Chapter 67
I reach over to Lilly, who’s sitting to my right, and run my hand gently through her hair. She sighs as she leans into me, I know hearing about Cole’s condition is wearing her down. I sigh myself as I continue.
“The biggest problem I’m having right now is him not talking. He was willing to explain what was going on between him and Luna Sasha but he was unwilling to go into any details as to what his brother did to teach him a ‘lesson’ when he tried to warn him that she was a loose woman or what his father did to reinforce that ‘lesson’ in front of Sasha.”
I put air quotes around lesson both times to bring emphasis to Cole’s wording.
“It is extremely complicated and difficult to get an adult who isn’t willing to talk out of an abusive situation. If I had a child in this condition or even if he was a day away from turning twenty-one, I could act immediately and protect him from returning to Red Fang.”
“Couldn’t you just explain the protection orders to him? That if he talked you could protect him?”
Lilly smiles at Damian. I open my mouth to speak but she manages to beat me to it.
“Your dad has been trying all day to convince him to talk. Telling him that he could help him. While he was waiting for Jamie to come back to Cole’s room your dad asked Cole about him talking with the other alphas while Madilyn laid with him. He explained that the others told him the same thing. They could only help if he talked. So he submitted to their exams, answered every question.”
Lilly ends up getting too emotional to finish so I pick up where she stops.
“These alphas that promised him help performed tests based on his answers to verify his story. He didn’t say what they were but considering the high level of anxiety that being in the hospital provokes if he wasn’t in a crisis when he got there they triggered one. Once they got him through the crisis they sent him home before the run was completed. A month later the council shows but never interviews him and when they leave things get worse.”
“How many times has this happened?”
For the first time Patrick looks truly concerned with the situation. “Three times. He’s been to three packs before mine. All three discovered the abuse. He talked to all three alphas who gave him hope to escape. All three returned him to his pack which has convinced him that no one can be trusted to help him.”
The table has gone silent with the realization of what the situation is with Cole and I haven’t even finished. I know there’s more to learn about Cole but I also have to keep in mind what I’m going to do with the families of Alexander Carter and Jonathan Jenkins. The fact that Cole mentioned not being able to leave because of them shows me two things I rarely see in the abused wolves I transfer in; a sense of loyalty and protectiveness towards others in the pack.
I can easily forgive the fact that it doesn’t extend to the rest of the pack but then again he did try to protect his brother from his luna, much to his own detriment. So perhaps his protectiveness extends further than what is obvious, just not quite as fierce.
“I mentioned at the beginning that this situation with Cole goes beyond just Cole, I merely started with what is known in regards to the physical evidence that I see. I’m certain most of you are wondering why I can’t act on what I see. The protection orders are voluntary. Both myself and Cole would have to sign and submit the paperwork along with several detailed accounts of the abuse he has suffered. Unfortunately, the previous packs that claimed to know how to help him have made it difficult for him to believe that anyone outside of himself actually can. Although he has never said it, the abuse I see is bad enough that his father convincing him that no one can help is an expectation. Earlier today, Jamie was begging Cole to talk. Cole refused but gave a reason that I didn’t expect.”
I pause for a moment waiting for any questions that may come up. I decide to continue when all I get is everyone’s eyes on me.
“When Jamie was pressuring Cole to talk Cole told him that he couldn’t leave yet. That he couldn’t abandon Jamie and his family, Dr. Carter and his family, as well as the pups he’s protecting.”
I see Patrick cock his head, curious about the revelation.
“He’s refusing to leave because of two families and a bunch of pups that aren’t his?”
“I don’t know his complete thought process on this subject yet but he is showing me a fierce loyalty and protectiveness that I have seldom found in other wolves that I have rescued from better situations.”
“I think I can understand him wanting to protect Jamie and his family.”
“You do? Don’t be shy Damian, share what you’re thinking.”
“When I was coming back from the bathroom with Dallas, Jamie was asking about Cole. He was very concerned about him. Dallas started shit talking about him and Jamie defended Cole. Now Jamie is in the hospital. Dallas and Richard beat the shit out of him because he’s Cole’s friend.”
I lean back in my chair with a sigh. For his limited exposure to this type of situation he put two things together that I didn’t think of.
“It is plausible that he believes that the one family that took him in for eighteen months would be endangered if he were to leave Red Fang. Especially considering that Jon, Jamie’s adoptive dad, took Cole to Red General twice after he moved out and used Jamie’s account to get Cole the care he needed versus the minimum needed to keep him alive.”
I hear Patrick sigh. I know he’s conceded to some aspect of my plan without me even voicing what my plan is.
“What is the story with Cole and the Jenkins family? I thought everyone at Red Fang saw him as a pedophile until recently when this rape issue with the luna came up.”
“Cole was an apprentice with Jonathan Jenkins for over two years. Jon is a skilled carpenter and I guess Cole thought he could learn something from him. From what Jamie told me, Cole was seventeen when he started with his dad and had a lot of issues with showing up on time while he was living in the pack house. After six months, Jon started bringing it up and he noticed how defensive Cole would get whenever he felt he did something wrong. I believe Jamie mentioned several times that Cole not only showed up late but he was often injured as well. It was during the second six months he was an apprentice that Jon started fighting with Alpha Redmen to allow Cole to move in with him, to allow him to have a real apprenticeship with him. During those six months that he was fighting with the alpha he was also fighting with his mate, Molly.”
“Why would she be against him moving in?”
Dasha, who’s remained mostly quiet during the conversation, asks the question I’m certain everyone is interested in knowing.
“Even though the allegations have never been proven, Cole had not only been branded a pedophile, but that branding was known by the entire pack by the time he turned eighteen.”
I look around the table and see a mix of emotion from everyone. From shock to shame to confusion, no one knows quite what to say now.
“Cole was eighteen when his father agreed to let him move in. His condition was for Cole to report to his office the fifteenth of every month for personal training with his dad. Jamie is his mom’s oldest child at fifteen, and she and Jon had three kids together. I believe they were five, three, and one at the time. Two girls and a boy.”
“How old was he when this pedophile thing started?”
Parker can’t help blurting out.
“That I don’t know but it was very well established by the time he was eighteen. Jon convinced Molly that he wouldn’t have access to the little kids and she allowed him to move in. Seven months later, after a particularly harsh training session with his dad, Cole ended up in a situation where Molly and Jon, both warriors for the pack, didn’t come home. He picked the kids up from the child care center, picked up food and cooked it for dinner. He ended up giving the kids a bath but he insisted that all three kids bathe together and that Jamie remain in the room with him.”
I watch as my beta struggles to comprehend the story I’m telling him, opening and closing his mouth several times without saying a thing.
“Jamie said he was terrified to touch the girls when he discovered that they couldn’t wash themselves. Like Madilyn, they picked up on his fear and it upset them. He ended up falling asleep with the boy on the floor of the girls’ room. When Molly and Jon finally got home Jon confronted Cole on what he did to the kids.”
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