Chapter 9 - Miles
Her body is still shaking as I hold her against me. Her beautiful, long blonde hair is a wild mess from the struggle, and as I stroke my hand over the back of her head, I gently untangle it with my fingers and smooth it out.
I was going to kill him. I still fucking want to kill him. Trash like that does not deserve to take another breath. He deserves to die painfully, screaming in agony.
The rage is burning inside me like wildfire.
When I saw him on top of my wife, when I realized what was happening, Mudder could not be controlled. I shifted without thinking about it. And I didn’t even try to stop my wolf when he went for Taylor’s throat. I wanted it to be slow, though. Painful and agonizing.
I swallow hard, trying to maintain control as she nuzzles safely against me.
My skin is still burning with anger. The rage is still pulsing like a dark demon inside me.
Kelsey is the only reason I managed to stop Mudder. The only reason I even wanted to.
It was her soft voice. The delicate, quiet urgency of her whispered words. And her shaking hands as they brushed over my fur. It was her fear that stopped me. She needed me, and it became all that mattered.
The urgency to wrap her in my arms overpowered the need to do anything else.
“I’ve got you, sweet girl,” I whisper again.
Behind me, I hear movement, and I have to turn to check on Taylor. “I told you if you move, I’ll kill you,” I snarl.
Kelsey steps back but doesn’t let go of me. “What are you going to do with him?” She asks nervously.
“Why won’t you let me kill him?” I mutter darkly.
She throws me a warning glance and lets me go completely.
I sigh and walk toward the tree where my clothes are lying in a knotted bundle at the base, kicked away by my wolf when I shifted.
I get dressed, still contemplating ways to rip Taylor to pieces.
She doesn’t want me to kill him, but I will drag him back to the compound so that he has to face the elder’s council. He won’t get away with this.
“Stand up,” I demand, glaring down at the piece of trash cowering on the ground. Taylor huffs, pulls a face, and pushes himself up to his feet.
“Listen, Miles, I was…”
“Shut your fucking mouth. I don’t want to hear a word of your pathetic excuses. I saw everything. Pick up the equipment. We’re heading back.”
Taylor pouts in silence as he walks ahead of us carrying everything. If looks could kill, he’d be dying an agonizing death right now. Fuck. I want to cause him so much pain that he suffers for eternity.
Kelsey is quiet and walking next to me. She hasn’t looked at me or said anything since we started heading home.
“Are you ok?” I whisper.
She glances at me and quickly away again.
“Of course I’m ok,” she shrugs.
My eyes narrow, watching her and wondering why she feels the need to act so strong all the time. She has a right to be angry and upset after what just happened.
We arrive at the pack house, and I shove Taylor toward two guards standing outside.
“Cuff him and throw him into the cells,” I tell them. There is a flicker of hesitation and confusion, but both guards manage to snap out of it fast enough to avoid me having to ask twice.
“Come with me, we’re going straight to the elders,” I tell Kelsey, gesturing for her to step into the mansion.
She pushes her chin up and her shoulders back and walks through the massive wooden doors.
The hearing is put together immediately. Within twenty minutes, Kelsey is standing before the elders under the constant fire of their questions. And for some reason, she is being evasive, which is infuriating me in ways I can’t even describe.
Kelsey stands tall and strong with her hands clasped behind her back.
“Ms. Holland…”
“Nelson,” I snap, correcting the man. “She is my wife.”
The elder nods and scribbles something down on a piece of paper in front of him.
“Ms. Nelson, you need to tell us exactly what happened. You have been the victim of an attack, and this gives you the right to seek justice against your attacker. But we need to hear it from you. And if it wasn’t an attack…
then what in the world happened out there?
” the elder sighs. This is the third time he has asked the same question, and I can see he’s losing patience with her.
Kelsey takes a slow breath. She’s avoiding answering, staying eerily quiet when she should be furious at Taylor and seeking justice.
After a minute of her silence, I can’t take it anymore, and I sternly say her name.
“Kelsey!”
She looks at me, her face calm and her gaze even and strong. Where is the girl I found trembling in the forest?
“The longer you delay answering, the longer this hearing is going to drag on. We aren’t leaving without your version of the story, and by remaining silent, you are insulting everyone who has gathered here today to give you the justice you deserve,” I tell her, my eyes piercing into her.
It’s impossible to be angry with her because she might be quietly overwhelmed. But the way she’s holding herself says otherwise. All I see is strength.
Kelsey presses her lips together and closes her beautiful hazel eyes for a moment.
Jeremy asks her the same question again, “What happened out there, Ms. Nelson?”
“Taylor and I were assigned to patrol together this morning. He was already in a bad mood when we left the compound and entered the woods. His bad mood annoyed me, and I ended up aggravating him and egging him on. It was a stupid situation that could have been avoided if I had kept my mouth shut and ignored his bad mood,” she says.
My mouth drops open in disbelief. Is she trying to give him an excuse? An out to brush away his attack?
What the hell is going on with her?
Jeremy glances at the other elders. They talk amongst themselves for a moment before Jeremy addresses all of us.
“Taylor’s actions are not acceptable by any means. We can see the bruising on Kelsey’s face and scratches on her body as evidence of the violence, and we do not, under any circumstances, condone violence without our pack. Taylor will be punished for his actions. This hearing is adjourned.”
“Is that it?” I ask, standing, shaking my head in disbelief.
Jeremy grabs my arm and pulls me to the side. “She isn’t giving a full account of what happened, and she is the main witness. What more do you want us to do?” He whispers.
“I was a witness.”
“You say something, but in your anger, can you be sure of what it was?”
“Yes, I’m damn well sure of what it was,” I scoff.
Jeremy sighs and shrugs, pulling his mouth tight. “I’ll make sure the punishment is fitting,” he says quietly. “That is all I can do,” he says.
I push my building anger down. What the hell is going on today? This whole situation doesn’t make sense. Kelsey’s statement doesn’t make sense. This is not how I expected it to go.
I walk over to my wife and take her hand, pulling her out of the room and into the hallway. “What was that?” I ask, agitated.
“Taylor will be punished.”
“You know that’s not what I mean. Why did you cover for him?”
“I’m tired, and I want to go home and shower,” Kelsey says, pulling away from me to step around me.
I watch her walking down the hall, heading for the front door.
Jogging after her, I follow in silence until we’re home. There are a lot of eyes on us as we walk through the compound, and I don’t want to cause a scene out here, but this conversation is not over.
As soon as the front door of our cottage closes, I grab her arm and spin her to face me.
“Now tell me the truth,” I demand.
“Let go of me,” she huffs, pulling her arm away.
I release her but block her path when she tries to go to her room. “I want the truth, Kelsey. I know you lied in there, and I want to know why.”
“Just leave it alone, Miles. It’s over. There is no point in dragging this crappy situation out any more than it needs to be dragged out,” she sighs, shrugging and brushing it off as though it was nothing.
“I’m not dragging it out!” I say incredulously. “I want to know the fucking truth. And if you don’t talk to me right now and tell me what happened I fucking swear it…I will kill him. I know what I saw. And I will kill him.”
This gets her attention, and she lets out a frustrated breath, biting her lower lip hard enough to turn it red.
“Kelsey, you have five seconds before I walk out that door…”
I see her resistance caving.
“Fine,” she huffs.
I wait; my arms folded over my chest and my eyes locked onto her.
“Taylor and Luke have been bullying me since I started working there. They’ve never liked the fact that a woman is in the same rank as they are.
There was an incident a few weeks back when we were put on a team together, and the three of us were sent on patrol to scout for a potential rogue.
We found two rogues. And my team left me to fight them alone… .”
“That was the day I found you…” I mutter in absolute shock and disbelief. “They abandoned you to fight the rogues?”
She nods, sighing and pressing her fingers into her temples.
“I didn’t tell anyone because it’s pointless to complain about these things, but this morning I was teamed up with Taylor again, and he has been trying to find out from me who I have told or why I haven’t told anyone.
He is convinced that I was keeping the information to myself for later blackmail.
He got pissed off this morning because I snapped at him, and it got ugly… that’s when you arrived.”
“Ugly…” I murmur, mulling over her story. “Kelsey, why didn’t you tell me about them abandoning you with the rogues. That isn’t how this pack should behave. I don’t care who you are or where you’re from; we stick together. That’s the whole point of a pack.”
“You don’t get it, do you?” She snaps.
“What don’t I get?” I ask, scrunching my brows.
“You have no idea how hard I worked to get to where I am today. I’m always being bullied, Miles. There isn’t a day that goes by that I am not face-to-face with some form of misogynistic bullshit. The guys I work with… most of them love to make me feel small and useless, no matter how hard I try.
"I’ve learned to drown them out and push forward. I’ve learned that no one gets to tell me what I can and can’t do, and it’s better to ignore their bullshit than to try and fight it because it’s a never-ending battle that would drain me to nothing.”
Kelsey looks exhausted.
I reach up and touch her face, and she moves away from my hand.
“Kels, you should have told me about all of this. I would’ve helped you,” I say more calmly than before.
“I didn’t tell anyone because there isn’t any point. There has been a lot of change in this pack, but the elders aren’t on board enough to take the word of an omega over the men…”
“You don’t know that…”
“Actually, I do. And besides that, I’ve been handling my own problems for years, and I’m doing just fine.
Apart from these recent events, I haven’t even needed help.
I don’t see any point in dragging other people into my battles now,” she huffs.
“This isn’t a big deal, and I don’t want to make it into one. ”
Again, I’m staring at her with my mouth dropped open.
I want to scream at her that this is a massive fucking deal, but the longer we talk, the more tired she looks.
Why the hell is she brushing it off and acting as though he didn’t try to kill her the first time and then take her the second time?
She’s calm, evasive, and willing to let it go as though it never even happened.
I don’t understand. And I don’t like it.
But now isn’t the time.
“Are we done here?” She asks as though we were busy ordering carryouts and not discussing a grave matter.
“Yes, we’re done,” I sigh.
“I’m going to shower,” she says, heading toward her bedroom.
“Get some rest,” I say as she walks away.