Chapter 311
KESTER.
16 YEARS AGO.
“Dad, there’s a boy at school. He’s always bullying me.”
I stood at the doorway of his office, clutching the straps of my backpack. My voice was small, careful, and not too loud. I knew better than to interrupt, but I couldn’t help it.
I just returned from school and decided to check his office first before going into the house.
Dad was seated at his heavy desk with papers spread out before him like puzzle pieces. He didn’t look up. His fingers kept flipping through the files, his eyes scanning lines of text like I wasn’t even there.
What he was doing looked really important, but I was also important right? I was his only son. Even though I overheard Mum say something about another woman and a certain daughter somewhere, which they always argued about, I still refused to believe Dad had another child out there.
And if someone was being mean to me–if someone was bullying his son–then surely that mattered more than whatever was in those papers.
should be able to talk to my father about it and get him to go to school and talk to our teachers.
Or maybe talk to the boy’s parents, since they are in our pack. Or maybe punish the boy for daring to bully the Alpha’s only son.
But Dad didn’t respond.
I stepped further in.
Fine. I’ll let the cat out of the bag. Maybe it would get Dad’s attention if
told
him what the boy had been saying about our family
“He says our family is a joke,” I said quietly, “and that we’re not worthy to be the Alpha family. He says you… always beat Mum up. And that we’re unhappy. And shameless.”
My heart started beating faster. The words were too heavy for me, but I kept forcing them out like little bricks from a crumbling wall. “He also said-”
“Kester!” Dad yelled at me, stopping me mid–way.
I jumped.
My breath hitched.
His chair scraped against the floor as he stood. Finally, he looked at me–but not with the concern I expected. It was flashi
- er.
I shrank back a step, clutching my bag tighter. My mouth was still open from the sentence he didn’t let me finish.
I didn’t understand
Wasn’t I supposed to tell him these things? Wasn’t I supposed to trust him to protect me?
Wasn’t that what fathers did?
1/3
Chapter 311
wasn’t trying to cause trouble.
I just wanted my Dad to tell me that I was safe.
But he didn’t say any of that.
Dad’s hands were clenched into fists at his sides, the veins in his arms pushed up tight.
Then he said, “You’re old enough to handle your own shit.”
I blinked, confused. “But… he keeps saying stuff. About your About Mum.”
“I don’t care what he’s been saying.” He waved a hand like he was swtting my words away. “You want him to stop? Make him stop.”
I swallowed hard. “How?”
His eyes narrowed like I’d just said something stupid. “You figure it out. You’re not a baby. If someone’s pushing you around, push back. You don’t need me running to school like some weak–willed father. Handle it!”
He sat back in his seat, taking a deep breath like he was calming himself down from the anger I caused him.
“You’re not some fragile pup that comes running to Daddy every time someone calls him a name.”
My throat felt tight, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t even know what to say. I hadn’t come here to be babied. I just thought maybe he’d care. Even a little.
“If he’s bullying you,” he added, “then you deal with him. You make him stop. You’re an Alpha’s son,” he said. “Start acting like it.”
He sounded like it was normal for a kid my age to go around solving their own problems.
I nodded slowly, even though everything inside me wanted to crumble. My fingers dug into the straps of my bag until they hurt. I didn’t want him to see me cry. That would only make it worse.
He turned away, already reaching for the next file on his desk.
Conversation over.
That was it.
No “Who is he?”
No “Are you okay?”
No “Come here, son.”
Just… solve it yourself.
“Will you drop me off at school on your way out?” I asked Mum.
She was sitting at her vanity table, dabbing foundation across her cheeks. The room smelled like perfume and hairspray. Grown–up smells. Cold smells.
“No. Run along. You’ll be late. She replied, still looking at the mirro
