Chapter 42
Chapter
Forty-Two
“There you are.”
I hummed, looking up at Lauren, who had come out from the house.
My favorite spot, sitting on the edge of the front porch, looking out over the entire road, forest, and grass area.
Something about it made me feel calmer. The wind felt nice today, and I sat out with Kayla.
She wanted to stand more and more, giggling every time I held her and let her rest her feet on my legs.
Sometimes pushing off me or wiggling as she laughed.
“Did you need anything?”
“I’m good. Thank you, though.”
She sat down next to me, making grabby-hands for Kayla. Passing her over, I watched as Kayla squealed and jumped even more while Lauren held her. Already my little girl knew who her family was, and she already played favorites.
I hated to admit it, but out of everyone, Tyson held something special with her.
He blamed the beard, since she loved rubbing her hands over it, but it was more than that.
She was wiggling and explorative, wanting to get into everything already.
With him, she was different. It was as if she could feel the power he held and enjoyed being calm, watching him with an intensity she rarely used with anything else other than eating.
“She’s just so big.”
Nodding, I smiled. “She has her four-month checkup with Dean next week, but she’s already into the five-month milestones, I think. Already rolling and she’s nearly sitting up on her own now.”
“Look at you, being a little overachiever.” Lauren’s voice turned higher as she rubbed her nose against Kayla’s. “You’re just like your daddies.”
Leaning against the column, I watched the two of them. “Not from me. I was always too small, too weak.”
“Were you? You don’t really talk about when you were a kid.”
Shrugging, I pulled my leg up and tucked my ankle under my other leg. “There really isn’t much to tell. A lot of it was hell. The rest of it, I was alone most of the time. At least after I turned thirteen. I can’t say it was all terrible before that though.”
“Yeah? Even with how your parents treated you?”
I nodded. “I had friends and people I looked up to. One of the warriors I was close to before he died. He…was like the father I never had. I think, had he been alive when I found out my designation, I would have told him.”
“You’re kidding?” She looked at me, surprised.
“He meant everything to me. Well, when I was little, there was this little crew, as we called ourselves. There were about five of us, and we called ourselves the Runt Crew.” I chuckled, shaking my head. “A bunch of us runts from the leadership families just trying to protect ourselves.”
Lauren pulled Kayla close and then realized it was a bad idea because she was wearing earrings. Reaching out, I unhooked them and held the hoops for her. Kayla gave me the stink eye and then pouted on Lauren’s shoulder. We laughed, and I shook my head.
“So the Runt Crew?”
“I know. It was a terrible name, but in a group like that at school, we were untouchable. You messed with one of us, you were wolf-piled by all of us. I definitely wasn’t the leader, but I was the most willing to fight.”
Lauren barked out a laugh. “Absolutely not. You want me to believe that?”
Smiling, I shrugged. “Believe what you want. Pops taught me how to fight, how to build my body, and train. We didn’t do much else, but I had enough of the basics down that I could break bones.
I was in and out of the counseling office throughout my school years.
None of it on record, since I was still the Beta’s son. ”
“I cannot believe that. You, the sweetest shifter on the planet, in fights at school? No way.”
Sighing, I looked up at the sky. “I was angry. Instead of lashing out at my parents, I lashed out at the world. It only got worse when I realized what I was. The Goddess just piled on another thing, something I couldn’t control, and would ultimately be my downfall.
I don’t regret the decisions I made to hide my designation, but it wasn’t easy. ”
“You didn’t go to clubs when you were that young, right?”
“Not for a lack of trying.”
I smiled, remembering the first time they kicked me out of the club just south of the territory.
Looking back, I was an idiot. Being an Omega always made me feel smaller, and somehow my scrawny butt tried to walk in as if I were thirty trying to pick up some chicks.
I didn’t even get a toe across the line.
Not to mention I had tried to dress myself up, using my brother’s old clothes, and they hung on me like I was a scarecrow.
“After failing miserably, the second full heat nearly tore me apart. I knew I had to do something. So, I did what any dumb teenager does. Hit the school locker room for the guys, and let them think they were bullying me.”
“Colt.”
Waving my hand, I didn’t want to hear the pity in her voice.
“Don’t. The only time I had any real issues was with Dylan.
Outside of that, everything I did, I manipulated to benefit me.
Yes, I had to grow up really quickly, but it was that or I died.
It never really mattered to me either. I knew I would never find a mate. That much I knew.”
“But you did…” She glanced back at the house.
I didn’t look. I didn’t need to. Marcus had been leaning against the outside wall on the side of the house.
My side of the bond was strong enough to know where he was, especially when he was close.
It wasn’t as precise as it normally was, but it helped a little in avoiding or warning him that I was close.
“He knows my history. I wasn’t shy about it and I have never been. I did what I needed to do in order to survive. I always have. My Alpha wasn’t ever in the plans, and I knew it was a huge liability, but I don’t regret it. Not after everything.”
She narrowed her eyes when I said, ‘My Alpha’, but I nodded behind me.
Lauren leaned back, looking, before giving me an eyebrow raise.
Tapping my chest, I smiled, and she gave me one back.
I’d told her before that the bond was slowly reforming between us.
It probably would be faster if we spent more time together, but I didn’t want to force that on him.
“So, what happened to the Runt Crew?”
“We all got our designations. A few of us ended up being actual runts, while others rose in the ranks. There weren’t enough of us anymore to protect each other, so we searched for protection elsewhere. Whether it was powerful friends, being in a contractual arrangement, or leaving altogether.”
I was quiet for a moment. “At the time, I had two best friends. Darren turned out stronger that his entire family. He was the one I stole the blood from to get tested as a Beta. Sadly, he turned on us. He thought he had made it and now was better than all of us since he was the first Beta of his family. It hurt, but it was expected. What he didn’t realize was that the Beta teens still had a hierarchy, which I knew just because of my family.
The strongest against the weakest. They shoved around him, treated like shit.
He turned around and bullied others for their designations. ”
“Goddess, was it really that bad in your pack?” I knew from the stories that Lauren told me, her pack had been a good one when she had been living there.
“Strength meant everything. Your status meant everything. I didn’t get touched because of my last name, but also because Dylan marked me as his. I was his punching bag; his to torture and his to fuck. No one was allowed to touch me on the pack territory unless he gave permission.”
Lauren growled, but it was a little too loud, and Kayla shifted. I hadn’t realized she had fallen asleep, but I knew when I spoke a lot, it was like bedtime stories and she would knock out. It also showed how quiet I normally was, since I didn’t talk much like this.
“It was what it was. I survived. My other best friend, Benny, didn’t.
He couldn’t take it. I was too busy dealing with Dylan, and I didn’t know that Darren had turned on him as the primary target.
” I laced my fingers together. “They found his body hanging from the bridge. No one mourned him, except a few of us who still held our time with the crew close. Because no matter who you were after your designation, you were alive because we all protected each other.”
“That pack is fucked up. It really deserves to be destroyed. All of it.”
I let out a long sigh, looking out at the trees as if I’d see them creeping up on me.
“I think the pack knew, after Dylan’s father couldn’t provide the pack with a stronger heir, they were destined for ruin.
Dylan always felt it was his right, since he was the strongest, to take over.
Except he wasn’t the strongest. Anyone who challenged him or defeated him in combat died.
Suddenly, strength didn’t matter, just control.
Fear and control within the hierarchy under the guise of strength.
It was the only way. Now, he’s scrambling, and I’m his last hope. ”
“Hadn’t he had Omegas? What makes him think you would be better? I mean, he doesn’t even know your level, right?”
I shook my head. “No. He’s twisted, though.
His mind is just that of a monster. I don’t expect anything logical from him.
He’s smart, conniving, manipulative, and evil.
There isn’t anything he won’t do to get what he wants, but he knows in a one on one or in a battle of strength, he’ll lose.
So he goes about it in every other way.”
“Hence the poison and capturing Marcus.”
This time I nodded. Staring out at the trees, I swallowed hard. Looking at her, I smiled simply because if I didn’t, she would notice the crack in my armor.
“I keep expecting him to step out of the trees and declare I’m his.
That this has gone on long enough. I can’t imagine the rage he feels right now.
What he’s willing to do to get to me. Mike and Rin are on high alert just in case.
He lost his pawn, and I’m sure Ebony was on the receiving end of his anger partially because she messed up enough that Marcus got free. ”
Letting out a long sigh, I looked back at Lauren. “The lair feels safe, but I don’t know if the territory is. He wouldn’t be able to get here, but I’d be trapped.”
“We could fly you out.”
“Sure. The Archives would be safe too, but he could hire someone unrelated to the pack. The Archives can’t be shut down for everyone but us.
We could run, but a dragon can’t fly forever.
Ebony tracked Lai and me all the way across the ocean to France.
To find out exactly where I lived. Dylan’s not logical, but he’s incredibly intelligent to use the tools at his disposal. ”
Marcus stepped out from around the corner, his feet crunching on the gravel of the driveway. I raised an eyebrow at him as he stood in front of us. Lauren was struggling to keep a straight face.
“Marcus.”
“Lauren.”
I didn’t say anything as I watched him in amusement. He was rigid, and he clenched his hands into fists. Over the past weeks of him being here, he was growing the beard back. It looked so odd on his face; it was almost easier to remind myself that this wasn’t my Marcus.
This was a dragon, lost in his mind, struggling with memories that weren’t real while getting flashes of ones that were. I couldn’t imagine the pain that was going on in his heart, not being able to trust himself. He looked so different, and yet the same. Though I wasn’t one to talk.
“Colton, do you mind coming with me for a second?”
My cocked head straightened as eyebrows shot up. Lauren narrowed her eyes though, her hands held onto Kayla tighter. Reaching out, I rubbed her back.
“I can for a couple of minutes. Did you want to talk?”