SWNOVELS t Rejected Luna Chapter 136
Chapter 13 6
“Ethan would come; he knows I have his son,” Derrick muttered, his voice tinged with anticipation.
“If my hunch is right, this should be the place,” Ethan muttered to himself as he exited the vehicle, stepping into the dilapidated and abandoned house. A van was parked some distance away. He walked in quietly, his senses alert to every sound and scent.
His nostrils pri cked and twisted at the familiar scent. With determination, he rushed into the building, the moonlight sl*pping through the broken ceiling, illuminating the room. Ethan stood in the middle of the hall for a moment, memories flooding back of the times they spent in Derrick’s father’s old house-the first one they lived in before the pack’s relocation.
“You came,” a voice said dryly from the shadows.
“I knew you would find it,” Derrick commended, his figure emerging at the top of the stairs.
“Derrick,” Ethan muttered, his hands balling into fists. “Is that really you?” His voice tinged with disbelief, unable to comprehend the reality before him.
“Where is Liam?” Ethan’s voice rough and h o ar se, filled with urgency.
Derrick remained silent, fueling Ethan’s anxiety and anger. The uncertainty gnawed at him, the feeling of helplessness becoming all too familiar in his life.
“I don’t understand, Derrick. Why? All this time?” Ethan’s voice trailed off, a mixture of confusion and frustration lacing his words.
“You took my life, and for someone who ended his friend’s life, you lived pretty well afterward,” Derrick muttered, descending the steps.
“What do you mean by that? You ruined my life,” Ethan countered, his voice heavy with accusation.
“I ruined your life?” Derrick stepped out from the shadows, and Ethan could finally see him. The two men locked eyes, a silent battle of emotions passing between them.
Realization slowly dawned on Ethan as he stared at Derrick, his eyes tracing over him. in the dimness.
“What happened that night was an accident,” Ethan muttered apologetically. “I don’t know why you did what you did, but know I didn’t mean for it to happen. I didn’t leave you there on purpose. Let Liam go,” he pleaded, desperation creeping into his voice.
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“You don’t actually have a reason, you only focused all of your hate on me. I tried to get you out, I really did,” Ethan stated eagerly, Derrick’s continuous silence getting to him.
“I don’t have a reason?” Derrick muttered, his voice heavy with emotion.
“Your father locked us down there,” he revealed to Ethan, his words piercing through the tension.
“My father went in to look for you guys, he sustained burns as well. You know who brought him out? Hazel’s father, Jared!” Ethan countered angrily, his frustration bubbling to the surface.
“It was guilt that drove him,” Derrick muttered, his tone laced with sorrow.
“What?” Ethan muttered, his brow furrowing in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asked, stepping forward, eager for answers.
“Ever wondered how we got stuck down there?” Derrick asked calmly, his demeanor unsettling.
“It wasn’t an accident, Ethan, it was all programmed. He knew what was coming, sent his own kid far away, and put on a show for the packs,” Derrick spat, his words cutting through the air like knives.
“And you abandoned us there, Ethan. You didn’t come back. Darlene was so sure you’d come for us. My life ended that day, yours went on,” he muttered sadly, the weight of his words hanging heavily in the air.
“What are you talking about?!” Ethan yelled, his voice echoing through the room. “I heard everything! The discussion between Mooncrest, your pack’s Alpha; your father, and another one,” Derrick continued, his voice steady and resolute.
“The factory was being used by one of the men to traffic Nexorfin. Your father caught me. He was livid, thought I would ruin the event, and he grabbed me. Darlene was exploring. When he saw her in that room, he threw me in with her and locked us up. He was going to keep us there for the rest of the day until he figured out a cover-up story,” Derrick explained seriously, each word laden with bitterness.
Ethan stag gered backwards, his mind reeling from the revelations. “What?” he whispered, his disbelief palpable.
“That couldn’t be!” Ethan refused to accept the truth, his mind struggling to comprehend.
“Making excuses for him,” Derrick chuckled bitterly. “He tried to go back, it wasn’t his intention.”
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“How did you end up unscathed?” Derrick’s question pierced through Ethan’s thoughts, demanding an answer.
“If you were trying to get us out, if you were there, you should have some kind of scar. They did vacate everyone out, but you should have some kind of sign,” Derrick reasoned, his eyes boring into Ethan’s soul.
“You weren’t actually there, Ethan. You left without trying to help us,” he accused, his words heavy with accusation.
“I was,” Ethan protested, his voice filled with turmoil.
“No, if you were anywhere close, you’d have scars,” Derrick asserted, his gaze unwavering.
“The person I told that day was my father. I didn’t want to leave, but then…” Ethan’s voice trailed off as memories flooded back, his realization hitting him like a ton of bricks.
“I was knocked unconscious,” Ethan’s eyes widened as the truth dawned on him. Someone knocked him out then pulled him out! His father knew what the place contained, how toxic it was, and that he would want to go back to find his friends, so he knocked him out and kept him safely away.
“I never knew,” Ethan whispered, the weight of the revelation settling heavily upon him. That explained his father’s attitude- the man always seemed off whenever Ethan had mentioned Derrick or his family. It was because he had things to hide.
“The factory had issues from the roots, there were leaks, it started right there. Took a while before it spread to other areas. That room slowly started being filled with smoke. Guess what was right there in that room with us?” Derrick asked, his voice heavy with
emotion.
“Sacks of Nexorfin right next door, it begun burning first, the smell got to us. Nexorfin was banned for a reason, it’s toxic and blends in for some time until it gets concentrated. I struggled around, found a small air vent, and shoved Darlene there,” his voice quivered as memories flooded back.
“I struggled hoisting her into the small air vents. The fire didn’t get her. But the substance did. She died there, her b*dy wasn’t burnt. She just wasn’t strong enough. I heard my sister struggle to take her last breath,” he revealed, his eyes misty with tears. “All because your father was a coward and handled what had happened in a cowardly
manner.”
“Nexorfin is potent enough to kill not just the wolf but the person itself, I got burnt, she died,” he muttered with a distant look in his eyes.
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“And guess what happened next?” he continued, the pain evident in his voice.
“I was rescued, by my mom’s brother from another pack, but my father was dead! And then, I discovered what your father, our Alpha did. My father took the blame for everything that happened. All of it, the errors, the smuggling,” he muttered angrily.
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“Trafficking Nexorfin could be considered treason, a gross misconduct of endangering the life of pack members. He would have been in a world of trouble if it came out that he ignored his responsibility, the responsibility which fell on his shoulders as an Alpha. And since my father was dead, died while trying to find his kids, they thought it was convenient to push all of the blame on him!” he seethed, his voice laced with bitterness.
“Just put all the blame on the dead guy, it won’t matter,” he muttered sadly.
“At first I was worried about you, but there you were unscathed, perfectly fine. I spent years trying to recover a little. And the next thing I knew, you were married to my mate!” he ground out, his anger simmering beneath the surface.
“Wait, wait what did you say?” Ethan stuttered, his mind reeling from the revelations.
“The first betrayal that night was collaborating with your father and leaving us there,” Derrick accused, his voice accusing.
“I didn’t know! I swear it!” Ethan yelled, his words desperate.
“And the second,” Derrick continued, his voice trembling with rage.
“Getting married to my mate.”
“Hold on!” Ethan interrupted, his voice shaking with disbelief.
“I didn’t know!’ he yelled.
“That aside Ethan, you married Hazel. I told you I liked her,” Derrick’s words cut through the air like a knife, his pain palpable.
“I didn’t want to, I didn’t want her. I barely knew her but you always talked about her. But then she didn’t stop following me about, that was why I was cold to her. Because she was yours. The girl my best friend liked, you didn’t even tell me she was your mate yet or anything like that.”
Derrick had talked about Hazel whenever they spotted her at events. That he liked her, so after his death and Hazel made a move on him, he was uncomfortable. It felt wrong. This was the girl his friend had liked, so he was always distant and cold to her. But that incident had happened the night they got drunk and he had to get married to her.
“You didn’t tell me she was your mate,” Ethan said quietly, his voice filled with regret.
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“You know why I really hated you? Why did you get to live happily, why did your life continue while mine ended in that manner? You were so happy, you had it all, and the last thing that was mine, you took even that!” Derrick spat, his words dripping with bitterness.
“I couldn’t stand it,” he admitted bitterly.
“Thus Bella,” Ethan whispered, the pieces finally falling into place.
“You sent Bella to separate us,” Ethan accused, his voice filled with betrayal.
“This is our last night, I’ll say everything. How blind you’ve been.
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“You were so sure Bella was your mate, right? I’ll give it to her, she’s really good,” Derrick muttered, his tone laced with sarcasm.
“What did you do?!” Ethan yelled, his anger boiling over as he grabbed Derrick’s clothes.
“Ever wondered why you never got to meet your mate, Ethan?” Derrick asked, his voice cutting through the tension like a knife. “It’s because you abandoned her to die there,” he revealed, his words like a dagger to Ethan’s heart.
“What?” Ethan whispered, his eyes widening as the truth sank in. It was Darlene.
“It was easy fooling you with Darlene’s substance,” Derrick admitted, unable to meet Ethan’s gaze. “I got you all excited, got what was mine far away from you. Bella, I’ll admit, went out of control. It was supposed to end after a few weeks. But she didn’t let go, so I let her. Watching Bella, how cruel and manipulative she was, it felt satisfying watching you get played, get ruined, and slowly being poisoned. It was satisfying, so I let her have her fun.”
“It was really you, covering up for her and all of that?” Ethan muttered, stunned by the depth of Derrick’s deception.
“Every single one of them. You actually have no idea who Bella really was and how she’s murdered people. I wanted to see how it would all play out, you slowly losing everything. I liked it,” Derrick admitted, his voice tinged with malice.
“Whenever I tried to pinpoint things to her, it would lack all evidence and reason. You were messing with my head,” Ethan said, the pieces of the puzzle finally coming together.
“Naomi,” Ethan stated, needing confirmation. It was one of the things he couldn’t wrap his head around, no matter how hard he’d tried. “Did you kill her?” he asked, his voice trembling with anticipation.
“No,” Derrick replied quietly. “Naomi died in her sleep. What she said about Bella was
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quite accurate, so to clear your mind of suspicions, the Alzheimer story.”
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“Let me ask you one thing, Chris,” Ethan muttered, his entire demeanor becoming icy and frozen. “Did you kill him?” he asked, his voice filled with accusation.
“Chris was an accident, my mistake led to his death. He was busy chasing me, he sl*pped, your enemies got to him. But he made everything easy, he had gathered everything about Bella, so I just destroyed it at once,” Derrick admitted, his voice heavy with regret.
Ethan paced around, the weight of Derrick’s revelations pressing down on him.
“Why Liam? Why would you try to hurt the kids, Derrick?” Ethan demanded, his voice laced with anger.
“Because I hate you, Ethan, you and your father. You put me in this mess, married my mate, then had the guts to have kids! Something I can never have,” Derrick muttered sadly. “And with my mate of all people,” his eyes filled with anger.
“Do you know the number of times I wanted to end it?” he seethed. “I wanted to end them, not only to hurt you, but because they were a reminder of a life I never got to have,” he admitted, his voice filled with anguish.
“I had so many opportunities, but I couldn’t do it,” Derrick muttered.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to doing it. I wanted you to be in pain, feel real regret and agony, to lose something valuable without even realizing it until it became too late. But those kids waltzed in and everything changed,” Derrick said sadly.
“You wouldn’t actually hurt them,” Ethan whispered, his voice tinged with disbelief. “Where is Liam?” he probed once more.
“Probably disposed of him,” Derrick said coldly.
“If you still were, you would have succeeded by now. Bella would probably still be free, and we wouldn’t have caught her. Where is he?” Ethan persisted.
“Safe,” was the cryptic reply.
“Was it you, those times? Bella tried to hurt them, the mysterious man who saved Liam,” Ethan muttered, seeking answers.
“That was you, right?” he asked gently.
Derrick sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping.
“And it wasn’t Bella that swapped the drugs the first time. That was also you. You had an opportunity to leave her with serious toxins that could kill her immediately, but you
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didn’t,” Ethan observed, trying to make sense of Derrick’s motives.
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“If you really wanted to kill them, you would have done it already,” he reasoned. “Instead, you alerted me that Daisy was in danger, brought my attention to it,” Ethan said gently, a glimmer of understanding dawning upon him.
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”
He felt a little relieved. Derrick wasn’t a monster in any way. He wouldn’t hurt innocent kids.
“I know, I’m not a monster. I couldn’t kill anyone who didn’t deserve it,” Derrick sighed, his voice heavy with remorse. “Everything started with you and I, Ethan, and I’ll end it that way,” he said gently.
“What?” Ethan muttered, looking around, suddenly feeling a shift in the atmosphere.
“There,” Derrick muttered, his tone final. “My long, sad life comes to an end.”
“What’s that smell?” Ethan stag gered and fell, a sense of dread creeping over him.
“Burnt Nexorfin,” came the chilling reply, the air thick with its noxious fumes, making it difficult to breathe.
“What?” Ethan gasped, his vision blurring.
“You’re really weak, you’ve lost all sense. You didn’t even realize it until it spread this much,” Derrick muttered, his voice tinged with regret. “You feel terrible, right? The Venomixadone Bella’s been using took a toll on you, but this one is even stronger.”
The realization dawned on Ethan, a repetition of what had happened that day, how the incident had occurred.
“This would be fitting,” Derrick muttered, his words echoing in the dimly lit room.
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