Stripped Bare.

Renallo Hunt.

The voices were faint but I could hear them, I could hear it all.

I love you Renallo, and as long as I have you, I'm happy, Saint's whisper

Apples are my favourite, they smell like you, my own appreciation.

We've done it, he's dead, the coldness that seeped into me as my beta told me.

What have you done boy, I can smell death on you, my father, whom I'd disappointed.

I'm not the one whose killed your friends, I haven't done anything, he defended himself and he was right, I all but failed him aswell for things to come to this, this was my fault, my doing,

The thread of memories change as I find myself with Carson and our child in his belly. "What do you want to name him?" He whispered as we caressed his stomach. "Nemiah Carson Hunt." I replied surprising him then he hugged me, he was all I had and my deeds had brought this on us.

"Any changes doctor?" I could hear my father worriedly asking the pack doctor, I wanted to tell him I was alright but my mind was foggy, everything was dark and I just wanted to slip back into blissful darkness. "No alpha, like I told you before, he's physically fine, whats wrong is his mental state, he broke down due to exertion and a trigger from before, this time it hit harder and stronger, its all up to his will now, to wake up." The doctor replied and what I assumed was going out the private room had the door closing with a click. "Come back Renallo, you're stronger than this, come back." My father begged as he held my hand tightly, and I squeezed back to let him know I could hear him but I was just so

A few hours earlier.

"Did he do it, it can't be." The whispers reached me as I walked slowly toward the pack house where I had to make sure everyone was okay, it seemed they were, something else had their attention and the lack of tact when it came to looking at me with disgust wasn't something I couldn't unsee, I was definitely the source of the rumors. Surprisingly they all scramble away when I try to come near them and ask, as if they were afraid of me, shoving it aside I made my way to the office I used at the pack house, my father and the head warrior were already there along with my brother and the alpha Dante. "Good you're here." My father says gravely, he was trying to ease his way into an impossible conversation. "Good morning alpha Renallo, I came here to make Jonathan's move to my pack official and ask for your blessing, your father has gone through the terms and is in agreement but you must be informed and sign the papers aswell so that we can be clear and transparent." The alpha stated in a business like tone, he sounded like Saint's mate, they were twins after all, identical down to their cocks. I wasn't surprised with Johnny wanting to leave, he had never been truly part of the pack, it wasn't his home, maybe where he was going, this pack would be his home just like Saint, thinking about it struck a pain in my chest, I hated what I did, regret it on most days.

"Is there anything I say that will stop him." I sarcastically retort but neither of them laugh, my father offers the papers and I sign them over, it wasn't as if I selling off Jonathan but the Dante's were like that, everything needed transparency, so that if any complication arose they had proof not the hearsay of a handshake. After I sign over the documents I hand them over to Alpha Dante. "Thank you gentleman, Romia get packed, the jet leaves in two hours, I gave you all the time I could, to say goodbye, don't be late you know how Saint hates being late, I won't have my balls busted and unable to walk because of you." The wolf addressed Jonathan with a nickname I didn't know, he gave his orders gently but you were compelled to listen though, he was vastly different from how I was or my father was as alpha, it made me think about a lot, with a gentle nod he leaves me to face the wolves in the room.

"We cannot allow you to stay as alpha any longer, until you've served your sentence and with help from the goddess maybe you could be redeemed." The head warrior asserts with arms folded at his chest, though he was shorter than me with smooth melanin dark brown skin and carved facial features that put men his age to shame he seemed stronger and far more dangerous than I was in that moment. "What are you talking about?" I demand and Jonathan hands me his phone, on it Leeland is being tortured, watching the whole video made me sick, how could they taint him like that, defile him to such an extent, but then Saint pops up in my head, was this what they did to him, anger then guilt crash into me, I was the cause, as Leeland confesses everything tears burn my eyes, and I was too shaken to stand still. "No!" I yell running out of the office, as I get outside I decide to run to the only place I can find peace, so I shift and run, run for escape as my mind replays everything, I don't know how long I ran until I found myself by the cliff on the edge of the water, there I flop down and cry, this was all my fault, as I retreat back into my own mind the world turns dark and everything seems to crumble deep inside me.

Time passes as I sit there, and just contemplate my life, shifting I look to the ocean, wasn't death the end of it all, all my friends were gone, they were all dead, wasn't there peace in death, maybe I could be with Saint again, the boy who died in the ocean, the one I neglected, and led to death, beg him for forgiveness. "That's not very wise." Jonathan calls out as he walks toward me, only he could find me here, he would know me best but never know me at all, it was weird saying it but it was true. "Saint told me to give you this, and I couldn't leave without saying goodbye." He states sadly and I turn to face him, he offers the letter and a small dagger sheathed in a leather case. "You and I never got along did we." He mumbles in a joking manner but it was true, we truly never did because I couldn't look past my envy. "That's because you were the better child, and I made choices that have led my life here." I explain and he nods looking at the raging water instead of me.

"I don't have intricately planned words, I just have a small goodbye and an I will see you later, I know they will do to you things that may hurt and break you, but I need you to realize that you were never a monster, you just followed the wrong path, and the road to redemption is a road more traveled than you think, killing yourself won't fix anything, it will only hurt those you've left behind more than you've hurt them already, so I would say think about it, and the next time I see you, you'll be a different man, for your pack, and for your family, I truly wish we were bonded more but its too late for that, just know you have my love." Jonathan exclaims as he places a kiss on my forehead. "Goodbye Renallo, next time I see you, you better have grown bigger." He adds with tears streaming down both our cheeks, I pull him in for a hug and we both cry our eyes out but I knew I had to let go, he had to find his happily ever after, he had to go home. "You have my love too little brother." I reply as he smiles one last time and walks away, past my view.Opening the letter from Saint, there are only a few words but they hurt more than anything.

Cowards off themselves, and if you're a coward here's a blade to do it, I may have forgiven you but the sight of you hurts and that's why I would like to never return to the bay, hopefully one day you'll forgive yourself and that those you hurt will forgive you. The path to redemption is not easy but such is life, its not easy and we never get the easy way out, so for once do something that will leave your legacy in a better light, its all we can do.

goodbye Reno,

Saint Dante.

I wipe away the tears after reading the letter, no matter how he changed or how much he changed, he's still caring and beautiful, just like his soul, I realize his words were true, and I make my way home, I had to talk to my mate, I had to find a way to fix this but what I find are bags by the door, he was leaving, so I rush to the door shift and open the doors to find my mother holding Carson, quickly I wear pants and come back to find Carson taking his last bag. "Please, don't go." I beg and he chuckles. "I don't want to go, I need to go, I'm in no position to judge you but what you did was horrible and I need time to accept that, you're the man I loved, the same man who could do that." He explains wiping away tears harshly, trying to hug him he flinches away which hurts me more, I was truly losing everything. "I'm the same man you loved, I made mistakes, I regret them each day, and I could never bring myself to burden you with it, please Carson, you're all I have." I plead falling to my knees and he slowly kneels infront of me. "I'm not leaving for good, I'm just going home to think everything over, I need peace for myself and for the baby." He replies and my heart sinks, he was taking our baby with him.

"I won't keep them away from you, I'm not that cruel, I will come back Renallo, just not now, I gotta go." He says with a finality I can't argue against, I pull him in for one last kiss, one last plea, as we part he whispers. "I will always love you." Then moves away from me, the door closes with a slight click, he was gone. "Ah!" I wail in pain as I was losing everything and it felt as if sharp blades of glass were being plunged into me. "It will be okay my boy, it will be okay." My mother comforts me as I cling to her, I was losing everything because of my deeds. "Renallo its time." My father announces as he walks through the door to my home, his eyes were teary and I could smell the sadness rolling off him, my mother comforts me as I stand, the world was dark now, grey and lifeless, of what little I had.

I walked outside where the elders of the pack, a few witnesses were gathered, this was it. "Renallo Hunt by my power as alpha you're hereby stripped of your title, you will not be executed but the pack will witness your walk to redemption." My father states as the wolves gather around, he takes the blade offered by an elder and slices open my palm. "I love you son." He mumbles as I begin to walk, each wolf I pass turns their back to me, from pups to elders, I was being , a fate worse than death, I had to survive, I had to, I reassured myself as I felt the change, I maybe part of the pack but I wasn't truly one of them anymore, and walking into the woods I felt my connection to them break causing me to fall down to the dirt, just as everything became fuzzy and I lost consciousness.

The Present.

"He will live alpha Hunt but his mind is broken and it will take time to fully be whole and himself again, you can only pray to the goddess that she looks on him with mercy." The doctor finally explained, as I opened my eyes to a new day to become whole.

+++

Death is an escape, for Renallo Hunt I wanted him to break, to be truly bare without any of the things he clung to, a punishment worse than death where you can only beg for it in the darkest of times.

LMJ