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“What the fuck did you just say?” Trent’s shoulders roll back as he takes in Reid, his hands balling into fists at his sides.
Reid stands calm, but I tense with the plume of aggression that thunders through the room from all sides. Finn wraps his arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer.
“Leave, Trent. We’ll take it from here,” Reid says with a chin nod.
Trent looks like a bear about to attack, taking his full height. Reid does the same, and Officer Cliff lets out an unhinged laugh.
The sound seems to shake Trent out of it. Trent’s angry eyes flash over me, flaring when they get to my neck. My necklace is visible in the front, the Pack Camden proudly displayed. He lets out a low-sounding growl, possibly at the necklace or maybe at the marks Finn and Reid left on my neck this morning in the shower. His snarl turns on Finn, eyeing his tattoos with a sneer of disgust.
“It still looks like you couldn’t escape your roots there, Cam. There was no hope for the kids. They were always going to turn up trash.” Trent shakes his head, resigned as if this isn’t a product of his decisions.
“You fucking piece of shit. Talk to her like that again—” Finn tries to launch himself at my ex, but Reid’s hand swipes out, holding him back.
My stomach drops, the fear that this will become an even bigger disaster rising with each word exchanged. No matter how far away from it I get, it seems I’m never going to escape my roots. And I don’t need Finn and Reid swimming in the gutters with me.
Reid growls in return, tucking Finn and me behind him. “Your ass ain’t on the ground because I’m here for Ben, not your bullshit, but you will watch how the fuck you talk to my mates. I’m not about to let you talk that way again. Consider this a warning.” He takes another step toward Trent, and I brace for the alpha showdown. Reid continues, “So stop running your fucking mouth. Maybe if you did, you’d realize we should be worried about Ben.”
The alpha energy and thirst for violence are palpable in the air. Trent steps toward Reid, their chests almost touching. Finn holds me closer. It feels like a lifetime as the two alphas size up one another. The hair on my neck stands on end, my hands are coated in clammy sweat, and my breath is frozen.
Officer Cliff doesn’t try to intervene. Instead, he watches us all as if he’s the puppet master, a grimace of a smile on his sneering face.
Please, please, please let this not turn nasty. My breath hitches when Reid takes another step, and my former alpha steps back.
“Like she’s worth a fucking fight,” Trent spits, his face an angry map of harsh lines.
“She’s worth everything, you stupid motherfucker. And we’re lucky you’re too dense to know it.” Finn launches himself from behind Reid, slipping from his grasp and going in on Trent.
Finn may be an omega and smaller than the alphas, but he’s fast. He delivers several rapid blows and gets the alpha to trip onto his back, taking him down. Reid grabs for him, but Finn is quicker, tearing into Trent as Trent swings wildly.
The sound of flesh knocking flesh makes bile rise in my throat. I try to go toward them, but it’s an all-out clusterfuck. Reid stops me. Officer Slick grabs Finn, who swings at him, clocking the officer in the jaw. Cliff laughs, a sound of triumph.
The word “No” falls from my mouth over and over as Reid holds me back and the officer cuffs Finn. It’s wails and curses, shouts and a struggle as staff from the school rush into the room, pearls clutched, and force us into another room.
How isn’t Reid losing his shit? Finn is in cuffs. Ben is lost. Everything is wrong. Reid holds me to him, and his normally safe arms feel like a cage. I’m desperate against him, beating his chest, cursing, and wishing the world didn’t have to be so hard.
He whispers in my ear, “Settle down, love. Finn’s all right. Let’s worry about one thing at a time. We have to stay calm for Ben.”
I sob against Reid, letting go. His strong arms soothe my back, but I’m too numb to take in the comfort. Even though logically I know it’s not, it feels like this is all my fault. It’s as if my past is coming for me, and Reid and Finn are being taken under by it too. And Ben! He’s got to be so afraid. He’s an alpha now, and we aren’t there to protect him.
I don’t know how much time passes before a man enters the room, Ben following closely in his wake. I run to him, Reid on my tail, and we look him over. He’s a bruised mess, and his eye is swollen shut. A thick bandage is pressed over his forehead. His face is a track of tears, and my heart rips open at the sight of my little boy looking so lost and broken.
“Mom! Alpha! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” he says in a rush.
The sound of his voice isn’t his own. It goes low and breaks, then he’s a ball of trembling tears. He may be an alpha now, but he’s the same little boy he was this morning. He runs into my arms, and I hold him tightly, wishing I knew how to make any of this right. Reid holds us both, whispering words of reassurance that feel too wishful to be true.
I hate that this is how Ben presented. I don’t know anything about that or what that looks like for the future, but I know he didn’t deserve this. My son sobs against me, and I squeeze him tightly.
His new alpha scent is mowed grass and afternoon breeze mixed with the leather of an oiled glove. He smells like afternoons tossing a baseball in the backyard, and my breath whooshes out of me. This boy isn’t feral. He’s a kid who loves his family and wants to defend them. He’s a boy who the harshness of the world made into an alpha too early.
The man who walked in with Ben clears his throat. He’s another alpha, big around the middle and balding. He has the air of a man concerned with crossing his Ts and dotting his Is.
“I’m Mr. Costa, a social worker from the Pack Welfare Department,” he says, formal and down to business.
Reid pulls away to shake his hand. “Reid Camden. I’m the Pack Prime. Ben is our son, and this is my mate, Cammie.”
The alpha’s brows furrow, and he digs around in his bag, producing a file. “According to the paperwork in the pack registry system, this boy’s designated alpha is Trent Kailing. Officer Daniels told me you’re unmated.” He turns to me with a question.
Reid speaks up again. “We’re courting, but our bonding ceremony is scheduled for the end of next month. I’ll sign whatever paperwork you need to prove I’m claiming them. We’ll do whatever needs to be done through the Pack Welfare Department to comply, but we’d like to take him home.”
