UNTAMED: THE ALPHA

'Yes.'

That curt and cold answer from Chaos made the silence more profound and the atmosphere changed, as it became a little bit overwhelming for them.

There were dozens of emotions that ran through them, hard to be sorted out or understood.

Anne nodded, biting down on her lips as she lowered her eyes. She had never thought that something like that would happen to that girl when they left her in her uncle's pack. Even now, Anne still regrets the fact that she didn't say anything to her, not even a goodbye when they left her.

It almost felt like she had abandoned her and seeing how she was right now and what she had gone through, the regret only ate her alive.

Zuri was a bright and kind child, but now Anne would catch repulsion in her eyes, as she was always on her guard even in this house.

The crackling sound of the fire was still the most profound sound in this room until Knox walked in and saw the three of them frowning. He came here to have a good talk with Chaos, but apparently, everyone was there.

"What is this? Some kind of reunion?" Knox scoffed and then took a bottle of whiskey and poured it into a glass. He took it with him to sit down on the couch across from Anne.

"It's just like old days," Gael muttered, leaning his body against the backrest of the sofa and brooding.

In the past, there used to be only four of them. When Anne's hair was still black and she had always had a story to tell them about her school. She would talk about the boys, her friends or some trivial things that made Knox complain. He would say those were not something important to be reported to them, but he listened to her nonetheless.

They would gather in this library, watching the fire burn in the furnace and talk about a thousand nonsensical things, mostly it would be Gael and Anne who would keep the conversation going.

"Is that the reason behind the mark on her neck?" Anne asked Chaos again.

This question piqued Knox's interest, he needed only a few seconds to grasp the conversation and about what or who they were talking about.

On the other hand, Chaos fell silent when he was asked about this and watched the fire more intently, yet Anne could see that the fire became brighter and fiercer, which synced with the emotions that Chaos didn't show to them.

The fire talked more than he did.

At this moment, Anne knew that there was nothing left to say regarding Zuri, as it would only provoke Chaos to become more violent, messing with his emotions.

They didn't want to witness another outbreak from Chaos right now. This creature could burn down the whole manor, for all he cared.

However, she wanted to let him know what she thought, even if it didn't help at all and wouldn't change anything regarding what Zuri had gone through, or what Lise had gone through…

Of course, Anne knew what had happened between Gael and Lise. She had spent almost a decade with her to know how Gael had treated her.

Anne was aware that Gael had some sort of problem with his obsession, but to think he was able to do that was something that she would have never thought.

It took Anne a long time to make Lise finally open up to her.

To view it fairly, the three of them had some sort of problem with their obsession with things or people close to them. They would go extra miles and do everything that you thought would be otherwise impossible. But they had their own ways to express it and Gael's way was the most rough and raw one.

"Here is something that I want you to understand properly about rape," Anne said and her choice of words drew Chaos, Knox and Gael's attention.

Chaos turned around and looked at her with his eyes narrowed. No one knew what was running through her pretty head, but Gael stared at her with dread. He didn't know whether Anne knew or not about what he had done to Lise before, but at this point, he could say that Anne was aware of everything.

As for Knox, he only furrowed his brow and then sipped on his drink. He looked nonchalant, but just like years ago when he had to listen to Anne's 'boring' stories, he would listen nonetheless.

"If they were raped two minutes ago, they were still raped. If they were raped two weeks ago, they were still raped. If they were raped twenty years ago, they were still raped. Time doesn't magically erase the horror of the event and it is something to be taken seriously, no matter how long it has been since the event occurred."

Gael averted his eyes when Anne glanced at him and pressed his lips, he glared at the table in front of him.

And then, Anne directed her eyes at Knox, who gulped down the entire whiskey and showed no emotions. He knew that they were talking about Zuri, but had no idea about Lise.

"And if you are a man who never raped, sexually assaulted or groped a woman, I hate to break it to you but you are not any special, you are not great or good even. You are normal, that's how normal people are supposed to behave."

Knox smirked, as he looked at Anne and reciprocated her gaze. "At the very least, you don't talk about the crappy story of the pretty boy in your school anymore."

Anna laughed at that, she waved her wrinkled hand and looked at him mischievously, in the end there was something that would never change.

"I passed that stage a long time ago. Pretty boys don't suit my taste. All of you have set impossible standards for a mere pretty face," she said.

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*Read my new book: KISSED BY THE DARK ALPHA*

Alpha Micah Donovan's second chance mate.