Chapter 241
(Content Warning)
(Jamison’s POV)
“Cole. Cole.”
I tap my friend’s cheeks trying to get him to wake up. Alpha Redmen has started getting very creative with the locations he takes Cole and there’s no way to get him back to his room without him being awake.
“Cole!”
I try again and finally get a groan in response.
“You’re going to be the life of me.” I speak with a nervous chuckle in my voice.
“I told you to leave me.” He speaks with a heavy wheeze.
I lay down facing his battered body as I run my fingers through his hair.
“You know I won’t leave until you do.” He sighs hard in response.
“Where am I supposed to go?” He whispers after a long pause.
“Anywhere would be better than here. I know my parents would follow. We could make our own pack. You’d be a lot better than Alpha Redmen.”
“I may be his son but I have no money, no land, and going rogue would put everyone that comes with me in danger.”
I wake suddenly from the dream. I’m groggy and can tell that I’m not going to be able to stay awake for any length of time as my eyes close again.
‘Jamison, you are to report to my office at 5pm.’
Alpha Redmen’s graveled voice comes through the link like an old school intercom system.
I don’t acknowledge the message. I don’t need to as this has become a standard for my Friday nights while I’m home. I look at my watch and find that it’s 3pm. I hate it when he tells me to meet him early. It’s a struggle to concentrate on my training now so I wrap up the reps I’m working on and clean up the leg press machine. I grab my bottle of water before heading out the door. My mind starts wandering into the darkness of what alpha is going to do this time. I’m not certain if it’s a blessing or a curse that he hasn’t deviated from his established punishment. At least not yet. My concern is that his daily beltings of Cole mixed in with weekly much harsher punishments has resulted in me helping Cole on a daily basis for nearly two months. Every Friday for that same timeframe I’ve been called to alpha’s office for my own round of grueling beltings.
I smell the air outside and attempt to link with Cole. The familiar pushback tells me he’s been punished again, for what doesn’t even matter anymore. I use his rejection of our link to point me in the direction he’s located.
I startle awake again. I’m having a hard time orienting myself to my surroundings. I can tell by the smell that I’m inside a room that isn’t home. It smells strongly of the alpha and luna but neither are mine calming my mind enough that the Valium takes me under again.
I look at my watch. Shit. I’ve only got ten minutes before I need to report to Alpha’s office and Cole hasn’t woken up since I got him back to his room. I stand silently from his bed and check his nude body over again, verifying that I have closed all the deep wounds with the surgical glue that Dr. Carter now regularly provides my dad before pulling his blanket over him.
Dad has trained me over the last year on how to care for Cole’s injuries so now we only have to take him to Red General if we think something is broken or he’s showing signs of something worse than a concussion. Same thing for my dad and myself. I take care of him and he takes care of me. Mom knows what we’re doing and supports us the best she can without getting involved. It’s hard enough on the girls and Jeremy without mom getting the beltings regularly as well.
I wipe the tears from Olivia’s eyes. She’s the only little one here this time. I have passed some of my training on to her so I know he’s in good hands.
“You know how to link with me if you need help?” I ask in almost a whisper.
“Yes sir.” Her whisper is sad as she looks with uncertainty towards her protector’s battered body.
“You don’t have to be here if you can’t handle it.” She nods her head but doesn’t respond verbally.
“I’m sorry but it seems I’ve run out of time to stay today. Let me know when he’s up.”
She nods again, remaining stoic like a statue. It’s as I leave that she grabs my hand. I turn back, looking into her eyes as she looks into mine.
“He knows what his dad is doing to you. It makes him cry to think of what you’ve sacrificed and wishes you would have left him for a better life. Why, Jamie? Why haven’t you left this wretched place?”
“I don’t expect either of you to understand but I simply can’t abandon my alpha.”
She cocks her head to the side, exactly as I expected as I head out the door to alpha’s office. It only takes a few turns to get there from Cole’s room. I can’t control my shaking as I spot his beta and delta standing outside his office door. I won’t know until I get home if dad got his belting before mine. I close my eyes as I step between the gatekeepers to my living hell.
Unlike Cole, this is a hell I chose for the sake of keeping my friend alive. Although I’m certain death would provide far more peace. I have never felt a bond of love and loyalty towards anyone outside of my family besides him. My wolf howls every time we can’t find him and it’s only recently that his wolf responds against Cole’s wishes.
It takes only seconds for the beta’s hand to close roughly around the back of my neck and the delta to pull my arms behind my back. I whine softly as they open the door and shove me inside.
Everything goes exactly the same. They shove me harshly against the desk, force my hands above my head allowing the silver straps to close around my wrists. Once I’m secured alpha disrobes me from the waist down and pulls my shirt up as he splits the hits between my lower back, bottom and backs of my thighs. I shake violently as I hear him speak.
“This week has been a rough week for my boy and since you can’t keep yourself away from him this belting will differ slightly from the usual. David, you have the best aim. I want five across his mid and upper back and the second five directly to his spine. Hit the bone and hit it hard. Andrew, you’re hitting his knees, five to each. I’ll go last. Fifteen to your bottom. I know you’re going to yell so the penalty for it is already built in. David, you’re first.”
His first hit lands squarely on my spine knocking the breath right out of me. It’s only as he hits the same spot for the third time that I finally scream blacking out shortly there after.
I wake up screaming. Completely disoriented from the dream as I can feel my back ache from the harsh hits from the belt. I’m thrashing wildly, trying to untangle myself from the blanket wrapped around me but only manage to make it worse.
I feel the bed dip under the weight of something large. I scream even louder as I feel that weight close in around me. My body quickly becomes pinned under an obviously alpha aura and my inability to move creates even more panic. I scream until I can’t scream anymore. Panting hard as I break down into the sobs I don’t dare express at home. My arms start moving but my will to fight is gone. I allow this alpha to wrap my arms under me as his own follow, holding me in a gentle embrace as my memories are shed through my tears.
“Alpha?”
The sweet voice of my mate breaks through the barrier of my hysteria helping me keep my need to scream at bay. Instead I curl my head into the hard muscles of alpha’s arm and bawl like a child.
“Come on in, Micayla. He needs both of us right now. I’m so sorry I caused you this much pain, Jamie.”
He whispers near my ear. I can’t respond verbally to his apology so I try to curl even farther into him instead.
“You didn’t cause this, alpha.”
“No?” He questions.
“No sir. He’s been having night terrors since the brawl.”
“How often have they been happening over the last three weeks?”
He asks, sounding shocked by the information.
“Every night he wakes up several times shaking and sweating. This is the first time he’s screamed like that.”
Micayla explains as she rubs the back of my head.
“Now that you’re calm, Jamie, I’m going to give you and Micayla some privacy before we finish our talk out here. She deserves to know what’s going on and why you can’t leave.”
“Yes sir.” I manage to whisper as he slowly lets go of his hold on me. I push myself up slowly as he exits the room, pulling the door mostly shut without latching it.
“Why did you say you weren’t abused?” She asks me, hurt obvious in her voice.
“Because I’m not abused. You and Cole are beaten damn near everyday. How can I possibly see my monthly, sometimes weekly beltings as abuse.” I run my hand nervously through my hair. “Come sit with me, please.”
I hold my arms out towards her. I’ve wanted nothing but to hold her for the last several hours. She smiles and sits in my lap. I wrap my arms around her and lay my head against hers catching her scent easily. It only takes a few minutes with her in my lap for the effects of the mate’s bond to calm and comfort me.
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