The Alpha's Unwanted Bride novel Chapter 446

Chapter 446: DEAD FAMILY/ BETRAYAL FAMILY

The sun had gone down beyond the lush trees when Marro finally dared to move. He had remained tucked under the hollow for hours, frozen in fear and desperation. His small body ached, muscles cramped from stillness, but worse was the heavy silence pressing against his ears, the kind that told him something had gone horribly wrong.

No more voices. No more footsteps. No more searching.

Just... silence.

Slowly, cautiously, he emerged, brushing off dried leaves and dirt. His palms were scraped, and the wrist band he had fought so hard to protect now felt cold and heavy in his pocket. His legs shook as he stood.

He needed to see his almost dead friend but then he needed to go home.

He needed to see them.

Maybe they were hiding too. Maybe they were waiting for him.

The path back to the pack’s village was deserted.

Not a single howl echoed in the night air. Only the rustling of wind in the trees and the far-off caw of a bird.

He stuck to the shadows, moving low and silent, just like his father had taught him during those nighttime hunts.

As he crept closer to the outskirts of the village, the air turned strange.

Thick. Smoky.

His nose twitched with the scent of blood.

But there were no guards. No patrols. No torches.

That’s what made it worse.

He darted behind the last house, his heart pounding in his chest like a war drum. Then, finally, his eyes found their home—the crooked roof, the broken fence his mother always begged his father to fix, the single lantern still flickering in the front window.

But it felt wrong.

Too quiet. Too still.

He approached slowly, eyes scanning everything. The front yard looked untouched. No blood, no mess, no sign of struggle.

And then he saw him.

His father’s body lay sprawled at the front door, a dried pool of red staining the earth around him.

His head was tilted unnaturally, eyes glassy and open, lips parted as though still trying to speak.

Marro stopped breathing.

His knees buckled and he staggered forward, lips trembling. "P–Papa?"

No answer.

"Papa...?"

He dropped beside him, grabbing his arm with shaking hands. It was cold.

Gone.

Marro’s breath came in shallow gasps. Tears blurred his vision as he clutched the stiff, unmoving hand, sobbing now. "Papa, no... no, please..."

He cried until the stars appeared above.

Then something broke inside him.

Mama.

Fabian.

He scrambled up and pushed through the open front door, yelling, "Mama? Fabian?!" His voice cracked, raw and high. "It’s me! I’m home!"

No answer.

He tore through the house like a storm, throwing open doors, looking under beds, behind furniture.

Nothing.

No signs of life. No warmth.

"Mama!!" he screamed again, frantic, tears falling unchecked. "Fabian?!"

The silence screamed louder.

Then he turned to the back door. It was barely closed, a smear of blood along the handle.

His hands shook as he reached for it, and the moment it creaked open, he stumbled back with a choked cry.

His mother lay in the grass behind the house, her body bent forward like she had been trying to crawl away. Her hair was soaked with blood. Her arms limp.

Beside her, Fabian.

His big brother.

Slumped over. Eyes closed.

Marro collapsed onto his knees and crawled to her, sobbing as he threw himself into her arms. "Mama, wake up... please wake up... I’m sorry... I should’ve come sooner—"

She didn’t move.

Her skin was pale. Her body already cooling.

He clung to her, howling, the sound piercing the stillness of the night.

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