The Shadow Alpha
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

I'd imagined this so many times before, but nothing could have prepared me for the shock that ran through me as he spoke the words.

I wasn't sure what he was apologising for, but my heart panged hearing the words from his lips.

“I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I know I hurt you more than anyone else, but for what it's worth; I am sorry. Not a day goes by that I don't wish that I could take back the hurt that I caused you and I hate myself for it.” It was like I could feel his emotions, the honesty that he spoke with made tears prick the back of my eyes and I fought to hold them back.

Not knowing what to say to him, I simply smiled.

“I forgive you.”

It was all I could say, but judging by the look on his face he was not expecting those words from my mouth.

"What?" he asked incredulously, which made me smile and nod. He probably expected me to lash out at him.

“I haven't forgotten what you did and it'll never be okay in my eyes, but I have forgiven you, because I deserve to not be a victim of that pain any longer.” His eyes fell to the ground and he nodded solemnly.

In a way it was never about forgiving him, it was more about forgiving me for allowing myself to be treated in that way without standing up for myself for all those years.

“No, you don't.” He lifted his head and sent me a smile, which for some reason felt like a weight off my chest so I returned his smile.

I frowned as I surveyed the room, “Where did Hunter go?” Devin shrugged looking surprised that he wasn't there either.

“Damned idiot left me to tell him the worst part alone.” I mumbled to myself with a scowl on my face, already cooking up a revenge scheme against him.

“Hunter you idiot! Get back in here, Devin is gonna freak and you need to calm him down!" I mind linked the little traitor, seconds later Hunter came strolling through the door with a smirk on his face causing my glare to harden.

The air became tense the moment Hunter sat down and his face turned serious, “Devin, what we're about to tell you is going to make you angry and a whole lot of other things, but we need you to trust us and let us finish, Okay?" Devin frowned deeply at us, but nodded hesitantly.

“Tatiana was not a regular rogue prisoner. She unlike the rest was not kidnapped and forced into becoming a rogue.” Devin's suspicious look morphed into one of confusion, I could practically hear the gears turning in his head.

“She was handed over to them.” His eyes widened.

"She met her mate when she was eighteen years old, when he came to her pack for a meeting with the Alpha since he was one himself. Soon after they met she fell pregnant and so he stayed with her at her pack until it was almost time for the pup to be born, that was when he asked for them to go back to his pack for the birth of his son and she agreed. However, instead of taking her back to his pack he took her to a run-down motel and kept her there until their child was born; afterwards he took their child away and handed her over to the rogues to kill her and dispose of her body, but the rogue leader took a liking to her and offered her a deal that would allow her to live if she obeyed him. Tatiana’s mate found another female to take back to the pack as his mate and mother of his child.” His eyebrows were furrowed deeply.

“That's awful, what kind of a mate would do such a thing.” He sneered in disgust, “And he’s working with the rogues, that goes against everything an alpha is.” His jaw was set in anger. “What pack is he from? We have to do something.” He stood up and began pacing.

I looked at Hunter for help. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't find it in me to say it out loud to him. Hunter seemed to understand the look, because the next thing I knew he was saying the words I failed to say aloud.

“The Full Moon pack.”

Devin's eyes flew to Hunter; he didn't seem to comprehend his best friend's words for a few seconds.

“Excuse me?” I saw anger building in his eyes.

“Devin, you're Tatiana’s son. Your father was her mate.” I placed a hand on his arm, but instead of comforting him, he shrugged it off.

Devin's eyes searched our faces for signs that we were lying, his face paling when he saw none. No..." his voice trailed off. “No! He is capable of many horrible things, but this?" he said in a steadier voice, but I could hear the weakness behind his protest, no matter how much he denied it; he was struggling to believe himself.

I placed a hand on his shoulder which caused him to flinch, I hastily withdrew my hand feeling hurt that he reacted that way a second time, but before I pulled it all the way back he grabbed my hand and squeezed it.

“I know this is a lot to take in already, but there's more.” I wanted so badly to just gather him in my arms and shield him from the hurt and pain that was evident on his face, but he needed the full truth before it all set in.

He sucked in a deep shaky breath before looking at me to continue, “One of my abilities is being able to sense a person's aura, basically it helps me to understand the type of person someone is, whether they are honest and loyal or dishonest with ulterior motives.

“In the meeting a few days ago I looked at Justin's aura and noticed that it was not the normal colour blue, instead it was a strange emerald colour. That only meant that his intentions were not anything close to pure, but that he wasn't completely overwhelmed by evil

“I have only ever seen a few rogues with red auras, most of them were green meaning that they did have some humanity left in them. I watched his behaviour and how he absorbed every last detail of our plan, that's when I knew that he was an informant; he was working with the rogues, so I placed a mental wall around his thoughts and got Dristan to watch over him and monitor his contact with others.

“Devin, I know that you're not a big fan of Oliver, but I can confirm that he doesn't pose a threat to anyone, the only reason he attacked Justin was to stop him from getting to the rogues with our information. He found out that Justin was an informant when he was in the rogue camp.” His blank face fell when he let out a deep sigh.

"At this point in time Allison, you could tell me you were a man and I'd believe you.” Hunter let out a light chuckle, but I was far too concerned to find it funny.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly earning a scoff, he shook off the hand I had rested on his wrist and stood up.

"NO! I'm NOT okay! You basically just told me that my entire existence is a lie, the woman I called my mother for my entire life is a fake, and my father is the reason all of this shit has been happening, then to top it off you tell me that one of my best friends is a traitor!” he yelled angrily, my wolf whimpered seeing him in pain. I reached out to comfort him when he pushed me away roughly.

"Stay away! For all I know you're another fraud!” all traces of sadness for my mate vanished.

If there was one thing my wolf and I both hated; it was being disrespected.

Devin turned abruptly and stormed out of the office, my anger only doubled at the way he brushed us off, prompting me to follow him outside to the front of the pack house.

I caught hold of his wrist and spun him around, “Don't walk away from me!” I muttered angrily. “I am telling you the truth, so do NOT dare accuse me of lying!” he sneered at me and ripped his arm from my hold.

“You're crazy.” He said in a distasteful tone.

That one simple statement did it for me; I felt my wolf surface and a feral growl ripped through my chest.

“I'll show you just how crazy!” I said dangerously before throwing a punch to his gut, he flew backwards and his back hit the ground before something in him snapped as well. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Devin shifted into his huge brown wolf the moment he was on his feet and leapt towards me.

His first mistake was leaving his body vulnerable to my tiny state.

I threw myself on the ground and skidded under him using my legs to throw him off me, what I didn't count on was how close his paws already were to me as his claws dug into my skin, leaving marks across my arms and stomach.

The sudden pain distracted me for a moment giving him time to get back up and face me; both of us had blood dripping from our injuries. We circled around each other both searching for a weakness, me still in human form.

The moment my feet left the ground to surge towards him, I felt arms wrap around my waist and I was jerked back.

I watched angrily as three large wolves held Devin back and I thrashed wildly in my captors arms. I fought hard to get free, to finish what I started, when suddenly my back was smashed against a tree trunk.

I could vaguely feel the bark digging into my already torn skin, but the adrenalin flowing through my veins dulled the pain.

My eyes focused on Oliver's green ones urging me to relax and felt the air around me growing cooler as my breathing slowed and reason returned to my mind.

I distantly noticed the crowd that had gathered before a loud growl sounded and Oliver was ripped off me.

"MINE!" Devin growled loudly and pulled me flush into his half naked body.

His eyes were pitch black, but unlike before it wasn't directed at me, instead it was directed at Oliver who was dusting off his jeans a few feet away.

The possessive Alpha Male in him was making an appearance and it irritated me that I found it attractive

As if hearing my thoughts he crashed his lips onto mine in a fierce kiss, which I returned just as heatedly, pouring my anger into my actions.

When we broke from the kiss he didn't spare anyone a glance before gripping my arm and dragging me in the direction of the East border. When we reached the familiar stream he spun around to face me, I could still see the anger in his eyes, but my anger had somehow dulled by now as I stared at him with a blank look.

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