“You possess inquiries,” John chuckles quietly. “Inquire freely.”
Words rush out of my tongue before I have time to digest them and I do not even worry about my stutter anymore. A flash appears in John’s eyes as I talk, however I am unable to discern his thoughts about me.
“You stated that you were acquainted with A-Melina.” Th-that y-you sent her to m-me,” I stutter, also signing the words so Melina can follow along.
“That does not constitute a question.”
“How?” What is your relationship with her?I require.
“You can read minds and yet you have never thought to search her memories for that answer?John enquires, turning his head to the side. “Did you never wonder where she came from before she appeared in Scarlett Haven?”
I have consistently been intrigued by Melina’s history; but, she has never responded to my enquiries, and I have been unable to penetrate her thoughts without causing her distress. John observes Melina momentarily, and she retaliates with an intense gaze, indicating to me that their prior connection was likely unfavourable.
“Melina was a previous member of my pack,” John elucidates. I scarcely observed her in Stonecold, yet I was well-acquainted with her husband. He was an adept hunter. One of my most proficient scouts, in fact.
Was Melina married? I ponder, observing the petite woman quaking with rage.
“She was contentedly married and had a young son, perhaps only a few months old when your father perpetrated the most egregious war crime to exact vengeance on me,” he continues, a trace of wrath in his voice. “You see Jadi, your father is a cold-blooded killer who sent four bombs to a daycare center in my pack… We lost 26 pups, among them, Melina’ only son.”
I stare at the man in front of me, unwilling to believe my father would do such a thing to innocent children. Melina looks ignorant of the insight John has given me and I tap her on the shoulder.
“Did my father kill your son?I enquire, fervently wishing that John is deceiving me, that my father is not indeed the monster John portrays him to be.
My heart plummets when she signs the word yes, tears welling in my eyes, contemplating how she can confront him daily without the want to dismantle him for ravaging her family. How could she gaze into my eyes and love me as her own son after my father’s actions?
“What about your husband?” “I enquire of her.”
“Deceased in combat,” she responds, compressing her lips to suppress her emotions.
“Damon, her spouse, was slain in combat shortly after the death of their son,” John elucidates.
“A-and how d-did she end up in S-scarlett Ha-Haven?” I ask, dreading his response.
John averts his gaze and fixates on his hands while responding. “I knew you survived my attacks,” he says. I was aware that Noel was concealing you within your Pack house. My sole objective was to gain in, after which I would recompense Noel for his actions towards the pups of my Pack.
“So you dispatched Melina,” I respond, comprehending that the woman I have regarded as my mother for the past two decades was sent to assassinate me.
“I did not provide her with many options,” John shrugs. “I was consumed by anger and hatred, indifferent to my actions as long as I exacted retribution on your father.” I presented Melina with an ultimatum: either become a rogue or eliminate you.
I am in a state of confusion attempting to comprehend everything John disclosed, and I can no longer bear to look at Melina. Has she ever genuinely loved me, or has she perpetually sought a means to fulfil her nefarious objective?
She attempts to touch my shoulder, but I recoil, pained by the possibility that all we shared—the laughter, the memories, and the affection—was illusory.
What information did he convey to you?She weeps, tears cascading down her cheeks in torrential streams. “Because it is entirely false!” “
“However, you intended to terminate my existence,” I counter, her compassionate gaze suffused with anguish. “Is that a lie?”
“No,” she vehemently shakes her head. “It never occurred to me to proceed with it,” she responds. “You are not your father.” You were just a boy shut away in a room. A boy in need of affection, while I possessed an abundance of love with no recipient. “It required merely a single glance,” she implores. “With a single glance, I fell in love with you.” You are my son. You are my baby and that will never change, no matter what that man says!”
John seemed to comprehend the conflict. “Melina is not to blame for what I asked her to do. She was merely another casualty of this conflict.
“V-victim?” I retort with anger.” “You are no different from my father,” I say, resolute in my refusal to shed any further tears in his presence. “You take and you annihilate… just like him!” “
John remains silent in his defence, permitting my fury to intensify.
“Y-you murdered my brother,” I stutter, recalling the moments when my mother would become absorbed in her thoughts while playing with me, presumably contemplating the experience of having both of her offspring together. “W-why? What did he ever do to you?” I retort with anger.”
The little smile returns to John’s lips and he shrugs. “There is nothing… That is the reason I did not terminate him.”
“What?” “ I gasp in shock.
“I did not murder your brother,” he responds. “I am uncertain about the identity of Duncan’s true murderer, although I harbour suspicions,” he shrugs. “I regret to inform you that I am unable to provide an answer to that.”
“However, you did murder my mother,” I counter, resolute in my refusal to absolve him of his transgressions.
