Chapter 184
The desperation in his voice floors me. Good thing I was already seated as I certainly wasn’t expecting such a confusing response. I stand from my chair and make my way over to him.
He’s stopped his pacing in front of the large window on the back wall of my office. He adjusts the blinds so he can look outside towards the dense forest that surrounds my territory.
This land has been in the pack’s possession for centuries and I have kept with previous generations' way of keeping as much forest between the border and living area as possible.
His deep, predictable breathing alerts me to his anxiety. His clenched fists, to his anger. As I get closer his scent is marred by the bitterness of fear.
“Cole?”
I speak softly so as not to startle the young man as I get closer to him. I stop and flick on my phone, silently turning on the recording app and sliding it back into my pocket.
“I need your help understanding what that means. Are you referring to the rumors that you’re a pedophile and a rapist?”
It’s not a surprise when he nods his head yes.
“They are more than just rumors, alpha.”
“I guess I’m confused then. I believe you said that they were unsubstantiated, that they couldn’t be proven.”
“That won’t keep him from trying.” He sighs sadly.
“Talk to me. Please. I’m begging you, please talk to me.”
I’m within inches of being able to reach out and take his hand in mine. He turns to face me but his gaze is back to my feet.
“Please, don’t make me regret this like every other pack has.” He whispers.
“It’s okay to talk to me.” I reassure him.
“The allegations against me, what is happening to the girls I mark, the reason I need to mark them and my knowledge of the security program are all connected.”
“Sit with me. Tell me what’s going on. The most important thing I need to understand is why you won’t stay.”
“I can’t access mine or my father’s computer’s from here.”
“Why do you need access to either?”
“The files I have saved to my computer. They are the only way to prove my innocence.”
I’m shaking my head hard trying to comprehend what he’s saying.
“I’m sorry, Cole. I feel like I’m asking the wrong questions because every time you answer I just end up with more questions. Why did you feel the need to gather evidence from the security program? How is that evidence related to the rumors? To the children? Is your father blackmailing you?”
He’s staring at me hard. He’s obviously overwhelmed by my many questions.
“It would be easiest on me if you try to organize your questions and ask them one at a time. It’s also easier for me to talk while I’m working but I can’t continue any further until you create an additional password.”
He explains his needs slowly as if he’s testing my receptivity to his suggestions.
I nod my head as I slowly turn back to my computer. I start back over and sit down in my chair. The screen displays information that I’ve never seen before with a prompt asking me to set up a password for encryption activation.
I scroll one down on a post-it following the directions on the screen before typing it into the box. I grab the post-it as I stand and stuff it into my pocket. I’ll record the password into my phone later.
I walk back over to Cole who’s back to looking out the window. His attitude has changed from frustration and anger to extremely nervous. It hurts to see him this way. He needs to talk, we both know that, but for him to be so nervous that he’s fearful is not what I want for him. I walk up behind him without touching him.
“Would you like some water?”
My voice is gentle but his nervousness doesn’t give him a break from the fight or flight reaction. He slowly lets his breath out as he nods.
“Yes, please. I’d appreciate that.”
“Make yourself comfortable.”
He nods again as I walk towards the mini fridge in my office. I’d really rather him take a protein shake but I know with his anxiety that it may cause him to feel sick if he did.
He makes himself comfortable at the computer again and he’s steadily typing again as I do the same. I place the pen and steno pad I retrieved from the file cabinet on the desk in front of me, taking several minutes to try and formulate my thoughts but end up at a dead end.
“Without understanding what is going on it’s difficult for me to create questions in any order that would make sense. Let’s start as close to the beginning as you’re willing to go. You said that you stumbled upon your ability to access your father’s computer by accident and despite the fear that discovering such access caused you, you kept going back.”
“That’s correct.” He responds to my statement as if I had asked him a question.
“What happened to create the desire to keep going back until you could easily access not just his computer but the security program as well?”
“In all honesty, alpha, that’s not the beginning.”
“What do you mean?” He takes several deep breaths before he starts.
“Do you remember what I told you when you asked about my girlfriends and sexual activities with them?”
“Yes, the first girl you were with was Allison.”
“Yes sir and because of her age, rank and status as a warrior my father approached me about having sex with her no matter if she wanted it or not.”
“Yes, I remember you mentioning the sanctioned rape in your pack.”
“Do you remember what I told you about having pups?”
I take a moment trying to think of what he’s said as that conversation was one I didn’t record.
“I remember you telling me that you weren’t allowed to have pups.”
“My father told me when I was sixteen that he has evidence of my brothers’s rapes and if I get any she-wolves pregnant he would turn that evidence in to the council.”
I nod my head slowly trying to wrap my head around what he’s saying.
“I stopped trying to date because Rebecca’s claims that I raped her until she was pregnant five months after we broke up went wild within the pack. I guess it wasn’t that far of a stretch considering everyone already believed that I was raping the littles. Dad had already started punishing me every time a marking was found on a little. It was monthly by the time he sent me to live with the Jenkins and he continued it even after I had moved.”
“The private training you were receiving the fifteenth of every month was because he found little girls marked?”
“Yes sir. Even though I didn’t have anything to do with any markings that appeared on the littles for the eighteen months after I left the pack house, he claimed that even little boys had shown up with my mark. Jon discovered one of my harsher punishments six months after I moved in plus another even worse one a month later. Dad claimed that multiple pups had been brought to him marked. A physical done on the pups showed evidence of sexual assault.”
His voice becomes hushed and ashamed when finishing the last part of his statement.
“Outside of Caitlyn, Brittany and Jeremy, did you have any contact with any pups during the time you lived with Jon?”
I can’t help but be as specific as possible even though he just said that he didn’t.
“No sir. I had no knowledge of any marks after the three girls I mentioned to you when I first got here and I have never marked a boy. They don’t need to be marked.”
“So your markings are only when they need it?”
I know it’s a silly question but I want to make certain this is right. He nods his head.
“I’d like to pause a second because it’s important for me to know this.”
“Okay.”
“What is your understanding of what’s going on with the girls that you mark?”
He sighs heavily and I have no idea if he’s going to entertain my question.
“In the beginning I knew very little. I was only sixteen and the only way I knew to research using pressure to release the muscle spasms is because Olivia told me she was in heat.
The reason she refused to go to the doctor is because of what happened during her first heat. Her father didn’t understand what was causing her to be in so much pain so he took her to the doctor. When the doctor discovered she was in precocious heat they took it to Alpha Redmen as precocious heat only occurs when a pup is consistently sexually abused.”
“Not all pups that are sexually abused will go into precocious heat.” I interrupt gently.
“I wouldn’t know anything about that but I do know that all pups that end up in heat as a pre-shift have been sexually abused.”
“That is also correct.”
“When the doctor reported it to Alpha Redmen, he called Delta David into his office for a chat. Two days later, Olivia received a belting for lying about who molested her.”
“Do you believe she was lying?”
“No sir. The second time she came to me, the reason she didn’t trust me was because all three of them assaulted her. It put her in a lot of pain and made her heat even harder for her to handle.
The third time she came was when I marked her for the first time. She stayed with me for two weeks and the mark had faded and disappeared by the time her heat was over. When she returned the fourth time, begging me to mark her again, that’s when she told me of the power that it held.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
