogue threat. The woman from the forrest and I emerged from the guest room and went to greet them outside.

Instantly, my Gamma's eyes turned towards the woman. Her eyes widened in shock. 'Mine!' He growled at her, and immediately claimed her. He was too overwhelmed from the mate connection and his natural instinct to mark her to pay attention to her scent. More specifically, the fact that my scent was mixed with her scent slightly due to our actions from the previous night.

She never told the Gamma about our night together, and because I ended up meeting Amelia in Iron Claw during our stay there, I never spoke about it either. Amelia would have been incredibly hurt if she had known that I had sex with the Alpha-blooded woman.

So we went on with our lives, and we both fell in love with our respective mates. I was elated. Amelia was pregnant with my pup. Sebastian. Future heir to Red Crescent.

Everything was perfect until one night, when the woman from the forrest mindlinked me asking to meet me in the woods. I was worried by her nervous tone, but I met her nonetheless.

I saw her standing in the forrest, her hands placed over her stomach protectively. Even without her stance, I could tell that she was pregnant, as I could hear the faint heartbeat of the unborn fetus. She was further along than Amelia.

'It's yours' she whispered, and my whole world crumbled. I panicked. I told her that Amelia could never know, and she agreed. She didn't want to upset her mate either. We agreed to pretend that the pup was hers and the Gamma's.

We went on like that, harboring the secret. The woman gave birth to her bastard child, and a few months later, Amelia gave birth to Sebastian.

One day, the woman mindlinked me asking to meet me in the forrest. She sounded calm, but my anxiety skyrocketed. She told me that she was going to tell the Gamma that the pup was not his. She felt too guilty every time she saw him holding the little shewolf.

I pleaded and ordered and begged her not to tell him, but it was no use. Her mind was made up. I panicked. I couldn't have her telling the Gamma. He would tell Amelia, and Amelia would never forgive me. In a moment of panic, I wrapped my hands around her throat and squeezed. She trashed against me, but my wolf's instinct to protect his family was too strong, and the woman was now considered a threat. She died in my hands.

The Gamma felt his mate's terror and pain, and arrived in the forrest as the last of her life drained out from her. He let out a pained roar as I killed his mate, and he attacked me. I killed him too."

Wilson's facial expression was stoic, and he spoke matter-of-factly.

"I staged it to make it look like rogues killed both of them, and nobody questioned me. Being the Alpha has its perks, I suppose. The only thing left unresolved was the matter of my bastard pup. The shewolf. You," He revealed, and my face didn't change. I wouldn't show any weakness.

"I took you under my wing, and decided to do the heroic thing and raise you as my own. I figured that you would be a strong asset to the pack. After all, you were born from two separate Alpha bloodlines. You ended up being strong enough to take the Gamma position young. I never imagined you would be such a formidable wolf.

One day, an elder approached me. He figured out that you were my offspring, as he didn't believe that a 13 year old girl could be so strong if she was only born from Gamma blood. I told him the truth, since he was a trusted figure I had known since I was a pup.

He told me that Sebastian would never be able to become the Alpha of Red Crescent, since he was not the rightful heir. The Alpha title could only be passed on to my firstborn. The Alpha's firstborn is only a guaranteed to be a male when they have it with their True Mate.

I told the elder that I would just kill you so I could pass down the position to Sebastian, since he would be next in line.

He warned me that doing that would surely make the Moon Goddess forsake me and banish me

to Hell in the afterlife, since killing your offspring is one of the worst offenses to her.

So, I had a rogue kidnap you and was supposed to kill you, but ended up wanting to torture you instead. As you obviously know, you escaped, even though you lost your tongue and half an ear.

I told many packs of my young Gamma, hoping it would encourage wolves to come challenge you for the position, and they would kill you so I didn't have to.

Also as you know, you killed all of them. I thought that Jax's brother, a trained Beta-blood would be able to kill you, but I underestimated the strength of a true born Alpha, especially one born from two separate bloodlines.

I knew I was running out of time. Sebastian grew impatient, ready to take the Alpha position. He didn't understand why I kept putting it off. I couldn't kill you myself, and all of the people I had sent to kill you ended up dying themselves. John included. That pussy.

So, I called the Blood Alpha, pretending to want to form an alliance. I obviously knew he would turn it down because his cousin is Thane. You have the tendency to be violent and disrespectful. I thought that if the Blood Alpha was disrespected by you, he would kill you for your insolence. He was quite the brute back in the day, known for killing anyone for the slightest indiscretion.

Obviously, my plan was derailed as soon as you two found out that you were mates. Instantly, my problem got a lot harder. Cain was instantly in love with you, and I knew he would protect you with his life.

I reached out to Jax, the Beta who accompanied Cain to my territory. I could see the disgust on his face when he looked at you, and knew he would be willing to help me kill you.

He tried poisoning you, which failed. We arranged for rogues to take you, which obviously also failed. I had to think smarter. So, I made a fake declaration of war on Blue Moon, knowing that Cain would go there to help defend his cousin's pack, and leave you unattended.

As soon as Cain was far away from Blood Lake, I withdrew the declaration, and Jax successfully kidnapped you. And here we are now!" Wilson gleefully finished. My head was spinning from the huge influx of information I was assaulted with.

So Wilson was my father, killed my mother, tried to kill me, and now is going to kill me?

He raised the knife, and slashed at my face, leaving a deep cut on my cheek. "You could have cost me my mate and my son."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't ask to be born bro.

"I would have killed you already, but I wanted to properly torture you first. You have no idea how much anxiety you put me through. You're a hard woman to kill, Ares," He slashed the knife at my neck, but it was too shallow to really do much damage. He made sure not to kill me.

"I planned on just cutting off a ton of your limbs and letting you heal just enough to stay alive, before having Jax finish you off, but as soon as I saw you, two weeks after Jax kidnapped you and kept you sedated the entire time, I noticed something different about you," Wilson mused, an evil glint in his eye.

"Something about you that I could use to torment Cain even further. Our history of bad blood goes way back, you know," I didn't know. Cain and Thane never told me why exactly they had beef with Red Crescent.

Alpha Wilson smiled at me, canines protruding, as he revealed what he was going to use to hurt Cain. "You're having the Blood Alpha's pup."