Denied by Destiny: Trapped in the Shadows of the Mate Bond



- Knox ~

"What?" Josie turns to me, disbelief evident in her eyes. Whereas Kaia doesn't seem as shocked

as her daughter.

"You are certain?"

"Yes, I wouldn't forget the face that haunted my teenage years, the face that massacred an

entire pack." I seethe out through a tense jaw as I study the photograph again, a long sigh escaping me. Yes, there was no doubt in my mind.

"No, that can't be...can it, Mum?" Josie leans into me, her eyes scanning the photograph carefully.

"Kit, you have to have it wrong." She follows, as if I would get something like this wrong.

"Believe me Red, I wish I was wrong."

"Was he alone, did he do it alone?" Kaia presses, a sadness edged within her eyes.

She's not defending him, not even considering that I might have it wrong.

That I had made a mistake. No she knows what he was capable.

"I..." I close my eyes, casting back to the memory I have been desperately trying to forget for so

long.

The memory that I had been part of my game each night before sleeping...the memory that

was now becoming distant as Josie's face is now the last thing I mentally picture before sleeping. One by one, I rewatch their deaths like it was only yesterday, the screams that will forever echo in my ears as Beckett murdered my family before my very eyes.

Just trying to bring that haunting memory back after fighting against it is a betrayal to myself.noveldrama

I search it carefully, Kaia's father leading a pack of warriors onto the lands.

How the pack fought but there was just too many of them against a smaller pack.

"No, he wasn't alone, he had a pack with him." I confirm out, my own voice not sounding like me.

Kaia turns to Hector, her face paling before my very eyes.

"Why would he attack Knox's pack?"

"Information on the white wolf? Protecting your identity...remember what he did to his own

people." Hector growls out lowly, only for Josie to interrupt.

His eyes slamming shut when he realises the mistake he had just made.

"Why, what did he do to his own people?" Josie stands, her voice shaking as she demands the

truth from her parents. Both Hector and Kaia look at one another, before Kaia's eyes fall upon Alora.

"He killed the Clear Waters' pack members to prevent a mutiny when I was coming of age." Kaia exhales, her hands reaching out for Josie.

"You mean to tell me, Kit has no family, no pack...his childhood ruined because of him.." She points to the photograph, before her finger points at herself.

"Because of us?"

"There are things that we haven't shared with you..." Kaia tries to reason.

"No bullshit." Josie growls out, her fingers clenching into tiny balls by her side.

“Watch your language.” Hector warns her as his aura pushing out, turning the atmosphere oppressive.

I should fight it, let my aura roll off to fight his but I'm slowly slipping away from their argument and spiralling into my own thoughts.

My own memories.

I had spent almost two decades trying to find the truth, trying to find out what had happened.

Why we were attacked.

Going to great lengths to ensure my own identity was well hidden, in case the attackers came

back looking for me. Thinking it was a personal attack upon the alpha bloodline.

Rightly or wrongly, that traumatic experience as a child making me the man I am today.

It is the reason I set up the alpha training program...preparing alphas so they didn't lose their packs, didn't lose their loved ones and titles like I had.

But, in a twisted turn in fate, I wouldn't have met Jaxon and Jace, and I wouldn't have come back to

their pack...I wouldn't have met my Josie.

I block out their arguing, my mind continuing to implode in on itself.

My parents weren't particularly the political type, nor did they seek leverage over other packs.

They were content with what they had, didn't seek more, helped those in need. They were a peaceful pack.

My father's wolf was nothing like mine. Sure, he was an alpha but mine has become slightly deranged from years of having no pack and being alone.

My wolf is a fitting adversary to Jaxon's wolf because of the crimes against him.

The deep rooted anger that is now only starting to subside because of Josie.

"Josie." Kaia's voice breaks me out of my spiralling mind just as I hear the front door slam.

"She's going to the meadows..." Hector sighs out, his hand resting reassuringly on his mate's shoulder.

"I'm on it. Lobo come!" I place the picture down in the coffee table, patting the side of my thigh as I call Lobo to follow me.

"Knox..." Kaia pulls me at my elbow, stopping me from leaving.

"If what you say is true..."

"It's true.." She knows it is. If he was willing to kill his own, why wouldn't he kill others.

“Then I am deeply sorry for what you have suffered at the hands of my father.”