Chapter 05 #2
His dad was a Delta. He could hear it in his voice and couldn’t fight the command in the question.
He’d heard Deltas could make people tell the truth.
They’d called it ‘leaning’ in class. If his dad was letting his Delta power out, it was intense.
It seemed like the right thing to do, just open up.
He was not used to opening up. He’d practiced silence for years.
Miss Gentry was the only person he was close to and he certainly wasn’t open with her. He just went through the motions.
“I got an F on a paper once. Miss Gentry arranged tutoring every Thursday. So yeah, writing, I guess.” There was an odd relief in saying that.
“And, it’s at her private house? Every Thursday?” There was a lot of anger in that questions.
“Yeah.”
“Even in the summer?”
“Yeah,” Drake squirmed as he finally blurted that out.
“Drake? What happens if you don’t go to her house every Thursday for tutoring?”
Drake cringed and tried to keep his mouth shut. The effort was painful. Pressure bearing down, demanding an answer.
“She’ll get another boy to tutor,” he finally whispered. He tried to hide that he was wiping a tear away. It was no big deal. He was strong enough.
“Has she touched you?” his dad asked softly.
Drake didn’t, really didn’t, want to answer. He didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. Mark died. He knew other boys had been hurt by her. The Gentry's gathered power. His dad’s Delta power wouldn’t allow him not to answer truthfully.
“Yes.” Shame engulfed his body. The effort to keep silent was squashed under the Delta questioning. “Yes. But I didn’t want to. I swear. I didn’t. I know fated mates want purity. I didn’t…”
“Sh, Drake. You don’t need to worry about that.
No mate comes to their fated mate perfect mentally, emotionally or physically.
You’re okay, I promise.” His dad patted his shoulder for a brief moment.
It was just enough to help Drake get back under control.
He took a moment to pull himself back together. He had to keep the main thing in mind.
“Please. I just need to go. I’m fine. I can’t let her…”
“I can’t either,” his dad interrupted. “It’s going to be okay. You’re safe now.”
Chip drove in silence for a while which allowed Drake to calm down. He didn’t expect his dad to believe him. He was in such massive trouble. There was no safety being in direct contact with the Gentrys.
“What else do I need to know?” his dad asked quietly after he got done mind-linking with someone. His eye’s had been glazed over for the last few minutes.
Drake shook his head. He was exhausted and didn’t want to talk. Mark was lucky. He didn’t have to explain this to anyone anymore. He could feel gentle pressure from his dad. It was more encouraging this time. There was an odd trust there, like there was nothing wrong with saying more.
“She has a forced mate potion. She’s going to have me drink it so she can mark me on my 18th birthday.”
Chip growled, almost roared. His knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.
“Do you have names of her other victims?” he grated out.
“Mark Smith. He’s dead. They said it was suicide but I don’t believe it. I think Oliver Kline, and there are a few others. I have notes.” Drake took in a deep breath and then whispered, “I’m sorry, dad.”
“Don’t you apologize to me. This is not your fault. You owe an apology to no one.”
Chip’s anger was bracing. He didn’t expect an ally in anyone for this.
Wolves were expected to remain pure for their future mates.
He hadn’t. He was a slut, whore, prostitute, a gigolo.
All those words Miss Gentry had taught him.
Words she had flung at him to make their games more ‘fun’ for her.
Mark had tried to get help and died for it.
“I’ve made arrangements. Your stuff has been packed. There are papers I need to sign for my parental rights. I’m taking you home. Tonight.”
“But, Miss Gentry. I can’t let her…”
“She’s being take care of right now.”
Drake watched his dad’s eyes glaze over as he mind-linked someone, again. Drake didn’t know who he was talking to but could only guess they were talking about him and Miss Gentry. There was no more hiding his dirty secrete now.
“You and all the other boys are safe now, son. That bitch is going to pay.”
Chip slowed down as they got closer to the school. Pack Authority vehicles, and a crowd, surrounded Miss Gentry’s house. Drake slunk down in his seat as they slowly rolled down the street.
“You’re not getting out. We’re just in time. Sit up. You’re gonna wanna see this.” His dad’s calm voice was reassuring.
Drake sat up enough to see her front door. The sight of that door always made him sick. That flower bed was fertilized with his puke.
The door burst open and two men stepped out, pulling on two chains.
Miss Gentry stumbled out the door because those chains were connected to a collar of silver around her neck.
Her hands were in sliver handcuffs behind her back.
Silver would kill a wolf if it was in the body.
On the body, like handcuffs, a wolf couldn’t shift.
They were stuck in human form. And, silver burned the skin if a wolf was kept in it long term.
A criminal was always obvious because of the silver handcuff scars.
Drake almost laughed as she fell down the steps and sprawled in the puke covered flowerbed. He hoped she smelled it. She deserved to be demeaned as much as possible. All the boys in the orphanage would breathe easier knowing she was in silver.
“We have one more stop to make at the orphanage. Alpha Trevor wants you to make a statement to his Delta. Can you do that for me?”
“Yeah, I guess. Um,” Drake shifted, “they packed my stuff up?”
“Yep. It’s in a trailer ready to be hitched to the truck.”
“I need to go to my room. There’s a notebook I need to give to the Delta.”
“The other names you said you wrote down?”
“Yeah.”
Drake got to the room, shoved the bed aside and pried up the floorboard. His journal was still there. He’d become a clean freak to keep any scent from hinting at its existence. It only came out in the dead of night. Mark had died because he knew too much.
Delta Rick gently took the journal from him.
“Let’s have a seat. We’ll talk here if that’s okay.”
Drake nodded and plopped on the bed. He started talking about every moment with Miss Gentry, every fuck, every time she talked about boys he knew or had heard of at school. The information didn’t stop with the boys she’d abused. She'd spilt so many dirty secrets of her filthy family.
The crazy bitch was sure Drake had been cowed.
Instead, he’d written it all down. Drake had dutifully listened, played the amor and filed the info away for verification.
He was able to link a lot of her stories to actual newspaper articles.
A couple of trips to the library and he’d found Mark’s own notes stashed in an old book.
He’d added Mark’s notes to his own. Maybe, if Miss Gentry stayed in chains, Drake wouldn’t die.
“So, this has everything,” Delta Rick said as he gently touched the journal.
“Yeah. In the end, I think the principal, and someone in the orphanage, knew what she was doing. I don’t have proof in there though, just hints, a few whispers. All the names and links are there. I hope you can find more.”
Delta Rick cleared his throat. “On behalf of Alpha Trevor, thank you, Drake. We’ve been trying to nail the Gentry's for years. We just didn’t want the cost to be you, Mark, and so many others.
This may not make you feel better, but the whole family seems to be part of a sex slavery ring.
Your information has connected a lot of dots for us. They will pay.”
“I’m not surprised. The bitch is evil. She learned it from someone. I hope they execute her.” Drake massaged the back of his neck, trying to ease the headache.
“Come on, Drake. Let’s get you home,” Chip said from the doorway.
His dad had never left the room. He’d been a support, a constant that had helped Drake recount the abuse. He was sick to his stomach. The massive headache was growing, making his vision blurry. He need to puke again.
He stopped in the bathroom to empty his stomach. It took awhile to stop the dry heaves. When he finally stepped out of the bathroom, his dad was waiting. He couldn't look his dad in the eyes. Steady hands helped him weave on unsteady legs out to the truck.
This chapter of his life was over. And if he read his dad correctly, he maybe did have family and a future to look forward to.
If his dad could survive a broken mate-bond, Drake could, too.
No one needed to be saddled to his dirty past. So, he’d brace himself for the inevitable rejection and wish that woman well in her quest for love.
The Moon Goddess knew he was too far gone to be any good to a fated mate.
Maybe the Moon Goddess didn’t have one for him and he’d live free of that embarrassment?
A guy could only take so much, after all.