-:Alpha Curtis' PoV:-

We got the call from Crescent Moon not even a week after Lia left. Alpha Rivers seemed on the edge, reporting the latest rogue problems. They expected them there because of the legends of the Alpha Female. But, when he spoke of the rogues, he spoke with trepidation. Like he knew something big was wrong.

I did too.

Vincent Curtis.

Aka my elder brother. 

Technically, Vincent is the actual heir of the throne of Evergreen but because of his mental state, he was rejected by our father and our Pack members. True to his nature, he went ballistic and attempted to kill all three of us: mom, dad, and me.

We caught him too easily. We had predicted it. Our father had wanted to put him in prison but the people of power in the Pack wanted to have him executed. Dad might have been heartless enough to kill Alphas and take over several Pack lands, but he was still a father and in a moment of weakness, he let Vincent go.

There were conditions. One, Vincent was banned from ever showing his face in or near the Pack ever again or he would be killed on sight. Two, no one else could know that he had been spared or else dad would issue a bounty on his dead-head, ensuring his death.

One thing that no one else knew? Dad kept an eye on his movements throughout the years. After him, I did.

But how were we to explain his absence here in the pack? After all, he was supposed to be the heir, the next Alpha of America's most powerful pack. People would talk.

And so Vincent Curtis was declared dead to the world.

Back up plan: If Vincent even came forward with the truth, we would say that he was mentally unstable and the guard who was supposed to kill him lied and showed us a mangled body to fool us. We could choose a random guard and punish him. After all, it would be his word against ours.

Little did we know that the future would have to face the same monster with a different name. 

Vincent Morales.

Same face, same insanity. Some things never change. Some do drastically. Like the fact that that guy had evolved to be ultra-smart Wolf as it seemed. 

We didn't have to do anything. Many packs were after him because of the damages he caused and the attacks he led. Without any interference from Evergreen, Vincent became wanted somewhat in the last decade. I saw some of his pictures. He looked so different. Or maybe I remembered wrong. I was just four when he was kicked out, after all.

Rivers was tight-lipped about what he knew and I was frustrated. But I was sure it was Vincent, so I decided to take action.

Conveniently for me, my youngest son Julian was extremely close to Lia. They were thick as thieves. Also very convenient for me, he was very gullible to his loved ones. He cared too much. So I told him: how she was in danger and how she could use a friend and a protector. I could see he wanted to leave, so I gave him a little push.

Voila!

The boy left his mate behind and flew over to his best friend. To protect her and be there for her. I didn't tell him about Vincent being his uncle. What he didn't know couldn't kill him. Anyway, Vincent and I looked different enough for no one to be able to guess.

And so an oblivious, reliable informant was planted.

There was no way I was telling anyone about the truth of us being related. Vincent had kept his mouth shut so far and I wasn't planning on opening mine. 

********************************

A few days later, I found out that Cecelia had a mate and it was Ashton Summers. It was the biggest disappointment of my life.

I had always hoped that one of my sons would charm that girl. But no, they were useless. They saw her like their own pretty little sister. I had more hopes from Julian than I did from Jace regarding this, I'll admit. Julian had always been closer to her.

I even hoped one of them would reject their mate for her. It would not have been too complicated since she had not found her mate and she loved them both as well.  I even planted the idea in the heads of the pack members. My mate did not approve and hence she took a mild disliking to Lia.

When I saw that that plan was failing, I did everything I could to keep Lia in the pack for as long as possible. I bribed her with new training programs and everything. Indirectly, of course. 

That didn't work for long, either.

Now, why would I want Cecelia to stay in Evergreen?

Rather simple, actually. Because of the legend of the Alpha Female. 

Why would I invest so much in the legend? 

Exactly why Vincent would. Our great-grandmother was an Alpha Female. 

No, she was not killed by the hunters. That is what the Were-world thought. That she was kidnapped and then killed by the hunters.

Reality? Great-great grandfather had rescued her from a bunch of hunters who had kidnaped her in the name of the legend as we found out later. She had been quite abused so he took pity on her. A few years later, she turned out to be the mate of his son.

When she was crowned Luna, the pack blossomed faster than ever. We just thought she was lucky for us. I didn't know when exactly she revealed that she had Alpha Blood. But whenever she did, the Legends were confirmed to be true. The prosperity that started then has stuck in the pack for over two centuries, ever-growing.

Only our family knew this. Not even the Pack was aware. 

We had a lot of skeletons in our closet. 

With power comes corruption. 

*******************************

Everything was unraveling. After Vincent's death, his girlfriend babbled the truth to the Rivers. The Rivers told Lia. Lia confronted a very recently warned Julian and they had a huge fight. They didn't talk for a few months. 

Jace and Julian were incredibly disappointed in me. The news about me knowing about everything leaked out somehow (I think it was the girlfriend) and now neither my officials nor my pack trusted me. Julian wasn't speaking to me because he blamed me for the fight between him and Lia. Liana was with him and so was my own mate.

The pack was being viewed distrustfully. Many were questioning our liability and system. They accused us of biased treatment and unfair ruling. They were demanding that I step down.

Our company was in loss and everything was going south. Everyone hated me. I lost hope, so I gave them what they wanted. I passed the reigns to Jason. I stepped down as Alpha, just like they wanted. I brought myself a cottage in the woods on the pack lands that was away from the rest of the pack in general and started living there.

The only silver lining in my situation was that I was a grandfather to three pups. Diana and Liana took pity on me and would bring the pups to meet me once or twice a week. They brought guards with them but I didn't mind. I already had a few watching my every move anyways. I had become used to my house arrest. I knew deep down that I deserved it.

I learned it then. No secret can be kept forever. And even if you manage to keep it for a long time, you can still not prevent it from getting out. It's the law of nature. It's bound to happen.

And trust me, you do not want your dirty laundry to be aired to the world.

***********************

A/N:-

Hey

I hope the book makes more sense now that this chapter is out. This is the key to the plot, don't you agree?

If you still have any questions, don't hesitate to ask! I'll try to answer as much as I can.

Please don't forget to vote.

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.

(25.8.21)