Knotting His Rejected Breeder

RAMON’S POV

"What do you mean by that? You did everything you’re accused of doing? Do you even have any idea what that means?" I asked, further infuriated. My voice echoed off the damp stone walls of the cell, raw with disbelief and rising anger.

"I’m telling you the truth, because I’m tired, okay? I’m tired of existing with this insatiable greed within me. Now I know why I was tossed aside to die as a child. They saw the devil in me, and decided to cut their losses on time. You should have done the same thing."

"I really should have," I scoffed. "I should have tossed your sorry ass to the side. I should never have even taken you in. The nerve of you to confess so easily? Have you lost your mind, Hazel?"

My hands clenched at my sides, the knuckles turning white as I fought the urge to reach through the bars and shake some sense into him. The boy I had pulled from nothing, fed, trained, and given a purpose — standing here admitting to betrayal like it was nothing.

"What would you rather have me do? Lie to you? I’ve been doing that for the past eighteen years. I’m exhausted. I just want to leave the world," he said, and shut his eyes tightly, his body slumping against the cold wall.

I hated how I still felt sorry for him. He was just a kid. A stupid one, but a kid. The memory of the scrawny boy I had found, all bones and wide eyes, flashed in my mind, making the anger twist with something sharper—regret.

"You shouldn’t have done what you did. But I’d like to know everything. Tell me how and why you betrayed me," I said, clearing my throat as I forced my voice to stay steady.

"Happily," he replied, as a sick smile appeared on his face.

He was clearly enjoying this. There was something so painful about one protege stabbing them in the back.

Perhaps, it was the trust, and time invested in them.

A total waste of effort, that could have gone into better things. The years I had spent teaching him, guiding him, believing in him, all of it felt like ashes now.

I shook my head, and returned my attention to him as he began to speak.

"Jack met me the very first time you turned down his offer to marry his daughter. He saw me alone in the field, staring into space, and approached me. I wasn’t going to give him the time of the day at first, but he wouldn’t shut up."

"You betrayed me because of a man who wouldn’t shut up?" I scoffed in disbelief, my fists clenching tighter at my sides.

"Oh, that wasn’t all. He showed me the secret entrance. He said it was the one thing he had over you, because you thought yourself to be too smart. He wanted to prove to you that you weren’t as smart as you thought you were. He asked me if you wouldn’t know about that entrance if you were really on top of things. The more he spoke, the more sense he started to make."

Nothing made sense to man. Not one thing he had just said made any sense to me.

How could he have sold me out because someone convinced him I wasn’t as smart as I portrayed?

It wasn’t my fault I was an alpha who took pride in being one.

Everyone knew how weak Jack was, hence his insecurity.

As it would turn out, the wolf I had trained myself was just as weak. The realization hit like a fresh wound, sharp and humiliating.

"He took me to the entrance, and it was just perfect. He told me he could make me alpha. It wasn’t going to be a quick thing. It would take time, but eventually, we would defeat you, and your delusions," he laughed, the sound hollow and bitter in the dim cell.

I didn’t think I had any self control until that moment.

Maybe it was because I had basked in serenity in the last month.

Perhaps, that had served as my own therapy.

Because his lips kept moving, as he spewed all of the nonsense he did. Yet, his lips remained without a single cut in it. The restraint burned in my muscles, every fiber of my body screaming to lash out.

"I spent weeks thinking about his offer. How cool would it be to go from deserted to an alpha? Not many people made it that way. His offer made sense to me, so I agreed to it." He shrugged, as if it was the simplest decision in the world.

It was evident he didn’t regret anything he did. That I poured in him as much as I could, yet it took just mere promises to sway him. The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound could, a slow burn that spread through my chest.

"He paid me a lot. As you’ll see, Jack was even a bigger fool. Things got more complicated when Ferins got into the picture. I don’t particularly like either bastard, but at least Jack doesn’t have a brain. The real brains behind everything were always Ferins. Even down to you taking Sonia."

"What?!" A jolt of shock rushed through me. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"You heard me. He knew you were coming for Sonia. He could have hidden her if he wanted. He allowed you to come into the pack, and take her."

"Why would he do that to his own daughter? Everyone knows he adores her because of how much she looks like her mother," I said, totally confused, my mind racing to make sense of the words.

"You forget he may hate your father more than he loved that woman. That hatred trickled down to you. How dare you build the pack he destroyed back up, and even better? He was always livid talking about you," he laughed, the sound grating against my ears.

"I’m not playing anymore, Hazel. Why did he want me to take Sonia?"

"Because all bets would be off. You would have come into his abode, and taken one of his. He could do anything to you, without anyone guilt shaming him. That was the trap that you fell for when you took his daughter that night."

"You told him," my eyes widened. "You told him about my plans, didn’t you?"

"That’s all I’ve tried to tell you, don’t you understand? I betrayed you in every way you could think of. And you want to know the sickest part of it all? I enjoyed every bit of betraying you. It was like a game to me. Would he ever catch me? The more I got away with it, the more I agreed with Jack. Maybe you were not just as smart as you projected yourself to be."

I sprang to my feet, having had enough of his nonsense. The chair scraped loudly against the stone floor as I stood, my hands shaking with the effort to keep them at my sides.

"You’re trying to get me angry, so I could snap your neck, and grant you some mercy killing. I won’t do that. I’ll investigate everything you’ve just said, whilst you rot in this cell."

"You’re making a mistake!" He called after me, as I walked away.

"We’ll see about that," I muttered under my breath, the words tasting like ash as I pushed open the cell door and stepped into the hallway.