Her Broken Mate 31

FLASHBACK:

"So, what're the results?!"

"Your son seems to be doing well... But... the scars will be... I'm sorry, Luna."

Seth heard almost nothing of what the doctor said, his head hurt too much.

The crying increased, and his mother's next question was the one he most wanted to hear. "What about my mate? How is he?"

Silence answered as some papers were turned over. Seth struggled to stay awake. The medicine from sickbay, he suspected, was having its effect. His resolve wavered, but he'd to push his limits to know if his father was okay.

At last the doctor answered, but it wasn't the one he'd been looking for.

"He's in a coma, Luna."

And the darkness drew him again.
_ _ _

"Seth, wake up. Please."

Groaning, he tore his eyelids apart. Bright lights greeted him, drawing him into the smell of nasty medicine and coughing.

Noticing his surroundings, he slowly turned his head to see his mother staring at him with concern.

"Welcome back, Seth. How are you?" she asked, lovingly stroking one of his hands.

"Hurts..." replied Seth.

She grabbed a cup of water that a nurse had filled earlier and handed it to him with great haste. He drank the cold liquid to relieve the dryness in his throat.

Relieved, he exhaled and turned to her once more. "Mom ... Am I going to be okay?"

Tears gathered at the edges of her eyes. "Yes, thank the moon goddess that you're alive. But ... you're going to have some scars, Seth."

He raised an eyebrow, "Where, on my thigh?
On my leg?"

"Some on your back and legs. Almost half can be healed, and the 'mommy's little bitch' scratch can be healed too. I'm sure it won't leave any scars," she murmured, wiping her tears.

Lost in thought, he tried to look on the bright side. "It's okay, mom. The scars will make me look cool."

She giggled a little, but it disappeared.

He blinked his eyes slowly and asked something that had been bothering him since he woke up. "Is... Dad in a coma?"

Mom didn't answer, but instead started crying even harder. He could only watch, wide-eyed, as a she-wolf who'd no mate howled her heart out for his father. The sobbing and wailing increased as the mother he knew broke down and was never again the person he knew.
_ _ _

After his mother collapsed, she slept near him for a few hours, but suddenly woke up. It jolted him awake when he saw her walk out of the hospital room with an expressionless face.

The next moment, the doctor's voice rang out. "You can't be serious! You wouldn't do that to your own son, would you?" the doctor exclaimed in disbelief.

A growl came from his mother: "Of course
I'd. It's his fault my companion, my mate, is in this mess!"

"But Luna... Just a few hours ago you were very worried about him. And now you've changed your mind just like that? Your mate should be less important to you than your puppy! Your puppy should come first!" he argued, sounding annoyed.

Clicking her tongue, she replied, "You wouldn't understand. My mate is my soul mate. Without him, I'm absolutely nothing. This child means less than what my mate is to me! Besides, Jupiter would agree with what I'm doing."

"That shouldn't be the case, Luna. Your mate protected him because he loves him.
This is your son we're talking about here. He's just a fourteen-year-old pup. What Alpha did was his own choice. He went to get Seth without thinking about reinforcements or leaving when he has people with him." argued the doctor.

Nothing was said for the next few seconds until a hiss sounded from his mother. "Are you trying to blame my mate, doctor?"

Realizing his mistake, he muttered to himself, "No, of course not, Luna."

"Then listen to me. It's Seth's fault and his alone. You don't defy me here under pack law! Is that clear, Doctor?!" she asked angrily.

"Yes, Luna." he whispered back weakly.

Seth could imagine her smile as she replied, "Good. Give him a week to heal.
He's got a lot of work to do, and I want him to be in the best shape to do it.

"Yes." said the doctor.

Seth's head throbbed, and his heart raced with fear. His palms became slippery and sweaty as fear built up in his body. He'd to have misunderstood. He wasn't in the best shape, maybe his ears weren't working.

But actually, he'd heard correctly.

While he was lost in his thoughts, the doctor peeked in with a very sad face. He quietly closed the door and pulled up a chair next to Seth. His next words haunted Seth for the next few years. "Seth... I'm sorry to say this, but... as soon as you're released from the hospital, you'll be demoted to the rank of Omega."

His eyes widened. "That's not possible. My mother would never do that to me."

The doctor shook his head sadly, as if he wanted to cry himself. "It's true. As much as I wish it wasn't, it's. She blames you for your father being in a coma. I know you overheard us, Seth."

Seth fell silent at his words, not wanting to believe it. "Yes, I heard it all... But... I thought I'd misunderstood. How could it be my fault? My father is the one who came alone to save me. We also had to deal with a large number of villains. There must be consequences in the end."

He nodded and regarded Seth with a steady gaze. "Indeed. I told your mother the same thing, but she contradicted me. Knowing her instructions, I must release you after exactly one week. You'll become an omega and be the lowest of the low."

Seth bit his lips and his heart grew heavy. "That rank ... wasn't it forbidden? My father didn't approve of anyone being treated in an inhumane way."

"She brought it back to punish you, Seth," he murmured sympathetically.

Seth clenched his hands angrily. "I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't deserve that. I can't even transform, how could she do this to me?"

The doctor didn't answer, but rose from the chair. "I don't know, Seth."

They were silent as Seth anxiously asked, "H-how did my father fall into a coma?"

He sighed, "Jupiter, or rather the Alpha, went into a coma when the mystery woman shoved the pills in his mouth. We examined his stomach and tried to pump it all out, but the pills had already taken their effect on his body. These pills are forbidden and were invented to make prisoners unconscious for a long period of time."

Seth's mind took a while to process the information, then he nodded with a sigh.

"What'll happen to me now?"

The doctor looked him in the eye and hesitated to answer. "All I know is that you'll have an average alpha pup for a week. People will respect you and look up to you like any other day. When the week is over, everything you knew will never be the same."

And so the week flew by, and he was right.

Seth lost everything after the week was over.
_ _ _

"Clean the floor, you worthless bastard!" his mother growled.

Seth scrubbed the floors harder, his hands red with blisters. But he kept scrubbing, and his anger and sadness showed as he cleaned the floors.

When the week was over, his mother dragged him out of bed when he returned to his room. She demanded that he move out and live in a room of his own.

When he did, his new room was intentionally trashed.

Just like that, he was fed little to no meals.
He cleaned and washed all the clothes, washed the dishes, took out the trash, etc.

Before his father went into a coma, this type of method didn't exist. Each pack member had to take responsibility for their own chores and make sure the pack house was clean.

The responsibility never rested with one individual.

Engrossed in his own thoughts, he was suddenly kicked in the face. A surprised, pained groan escaped from between his lips.

"Stop thinking, you mistake. Scrub and work. No time to procrastinate!" his mother spat at him, her eyes cold.

He struggled to get up, but finally managed.

Some other kids who were around came up to him and started laughing and bickering. Children who were jealous that he was an alpha scion and how well he'd been treated then.

There were some kids who tried to protect him. For example, his friends. Unfortunately, his mother sent them away and ordered them to never speak to him again, as if he'd never existed. The same thing happened for the pack members who tried to rebel against their Luna.

They all tried to protect him.

Only a few blamed him.

Apparently, before he was kidnapped, the packing house was attacked and some members were killed. That explained why he heard a bomb explode with smoke.
One of the few who were killed was named David Jones and Hannah Jones.

Seth didn't understand why everyone blamed him when it was this woman's fault. The woman who'd kidnapped him and blamed him for things he didn't understand.

Why couldn't people accept their own mistakes and not blame others instead?

He continued to scrub the floor as the voices around him grew louder. The hands around him gripped and slapped. They slapped and scratched. Some shouted and made fun of him, others told him to kill himself.

To die.

As they told him, it was his fault.

And for once he thought they were right.

You can only assume so much of what they say until you actually believe their words.
_ _ _

"Please, please! I'm so sorry! Mom, please!" cried Seth, feeling his mother's heels dig into his back and break several of his ribs.

One last push of her heel finally made him go limp, and her growl grew louder. "Shut up! I'm not your mother, Seth! I wish I'd never brought you into this world!"

His heart pounded with pain.

It hurt all over and he wanted to die.

Today was his 15th birthday, a few months after the incident. One in which his father had fallen into a deep coma.

His mother had her heat and was in pain. She'd taken it out on him the last few nights, but he didn't think she'd surprise him on the day he was born.

She gathered all those who hated him and sang, "Happy Birthday to you."

"Happy birthday, my dear, Seth. Happy birthday to you!"

Just when he thought that everything that had happened in the last few months was a dream, they all asked, "What's your wish?"

Seth answered eagerly, ignoring the bruises and blisters on his body. "I wish for my father to wake up. But is this really a dream? You're celebrating my birthday?" he asked happily, for the first time in many months.

They all smiled darkly, his mother nowstanding in front of him. "Oh, my sweet Seth. This isn't a dream. This is a nightmare."

She said before ordering them all to beat him up. Each pack member was allowed to beat him up with only fifteen strokes to "celebrate" the birthday strokes.

Seth wanted to scream and cry over and over again, but everyone covered his mouth because that would wake up the whole pack.

When they were done, he was broken.

Completely and utterly broken.

His mother had her share of punching holes in his back with her heels.

When they left him to rot in his so-called room, he was waiting to die.

He wanted to end his suffering. The urge to end his life was so strong that he imagined the blade would cut through his skin and he'd bleed to death.

But a voice in his head told him to go on.

To hang on and not let go.

Finally, he listened to the voices and gained the strength to move forward. He began to stagger down the stairs. He tried not to make a sound as he walked to the infirmary to see the doctor.

As he passed his mother's door, he could hear her having sex with her other lover.

It was only temporary, as his father couldn't satisfy her.

It was disgusting how she injected his father with needles to make sure his father didn't feel the pain of betraying their bond, their sacred gift to each other.

When Seth got downstairs, he looked for the doctor. The doctor was always up and working at night. He knocked gently and as quietly as he could to get the doctor's attention.

The doctor's face turned into an expression of horror as he ran to open his office door.

"Seth, what happened to you, my boy? Did they hurt you again?"

He nodded without saying anything. He ushered Seth in and had him sit down while he bandaged him up, as he'd been doing for the past few months. As he did so, he fed him soup and asked what else he'd like to eat and do.

He took care of him while his mother's orders failed to materialise.

Forgetting a formality, Seth finally asked,
"Doctor, what's your name? I never asked."

He smiled at Seth, his eyes filled with tears as Seth showed a genuine smile for the first time in months. "My name is Alfred. I'll protect you to the best of my ability, Seth. Just remember, no matter what they say, it was never your fault. Don't ever blame yourself, do you hear me?"

Seth nodded, still smiling.

Like other moments, it only lasted for a while. They tried to be as discreet as possible about how he treated Seth's wounds.

However, when his mother discovered that he was gaining weight again and his wounds weren't infected, she sent a spy. He reported to her, and Alfred was put on the street to work in the infirmary.

Seth never saw him again, until now.