n i n e t e e n

                                    

                                          
I NEVER TRULY ACCEPTED WEST AS MY BROTHER. I knew, deep down, that he was telling the truth, but I was reluctant to accept someone so heartless as my brother.
                          
But that was before Luna spoke; before I found out the truth.
                          
"He killed my father..."
                          
I had never sounded like that before: all venom and agony. My chest tightened painfully and I squeezed my eyes shut to force back the tears. I refused not cry. I would not show myself as weak.
                          
"He killed my father," I repeated, quietly.
                          
"Lyn," Liam whispered. I had forgotten he was in the room. "Calm down, Lyn... It's okay."
                          
"It's not!" I snarled, glaring at him. "It's not okay, Liam. It's never going to be okay; so, stop lying to me!" He flinched away from me, hurt at the harshness of my tone.
                          
"Weslyn, do not be too quick to release harsh words," Luna advised. "You must forever think of the consequences you may face."
                          
"I've thought about my life, enough," I answered back. "It's time I did something about this."
                          
"Lyn..." There was only grief in his words and when I met his gaze, his eyes also had the same overwhelming sadness.
                          
"I am destined to do this," I thought to him. "No one can stop me from fulfilling what I was born for." 
                          
I took several steps forwards and stood before him, bracing myself for what was to come.
                          
"W-Weslyn," West stuttered.
                          
"Did you kill my father?" I demanded, without any hesitance. I was as ready as I ever would be to confront the monster who stole my life from me. "Did you crush the Wolf within me?"
                          
He didn't reply... Instead he trembled where he was and stared up at me, fear blinding his senses.
                          
"ANSWER ME!" I roared, leaping forward and grabbing him by his shirt. My muscles flexed, as I dragged him to his feet and threw him onto the wall. "WEST GRAYSON!"
                          
"I did," he murmured. My arms fell limply to my sides at his sudden reply. "I don't know why, but I did."
                          
I couldn't reply to that. By Luna... How were you supposed to react when someone confesses to their wrong-doings but fail to understand why? Because I, too, had no idea why West had done so many cruel things in his life.
                          
"I murdered our father," he went on, his voice flat and emotionless. 
                          
And that was when I saw him properly for the first time. All this time, I had seen him as nothing but a power-hungry sadist. Beneath the surface, however, he was just an orphan. An all-powerful Gray Wolf Alpha but nevertheless a young adult haunted by isolation.
                          
When he looked up at me after confessing, I took a sharp intake of breath at his expression. He just seemed so... Lost. So alone...
                          
West Grayson was just like me.
                          
"I know, though," Luna's voice stated. "I know why you hurt people. I understand why you dislike seeing the love and affection of others." She stood beside me and outstretched her arm towards him. "You're childhood hurt you a lot, didn't it?" He didn't reply, but silently nodded.
                          
"It's like what Bryanna said," I muttered, finally understanding what she had meant. "He has been tainted by a hurtful past. It is why West desires for others to be in pain. He wishes to see them in a situation similar to what he grew up in."
                          
"But that's not all, is it?" Liam asked. "There's a reason why you hate seeing Lyn and I together."
                          
"I'm not sure," West admitted,his voice hoarse. "It makes me angry but I'm not sure why I feel that way."
                          
"Well, that's simple," Luna smiled knowingly. "The reason he hates love so much is because he never had someone who he could love, or anyone to love him."