Chapter 37 Courting Gift
Courting Gift
Mads
We eventually leave The Crimson Lion. We haven’t heard from Oscar. It’s like he disappeared into that Omega Shelter. Kol and Locke don’t seem worried.
Speaking of emotions.
Being bonded to alphas is weird as all hell.
There are some perks already. No one came anywhere near me at the Crimson Lion.
I haven’t been there since before my accident.
Lee Man-ho, the man who owns the mall, keeps a lot of alphas nearby.
The place is always crawling with them. And they have a reputation for being kind of wild.
But one look at the mark on my neck, suddenly there was a ten foot bubble around me, no alpha was willing to breach.
An unexpected downside is how much my pain affects them. Anyone who lives with daily pain would never wish their worst enemy to be emotionally connected to them. Suddenly, enduring my pain is not a private matter. I’m not sure if we knew this would happen.
The whole time we head back to the shelter, I try to wonder if I need to change how I take care of myself. I have to stop walking so much. I have to elevate my leg. Take my meds on time. Rest. Constantly.
I am not sure I’m ready, though. I’m not ready to limit myself because of my disability.
But I have to. For Kol.
And the rest of them. Right? Otherwise, I’m hurting them.
“Hey,” I say as we park. Kol and Locke give me their attention. “When you bond with the omega, will she feel my pain, too?”
They look at each other.
I wince.
“I would imagine,” Kol says.
Fuck.
“Why did we do this?” I ask, but not really looking for an answer. Locke puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
“It’s ok, man. You’ll just have to let us take care of you. I can be in charge. You don’t have to do it. I can do it for you.”
“No.”
He takes his hand back.
“You’re not going to get some sort of prize for enduring the most pain, Mads,” Kol says.
“But it’s all I have…”
“What?” They both ask.
“It’s the last thing I have left. Those alphas took everything from me. All they left me with was this pain. If that’s gone, I have nothing left.”
I don’t want to hear what they think of that. I can’t even believe I said it out loud. I turn on the radio and start switching through stations.
I decided yesterday to bond with these guys to help them out with their omega.
I knew they wanted it to be forever, but I can’t wrap my head around that.
How are we going to deal with my pain, when my best way so far is to ignore it as long as possible?
What a shit show. Kol and Locke just stare at each other. Having a silent conversation.
“Can we go to my apartment? I’d like to tell my mom about the new place.”
Kol looks at his phone and then to shelter.
“I’ll text Oscar. But yeah, let’s go do that.”
“Can we make a stop first?”
I guide them to the animal shelter. I tell them about Mr. Snoots, my mom’s companion animal. She has mentioned getting a new dog nearly every day; well, until I didn’t get the settlement money. Then she stopped.
We spend about an hour with the dogs, even though I found one right away.
I fill out all the forms for Benny, a Cocker Spaniel and Shitzu mix.
It’s evening by the time we get to the apartment.
The three of us and Benny go into the apartment, finding my mom on the couch watching tv.
I like to see her relaxing. She hardly ever does.
“Mom,” I say as I hold Benny. She pops up off the couch, looking very confused.
“Who’s this?” she asks, and then repeats the question in Dutch.
Kol and Locke go sit at the kitchen table, since the living room doesn’t have enough seats. I hand Benny to my mom and she loves all over him.
“This is Benny. He’s yours.”
“No, that’s silly. Mads, I can’t take care of a dog. We can’t. And this apartment doesn’t allow dogs. They’ll kick us out.”
“Good, because I have a new apartment for you.”
She sets Benny down and puts her hands on her hips, asking for an explanation.
“Mom, let’s sit,” I say, mostly because I’m starting to feel the familiar ache in my leg. We sit down next to each other. Benny is already glued to my mom like he knows who is his.
“I’ve bonded with the Soto pack. As part of my bonding package, they’ve bought you an apartment. They also have an account set up with a monthly allowance. It’s more than you make now.”
She shakes her head. She’s just like me. Not used to others providing for her. But we can’t really turn this down at this point. I need her to be worry free. I have to have her be ok.
I ask if she wants to see it, and she needs me to explain this all three or four more times. Which I do.
“Why?” she asks, wondering why I bonded.
“The offer was too good,” I say instead of any real or honest answer.
She knows I’m barely giving her a reason. But she pats me on the cheek anyway.
“You’re a good man, Mads. I hope they know how lucky they are to have you.”
“We know,” Kol says. “He’s in good hands.”
“I don’t like this. You come in here with a puppy and a new house, and a bite mark like an angry bear dug his claws into your neck. But I guess this is the world we live in. Your father was courted by a pack once.”
She says that last thing so flippantly, I barely catch. I didn’t know this about my dad. I knew he died when I was three. I have no memories of him.
He had a heart attack while driving and sped into a lake. My whole life, he’s been this missing person. No one came to take over for him.
I look at my mom. I really look at her. My mom has seen a lot of grief. She’s raised me all on her own. She deserves a nice place and a cute puppy. She deserves so much more.
Kol gives her the keys to the new place and explains when the truck and movers will be by. He leaves information on where her mailbox is and the parking stall. She kisses me on the cheeks and forehead, and we say our goodbyes.
“Goodbye, mom.”
“Goodbye, sweetheart. I’ll see you tomorrow.”