Chapter 17
Hayden’s stepfather’s fist flew, decking him for raising his eyes to him. At seventeen, his wolf hadn’t come yet. Three more weeks and he’d leave this place, go rogue. He was ready to ditch his supposed family. Not even the emotionless visage of his mother, Kali, could keep him there now.
“You took Sebastian’s money,” Beta Marcus said. “You will pay back every cent. How dare you steal from your brother.”
Hayden said nothing. It was all a lie, but they never believed him. Sebastian, Allison, and Curt got away with everything. Hayden was their scapegoat. Marcus knew it and didn’t care. In fact, he played into the game to justify beating Hayden.
Mother didn’t care either. So many adults in his life had backed away from actively protecting him from the Beta of the pack.
They knew his stepdad was supported by Alpha Dean.
When he’d attended school, teachers had known.
They never looked at him when the bruises and cuts actually showed.
It was almost like he hadn’t existed there.
They’d known the laws regarding child abuse and ignored them.
Marcus’ fist flew again. He could have ducked it.
He was fast enough but that would have set Marcus off even more.
The scars of his fury littered Hayden’s body.
Plus, it didn’t seem like a good idea to get whipped today.
He’d like to live a day pain free for once.
Wouldn’t be today but it was a nice dream.
“We are traveling with the Alpha to the Blood Moon Pack for the Winter Solstice Festival. I tried to leave you behind in the dungeon but they are full. Alpha said you will guard our vehicles. He doesn’t want another incident like last time.”
“Yes, father,” Hayden said quietly. All Marcus wanted was obedience and even that was punishable. There was always fault in every move Hayden made.
“You’ll be sleeping in the car so you’re allowed to bring a sleeping bag. The luggage is in the lobby. Go pack it in the trailer.”
“Yes, father.”
Every three years the packs would travel for the Winter Solstice Festival. It was a time of celebration and remembrance. There were hundreds of gathering places around the world. With a wolf population of roughly a million people, multiple locations would be needed.
The Ice Claw Pack usually went to the Blood Moon Pack celebration grounds. They had built two hotels for the event. There was also a campground for those not interested in the hotels. They would host up to 5000 people over the week. It was one of the larger gatherings.
Hayden loved these gatherings. It was at least three days of freedom from a supposed family that hated him.
For some events, they simply left him at home.
Last time he’d stayed home, Sebastian got rip roaring drunk with a friend and used one of Marcus’ vehicles to play ricochet with other people’s vehicles.
The cost had been high. That’s why Hayden was getting guard duty.
His absence had caused the disaster, apparently.
On the years Hayden did get to go, his family was too distracted to torture him, for the most part.
So, he would be pain free, and get to eat for a few days.
Feeding him was too much drain on the budget.
Sebastian, Allison, and Curt needed the extra calories to grow big and strong.
Hayden was a good four or five inches shorter than other wolves his age.
The doctor had tried to tell his mother Hayden needed to eat more and she just laughed him off.
Hayden had given up on mother long before that incident.
“Hey, Sebby,” Allison yelled out the back of the trailer Hayden had filled with their luggage. “Who’s bringing a sleeping bag? We’ve got hotel rooms.”
“If it’s taking up space, chuck it,” Sebastian gave her a thumbs up.
Hayden watched his sleeping bag fly out the back of the trailer and into the dumpster.
No point in fishing it out. The dumpster was a lost cause and they wouldn’t put up with the smell.
Hayden would have put up with the smell just for the promise of warmth, but he’d never get the smell off before they left.
He sighed in irritation and got the last load of luggage for the trailer.
There was a caravan of SUV’s from the pack going to the Winter Solstice Festival.
Hayden was traveling in the food truck, not even in the cab, in back with the food.
There was just enough room to scoot in for the four hour drive to the Blood Moon Pack.
No heat in the food van, except for the driver’s cab.
Every pack brought food for the celebration.
It was the polite thing to do with so many coming to participate in the Festival.
The food would go directly to the kitchens.
Many packs brought their own provisions to cook for themselves, too.
The Ice Claw Pack fully expected to be fed every meal.
No point in coming to the Festival if they had to work to feed themselves.
Blood Moon was supposed to be the oldest pack on this continent.
Some say it was the strongest pack during the time of the Lycans.
History wasn’t Hayden’s strong suit, but he loved getting lost in the past when he could.
Marcus said education was a waste of time and money on Hayden.
He got what he could, where he could, behind Marcus’ back.
He’d even managed to stash books under a couple of floor boards in the barn.
It wasn’t a perfect education but it was something.
Not everyone in the pack was against Hayden, though.
He’d made friends. Friendships kept him alive, mostly by providing food.
It was never enough but Hayden survived.
His friends knew it was never enough, but they survived, too.
Most of the people Marcus hired him out to made sure he got some amount of food.
The weeks he didn’t work he didn’t eat. Ethan Bells had been a gift from the Moon Goddess for setting up his network of people to hire Hayden.
Beta Marcus was beloved by Alpha Dean. The Alpha had a lot of blind spots.
Those blind spots put his pack in serious jeopardy.
It was to the point a rebellion against him was stirring.
Given the right circumstance, Alpha Dean was on the verge of loosing his pack and his status. Alpha Dean loved status.