Watching Max struggle to find his words wasn't easy. I had initially thought that seeing him squirm would give me some form of satisfaction at his suffering. Instead I was filled with apathy, and anger at their prejudice that had led to all this.

At least I could tell that he was making a genuine effort to try and explain his reasoning and that of the pack.

No matter how twisted it may be.

"Everything I can come up with all just sound like excuses." Max started after a long moment of silence. "The pack had always been harrowed by rogues in the past and had very little experience with nomadic wolves."

A huff escaped my throat, making Max look up so I shrugged. "I know. After everything that happened, I came across a few Nomads. Second I mentioned your pack, they told me that any decent Nomad avoids it like the plague, because you lot don't discriminate between Rogue or Nomad."

He paled but accepted the brutal reality that other people already knew just how twisted his pack was. Hell, the stories I heard hadn't been pretty and I myself was an excellent example of what happened if you set one toe in their pack without being a member.

"After the Luna found out the truth about... you know, the pack fell apart." Max swallowed thickly, shaking his head. "We've all proven that we didn't want to listen to the born Alpha, just because she was female. She had been right all along, and the pack had turned their backs on her."

I nodded, feeling at least some sympathy for the Luna. She had been completely innocent in all this and, from what I had found out later, had even tried to find out what happened to me.

She had always been the calmer, more calculative one in the Alpha Pair. Wanted to get all her ducks in a row before she acted, to learn all the facts before she lashed out for ungrounded reasons.

It was probably one of the reasons why I had such a good bond with her. She had been one of the few who had treated me like Kyle, and not a former rogue.

Not that she'd be able to find a single trace of me near the pack after I was cast out. No, the second I had enough strength flowing through my body, I had slowly drug myself away from their territory.

Just to make sure that nobody was going to pop out to finish the job. Maybe if I had lingered, the Luna would've found me, would've heard the truth from my own mouth.

Then again, nothing would've changed. There was no way I would return to a pack that had brutalized me to the point where I nearly died. There was no love lost between me and Max' pack.

Even now, I wouldn't willingly set a single toe within their territory. Not that it meant anything, seeing how the pack split apart after the truth was revealed, but still.

There were no bonds left between us, between myself and any of the pack. Eviscerated from their side with brutal efficiency and now they learned it was completely unfounded.

"Past Alphas had major issues with the local rogues, to the point where there had been several attempts on past Luna's lives." Max explained slowly, shoulders hunched as he fidgeted with his fingers.

I nodded, being told as much by the Luna herself. "It's one of the reasons why your Alpha was so vicious towards Rogues." I stated, recalling the harrowing stories of the past leaders.

Of Rogues who had tried to kidnap the Luna, or the Alpha pairs' offspring. Not for ransom or to use as a bargaining chip, no. Simply so they could defile and slay the rulers of the pack with a vindication that had lasted generations.

"Even know, we still don't know what drove those rogues to keep attacking the pack." Max sighed and I copied him, catching his attention as his eyes widened. "You- You found something, didn't you?"

I nodded, grimacing as I shivered in disgust. "At the pack's creation, the Alpha male had needed a strong female by his side in order to produce strong pups. He encountered a couple of rogues with their litter, all Alpha pups."

Max's complexion paled as I continued, "He slew the male and his offspring and forcefully mated the female. Bound her to him with a mating bond and made her his Luna. Thing is, she had older pups that headed out on their own years ago."

I didn't need to continue any further, as Max understood what I hinted at. An ancient blood feud between the first Luna's descendants and the descendants of the Alpha's forced mating.

For as long as that pack existed, they would be attacked and targeted by the First Luna's descendants, who hadn't forgotten the monstrosity that existed in their pack.

It wasn't just the one atrocious act that Alpha commenced. There were many, many separate issues, not to mention a ferocious retaliation to any rogue that came close to his boundaries.

It had fostered nothing but hatred among the rogues and that particular pack.

Sadly enough, I had fallen victim from that. An innocent wolf, former Nomad, yet treated like I was a bloodthirsty rogue.

"It's still no excuse what they, no, I have to done you." Max stated, growling lowly as he pulled at his hair. "I cast everything aside, ignored who I knew you to be and judged you based on nothing but lies."

He stood up, started pacing through the room as he grew more agitated. "Each day we've spent together, you've proven time and time again that you are nothing but a kindhearted soul."

"You never lashed out to anyone in the pack who side-eyed you. Never had a bad word to say about Gavin, even when he badmouthed you and kept questioning our mating."

His eyes flashed as he shook his head angrily. Animalistically. Confirming what Drake and I had already been dreading.

"Don't." I uttered, making Max stall mid motion. "Don't do this to yourself, or him. Without Max, there won't be any consciousness from yourself either."

Max or rather his wolf, turned slowly. Eyes a disturbing blend of Max's own eye color and the deep amber of his wolf.

"He deserves it." The wolf sneered, snorting as it turned. "He cast you out, you; our mate! Turned you into a martyr for the actions of a pack of rogues."

Drake stayed true to his word, not intervening even though his eyes stayed upon Max with intent and focus. Observing the wolf that had started the Smothering process.

I sighed, understanding where the wolf was coming from. "Even if you somehow manage to retain your sanity after you Smother Max, you won't gain anything from it."

Motioning between myself and Max as the wolf tilted their head, I explained. "Rejection is No amount of regret, begging or smothering will reforge the bond between former mates."

"Nothing you can say or do will alter the fact that there is no bond left between us. Either human or wolf." My statement was harsh but the beast needed to hear it. Needed to understand that the Smothering was useless to begin with, as it would gain nothing but death.

The second Max died, it would go rogue, losing all sense of humanity or empathy. What remained was an agonized beast that would attack anyone and anything that so much as breathed wrong in their vicinity.

"But- What we had-"

"What we had was good, for as long as it lasted. We had a fated mating but it wasn't meant to be." I sighed, watching the forlorn expression draw over Max's face. "I can't feel you, nor can I feel Max. And the same can be said the other way, I imagine?"

Silence filled the room as the wolf's eyes flitted back and forth. A mixture of sadness, agony, denial and despair warred behind his eyes. Trying to process and deny the facts presented to them.

"And before you can accuse Drake of breaking the bond through mating," I started, knowing it would be the wolf's last attempt at denying facts, "Our bond broke the same day I was rejected and cast out. Ever since I was banished, we had no contact physically or mentally. Not because we didn't want to, but because we "

It was like the wolf's control over Max snapped with those words. Amber eyes filled with tears before Max dropped on the floor, bawling his eyes out.

Letting the rejection hit him with all its power.

Drake sighed, pushing up from the couch to stand by my side. A hint of relief in his gaze as he smiled kindly at me before shaking his head at the pitiful whimpering mess that was Max.

"We'll take him into observation to make sure his wolf has released the Smothering." Drake murmured softly after a moment of silence, followed by footsteps approaching the room.

After a gentle knock on the door, a few nurses walked in and kindly coaxed Max up and out the window. I sighed, shaking my head at the sight. Hands rubbing over my arms because there could've been a chance that that could've been me.

My own wolf could've easily blamed me for the rejection and smothered me in return. And there wasn't anything I could've possibly done about it either.

Luckily it didn't come to that. In fact, my own wolf had been a harbor during the rough time, sheltering me from the storm as best as it could.

Our bond had strengthened to the point where our consciousness had blended effortlessly. And I could sense the same within Drake before snorting, realizing that we really were a perfect fit.

He smiled, flopping down on the couch before pulling me down with him. I followed willingly, settling within his warm embrace with a soft, content sigh.

"Honestly, I didn't expect any different." I murmured after a moment of comfortable silence. Drake released a questioning hum, the sound rumbling through his chest as I shivered in response.

So I explained. "I've learned a lot after being attacked and cast out. Had already seen and experienced that pack's prejudice against Nomads and Rogues but never really knew the origins until I bumped into the descendants of the First Luna."

Drake's eyes widened, arms tensing in realization that I could've possibly fallen victim to a bunch of rogues. I was quick to reassure him though; "They were surprisingly kind and gentle. Helping me through the first winter though they had no means to help me with my injuries."

I chuckled, though the sound was more sad, void of any humor. "I guess I got to thank the pack for injuring me to such an extent. I still smelt like the pack but my injuries and their scent upon me showed I had been exiled and maimed brutally. It only spurred the rogues to aid me and deepened their hatred for that pack."

"I'm glad they aided you and I can partially understand their deep-seated hatred. But attacking innocents never is the answer." Drake sighed, to which I nodded in agreement.

Attacking small children who never had been the cause of any suffering, victims of their own bloodlines, was never the answer. It was twisted, wrong and horrible to do.

The only thing that awaited the pack and the rogues if they couldn't let go of their mutual hatred, was mutually assured destruction of all parties involved.

All because of the actions of a single madman who died long ago.