As Zack made his way to the healers home, he was almost vibrating with rage. Indignation coursing through his veins. How dare Ron attack his mate! How dare he attack his own daughter! Hell he should have know better after the meeting, than to attack any weaker pack member never mind his own daughter! But the really sad fact was that a pack meeting and a decree was needed in the first place.

A small smirk appeared on his face momentarily chasing away the angry scowl. Ron certainly met his match today though. Zack couldn't help but give a silent chuckle. Goddess he would have loved to have seen the look on Ron's arrogant face when his tiny mate kicked his ass. Zack was quite sure no one expected that.

That was their problem! Everyone underestimated Sophie because of what she had gone through, they all thought she was weak. That her wolf was weak. When in reality the opposite was true. What Sophie had gone through as a child has made her the strongest female he had ever met. Her wolf might not be at its strongest right now, but even that had not stopped her from kicking the crap out of Ron. He could only wonder just how strong she would become when her wolf was truly back to full strength.

Zack noticed his beta fall in behind him as he neared the healers and turned to Matthew. "Is Sophie ok? Is she at home?"

"Yes Alpha, I made sure she was inside and that the door was locked." Matthew said a small smile playing around his lips. "She is an amazing woman Zack." He said softly, reverting to the familiarity of first names that years of friendship had borne. "Even a strong alpha female with a wolf who was at full strength might have struggled with the situation today, but Sophie stood strong." He hesitated, obviously wanting to say more.

"Speak freely Matthew." Zack said. "We have been friends too long for you not to be able to say what you think."

Matthew looked at his best friend and alpha, carefully choosing his next words. "I will be honest with you Zack, I thought you were making a mistake bringing Sophie back here. I didn't think she would be able to handle it. After what happened I thought her to be too.....broken to really be able to help us. The way the pack treated her or rather didn't, I really believed she would be more of a hindrance. What her uncle did to her was abhorrent. But for him to then deliberately mask her scent from you, to make you deny your own mate because of some drug he was giving her. Then on top of all that your parents knew she was your mate and didn't tell you. That's fucked up!" He growled angrily. "Did you ever find out how Frank Danes managed to get hold of drugs that he should never have been able to get his grubby hands on? I mean they are strictly regulated aren't they? Only given in the event of mates recognising each other too young. How the hell did he manage it? Why didn't your parents realise that's what he was doing?"

Zack stopped walking, and turned to his beta and friend. There must have been something on his face, some expression that gave him away because before he could even utter a word Matthew frowned fiercely. "You know, don't you? You know how he got them! Who was it? How did he get them?" He demanded.

Zack growled in warning. "Mind your tone Matt, remember who you are speaking too!" Zack said angrily.

Matthew grabbed Zack's arm as he went to move off pulling him back round to face him again. "Zack we have been friends since we were pups you know you can tell me anything and get no judgement. But if you know how that bastard got hold of scent suppressants you have to tell the council. If there is someone out there giving out those drugs without council sanction they need to be stopped."

Zack pulled his arm free of his friends grip. "There is nothing to worry about, there are no more suppressants. Now leave it alone Matthew! That's an order from your alpha!"

"I'm sorry Zack but that's not good enough. It's my responsibility as a beta and your second, in this situation, to take a matter as serious as this to the council. You know this! You know the rules we have to follow as alpha and beta. Those drugs are rigorously monitored for good reason. If you have information on where they came from you have to tell the council!"

"Damn it Matthew leave it alone!" Zack shouted. "It's been dealt with! There are no more drugs!"

"How can you be so sure?" His friend and beta demanded.

"I just can! I got rid of them myself! Now for the last time, leave it alone." Zack growled.

"You got rid of them yourself?" Matthew sucked in a shocked breath. "Oh my Goddess!" He breathed incredulously. "It was your parents wasn't it? Your father, our Alpha, gave that monster those drugs!"

Zack looked around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear his betas shocked realisation. "Keep your voice down Matthew!" He said harshly. "I never said it was my father. You can't repeat that."

"You didn't have to say it Zack, it was written all over your face!" Matthew said sadly. "How long have you known it was them?"

Zack looked at his best friend seeing the disappointment on his face and Zack felt that disappointment as keenly as if Matthew had stabbed him through the heart. "I found out they day Sophie killed Frank." He finally admitted quietly. "When I walked into that cabin I could scent she was my mate. Even with all the blood and.....other scents I knew." Zack drew in a tired breath, feeling as if he had aged fifty years in the five minutes of conversation.

"There she was, lying in a pool of her own blood. He back splayed open from the whipping, and all I could think was I had found my mate. It didn't occur to me right away that I had met her before and she hadn't scented as my mate." He gave a small humourless laugh. "As I carried he to the healers I started asking myself why. I found out later that Frank had been too busy beating her that morning to remember to give her the drug."

"But how did you find out it was your parents?" Matthew asked confused.

"He admitted it! Oh not straight away. It took me a whole fifteen minutes to get it out of him." Zack smiled grimly. "They admitted that they had known Sophie was my mate and had given that beast the means to hide it from me. Told me it was for my own good if you can believe it. They said that she was not "right in the head" or something like that and that she wasn't fit to be Alpha female. So when Frank blackmailed them, instead of ripping him apart for the insult, they gave him the drugs."

"Blackmail? What was he blackmailing them over?" Matthew asked incredulously.

"It's a long story Matthew and to be honest it doesn't really matter, not now anyway, it's the outcome that's important."

Matthew looked at his friend and could see the pain and distress on his face, and asked the question that he didn't know of he wanted to know the answer too. "Did they know Zack? Did they know what he was doing to her?"

Zack shook his head. "They said they didn't know about the rapes, but even if that's true they knew he was beating her and they did nothing. Instead they wilfully and deliberately hid her from me."

"What the hell Zack! Why haven't you reported this to the council?" He shouted, furious on Sophie's behalf.

"Because they are my parents! They are my family! They thought they were protecting the pack. Yes they made a mistake but they said they didn't know the extent of the abuse and I have to believe them!"

"Why do you have to believe them Zack? What they did goes against every pack law that matters! They interfered with a mating, gave out highly controlled drugs to aid in that interference and turned a blind eye to the abuse of a cub within their pack! Why the fuck are you still defending them?"

"Because if I don't then it means they are monsters!" He cried brokenly, emotion welling and spilling over. "Because it means they are monsters too! And the parents who raised me, loved me, held me when I was scared, brought me up to be the male I have become...those parents where not monsters."

"They changed though Zack, over the years it was clear to everyone that knew them that they were not the same alpha pair we knew and loved. Somewhere, somehow along the line they changed and became different people. Tell me you can at least see that." Matthew demanded.

"They are still my parents Matthew. I know they changed. Of course I know that. But.....".

"No Zack! No buts! I understand they are your parents but ultimately it's your responsibility to ensure the well being and safety of your pack. Look at the mess they caused. The council have taken our young! Your parents caused that on top of everything that happened to your mate! If you can't see that you need to report this to the council then you are not the male and alpha I believe you to be." Matthew turned and stormed away back rigid with anger.

Zack's head dropped tiredly. Felling as if the weight of the world rested on his broad shoulders. Matthew didn't understand. He didn't understand what he was trying to do. He was trying to keep his pack together, get the young back to their homes, protect his parents and keep his mate! But even as he told himself again that he was doing the right thing, that little voice at the back of his mind telling him he was wrong to keep defending his parents was getting louder every day.

He only hoped he could keep his parents involvement in giving the drugs to Frank from his mate, because he knew that if she ever finds out that it was them and that Zack himself had found that out on the day she killed her uncle she would walk away from him and never look back.

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