Tuesday, December 31st Pt. 8
(Andre’s POV)
Stepping into the pack house is surreal at best. My head is spinning out of control with thoughts I had desperately tried to put behind me. I had relinquished all hope of ever having my kids just for the full force of the unpredictably of my life to cripple me when I need to be my strongest.
The house is silent as I pick my way through the crowd. Julius is carrying Harper and Abe is trailing behind the two of us. It seems Julius wants as much of a barrier as he can create between Hayden and any escape route he may manage to find. I’m more concerned about him getting lost inside the pack house than him getting outside it. This place has proven to be a maze to me despite living here full time for the last six months.
The house is completely silent except for the television quietly counting down the seconds until the new year. I can only hope that this year is different. That the New Year will actually be the change I’ve needed for years. Shamefully, I feel the dread that comes with knowing things will get worse before they get better. I stop my slow walk through the house, looking around for the indoor landmarks I use when I report to the medical wing but I’m struggling to place anything familiar. Hayden has been unusually quiet, increasing my own anxiety even more.
“Pack house. Pack house.” I barely hear him whisper against my neck.
“I’m sorry, Hayden. I’m just trying to find the med wing but everything is different because of Alpha Julius’s birthday party.”
“No pack house.” He whines through rapid breaths and I know he’s about to lose it.
“Stay with me, Hayden. I promise you’re safe here.”
“Andre.” A buff man only slightly smaller than me taps my shoulder. “Medical hall is the west wing. Keep going to the left.”
“No daddy. Please. No wing. Alpha lives in the west wing.”
I cringe as he whines about something I completely forgot about. At the Red Fang pack house, the west wing is split in two. While the medical wing takes up two thirds of the split and you traverse the hall westward longer, there’s a hall that runs directly parallel behind it leading you to a string of three large offices before hitting the supplementary training room that only my father is allowed to use.
My father has several offices setup but the one in the west wing is where he would often call Cole to him to dole out his unfathomable misery. It’s also the one parents would bring their children to him for punishment.
I start walking again in the direction the gentleman pointed me towards. The crowd is a lot bigger than I remember when we left and the overwhelming feeling of being lost has taken its hold on me as I fail to locate my mate. It’s as I approach the doorway to the west wing that Hayden’s head pops up and looks around. His body shakes and I’m forced to stop as he starts to fight against my hold.
“Hayden, stop. I promise, you’re safe here.”
I attempt to calm his desperate fight. It’s as I adjust my hold on him that he pushes off against my chest, yelping as he forgets about his injured wrist, just to yelp several times more when he lands. I’m stunned as he pushes himself off all fours and takes off running before I can even get myself fully turned around.
“Hayden!”
I yell as I start running after him, dodging people and feet as I do so.
“Hayden Jackson Redmen, you will submit.”
I try the most powerful thing I know to stop his flight. To my dismay it only serves to fuel him.
“Nooooo!”
He screams as he’s slowed from pack members closing the path we’ve gone down. I slow my run to a much less threatening walk as I close the gap between us.
“Hayden, please. Come to me.”
He turns and stares at me, tears streaming down his face as he shakes his head no.
“Alpha Redmen. Alpha Kris. They live there. I’m sorry I’m bad daddy. Please. Please don’t take me to them. I don’t know what I did. I don’t want to be bad. Please daddy. Noooo!”
He shrieks his last word as I attempt to pick him up. He’s told me the one thing that I feared the most, he’s been given to Kristoph for punishment. He fights my hold valiantly until I have no choice but to fall to all fours and wrap my entire body around the panic fueled pup. I remain silent as my own tears fall, waiting for the pummeling fists and unrelenting screams to end. It’s only as he collapses that I’m able to wrap a single arm around him, across his chest down to his legs. His whimpers intertwined with begging for forgiveness.
“Hayden, you are not bad. Alpha Redmen is the one who has done wrong. I swear I fought for you. With everything I had I fought for you. You will not return to Red Fang until I am the alpha. I nearly died fighting for you once. They won’t get you again. I swear to Diana they will have to pry you from my cold dead hands.”
Something about what I have said silences him, silences everyone.
“Make a path, let me through.”
The gentle voice of Dr. Alexis Hamrick cuts through the silence. The sound of shuffling feet ensues shortly after. I feel my own body shaking. I close my eyes and concentrate on my breathing, putting everything I have into willing myself to be stronger than this. My son’s tiny hands tighten their grip around my arm alerting me to the presence beside me.
“I’m sorry little one. I don’t mean to scare you.”
Her voice is as gentle as the hand she places on my shoulder.
“Andre, I know you’re not doing well but do you think you can position yourself into a sit?” I shake my head.
“What’s holding you back, son?” Julius’s voice is patient and calming.
“He will run.” I state simply as I try to swallow the lump forming in my throat.
“Dashall, I need your help, sir.”
“Yes sir.” A voice I haven’t heard before chimes in.
“I know you haven’t met formally but Dashall is my beta.”
It’s easy to tell he’s speaking to me. I nod my head in the hopes that he sees.
“Dashall, Andre is Kiara’s mate. He’s the one that found her and brought her home. I apologize for keeping his interaction with the pack very low considering he’s my oldest daughter’s mate but with his own pack in shambles I needed to keep things predictable.”
“Why would you need to keep things predictable?” Abe chimes in.
“While Andre is persistent that his brother, Cole, had it ten times worse, Andre has been abused, possibly even tortured. Harper, I need you to let Abe hold you again. I need to help your dad and brother.”
She doesn’t say anything as she’s passed off and it only takes a few seconds for Julius’s shoes to appear in my field of view.
“Dash, I need you behind Andre. You are going to lift and pull from behind to get him on his rear. I’m going to help support Hayden from the front.”
Julius counts to three before the three of us work together. Hayden clings to my arm and manages the move with only a few whimpers. I’m relieved when I make it into a sitting position but Hayden is significantly worse. Dr. Alexis is trying hard to examine him without a lot of touch but he’s adamantly against having anything to do with her. She tries again to check his eyes with her light but he responds by burying his face into my neck. I rub the back of his head.
“What’s going on? You weren’t this resistant in the hospital.”
“He was.” She speaks softly while nodding. “I looked at his chart and they did note that he had a hard time cooperating. They didn’t list any clues; they simply assumed it’s because of the abuse.”
I turn back to Hayden, talking softly near his ear.
“Hayden buddy, she needs to look at your eyes.”
“No.” He whines. “The light hurts.”
I look back at Dr. Alexis just to see her nodding again.
“Light sensitivity is common with concussions. I’ll wait until we get him in the room.” I nod again as I look away.
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