Chapter 202
I quickly go through the drawers of my desk, slamming them shut when I don’t find what I need. I can feel multiple people trying to connect with me so I open my link to everyone at the table. Everyone comes through at once causing me to freeze in my tracks.
‘Quiet!’ I command, remaining silent as the din of everyone yelling at me subsides.
‘What the hell Demetri? He’s obviously having a hard time and you growl at him?’ Patrick chastises through the link.
‘Did you hear what he said? How he said it? Cole is in trouble but not the, he’s done wrong, type that Maddie and Lynnie would associate with the word.’
‘What trouble is he in daddy?’ Lynnie’s voice pops through.
‘I think he’s locked into a link with his dad. My instincts tell me that I need to play along. That I need to stop being nice. It’s going to be devastating for Cole but it’s the only way to free him from this attack.’
There’s a moment of complete silence among all of them as I continue my search for pen and paper.
‘What makes you think he’s locked into a link?’ Patrick asks.
‘He’s been going downhill all week. The last three days have been the worst. He’s been shaking and tapping on his head for several days now. I thought it was a nervous tic that I hadn’t seen yet but now that he’s given me a clue I think it’s an effort to get his dad out.’
I finally come across a notebook as Lilly begins to speak.
‘You need us to play along. Cole’s father needs to believe that you’re treating him the same as he does.’
‘Cole’s father shouldn’t be able to do this with Cole being so far away so I need to find out the extent to which senses Alpha Redmen has in this link but yes, I need everyone to act like the way I speak and treat Cole is how it’s been the entire time.’
‘Are you going to be mean?’ Lynnie asks.
‘He’s crying daddy. Please don’t be mean.’
‘I have to chase his dad away and I have to make both of them think I’m mean to do that.’
I can feel her sadness through the link. It’s not something a four year old could possibly understand. As I jog back out to the table closing off my link with them I start a new one with Angela and Julie.
‘I’m in a bad situation with Cole. I need all of you to meet me in the training annex in half an hour. If this works the way I anticipate it’s going to be a devastating blow for Cole and he’s going to need to be on a mod 72.’
‘What’s going on?’ Julie is the first to respond.
‘I’m headed back out to the table to verify exactly what’s going on but I believe Cole is locked into a link with his father and has been for days.’
‘What do you need us to do?’ Angela chimes in.
‘Get Jessa. He’s her mate. She deserves to know what he’s going though. It will be hard on her so she will need our support as well. I need you to prepare for a mod seventy-two using sedation which is why I need the two of you there. I can’t put him on a seventy-two by myself without him hurting himself.’
‘And that’s what you’re trying to prevent.’ Julie finishes my sentence.
‘I need all three of you in the annex in half an hour.’
I finish my link as I enter the dining room. Most of them have continued as if nothing is going on. Patrick has engaged Parker and Damian in quiet conversation. Lilly is watching Maddie and Lynnie trying to comfort a very distraught Cole and for once, I see concern written on Lucas’ face as Cole claws and pulls at the hair on his head.
I approach him slowly, stopping just behind his chair, gathering my own wits about me. I’m not ready to be so devastatingly mean toward a young man who’s done nothing wrong. Patrick sees my hesitation and brings me into a link.
‘What about blocking his link. We have medication, a shot that can do that.’
His voice is nearly a whisper in my head. He doesn’t want this for Cole any more than I do. He’s come so far considering the self imposed isolation he sought after Lucas’s second attack.
‘It’s illegal to block the link of non pack members. The only time I can do that is when the council has granted him sanctuary status and they are in the process of severing his pack’s and family’s link to him.’
Patrick sits back in his chair. None of us like what’s going on and it’s painful to see Cole in such a distressing situation.
‘No one reacts. As long as he confirms that his father cannot feel what he feels then I will be able to refrain from physically hurting him.’
I take a few more seconds to gather myself, letting my aura loose, allowing Cole know I’m behind him. He cowers down towards the table, his hands sliding defensively behind his head as he whimpers. Preparing himself for an onslaught of pain I’m preying to avoid. He yelps as I place my hand half on his neck and half on his back.
“You will stifle your cries. You will not yelp, whimper or scream from anything I do. You will endure what I give in silence.”
My voice is deep and gravely making me sound cruel and unforgiving. I toss the notebook down on the table. I managed to write several questions down that I need to know before proceeding with trying to chase Alpha Redmen out of Cole’s head.
“You are to open your eyes and look where I tell you. Non compliance will be punished.”
He remains silent and unmoving. His breathing is stiff as he tries to deal with my change on top of what he’s going through.
“Look!” I growl as I slap my hand on the notebook.
He moves his head giving me hope that he’s finally able to comply. The first page reads; ‘Are you trapped in a link with your father?’ Underneath he has yes and no options as I try to place a pen in his hand.
“You will take what I give you.”
I growl near his ear causing him to shudder on top of his visibly shaking body. His hand finally closes around the pen as I point to the notebook again.
“You will comply with my demands or face steep consequences. Now look.”
I slap the notebook again causing Cole to jump and choke back a yelp dying to escape. He moves slowly and struggles to draw a squiggly line through the yes I have printed on the sheet.
“Again.” I state harshly turning the page to the next question.
“Look again.” I command as I hit the notebook driving Madilyn and Madisyn from their seats beside us.
My next two questions are imperative for me to find out. This one reads what I also believe is a yes. ‘Can your father hear what you hear?’
Once again with yes and no options underneath. He again hesitates with answering. I know I’m pushing him hard as he’s fighting between two different worlds but I need the answers.
“Stop fighting me and comply.”
My tone is even harsher as Angela walks into the room. Everyone is watching silently as Cole, again, slowly squiggles a line through the word yes.
“One more shot to get this right.”
I growl again as he whimpers and cowers away from me. I change the page revealing the last question. ‘Can your father feel what you feel?’
“Let’s get it right this time.”
The girls have climbed into their mother’s lap. Damian takes the time to gently fight Madisyn away from her mom into his comforting embrace. Cole’s answer to this question will change everything about how I proceed. When I look back to Cole he has dropped his head again while his body shakes as he sobs.
I look at the notebook to see a third squiggle. His answer changes things for the better. I change my aura to the comforting fatherly one that has always calmed and comforted my kids as I slide my hand from his shoulder diagonally across his chest under his shirt, pulling him back into me. He whimpers and squirms with my touch. Things with me have now gone into polar opposites and he’s struggling to understand what’s happening.
“You will not fight me. You will submit to everything I tell you. To everything I do to you as I’m not going to give you what you need but what you deserve. There will be no fighting, no yelping, screaming, crying or whimpering. You will be silent as you endure this onslaught for however long we choose to make it last. You will be penalized for non compliance.”
He’s frozen in place as I finish speaking completely silent and struggling just to breathe normally.
“Stand up. You will take this standing like a man.”
He struggles to stand refusing every move I make to help him knowing that he’s in physical pain that he has so far refused to tell me about.
“Step away from the table. You’re not allowed to use it as a crutch. Do not touch your clothes, I will put them as I want them.”
He pulls his hands from the waistband of his sweatpants, leaving them pulled halfway down his ass. His head is down, refusing to look at me so I can’t even silently mouth to him that I’m not going to hurt him.
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