Sins of the Father (Book 5 of Desert Series)

Story 1 Chapter 1

Story 1

Aries

Chapter 1

“No!” A young Aries shouts at the top of his lungs and cries his heart out. He had just arrived at the hospital where his Mother was brought after a bank robbery ended with several people injured and two dead – one being his Mother. “No! Please! You have to help her! She’s all I have!” Aries cries to the doctor, who informs him that there is nothing left they can do.

“I’m sorry, but we have done all that we can. The bullet tore through her heart, and there was just too much damage for us to be able to do anything. She coded on the operating table. We tried to save her, but unfortunately, she succumbed to her injuries.”

“No! No! No! You don’t understand! I’m only a kid! She’s all I have!” Aries cried and pounded his fists into the doctor’s chest. The doctor was shocked at Aries’ strength and build. For a young teen, he was larger and stronger than the average teenager.

“I’m so sorry, young man,” the doctor says once more, places a reassuring hand on Aries’ shoulder, and then walks away. Aries watched with a heavy heart as tears flowed down his cheeks at the doctor’s back. It wasn’t the doctor’s fault. Aries knew that. He knew that the doctor and his team tried to save his mom. They just couldn’t.

Even with her werewolf healing capabilities, Aries’ Mother couldn’t heal herself. The strongest werewolf in the world couldn’t survive a bullet to the heart, even if the bullet weren’t silver. Aries waited for the medical team to bring out his Mother’s body. When they did, Aries held his beloved Mother tight, cried like a child into her bosom, and swore that he would find the men who did this to her and avenge her. He lifted the sheet off of her face and kissed her forehead.

“I love you, Mom. I swear, I will find and kill those bastards, even if it’s the last thing I do. Rest now. I’ll be fine,” Aries whispered in her ear so only she could hear him. He placed one more lingering kiss on her forehead, put the sheet back over her, and allowed the medical team to take his Mother to the hospital morgue.

Aries knew he couldn’t do anything then, given his age. He would have to wait until he was eighteen to gain his wolf, and then he could start investigating the gang that robbed the bank where his Mother worked. Deep down, Aries also blamed his Father. The man who abandoned them. The man who chose a title over his family. The man who spewed nothing but lies to have his Mother banished and forced her to become a single Mother and work with humans to make ends meet. For Aries, though, it wasn’t about the money or lack thereof. Nor was it about the fact that he and his Mother practically lived in poverty. No, it was the disloyalty and the betrayal that his Father committed for personal gain. It was because he impregnated his fated mate while also taking a chosen one—all to become the Alpha of a pack.

That’s right—Aries’ Father, Bruce Armstong, was an Alpha, but not a natural-born one. He inherited the title by taking a chosen mate in an Alpha female, Colleen Gilbert, all the while playing house with his fated mate—Aries’ Mother, Julia Callaghan. When Colleen learned that Bruce had been cheating on her, she immediately confronted him along with her Father. Caught between a rock and a hard place, Bruce chose to lie and say that Julia had seduced him despite knowing that he had a mate.

Colleen, her Father, and their army tracked down Julia in her marital home that she shared with Bruce and was accused of treason. She was seducing the Alpha’s daughter’s mate. Julia had no idea what she was being accused of, as it sounded utterly ludicrous to her ears. When she looked at Bruce, who was holding hands with the Alpha’s daughter, she then knew why she was being accused of such a heinous crime. What she couldn’t understand was why she never felt the pains of infidelity if Bruce had been cheating. Which was something she asked Colleen.

“If he’s your mate, and he’s been sleeping with me, did you ever feel the pains of infidelity?” Julia asked Colleen.

“Of course not. We’re waiting to mark each other until our Alpha and Luna ceremony!” Colleen justified.

“Really? So, are you saying that you haven’t even slept together?” Julia asked.

“That’s none of your business!” Colleen hissed.

“I think it is since Bruce has been having plenty of s*x with me!”

“YOU’RE LYING!” Colleen screamed.

“Tell her, Bruce! Tell her about all of the nights we made love!” Julia challenged.

“Stop it, Julia! Goddess, why can’t you just stop lying? I slept with you once! I told you it wasn’t going to go anywhere! But you just can’t take a hint!” Bruce spat. Julia’s heart shattered at his words. He was accusing her of lying. He was denying their mate bond. Then, as if she had been struck by lightning, everything finally made sense to her. Julia came to the realization that Bruce was a selfish bastard who wanted to have his cake and eat it, too. Only in this case, he wanted his destined mate and his chosen one.

“I finally see you for what you really are, Bruce. Goddess, I can’t believe I never saw how selfish you really were,” Julia spat with utter disdain. Bruce could see the love in her eyes fade entirely with every word she spoke. “F*ck you, Bruce Armstrong. I don’t want you anymore.”

“Julia, what are you—”

“I, Julia Callaghan, reject you, Bruce Armstrong, as my mate!”

“NO!” Bruce exclaimed as the pain of rejection felt like a stab in the heart. Colleen and her Father were shocked to see how much pain Julia’s rejection caused Bruce, which was when they also realized Julia had been telling the truth. Even so, Colleen’s shock was immediately masked with delight. It meant that she could have Bruce to herself. She smiled smugly at Julia who was trying to keep her composure.

“Accept it,” Julia demanded of Bruce.

“No.”

“ACCEPT IT!” Julia snarled with so much anger and hatred.

“Bruce, you will accept her rejection, or I will reject you, too,” Colleen threatened. Hearing this, Bruce muttered the words of acceptance. When the final thread of their bond snapped, Julia let out a sigh of relief. She turned her heel, packed her belongings into a single suitcase, and denounced herself from the pack.

This story Aries knew all too well because his Mother was vindictive and petty. She didn’t spare any details when Aries was old enough to know the truth. Julia never chose another mate, and the Moon Goddess never gave her a second chance. Although he grew up rogue, Julia ensured that she and her son did not turn feral. She hid herself amongst humans and reared her son on her own. That is until the day she was murdered.

When he finally turned eighteen, Aries gained his wolf counterpart, Cypher. Over the year, Aries kept tabs on any and all bank robberies with a similar modus operandi: only going for the cash in the drawers, never the vault or safety deposit boxes, shooting for the hell of it, and leaving multiple people injured. It took years, and the police could never find the group responsible. Aries started to use his werewolf senses to pick up the scent of the robbers after each robbery and started to track them. Each time, he would lose the trail, but each time, he was getting closer and closer. It didn’t take long for him to realize that one of the members of the group was a werewolf as well, and that was the scent that Aries honed in on. It wouldn’t take long for Aries to track down the men responsible for his Mother’s death. And when he found them. He would make them pay.