Chapter 197
Chapter 197
James:
“You stupid bastard. Let go now.” My father roared. I cringed under the power he put into his command.
“Your commands are not welcome here asshole. We weren’t planning on harming him!” Travis’s voice was deathly calm and low, like a knife wrapped in silk. I turned to look at Travis’s back. I knew that tone. It was the one he used when something inside him had gone cold. It was the same coldness i’d seen Rue fall into when she fought in the ring. A shiver ran down my spine. I swallowed hard but fear had wrapped its fingers tightly around my throat making it hard to breath. That was true power. A quiet, controlled command. My father fought against Travis’s hold on him. The bloodied knife dropped out of his now slippery grip and clattered against the floor, breaking through the fear. The boy whimpered. The struggling noise from his throat wasn’t just pain; it was a knowing he wouldn’t leave this room the same.
“We have to clean up our messes, boy.” My father hissed like he was instructing children. They started to argue. I turned back to the boy.
“Hey kid, I don’t think I got your name?” I tried to keep his focus on me, not the two Alpha’s behind us as their power clashed.
The kid let out a hysterical and wet laugh, “You kidnapped me and you don’t even know my fucking name?”
“Yeah, dick move on my part.” I teased. The wound was spilling blood down his side and soaking the concrete flooring. It trickled in a line toward the drain. Somewhere deep in my brain, a voice whispered something i didn’t want to admit; this was just the beginning of this.
With a painful groan, he moved his blindfolded head in my direction, “Lucas.”
“Lucas? Thats a good name.” I pressed into the wound a tiny bit. Lucas gritted his teeth, tears soaking though the blindfold. Blood flowed steadily from the wide wound. My father must have twisted the knife when Travis pulled him away because it was way too wide for a simple knife wound. An initial examine revealed no vital parts had been hit but it was hard to tell with the amount of blood. “Alright, Lucas, I’m going to save your life. The dickhead who stabbed you wasn’t suppose to do that. So I’m going to protect you from not only him but anyone else that will harm you.”
“Yeah sure you are.” Lucas’s voice was tipped with skeptic rage. I didn’t blame the kid. I ripped my suit jacket off, tearing it to a few pieces and stuffing his wound to stop the bleeding long enough to get help. We needed to get to a pack hospital, so no questions would be asked. I wasn’t sure how far the nearest one was. i looked over his misshapen joint. That would have to be fixed first.
“I’m going to get your shoulder back into place, then my big friend who hauled you in here is going to haul you back to the car. We will drive you to a doctor.”
There was shuffling behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see my father squaring off with Travis. Both men’s eyes shined with the energy of their wolves. I stood up and with more bravery than I felt I said, “When you two Alphas are done comparing dicks, I’m going to tell you what’s next.”
My father’s eyes whipped to mine, “Fuck off, boy.”
“No. You fuck off.” I growled and planted my feet.
“What did you just say?” Alpha Marcus’s energy turned toward me. I could feel the absolute need to cower to him, but the moan of the teenager behind me gave me more strength.
I puffed up my chest, “I said, fuck off. Leave. We do not need your help.”
Travis begrudgingly released him. My father took one step toward me and I switched into the fighting stance I’d seen Rue do a million times. Unlike Rue, Travis and eventually Reece; I wasn’t formally trained. But I’ve watched enough fights to at least fake it. His eyes lit with the anger my defiance brought. Travis stepped in between us. “You either leave now, Alpha, or I will remove you. He’s right, we don’t need you here.”
A suffocating silence gripped the room, thick and charged like the atmosphere before a lightning strike. No one moved, or breathed, as the weight of this standoff settled on our shoulders. Every second stretched, taunt and trembling, until it felt like the walls themselves were waiting for someone to snap. Finally my father laughed like a maniac. It burst out of him violently and shattered the silence like a sledgehammer to glass. It was madness barely caged that made my skin crawl. He said through the laughter, “Fine, Alpha, keep the coward. He is banished from my pack.”
A sharp, invisible snap echoed through my chest. The unmistakable pain of something sacred being torn from my chest was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I blink them back, refusing to cry in front of him. It hurt. Not just physically, but deeply, like the bond between us was splintering through me with such force it stole the breath from my lungs. Just as quickly as it broke a hot burn scolded my chest as if something was cauterizing the open veins that splintering caused. The bond didn’t vanish completely instead it contorted, recoiled and settled into place deformed. It was still there, still connected, but it felt far away. Unreachable. It was a ghost of a bond, an illusion of freedom without actually being free.
I glared at the man who fathered me and ruined me. My glare was hollowed out by pain but filled with defiance. My father laughed harder. His body shaking with triumph, “You can never truly escape me." Then he spat on the ground near my feet, “worthless.”
He turned and marched out the door. I remained in the fighting stance until the sound of his footsteps faded. Only then did I take in a few breaths. My spine curled forward and i braced my weight with my hands on my knees as relief crashed into me like a wave. I was almost fucking free. My moment is cut short by Lucas’s cry.
“He needs medical attention now.” I turned sharply to Travis.
He is already moving. I can see the wheels turning behind his pale eyes as he plots out our next moves, “We need to get him to the training center. The doc is on call tonight.”
“Training center? Fuck man, take me the hospital!” Lucas sobbed. I’m surprised he could even speak with how much pain his in. I yanked off his blindfold not seeing a need for it now. The kid’s eyes were filled with fear so I gave him my signature smirk. I put my hand on his good shoulder as my cousin stealthily moved around to his injured shoulder. We both knew what needed to happen.
“Cheer up, kid, we will take care of you like your our own.” I reassured him.
“You’re a wolf now, Lucas. No hospitals for you.” Travis placed his hands on Lucas’s shoulder and i adjusted my body to support him. Lucas’s eyes widened and he weakly pushed to move out of our grip. I held him tightly. With an easy smile, I sing-songed, “Welcome to your new life kid.”
Travis popped Lucas’s shoulder back into place. Lucas gritted his teeth together so hard he passed out from the strain. Travis looked at me and I swear I saw a hint of pride in his eyes, “let’s save this kid.”
“Rue is going to be so happy to have some fresh meat at the training center.” I joked.
“Hopefully he will be strong enough to make it that far.” Travis grunted back. The worry and rage coiled in my stomach, praying to the moon goddess to keep him alive.