Chapter 97
He’s breaking down again but something about it affects Lilly in an unanticipated way. She stands from the loveseat and walks over to the bed, sitting gently on the bed. She plays gently with his hair before speaking.
“Tell me what you told Demetri.”
She gently encourages him.
“You’ll take her away if I do.”
He whispers into Madilyn’s hair.
“Please Cole. Give me the opportunity to understand you.”
“I want her luna.”
He finally whispers after a long pause.
“To hold her, comfort and protect her.”
“Demetri, have you asked him about his desires for a mate or children?”
“I don’t think I have. Not directly anyway. When we spoke, after you left, I did tell him that considering his age I felt his desire to be near pups was natural.”
“I’m not allowed to be near children, Luna. Because of Dallas I’ve been punished for just talking to them at other packs.”
“How old are you, Cole?”
“I’ll be twenty-three on Saturday.”
His answers to Lilly’s questions are quiet and submissive but his voice is steady. Lilly being near him, rubbing the side of his head gently seems to have a calming effect on him or perhaps he just can’t fight the Ativan any more. It’s hard to tell.
“Luna?”
“Yes honey?”
I can’t help but smile at him earning a pet name from her.
“Would it help you trust me if I tell you how my relationship with the pups of my pack started?”
“It would be an honor for you to trust us with any information you’re willing to give us about you.”
“Trust, Luna?”
His voice is hushed as if he’s in awe that she would see it in such a way.
“Yes Cole. Even though you're doing it as a way of reassuring me, to volunteer any information on the very lonely and painful life you have back home takes a willingness to trust.”
He’s turned his head to look at her but I can tell that he’s confused and uncomfortable about the way things have turned. I get up and step over to the bed, covering his frantically darting eyes as I try to soothe the fear that’s creeping up on him.
“Take it easy, son. Just tell us what you want us to know. I promise I’ll hold my tongue this time.”
His eyes are closed as I move my hand to the side of his head, stroking his hair calmly as he takes several deep breaths. I move back to the loveseat with Lilly as he starts to tell his story.
“As much as I don’t want to get into what happened starting where I’m starting is the only way for you to really understand how my interactions with the young girl pups, helping them, was an accident. It wasn’t something I sought but it wasn’t something I was willing to stop. At least not until the rumors started and then once those reached my dad there was no stopping it.”
“Start wherever you feel is going to make the most sense. I promised we wouldn’t ask questions. Just relax with us. Nothing bad is going to happen from this.”
I feel bad saying this. It feels almost like a lie as when my back was turned, I turned my phone on record and slipped it behind the lamp beside the loveseat. I have no idea what he’s going to share but I’m desperate to get something, with or without his permission to take back to Xavier. Finding those last two injuries tonight has me convinced that I have to get him out of Red Fang. One way or another, I will rescue this young man.
“Well, it was shortly after my sixteenth birthday, three months actually, when during an emergency situation I randomly shifted. It was my first shift and it was the second most painful thing I had experienced up to that point in time in my life. Unlike my twin Chloe or my other siblings, there was no celebration. No medication to ease the pain of the first shift. No encouraging or consoling words before or after, it was just me, leaping out of the window of my father’s second story office. I shifted in midair before crashing into the bushes.
I woke up to the sounds of my dad and his upper ring shouting my name, trying to find me. I got up slowly and looked around. Everything was off. My sight, smell, hearing and the way things felt, were all very different. When I stood up, or at least tried, I fell over. It took me some time to realize that I was in my wolf. It was about the time that dad spotted me that I had fully accepted that’s what had happened. Of course dad had to take the time to jeer and mock my tiny, underdeveloped wolf. His beta and delta weren’t far behind. All three tried to tackle me at once. They all knocked heads instead and I took advantage of dad’s distraction to run off into the woods. I could hear him beating Andrew and David for letting me get away. I guess he wasn’t done with me and gave it to them instead.”
“He beat beta Andrew and delta David because the three of them couldn’t catch you?”
“It’s almost comical when you think about it.”
He sighs with a slight smile.
“I managed to disappear into the woods. To both my fortune and misfortune the storm that had been brewing all day broke loose. It helped me because I knew my dad wouldn’t come looking for me until morning but it also left me out all night in late April. In New Hampshire it’s still cold that time of year. I was soaking wet, cold and exhausted when I found the cave just inside our boundary. I sniffed around and found that nothing was living there so I crawled into the warmest, deepest hole in that cave that I could and ended up sleeping for days.”
Madilyn’s intense whimpering brings all of us quickly out of his story. Her eyes are shut but that doesn’t keep her from clawing at her stomach and digging her feet into the bed. I stand from the loveseat and quickly step over to the bed to help Cole as Madilyn gets worse. I take her hands in mine as I watch Cole slide his hand under her gown.
“You said that the cramping is because she’s an empath.”
“An intuitive, like me but it doesn’t make sense for it to be bothering her now. You’re actually doing very well telling your story. She shouldn’t be getting symptoms like this.”
Madilyn yelps as Cole presses down on her abdomen. I can see his hand moving in circles, searching for the next cramp which proves to be not that far behind.
“Do you have a heating pad? Sometimes they help the girls back home.”
“I can get one.”
Lilly volunteers before disappearing out of the room. Suddenly it hits me. How many times did she throw up and how much water has she had since it stopped?
“Are you okay alone with her? I think I know something that will settle these cramps down but I have to get an IV kit and some fluids from the other room.”
“Yes sir.”
“Try to keep her relaxed. I’m going to need your help. She’s not as bad as you or Damian but shots and needles still scare her.”
He nods lightly as she whimpers again. He’s focused solely on her as I leave the room and head to the medical room next door. It’s the pediatric room that I gave Jessa last year when she joined the pack.
I’ve been increasing the amount of responsibility she has in the wing, encouraging her to spearhead changes in the way we treat the smallest members of our pack since she decided to join us permanently.
I go straight to the cabinet and pull out several items including a portable IV feeder, before returning to Cole. I smile gently at Lilly as I step back into the room. Madilyn is laying on her stomach on top of the heating pad set to its lowest setting. She has settled nicely against Cole’s, her head and hand on top of his arm. His eyes are closed, his face relaxed as his fingers gently graze her shoulders.
“Lynnie baby, I know you don’t like it when Jessa takes your blood but I have some medication that needs to go in your vein. It’s going to feel like the blood draws you’ve had.”
I can hear Cole sigh hard. It seems he doesn’t like Madilyn receiving medication any more than receiving it himself.
“Cole, I know you’ve been abused with the submission hold but it’s important that Madilyn doesn’t move while I do this.”
He nods his head silently as he starts moving her hair to one side exposing her neck. His movements are hesitant and unsure.
“Have you ever submitted a child?”
He looks at me briefly before looking back at Madilyn.
“No sir. I’ve never submitted any of the littles that come to me for help.”
“It’s okay, Cole. You’re not going to hurt her. Now, don’t fight me or pull away. I’m going to touch your neck the same way I want you to touch Madilyn’s.”
I move to the other side of the bed and sit on the edge. He seems to be nervous but so far has not actively moved away.
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