Zack stood silent and still long after Sophie had left. How had it come to this? His whole world had come crashing down on him. And he had no one to blame but himself.

Well that wasn't quite true. None of this would have happened had it not been for the terrible choices his parents had made. Them allowing Frank fucking Danes to blackmail them had been the catalyst! Everything that had gone wrong in his life stemmed from those horrendous mistakes made by the very people who were supposed to love and protect not only him but all their pack.

All he had ever wanted was to protect those he loved. His parents, his pack, but most of all his mate

But it was past time he was honest with himself. He had made plenty of mistakes himself. The way he handled the pack after taking over as Alpha. The way he had blackmailed his mate to bring her back here. Hiding the fact his parents had harboured humans. Keeping to himself that they knew of at least the physical abuse Sophie had endured. But worst of all.....protecting them from the council in the investigation into how Frank Danes had gotten hold of scent suppressors, and not being honest with Sophie right from the beginning.

He had brought this all on himself!

He slowly became aware of someone standing behind him. How long they had been there he did not know. He had been so immersed in his thoughts he has totally oblivious to his surroundings. He turned and was shocked to see Thomas standing silently beside him. The council Alpha said nothing. The silence between them was surprisingly comfortable. He wondered just how much the other Alpha had overheard.

Zack studied the expression on Thomas's face, trying to work out what he was thinking. Had he overheard his and Sophie's conversation he would expect to see anger, frustration, disgust but none of that was there. Thomas's face was devoid of any emotion or expression.

Zack open his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say. He knew he should take this opportunity to come clean. To confess what had happened, but before he could utter a single word Alpha Thomas spoke instead. "Lets go for a run son, you look as if you need it." Without saying another word the older alpha began to strip and quickly shed his human side leaving a massive dark grey wolf in his place.

Confused, Zack followed suit and soon he was standing beside they grey wolf, his own wolf a much lighter shade of grey with a white ruff and chest. As soon as the change was complete Thomas took off at a fast sprint towards the woods, Zack close behind.

They spent the next few hours running. They chased each other, they chased rabbits, they drank from the creek when they needed to drink. And Thomas was right, it was exactly what Zack needed.

Eventually they collapsed beside a small lake under the shade of a large tree. The sun was beginning to set and the sky was ablaze with shades of pink and purple. It was beautiful.

Alpha Thomas swiftly and smoothly transitioned back to human and sat waiting for Zack to follow suit. But Zack couldn't quite bring himself to return to his human side. It was cowardly he knew, he was just putting off the inevitable.

A deep voice broke the peaceful silence. "Keep your fur Zack, you don't need to talk just listen. I know why you did what you did, made the choices you did. You wanted to protect everyone, I understand that and if the circumstances were different I would even commend it. But I think you now know that was wrong."

He paused and looked out over the peaceful still water. "Your parents were once good, strong leaders." He looked back to Zack. "I've known them for years, did you know that? Your father and met at a conference when you were just a pup and I was newly mated. He was someone other alphas looked up to. Strong, confident, fair, decisive but most of all he had a will of steel. Once he had made a decision on a course of action, once he was convinced it was the right thing, he never deviated from that path." He chuffed out a laugh. "I'm sure you realise that might piss some people off, that conviction that he was always right. But the more annoying thing was that more often than not he was right. And that pissed people off more."

Thomas lapsed into silence once more, seeming to collect his thoughts. "I'm not sure when he started to change. It's not something I noticed right away, more like a lot of little changes over a long period of time. He became more secretive, abrupt when questioned." Thomas looked into Zack's eyes. "Quick to loose his temper."

Zack squirmed a little in place, uncomfortable with where this was going. "Your mother, well she was a different story. She always thought she was better than everyone else I'm sorry to say. My mate told me once, after an alpha conference where she had spent a lot of time with her, that she expected all the mates in attendance to defer to her. She liked to think she was in charge. And much as it pains me to say this Zack she was unbelievably manipulative. If she found she couldn't get her own way she would find someone easily manipulated and make them help her achieve what she wanted." He sighed gustily. "Your father could never say no to her. Now I'm not saying your mother was responsible for all the changes in your father, I think he got arrogant. He had been such a successful alpha that it made him believe he could do no wrong, that he was never wrong and that every decision he made was the right one."

Zack listened intently to the older alpha, his mind reeling. He wanted to howl his disagreement, he wanted to cover his ears so he didn't have to listen any more. He had never heard anyone speak this way about his parents, had only every heard them spoken of and too with the upmost respect. But he could scent no deception from Thomas. The other alpha at least believed every word he was saying.

"When we got the notification of possible wrong doings within this pack, there was much discussion over who would lead the investigation. I was chosen because of my long relationship with your dad and Jacob was picked because he had never actually spoken to him directly. It was decided that we would compliment each other with our different perspectives. It was the right thing to do. I could see how far your father had fallen over the years and Jacob would only see what was in front of him with no prior involvement with your dad."

"I think we both knew right from the beginning, even without knowing why, that your parents were guilty of the accusations. But we needed proof. Taking the pups was the quickest way to bring everything out into the open. Emotions will always run high when young are involved. But I am sorry we had to do that. It's never something we want to do. Pups are innocent, pure, but it's the way we had to go." He breathed deeply watching night slowly fall around them.

"I will have to answer to the Goddess for my own part in what happened to your mate, I will always regret the choice I made in sending her here, but I can not change that now and knowing what happened to her here is something I will find very difficult to live with. As will my mate. But you have a choice to make here Zack, to finally do the right thing by your mate. Yes, we both know you should have spoken to us from the very start, come clean as it were. But it's not too late. Do the right thing now. Speak to Jacob, tell him everything. And maybe, just maybe your mate will see you are putting her first, before your parents and before yourself and find it in herself to forgive you."

With that he rose to his feet and turned back towards the trees. Zack jumped to his feet and quickly retook his human form. "Why did you tell me all that? Why are you trying to help me? You heard what was said earlier, you know now what my parents did, what I did to protect them. Why are you letting me off the hook?"

Thomas looked back over his shoulder. "I'm not letting you off the hook Zack. I'm giving you the chance to put your mate first. It's about time someone did that don't you think?" With that parting shot the alpha changed seamlessly into his wolf and quickly disappeared into the trees.

Zack slumped back down, his mind spinning, his thoughts jumbled. As he mulled over everything Thomas had told him his mind began to clear. It had taken him far too long to see his parents for what they had become. He wanted them to be the kind, caring, loving parents he remembered as a child, but he could now see they hadn't been that in a long time. His blindness to their faults had caused the pack and Sophie so much harm. Maybe it was too late for him with his mate but he could still do right by his pack.

As he gave himself over to his wolf and began the journey back to the pack house he knew what he had to do.

.