<b>Chapter </b><b>72 </b>
Almost a weekter mom surprised all of us by giving a lot of Jeramy’s care to Cole. He was a nervous wreck but they tried to ease him into the responsibility by hanging out around him while he was caring for Jeramy without intervening after the first week. Seeing and feeling this level <b>of </b>trust from them changed him. We got to see who Cole really was once his confidence rose. Once he understood that no one in my family was going to hurt him<b>, </b>reject him, betray him, he truly changed for the better but just as he warned, the more rxed he became with us the worse things got with his father.”
I hand Jamie a bottle of water, gently encouraging him to take a break<b>. </b>Telling his perspective of Cole’s stay with him is mentally <b>and </b>physically <b>draining </b>for thed but I’m after every minute of information that he provides. After several swallows he starts again.
“Dad started examining Cole after every visit with his father. Cole didn’t like it and resisted at first, but the morefortable he became with us the <b>easier </b>these exams became. Three monthster his father demanded a meeting with him the first of every month as well as the fifteenth. He told dad that Cole <b>was </b>falling behind in his warrior training. Dad said he knew it was a lie but never exined to me why he felt that way. At the one year mark of being with us, Alpha changed his demands again. He made Cole meet with him every Thursday. We only had about three months to see the real Cole. It seems like <b>as </b>soon as he showed any happiness, any peace his father found a way to destroy it.
Thest six months he was with us, dad kept his work light. The weekly beatings from Alpha Redmen kept him in constant pain and the pain served as a constant reminder of why he should be afraid. I would find mom or dad holding him in the middle of the night. They said he was experiencing night terrors from all the abuse.
We all cried the day he moved back to the pack house. Dad gave him an enchanted key<b>. </b>I’m not certain how it works but as an experienced carpenter dad is popr even among witches, warlocks, vampires and the sort so he got Cole a key to our house that to <b>everyone </b>else looks like a desk ornament. We didn’t see him for a long time after he left. I tried to run into him but I had a hard time finding him. I got angry with him. Really angry. I felt like he was avoiding me, avoiding us after everything we did for him. Dad and mom were a bit more understanding but I wasn’t. I started channeling my anger into beating up anyone who crossed me. After four months my parents started taking me to a therapist inside the White Moon pack. She said that I had gotten very attached to Cole and seeing the severity of abuse that Cole was suffering with had caused PTSD. I was put on medication for a while. I only recently came off them.”
“Was that thest you saw of Cole<b>?</b>”
He shakes his head. “No. Although the beating that led to him exposing the hell he was enduring never happened to that extent again while he was with us he did end up using the key. About six months after he left he starteding in the middle of the night. It was usually when alpha was extremely stressed and was using him as a personal punching bag for weeks at a time that he woulde stay with us for a few days. I think he came three or four times over year’s time frame.
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The Son of Red Fang