CHAPTER 86: 86 - TO SPEAK

86

~Belinda’s POV

"That was the moment," I said. "The second their father laid hands on me, the girl who tried to protect them, they snapped."

Lisa’s voice trembled. "What did they do?"

I turned from the window. "They shifted. All three of them. Right there in that room. Their wolves took over, and for once... they didn’t hold back."

She whispered, "They killed him..."

I nodded. "It wasn’t clean. It wasn’t quiet. But it was the only way they were ever going to be free."

Lisa looked down at her hands. "Why didn’t anyone say anything? Why didn’t they ever talk about it?"

"Would you?" I asked. "Would you walk around wearing the title of ’father-killer’? Even if it was justified?"

She was silent.

I walked back to her, kneeling slightly in front of her chair.

"They aren’t perfect," I said softly. "Far from it. They’ve done things they’re not proud of. But everything they are, the darkness, the coldness, it was built into them by that man."

Lisa looked at me. "But they shouldn’t have killed him, he was still their father."

I blinked at her.

My heart went quiet for a second. Then it started to beat harder in my chest, like something inside me just snapped awake.

"They shouldn’t have..." I repeated, staring at her.

Lisa shifted in her seat, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. "I mean... it’s not right, Belinda. He was still their father. There had to be another way."

A bitter laugh slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it.

"Of course you’d say that," I said.

Lisa’s brows drew together. "Bel..."

"No, Lisa. Don’t," I cut in. "You said that because I didn’t tell you everything. I gave you the soft version. Just enough for sympathy. But not enough to understand."

She looked uncomfortable now. "I’m just saying that murder..."

"He beat Rowan until he passed out. He was ten, Lisa," I said sharply.

Her head jerked up. "What?"

"He. Was. Ten," I repeated. "Do you want to hear the rest of it? Or are you going to keep pretending they were just angry sons who snapped one day?"

Lisa didn’t say anything. Just nodded slowly.

I took a shaky breath.

"One night, it was raining so hard. I remember because my mom made me stay over at the pack house. She and Luna Seraphina used to be best friends, you know? So she was close to the boys, especially after the Luna died."

I looked away, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill just from remembering.

"That night, I couldn’t sleep. I was in one of the guest rooms. I got up to pee and I passed by the hall that led to the boys’ rooms. That’s when I heard it."

Lisa leaned in, silent now.

"Thuds. Like something, someone, was being slammed against the wall. And crying," I said, my voice shaking as I stared at the floor like I was back in that hallway again. "Not the kind of cry you make when you scrape your knee. It was deep. Gut-wrenching. Like someone’s soul was breaking right there."

Lisa’s lips trembled. "Oh my God..."

I nodded slowly, blinking back the image in my head. "I walked closer. I was just a kid, but I knew something wasn’t right. The door wasn’t shut all the way, it was cracked open. So I peeked in."

My heart beat faster as I remembered it all. "And I saw him. Alpha Garrick. Shirtless. Drunk. His eyes were bloodshot, and his mouth twisted like a demon. He had Rowan in his hand. Just one hand, Lisa. Holding him up by the front of his shirt. Rowan’s feet weren’t even touching the ground. He was hanging like a doll. His face was turning red, then purple."

Lisa’s hand flew to her mouth.

"And Kael... Kael was on the floor. Curled up like a baby. He was coughing. Blood was on his lips, on the tiles... I remember it clearly because I stepped in it without knowing. He had a busted lip, and his ribs were probably broken. He wasn’t moving much."

"Oh my God..." she whispered again, eyes wide in horror.

I looked at her, my voice low but strong. "Damon was trying to stop it. He ran up behind their father and grabbed his arm. Kept yelling, ’Stop, stop, let him go!’ You know what Garrick did?"

She shook her head slowly.

"He threw Damon. Just tossed him across the room like he was nothing. He slammed into the wall so hard, I heard the crack. His head hit the corner of the wall. He passed out."

Lisa’s eyes were glassy now. "And all of that... because...?"

"Because Rowan spilled tea," I said flatly. "He dropped a cup of tea while they were serving him. That’s it. No backtalk. No disrespect. Just an accident. He was seven."

Her face twisted in disbelief. "Seven?"

"Yes," I whispered, the rage growing again. "That was what their life was like. Constant fear. Every wrong move meant pain. Their own father, Lisa. The man who should’ve protected them. He hurt them. He broke them."

"What?"

I nodded. "That’s it. He had brought a tray to his father’s study and his hand slipped. The tea soaked a file. Garrick lost it. I think he was already drunk, but still... that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered. Just the rage. He screamed, ’You useless bastard, just like your mother!’ and kept hitting him. I watched that man drag a ten-year-old like a bag of trash and slam him into a bookshelf."

Lisa was crying now. Tears spilling freely down her cheeks. I didn’t stop. She needed to hear it.

"I wanted to scream. To run and get someone. But my legs were frozen. I’d never seen something so... evil. That’s the only word I have for it. Evil. Damon caught my eye, he saw me. And he mouthed something. Just one word. ’Run.’"

I sniffed, my voice trembling now.

"I ran back to my room. I locked the door. I cried until morning. My mom asked what was wrong, and I lied. I said I had a nightmare. And you know what?"

Lisa wiped her tears and looked at me, heartbroken.

"I wasn’t even the one it happened to. And I still carry it. So imagine what it did to them, Lisa. Imagine growing up like that every single day."

Lisa’s voice was a whisper. "Why didn’t anyone stop him?"

"Because he was the Alpha. And a cruel one. Everyone was scared of him. The elders, the warriors, the house staff. Even my mom. They knew, but they were too afraid to speak."

Lisa shook her head. "That’s... that’s horrible."