“Cole?” I speak softly not wanting to scare him after he was attacked by my own son.
<b>“</b>Alpha.” His response is a mere whisper but still audible.
“I wasn’t certain you would be up. I was hoping that you would join us for dinner.”
“Is it required?” He asks without ever opening his eyes.
“No.” I answer as I pull a chair up to the bed near his head.
“But you need to eat more than just eggs to get your body to heal.”
I lower one side of the bed, allowing me to get closer to him. I bring my hand towards the top of his head. I sigh deeply as I freeze <b>my </b>movements as <b>i </b>watch him cringe and shrink away from my desire to touch him.
“I’m not going to hurt you Cole.”
“No, you just send your son to do it.”
He <b>tenses </b>even worse, whimpering as I ce my hand on the back of his head.
“This wasn’t a set up Cole. Lilly and I both agreed that leaving Madilyn with you, after trusting us with such a dark secret, would be the best thing for both of you, We wanted to show you that we trusted you. Lucas acted on his own and is in a lot of trouble for what he’s done. For starters<b>, </b><b>he </b><b>wasn’t </b>even supposed to be home today.
He expressed interest in being a trainer, so like Damian, <b>I </b>arranged his schedule at school so that he only had to go Monday, Wednesday and Friday but that wasn’t set to begin until after all the prospects had arrived and everyone had gone through the physical. We always lose some prospects due to drug use or we find they’re not fit for training so we don’t need as many trainers until we know how many prospects will be staying. <b>I’ve </b>only just gotten started on his punishment.”
“What do you n on doing to him?” I’m surprised at how genuinely concerned he is.
“Right now he’s on strict house arrest. He’s only allowed to leave the pack house for school, unless his mother or I need his help. He’s received his physical punishment. I’m certain he’s sore but not hurt. He <b>was </b>still quite heated when he left my office to head for dinner. I am going to add to his punishment. I just haven’t decided what it’s going to entail. I am, however, having a very serious consideration towards pulling him out of the program as a trainer until he’s eighteen.”
“Don’t hurt your son over me. I deserved what I got. Every pack is the same. I should have figured that out by now. Dad’s right. Wolves like me don’t get mates. I shouldn’t even be here right now.”
I stand from my chair and put it back against the wall before leaning over near his ear.
“I’m going toy with you before getting you up and taking you to dinner. Rx with me, let go of the pillow.”
He resists but I manage to take the pillow and ce it on the loveseat, I kick my own shoes off at the door and slide into the bed, chest to chest with Cole.
I work with him slowly until he seemsfortable with my presence. His head is resting on a pillow on top of my arm, his forehead resting against my chest. His breathing is steady but his heart is racing. Both his hands are in tight fists around my shirt and his body is trembling.
I slowly move my hand through his hair, silently waiting for him to calm. It’s only as his fists ease up on my shirt that I challenge trying to talk to him again.
“Don’t give up on me, Cole. No one deserves to be treated as you’re being treated. We didn’t know Lucas was even home. Although he did express a distrust towards you after the incident with Das there was nothing that indicated the deep aggression towards you that <b>I </b>saw today.”
“Hatred, alpha. Don’t sugar coat it. We both know he’s harboring a deep hatred towards me. Most everyone I meet does<b>.</b><b>” </b>
“Not everyone, Cole.” I whisper before going silent again, waiting for him to rx some more before talking again.