Page 78 of The Alpha's Fated Bond

“I want to know something, Drew.”

He looks at me warily. “What’s that?”

“Alpha Black said that Katie got lost in her morals. That you had to kill her because of it.” I see Drew’s body turn stiff, his handtightening on the knife he’s holding. “What did he mean by that? When Alpha Block told you—”

“Don’t call him Alpha Black,” Drew hisses. “He was never a good Alpha. He doesn’t deserve that title. Call him Robert.”

“Fine. When Robert told you to kill Katie, why didn’t you just take your family and run? Why were you so loyal to him?”

“It wasn’t about loyalty!” Drew says tightly, anger and pain in his voice. “Katie found out—She wasn’t from our pack, Sophia. She was from another pack in the South Alliance. She didn’t know how things worked with Robert. She found out you were being isolated in Oakrest, but she didn’t understand why. I tried to conceal the truth from her, but she found out what was going on, and she was against it. She wanted to help you escape. She didn’t think it was right for the Alpha of a pack to groom a child to be his broodmare.”

His shoulders slump, and he gazes into the fire, a lost look in his eyes. “I told Katie to stay out of it. I knew Robert would not react well to her interference. I told her to think about our family.”

Drew lets out a shuddering breath. “One of the reasons I fell in love with her was that strong spirit of hers. I used to imagine, if she had been alive when you and I met, that she would have taken you under her wing. She was like that: nurturing, protective. Of course, because of her nature, she didn’t listen to me.”

Bitter laughter spills from his lips as he wipes his eyes and begins skinning the rabbit even more aggressively. “She tried to rally some of the pack, to convince them how wrong it was, what Robert was doing to you, but it backfired. Robert sent his orders. My entire family was condemned to death.”

His hands are shaking. “There was no escape, Sophia. We couldn’t leave without being hunted down. If I had taken Katie and Tim and fled, not only would we have been caught, but the punishment and torture inflicted on my family would have been inhumane. You never understood Robert. You never saw the side of him that I did. He craved power and control. He didn’t care about the pack. He didn’t care about anyone. He killed his own mate when he found your mother because he wanted the power of the Silver Wolf.”

My body jerks at Drew’s words, but he’s not done. “One thing Robert absolutely despised was not being obeyed. He would have given my Katie to the pack security to use and violate. My son wouldn’t have been spared, either. You were shielded from the harsh realities of our pack, Sophia, being hidden away in Oakrest.”

Drew picks up a stick and pierces the skinned rabbit with it before setting it down near the fire. He turns his attention to the other rabbit and begins the process of skinning it.

His voice is hollow. “I begged for Tim’s life. I knew Robert would not let Katie live, so I begged him to show mercy to my son. In exchange, I would swear complete loyalty to Robert. He allowed it, but his condition was that Katie had to suffer. I had to torture the woman I loved, the mother of my child, before I killed her. I brought her into the forest and told her everything. I told her the truth. She begged me to—”

His voice breaks, and the rabbit and knife slip from his grasp as he buries his face in his hands.

“She begged me to wait until our daughter was born,” Drew sobs. “She begged me to give the baby to her parents to raise. She justwanted the time for that to happen. She said Robert would never know. But we were not alone in those woods. Robert had sent other members of the security team to make sure I carried out his orders. I had to kill Katie. She begged me not to, but I had to. She understood why. She knew I was trying to save our son. But she—”

He stares down at his hands, his voice hoarse. “I see her in my dreams every night. Every night, she comes to me in nightmares, and I see the light go out of her eyes all over again. I hear her voice screaming in my ear, begging me not to kill our daughter. I didn’t deserve Tim. I should’ve given him to her parents a long time ago. But I was desperate to hold on to him. I was desperate to hold on to some piece of my family.”

It’s hard to maintain my composure when I see Drew breaking down before me. His mate tried to help me. Another death because of me.

Drew lost everything because of me.

I know it’s not right to blame myself, but this feeling of helplessness is painful. Not once has Drew lashed out at me. He could say a lot of things, and they would all be true. All of this happened to him because of my existence. If Katie had turned a blind eye to my situation like everybody else, she would be alive right now.

“Drew,” I murmur, unable to help myself and needing to absolve myself of this misplaced guilt. “I’m sorry.”

He wipes his eyes roughly and gives me a tired smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about, Sophia. You were just a child, trying to survive in the world that had been against you since the moment you were born. No, all of this was the price of my own sins aspart of the security team. How could I expect to live a happy life when I was responsible for the destruction of so many families? My hands are stained with blood, Sophia. I can’t even count the number of people I’ve killed. Even if I was just following orders, I still ended lives and shattered families. Why shouldn’t I have suffered like they did? No, what happened to me was not your fault. It was punishment by the Goddess.”

He straightens up and skewers the second rabbit, placing it on the fire. His voice is a bit steadier now. “When I first moved into your building, I was told to keep an eye on you. I did blame you at the time. I blamed the entire world. But you were so kind. I was at my lowest; I couldn’t even take care of myself, let alone Tim. And there you were, always trying to help us, looking after us. At some point, I realized the only person to blame was myself.”

He turns the skewer before looking at me. “You were a friend to me when I was lost in my grief, Sophia. Both Tim and I began to depend on you. Our family was fractured, and in a way, you became the glue that held us together. I soon saw that I was now in a position to protect you. I knew all of Robert’s plans. After what I’d done, he never doubted my loyalty. Instead, he trusted me even more. That’s why, when I heard about your fated mate, I pushed you toward him. I wanted you to be happy. I wanted you to be safe, and more importantly, I wanted you as far away from Robert as possible.”

It now makes sense why Drew was so adamant that I forgive Alex and be with him.

I have more questions, but they’re just going to hurt Drew ,and I think he’s been hurt enough. So, I decide to change the topic.

“I still don’t understand why you are here, Drew,” I say slowly.

He looks up at me, his voice hollow. “I’m trying to right another wrong that was done to you. I’m trying to find your mother.”

Chapter 17

Sophia

I look at Drew in complete shock. “My mother? Do you know where she is?”

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