CHAPTER 257: WHY?

Wilder lifted his brows. "About your mother? What about her?"

He was genuinely asking, or at least so it seemed. It wasn’t what he had expected Felix to question him about.

Well, he had a right to be surprised. The reason why he had been invited to visit the Bloodmoon Pack was to discuss breaking his arrangements for Felix and Jared to become mates. Although he didn’t know all the details as to what had been discussed, since Jared was still unable to talk about Felix without suffering from the effects of a curse, he had been able to get the gist of it from the communication with the Bloodmoon Pack. Sienna Winterfell hadn’t been mentioned at all, not in the emails, and not by Jared. Thus, he didn’t understand why Felix would suddenly ask about her now. It’s not like he didn’t know who his mother was. He not only knew her, but could even trace her genealogy tree in the Moonhill Pack’s records up to five past generations. What was there to ask about?

Felix pressed his lips for a moment, trying to think how to approach the topic strategically... In the end, though, he decided to just ask bluntly, "Why did you decide to have pups with her?"

It was a rather... uncomfortable question to ask one’s parents, and Felix didn’t really want to think about how he had been conceived - a mere thought of it made him shudder and cringe - but if he wanted to get any even relatively clear answers, it was better to be straightforward. If he tried to beat around the bush, Wilder might give him even more convoluted answers, dodging the subject. Or might not, Felix didn’t know. It could very well be that even trying to have an upfront conversation wouldn’t work, it all depended on what Wilder felt like doing.

The corners of Wilder’s mouth lifted a bit in an amused smile. "Because she was my fated mate, of course. It was only natural."

Felix couldn’t help but shudder again, his face darkening. His father’s calm words were getting on his nerves. "Then why did you reject her afterwards? Why didn’t you make her your Luna?"

"Because she was too weak. The Moonhill Pack needed a strong Luna," Wilder stated matter-of-factly, without even a hint of guilt, sadness, regret, or any other feelings. As if he were saying that he picked one pair of shoes over another because the former was sturdier.

It wasn’t exactly new information to Felix. He had been aware all along why his mother hadn’t become the Luna. She had been simply weak. It wasn’t even that his father had been in love with someone else. Although he had appointed Freya as his Luna, Felix was certain that there wasn’t any affection, or attraction, or anything, really, going on between them. It was simply a logical, calculated decision on Wilder’s part.

It was understandable, in a way. As the leader of the pack, Wilder had made the choice that would benefit the pack as a whole the most. And Felix also understood it, especially now that he was an adult.

But that only made him despise the Alpha even more. Because his decision had been ’reasonable’, even Felix’s mother defended Wilder, saying that Felix shouldn’t resent his father for it. That Wilder hadn’t done anything wrong.

And alright, fine. Perhaps Wilder rejecting Sienna wasn’t necessarily a wrong choice, fated mate bond or not. Felix also agreed that there was no need to go along with whatever fate the Moon Goddess had decided for them. And there was no point in making a Luna out of someone who wasn’t suitable for the position, for whatever reason.

Still...

"So she was too weak to be the Luna, but not too weak to bear your pups?" he scoffed.

That was the worst of it all. Wilder had already been the leader of the pack for around five years when he had discovered that Sienna Winterfell was his fated mate. And Sienna had been weak her whole life, with her mother also having been frail, and passing away at a young age. So, it wasn’t like their circumstances had suddenly changed at some point AFTER they had already mated. No, Wilder had known everything from the start.

And yet, he had still chosen to pretend to accept Sienna, and have a pup with her, before rejecting her a few months after she had given birth.

Wilder stared at Felix for a moment, before letting out a quiet chuckle. "You’ve grown wiser."

"..." Felix was rendered speechless.

Did that mean that he was confirming Felix’s guesses, that there was something fishy about that situation? Or what? Felix couldn’t tell at all!

"Can you explain it to me, then?" he eventually asked. "Why you had a pup with my mother. Wouldn’t it be better for you to pick a strong Omega to carry your pup, a fated mate bond or not?"

Wilder didn’t say anything. He just casually glanced around.

"My mother was always sickly. It runs in the family, just as you said," Felix spoke up again, unable to endure this unnerving, uncomfortable silence. "Because you have chosen a weak Omega, I have also been weak when I was a pup..."

"You’re doing much better now, aren’t you?" Wilder finally responded.

That still didn’t answer Felix’s question, though.

"Yes, I’m doing better. But it was still... a risky choice. An unreasonable choice," Felix muttered through clenched teeth. "A risky choice with seemingly little to no return. It wasn’t worth it. It’s not like you to make such a decision."

Wilder always made rational decisions. Even if he took some risks, they were always low stakes, high returns. And yes, having a pup with Felix’s mother HAD BEEN ’low stakes’ - after all, he could always had another pup with someone else. There were plenty of Omegas who would be willing to go along with it, especially when it was clear that Felix wouldn’t be the next leader.

But Felix didn’t think that was it. He had no proof, just a hunch, but he was confident in his intuition.

"So... why?" he asked, staring his father straight in the eyes.

Wilder smiled back at him. "Do you want to know? Then come back to the Moonhill Pack."