Page 4 of Unforgivable Fate

But he had been raised with a strict understanding that while Pack Alpha’s might take men to their beds, they were required to mate with a female in order to procreate and continue their lineage. In Griffin’s old pack, an openly gay Pack Alpha would have been seen as weak and when he had first met Leo DeLuca, he couldn’t help but wonder if that had been part of Maddox’s mad reasonings for doing what he did.

A door opened somewhere in the house and footsteps came down the hallway. Leo DeLuca paused as soon as he caught sight of Griffin sitting in his armchair and he visibly flinched. Griffin winced and lowered his gaze, hating that he was the reason for the tension that instantly filled the room. The first time he had met the Crescent Pack Alpha and his mate at the hotel outside of town, they’d both stared at him in horror for so long that he’d known all they could see when they looked at him was his brother. He hoped that with some time they’d come to recognize the differences between them more but it was still early days and he couldn’t blame either of them for recoiling at the very sight of him.

Griffin cleared his throat, “I’m sorry. If I could do something to look less like him…”

“No. No. It’s not…” Leo DeLuca started and then caught himself, shooting at glance at his mate who had moved to stand beside him. Whatever he saw in Darius Moreno’s eyes, he relaxed a little. He smiled a soft, apologetic smile, “It’s a shock at first, that’s all.”

“When I decided to come here, I didn’t think about there being a family resemblance.” He admitted. “I haven’t… hadn’t… seen him since I was a kid.”

Darius wrapped a protective arm around Leo as they moved into the room together, as one unit. They sat opposite Griffin on the couch. It was obvious they were both still tense in his presence but they were trying and he was grateful for that, even if he couldn’t help but notice the way the Alpha’s Mate put himself slightly forward and angled his body, protective of his mate in Griffin’s company.

“You mentioned that the last time we talked but I was too… surprised, to ask.” Leo smiled a little, as if surprised was the kindest word he could come up with at the moment. “How old were you when you last saw your brother?”

“Five. I was five years old and I had been sick so my mother took me to a healer in a nearby pack.” Griffin swallowed hard. “While we were away, Maddox attacked the rest of the family and killed them all as well as several leaders within the Pack including our father and uncle. My mother and I likely survived only because we were away.”

Darius frowned, “He was trying to take control of your old pack?”

“That’s the assumption but he was gone by the time my mother and I returned so it isn’t as though I ever had a chance to ask.”

“If he murdered everyone there for power, leaving once he had a clear path to becoming Pack Alpha seems strange.” Leo supplied.

“The only thing I’ve ever been able to work out about it, was that his coup didn’t go as planned.” Griffin sighed when they both stared at him, waiting for more of the story, “It was true that Maddox would’ve been the rightful heir after wiping out the rest of our family but he was still young himself then and I don’t think he had considered Tyrell or the support he would be able to gather quickly to his side.”

“Tyrell?” Leo raised an eyebrow.

“Our father’s bastard.” He winced at the words even as they left his mouth. “I never liked that word but, it’s the one my mother used when she told me about him. He was our half-brother but our father refused to claim him because his mother was only a Beta. She wasn’t his true mate. He left her and Tyrell when he met my mother but they refused to leave the pack no matter how badly they were treated by my father. When Maddox began his coup, he didn’t account for Tyrell or the way the remaining men would rally around him. I think he fled rather than be killed when he realized he was outnumbered.”

“That sounds plausible.” Darius hummed thoughtfully.

“Which also explains how he knew he’d need men on his side before attempting to undertake starting a coup here.” Leo shook his head sadly, “He had the numbers. He’d won them over with promises of power and who knows what else. He may have lost that first battle in your old pack but it taught him exactly what he needed to learn before attempting his plot again.”

“I am so sorry for everything he took from you.” Griffin spoke past the knot in his throat.

“It isn’t your place to apologize for him.” Leo shook his head resolutely.

“I’ve spent my entire life apologizing for him. I don’t know another way to live.” Griffin admitted.

Darius frowned, “You and your mother stayed with your pack after what Maddox did?”

“We did. For a long time we did. I grew up hearing the stories of what my older brother had done. Nobody let me forget that I had that same tainted blood running through my veins. Mom tried to protect me but Tyrell…”

“He took Maddox’s sins out on you?” Leo was scowling now but Griffin forced himself to nod.

“He’d always seen our family as the reason his own was broken. After Maddox… he had reason to hate us even more and we didn’t have anyone left to protect us. I was only a kid and Mom…” Griffin looked away, “She was never the same. We stayed there for a lot longer than we should have and then we ventured out on our own. We took up with packs here and there but, nowhere ever felt like home.”

“That must’ve been hard.” Leo spoke softly.

Griffin shrugged, “It was just… life. I grew up knowing the damage my older brother had done to our family, to our pack, and I’ve spent my life trying to give back, trying to do some good and make the world better, trying to balance it somehow.”

“You said before, that’s why you came here.” Darius waited until Griffin looked back at him, “You want to make things right?”

“I heard the rumors of what happened here and I knew what happened somehow before I ever heard his name mentioned, that Maddox was the one responsible. I felt like, after all the years I’d spent trying to make the world a better place, that this was where I needed to be, to clean up after him and somehow give something back to your pack, if you’ll let me.”

Darius shook his head, “It’s been a lot of years since I made Maddox pay for what he did to this pack. We’ve put it behind us and moved on. The Crescent Pack is stronger now than ever before and the damage Maddox did, is long since healed.”

Griffin swallowed at the reminder that the man sitting across from him had been the one to kill his brother. Darius had told him the story the first time they’d met. Griffin wasn’t sure if he’d simply wanted to be upfront and honest or if he’d been looking for a reaction, to see if his admission would rile Griffin into action, but the only reaction he’d gotten was a nod of understanding. Because if he had ever had the chance to see his brother again after the way he’d slaughtered their family and ruined Griffin’s life, he would have decapitated him himself.

“Look,” he said. “I know it’s been years for you but to me, it’s still fresh. I only just learned about what Maddox did here and that’s because of the network your pack is working to put into place. The alliance is growing and I want to be part of that because without it, I might never have known where my brother ended up or what had happened here. I understand if you don’t want me here, if the resemblance is too much or if there’s just too much history for you to trust me, but I can assure you that I am nothing like my brother.”

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