CHAPTER 7 NIKLAUS

     I couldn't go back to sleep after leaving Ren's room. I knew my son would be curious about the scars she bore just as I was. I had heard the rumors about her past, but only now did I truly realize what she had gone through. I began to feel the guilt in the pit of my stomach. I now understood what I had done to her, the torture her family must have endured. How couId tell her that I caused all the pain she went through? How could I face my son knowing that his friend had suffered because of me? How could I tell her that I am responsible for the annihilation of her pack? She wouldn't understand much less forgive me. Whatever the cost, she cannot know the truth.

      I was lost in thought when my second came in.

      "Alpha?"

      "Yes, Alec? What is it," I asked.

      "You and I both know she will find out sooner or later. I would advise coming clean to her. She will be angry, but at least she will hear it from you and not someone else. We should have come clean long ago. Alpha, I beg you not to keep her in the dark any longer." Alec was kneeling before me now, my second groveling like a slave at his master's feet.

      "I will not hear any more of this! You will keep your silence and distance yourself from Ren or I will be forced to silence you permanently. That is an order from your alpha! Do you understand!"

      "Y...yes alpha. Of course. I understand."

      "Good. Now have my son invite our guest to breakfast with us. I need to know what she remembered in her dream. I need to know everything she knows."

      "Yes alpha."

      As Alec left the room, he feared for his alpha. He had to explain everything to Dhiren, but wasn't sure how to without facing his alpha's wrath. After pondering the best course of action, he found a loophole to his alpha's order. It was time to come clean, but not to Dhiren. Alec approached Conner's quarters and knocked softly. Knowing the sleeping habits of the young alpha to be, he knew not to knock too loudly.

      After hearing approval to enter from Conner, he slipped inside and softly closed the door behind him. Conner was pouring over pack treaties and documents for requests and complaints from the pack members at his desk as Alec came in. "Conner, your father wishes for you to invite Miss Dhiren to accompany your father and yourself to breakfast."

      Without looking up from his papers, Conner responded. "Okay Alec. Thank you for the message. I will head over to her room to ask her." After looking up from his papers and seeing the look on Alec's face, Conner paused. "Unless there is something else that needs to be addressed first?"

      "Yes, young alpha. I must tell you a story of a young alpha and the deals he made to protect his pack. You must understand that this alpha was not proud of his deals, but made them regardless of those who would be caught in the cross fire. This included his friends who loved him as family."

      Conner had a feeling he would need to sit down for what he was about to hear. Sullenly, he sat and listened to his long term mentor tell him of his father's past and the decisions he made out of gullibility and naivety. By the end Conner was frozen with rage, betrayal, and shame.