Accidentally Mated To Four Alphas-Chapter 293: _ The Sting Of Betrayal

Morgan tilts his head. "Well," he says mildly, "this is awkward."

The leader snorts. "Another Bellamy?"

Morgan shrugs. "Depends who you ask."

Grayson frowns. "Morgan?"

Morgan’s gaze doesn’t leave him. "I might share the name, but I don’t share the blood. Not all of it."

The rogues exchange looks. Grayson’s brow tilts.

"My mother was a rogue," Morgan continues conversationally. "So technically? I’m half of what you are."

Grayson’s stomach drops. Why would Morgan choose now of all time to bring Rayne’s lineage up? Grayson wonders but eventually decides to believe that his twin had a trick up his sleeve. Regardless...

"That doesn’t matter," he says urgently. "Morgan, that doesn’t matter now. Help me."

However, to his surprise, Morgan’s lips curve and it’s not into a smile, exactly but something colder. "It matters to me."

Grayson is supposed to feel anger, but for some reason, Morgan wears an icy look that unsettles him. Something tells him that this... this is about to become deeper than he thought.

"What are you talking about?" he whispers.

Morgan steps closer, stopping just out of reach. "We don’t share the same mother." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Grayson laughs weakly. "That’s not funny."

"I’m not joking."

Something in Morgan’s tone makes Grayson’s blood run cold. He sounded so flat and knowing. As though he’d carried a buried side of him that he, who is his twin, never knew about.

"I heard them when I was little. Tobias and Rayne. Whispering like secrets don’t rot if you keep them quiet." Morgan begins, and Grayson begins to feel dizzy with pain—one that constricts his heart.

The forest seems to hold its breath along with him.

"Our mothers were twins," Morgan continues. "Identical and inseparable. They promised each other they’d marry the same man."

Grayson’s head spins. "No. Rayne is our mother—she—"

"She was chosen by Tobias. Mine wasn’t." Morgan cuts him off.

The leader shifts uncomfortably, but doesn’t interrupt. "The council wouldn’t allow a rogue queen," Morgan goes on. "Let alone two. So Tobias made a choice."

Grayson’s voice breaks. "Stop."

"He sold her," Morgan says softly. "Alyssa. My poor trusting mother, they sold her the night she gave birth. While Rayne held you, my mother was denied the chance to ever touch her son. I! I was denied the chance to ever experience my mother’s LOVE!"

The words crush the air out of Grayson’s lungs. He stares at Morgan like he’s suddenly started speaking another language.

"We don’t share the same mother."

That’s not possible. That’s not funny. That’s not—

Grayson lets out a breath that sounds halfway to a laugh, halfway to a sob.

"Okay. Okay, very funny. You’ve officially lost your mind. Can you—can you help me up now?" He asks hoarsely.

He shifts, trying to push himself upright. Pain rips through his chest, bright and nauseating, and the rogue’s claws dig deeper in response, pinning him back down. The forest tilts. His vision blurs at the edges.

Morgan doesn’t move to help. Grayson watches his twin—the person he loves the most in the world stand there and watch as a rogue’s claw sinks deeper and deeper into his chest.

"Morgan," Grayson tries again, coughing out blood. A plea sneaks in. "Stop. Please. This isn’t—this isn’t you."

"Maybe it is..." His wolf comments weakly. "Look at his eyes, Grayson. They are empty like something burned itself out years ago and never bothered to replace the space it left behind.

"I told you, I’m not joking." Morgan throws his hands nonchalantly in the air.

Grayson’s chest tightens. It is laughable how it’s not even from the weight of the rogue’s hand, but from something deeper and heavier. His heart stutters, then slams harder, as if trying to outrun the truth chasing it down.

"No," he whispers. "No. That doesn’t make sense. Rayne is—she’s our mother. She..." His voice breaks. "She sang to us. She braided our hair the same every morning. She cried when you got hurt. When I got hurt."

His throat closes. Tears sting his eyes, heart crumbling at the betrayal playing before him.

"She loved you," Grayson insists desperately. "She loves you. You know that."

Morgan tilts his head slightly, like he’s examining an insect pinned under glass. "She loved you," he corrects. "She was very good at that."

Grayson’s wolf howls inside him, frantic and confused, slamming against his ribs. His body shakes from grief so sharp it steals the air from his lungs.

"We were twins. We are twins. You slept in my bed when you had nightmares. You used to steal my food and then swear you didn’t. You..." His voice crumples completely now. "You carried me when I broke my leg. You told me you’d always have my back."

Morgan’s gaze flicks away for half a second before the vulnerability invoked by Grayson’s words dies completely.

"I did have your back... before I knew."

Grayson swallows hard. Blood drips from the corner of his mouth, warm against his chin.

"Knew what?"

Morgan steps closer. The rogues tense but don’t interfere. Even they seem to feel it—that something important is happening here, something heavier than violence.

"I knew that while you were being rocked to sleep by a Luna," Morgan says quietly, "my mother was being wasted away."

Grayson’s ears ring.

"I knew that while Tobias paraded Rayne around as his mate, mine was sold. Traded. Disappeared." Morgan’s voice doesn’t rise. That’s the worst part. "I knew that I grew up in the same house as the people who destroyed her."

Grayson shakes his head, helpless. "She wouldn’t—Rayne wouldn’t let that happen."

"She didn’t stop it."

Grayson’s breath comes apart. He laughs weakly, hysterically. "You don’t know that. You don’t know that."

"I heard them! I heard Tobias thank her for understanding. For being reasonable. For agreeing it was necessary."

Grayson’s stomach churns violently.

"No," he whispers. "She was kind. She was gentle. She—she let the other Lunas talk down to her. She never raised her voice."

Morgan’s mouth twitches. "Exactly."

The rogue leader shifts his weight, uncomfortable now, but still gripping Grayson’s chest. "This a family thing?" he mutters.

Morgan doesn’t look at him. "Finish what you started," he instructs instead.