Chapter 45
“That’s still a significant amount of injuries.”
Jamie nods as he adds in more. “Dr. Carter said his ribs were in various stages of healing just like all the bruises we see on his body. Although Cole wasn’t happy about it, arrangements were made between the three of them for Cole to stay with us while he healed. Even though he still couldn’t see Cole signed his name agreeing to stay two weeks under dad’s care. I’m certain he only agreed so he could get out of the hospital.”
“The level of anxiety I’ve seen from him just today would lead me to believe the same. Was there ever a time that he stopped coming to your dad?”
“Yes. Him and dad got into a major argument at the end of the two weeks with us. Once Cole left the hospital, every day for the two weeks he was with us dad would disappear and not even mom knew what he was doing. On the last day Cole had to be with us dad disappeared for several hours. When he came back he walked very stiffly and was in a lot of pain when he sat down. Mom immediately started asking what was wrong but he didn’t answer until Cole stormed in. I had never seen Cole so angry. His wolf was on the surface, his eyes were completely black and his aura was strong and wild.
Mom shooed everyone out of the dining area as they started into their argument. He repeatedly asked him why didn’t he tell him about his father’s request for him. Dad repeatedly told him that he couldn’t handle it. He wasn’t healed enough. They kept going for half an hour. I’m certain dad was just letting him vent. I came back out and sat on the stairs listening to them. I could tell by his voice that Cole was crying and dad was trying to comfort him. He kept saying that he was sorry. That our family didn’t deserve the trauma that has come from knowing, from seeing how bad things were for him. When dad tried to argue against that point he yelled at dad that he knows I’m taking medication for ptsd. That he was the reason I had to be medicated when I was fine before he got there. He was sorry that he was selfish, that he allowed us to get too close to him. How all he wanted was the love of a real family, but instead of being able to love us back all he’s done is bring us mental and now, physical, pain. He told dad that he was considered an adult in the eyes of the council and it was time for him to figure out how to protect himself. He would no longer rely on dad when he was weak as doing so was nothing more than a crutch. Now that he understood what his father was willing to do to those he allowed into his world he could no longer stay. That he was done. I heard him leave right after that. He came back around midnight three days later to gather what few things he had there and returned to the pack house. I found out from dad that Cole did not injure himself while gone and when he had returned they were able to talk about what happened. Cole was steadfast on no longer coming to him for help but did relent on keeping the enchanted key. He promised to come by for dinner once a month when in the territory and told dad that alpha had finally finished the paperwork necessary for him to go to his first pack as a prospect. He was turning twenty-one in a few weeks and was excited to leave the territory for a few months. He was leaving Monday for the White Mountain pack. He was sorry that he blew up on him. He didn’t deserve that kind of reaction after he had just taken a belting from his father instead of sending him. He thanked him and told him about how much he had grown to love all of us. That we were his true family and he would rather die than to see us hurt. He was hopeful that he would be able to use his time as a prospect to find a new pack to live in, preferably one that has his mate as long as the alpha isn’t an ass like his father.”
“Was that the last you saw of him?”
“No. He kept his word. When he wasn’t out of the territory as a prospect he would come by for dinner when he wasn’t badly injured. He became two people, acting like nothing was going on and if mom or dad asked he refused to tell. He would lay on the floor and play with the three littles, allowing himself to take a break from his own life.
Although dad is certain things have continued to get worse for him Cole has never said another word about it. After about a year, everything returned to as normal as they could be. Cole was always on the mind of mom, dad and I but time is a funny thing sometimes. I guess when the drama of something so terrible isn’t in front of you every day you don’t think as much about it.”
“He made quite an impact on you.”
“Yes sir. On all of us.”
“When I mentioned something about Damian being correct about drugs being put in Cole’s food, you wanted to talk really bad then. What happened that makes you think Cole was drugged against his knowledge?”
“There were only two times after his apprenticeship ended that he came to us in really bad shape.”
“I thought he had come to you several times?”
“Well, yes. About six months after his apprenticeship ended he stayed with us a couple days at a time three or four times over a year’s time frame but there’s only been twice that he was so bad off dad couldn’t help him without taking him to the hospital.”
“So what happened?”
“Shortly after my seventeenth birthday, about a year after he left us, we had a loud knocking at our door. More like desperate banging really. It was late, ten maybe eleven at night. Dad partially shifted before answering the door. He ended up finding Cole throwing up in the bushes beside the door. He was struggling to breathe, in a lot of pain and according to dad, appeared to be throwing up bile. Dad picked Cole up and hauled tail to the car and the hospital. On the way there all Cole kept saying was ‘he overdosed me’ but wouldn’t or couldn’t tell us what it was.
It was only after we got to the hospital and stripped him of his clothes that dad and Dr. Carter found multiple puncture wounds all over his thighs and upper arms. They also discovered a spot that looked like an IV had been roughly removed. Dad had to lay on top of him in order for Dr. Carter to get a new IV started in his leg. He took a lot of blood to try and figure out what was poisoning him. I was never told what it was they found. I’m not certain why he got even worse about his food after that, considering it looked like he had taken dozens of shots, but he did.
He was doing better mentally for a while after he left the apprenticeship but it seems like things started getting really bad for him again when he started in the warrior program. About a month after he returns the council starts poking around. Alpha won’t do anything while they are there but Cole gets really rough looking for several months after they leave. Dad’s tried to link with him several times but Cole tends to push him away. Tells him that he doesn’t want to know what’s going on. That talking makes it worse.”
He sits back in the chair with a sigh. He looks like he’s fighting back tears again as he finishes what’s left of his bottle of water. The hell that I was guessing Cole lived in is far worse than I could have imagined and this is just a small snippet of his life, from eighteen to twenty-one. I stand from my chair and without a word pull Jamison up out of his chair and into the hug I know he needs.
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