CHAPTER 372: 372-THIS IS HOW A MONSTER IS BORN

Author’s POV:

Many Years Ago:

Sometimes evil believes there is no stopping them. The brutality of people increases after their first win.

Later victories make an abuser believe they are invincible, until they are struck with the reality that even a rising sun has to go down every evening.

Poor Gabriel only wanted to do the right thing. He cared for the welfare of the orphans, but the others saw him as a threat.

When he began to open his eyes, Gabriel felt his head was heavy.

The room around him was dim, lit by a few lanterns on the walls.

His arms were pulled back. Thick ropes tied him to a chair.

The floor felt cold under his feet. He had to blink several times in order to clear his vision, and as he did, he wished he had not.

In front of him sat his mate, Marilyn. She was tied to a chair the same way.

Her head leaned forward, and her breathing was soft to the point that he had to focus hard to make sure she was still breathing.

"Marilyn," Gabriel whispered.

His voice carried urgency and guilt. He did not want his wife to suffer.

He did not want to see her like this. She did not deserve it.

She was too kind to be treated this way.

"Marilyn, look at me," he voiced again, pulling against the ropes, but they did not move.

Footsteps echoed from the hallway, and he could tell that several people were arriving.

He adjusted his posture.

"Marilyn, please wake up," he voiced, trying to wake her so she could defend herself if they were planning something.

From what he could tell, there was nothing strange in his body anymore apart from the wolfsbane and silver mixture he had inhaled earlier.

He could still feel it, but very faintly.

"Marilyn," he voiced again, but then the door opened, and several alphas entered.

They came from the south, west, and east. There were no alphas from the north anymore.

"What is this? Why are we here?" Gabriel demanded, clenching his jaw.

His eyes moved to his wife. He was upset that they had tied her like that.

"You should have not objected," one of the alphas from the west replied as he stepped forward.

There was no concern on any of their faces about taking the entire north alphas hostage.

"You caused a problem for all of us," another alpha remarked, crossing his arms across his chest.

Lord William entered the room next. He wore a white suit, almost like he had come to attend an event.

He stood beside the other alphas.

"You ruined everything for us," William remarked. "We will never stop this entertainment. This has been going on for years. Many orphans have already died. If we stop it now, people will start questioning."

For a moment, he looked irritated, as if Gabriel had disappointed him.

"For such a tall, powerful alpha king, we thought you would enjoy some violence. Violence is in our blood. We are werewolves, for damn’s sake," Lord Raze commented, nudging William lightly while standing beside him.

"Entertainment? That is cruelty," Gabriel replied, shaking his head, refusing to let them call it that. "And what did you do to me?" he added.

"Nothing. We never did anything to you," William laughed softly, and the others laughed with him.

"Then why is she here? What did you do to her?" Gabriel pressed, his heartbeat slowing as he looked at his mate.

Marilyn’s eyelashes trembled. She tried to open her eyes, and it seemed like she was using all her strength to lift her head.

When she finally managed to do it, Gabriel’s heart dropped. She looked the same way his mother had looked before she died.

Her skin was pale, sweat covered her forehead, and her lips had turned a faint green.

"What did you do to her?" he shouted. His voice filled the room.

A few of the alphas flinched before they tried to regain their stances.

"They gave me something in my food," Marilyn whispered with difficulty, swallowing hard.

There was something odd about her posture, and Gabriel could not stop himself from remembering the old pictures in his mother’s diary.

"You injected us," Gabriel uttered. "You injected my wife." His voice cracked.

"We did not inject you. We only injected your alphas. But your wife..." William paused and glanced at Marilyn. "Yes, she received it."

As soon as he said it, the other alphas began to nod, almost mocking the couple.

"But she is pregnant," Gabriel whispered, almost hopelessly.

Lord Raze shrugged.

"We know. And we also know how your family only creates twins. So let us see how you will feel about the monsters when your own children come out as monsters."

As those words reached Gabriel’s ears, his entire body shook. His worst fear returned.

The alphas began to leave, but before stepping out, they told him one thing.

"We will give you some time to speak, but we will return. And I hope you are in your best behavior by then," one of the alphas remarked as he walked out, leaving the two of them behind with nothing but shattered hopes.

"Gabriel, what is happening? What did they mean? What did they do to me?" Marilyn’s eyes shifted to her husband.

She could tell he knew exactly what they had done. Tears fell one after another as she demanded that he tell her the truth.

"I know what they did, because this has happened before," Gabriel mumbled, swallowing hard. His voice felt stuck in his throat.

Marilyn stared at him, confused and frightened. Was it that serious that a man like Alpha King Gabriel was close to tears?

Gabriel continued softly.

"My mother was pregnant with twins when my father objected to the entertainment. The alphas of that time were not united against him. The alphas of the north were not standing with him, so he was the only one objecting. The damage stayed short. They punished no one but my mother to force my father to surrender."

Marilyn listened quietly before her lips parted.

"And your mother..." She could not complete the sentence.

"They injected her with the same thing," Gabriel explained, his voice trembling. "And then she fell sick. She became so sick that there was no other way to save the babies but to take the antidote they offered."

"What does the antidote do?" Marilyn asked, realizing her husband did not have a twin.

"When my mother gave birth, one came out healthy." He paused.

"And the other?" Marilyn asked quietly.

Gabriel closed his eyes and uttered, "A monster."