Page 29 of Rejected By Wolves

My mother did not willingly let the Alpha take me away. She fought, and when that failed, she prayed. She never gave up home, and she didn’t lose her heart.

“I knew I’d see you again, someday. I didn’t think it would be under these circumstances.”

“What circumstances?” I ask.

“The Alpha stopped carrying out the ritual. He said it’s because it does nothing. That the monsters aren’t real.”

“The monsters were real,” I tell her. “They are gone now. Only the rejected remain in The Abyss.”

She blinks at me. “The monsters … You …”

She steadies herself against the door. “What were the monsters?”

That is a good question, because it is something the Alpha was vague about for a reason.

“They were spirits of shifters imprisoned in The Abyss. They were half-mad when they were sent there. They didn’t use the forest to hunt at night, as far as I can tell, and they didn’t start to show themselves to us until we got older. We were able to fight them off. The last time we saw one was several years ago now.”

“Oh, my Goddess.” She moves over to the table and turns a chair around to face me before she sits down on it. “So, the monsters …” She shakes her head, unable to finish.

“The Alpha created them,” I confirm. “Or his line did, at least. His father, maybe his father’s father. It may have been unintentional at the time but if it was then lies were fabricated to cover up the fact that they were the ones who created the monsters.”

“Maybe he knows they no longer exist,” she mutters, frowning.

“It is also possible he did not believe the monsters ever existed,” I admit. “His line used The Abyss to exile shifters. If that is all he knows, then he would not be afraid of a story that he was likely told was meant to keep the pack in line.”

“Goddess, that is horrifying,” she murmurs.

“More horrifying than actual monsters coming out of The Abyss?” I ask.

“Infinitely,” she says. “Why are we here, if not to safeguard the rest of the world from The Abyss? If there is nothing to protect others from, then we have no reason not to allow the pack to connect to the rest of the world like everyone else on the planet gets to.”

She sounds mad by the time she is done, and I do not blame her.

We both have reason to despise the Alpha.

The whole pack, if they knew, would not be happy with him, either.

“This pack only works because it is shut off from the rest of the world,” I remind her. “If the shifters here were allowed their freedom from this place, do you think they would stay?”

“Considering the rules here are so rigid, I believe most of the pack would want to leave.”

“Would you?” I ask.

“A long time ago, yes,” she tells me. “If I could have gotten away with you, I would have left.”

“I know,” I tell her. It was a dream I had for a long time when I was exiled.

We escaped and lived happily together somewhere else.

For years, that was the beacon of hope I’d held onto.

“My dear, sweet Sol,” she murmurs. “You were always so bright. I knew you would outshine us all one day. You’re here to challenge the Alpha, aren’t you?”

“I cannot let him continue as he has been.”

She nods, though her eyes are filling with tears.

“I didn’t think you still felt anything for him.”

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