The Gamma Prince's Broken Mate

Ice Cream

Rain

Seven rude customers I’ve had today. All of them made comments about me and my son. I acted as though it didn’t bother me or their whispering and pointing. But it did bother me, and I couldn’t ignore it as much as I tried.

Eventually, Rose forced me out back because she said I was upsetting the customers. Me! The cheek of it!

I left work and headed straight over to pick Mark up, trying to pretend the other parents weren’t giving me dirty looks. I stood outside the door, waiting for the teacher to release my son, and all I could think about was leaving this place.

Why am I still at Shadow Pack?

Everyone treats me appallingly, and no one wants me here. The best thing I could do is leave and return to the human world where I had lived for ten years. But I can’t do that because Mark will tell any friends he makes that he’s a Wolf. He’s not a wolf; he’s a Lycan because his father is. I knew that much when I met Blaze if I knew nothing else about him. Lycans exude power that Wolves don’t. It’s hard to get the two mixed up.

I guess Mark is young enough that people will simply believe he’s imaginative. Shifters fear humans finding out about them, but no one in the human world, unless they’re crazy, would believe people could change into animals. Even if some saw you or recorded it on their phones, others wouldn’t believe it. Videos would be called fake, art projects, or movie clips.

If humans did run around claiming they’d seen a person change into a Wolf, they’d be locked up, medicated, and mentally altered. It wouldn’t be fair to them, but I could teach Mark that his identity is a secret.

My son has many years before the change takes him, so I could keep him safe. I have no family here because Uncle Dom works for the Lycan King and fully transferred to the Royal Pack when I was sixteen. He didn’t take me with him because there was no point. Dom wouldn’t have been able to care for me, and I would have been as alone there as I am here. Besides, I would be just as unwelcome in the Royal Pack. The Lycan King doesn’t allow humans onto his territory.

Alessia mentioned once that the King would accept me because my uncle is loyal to him. Thane Knight only has problems with full humans who aren’t mated to Lycans or Wolves. My parents weren’t mates; they slept together once after my father went to the human world in search of a missing clan member. I don’t know what that clan is, nor what my father was, because he never told my mom. But I know my father was neither Wolf nor Lycan; the beast within me is neither. I’m not sure what Dom said about my father searching for a clan member is accurate.

Why would a supernatural creature tell my mother that little snippet of information and nothing else?

I know my father’s name because I met him as a little girl. He would take me out and have me sleep over at his house. But, one day, he disappeared from my life, leaving me in a world of hurt. I had been abandoned by the only parent who loved me. Mom said my father didn’t want the responsibility of a child like me, and he left because I was an awful little girl that no one could love, not even her new husband.

Mom would laugh while telling me she knew secrets about my father, things he told only her. Mom is human, and there is no way a supernatural would spill something like that to her. I don’t even know where Dom got the information. Mom knew about Wolf Packs, but my father didn’t know that.

Mom and Dominic were step-siblings after her mother met Dom’s father, realized they were mates, and got married. Hence why Dom is my step-uncle. Mom said she met my father in a bar, slept with him that night, and moved on, much like Blaze and me.

Mom lived here in Shadow Pack until she went home to the human world, where she met my father, or so she said. A couple of years after I was born, she met another man and, married him, had more kids. She was never allowed to come back here because she left. There is no coming back once you choose to leave.

My step-uncle and grandparents didn’t know about me. I still don’t know my grandparents because they moved to England to be with a relative of my step-grandfathers.

I met my uncle because he literally bumped into Mom and me. He’d returned to the human world with two Royal Warriors, disguised as humans, looking for a runaway teen.

He took one look at me and knew that I was Mom’s child, even though she swore I was someone else’s. Dom yelled at Mom and told her she was a vile liar and she should have contacted home. He would have come to her to ensure she was okay; because we were anything but okay then. We had nothing, and I was dressed in clothes too small for me. I was eight years old at the time, and I was confused.

I don’t know how he managed it, but Dom convinced Mom to let him have access to me. She wasn’t a good mother to me, but she never allowed me to go anywhere, as a rule. However, something Dom said made her think twice.

Mom made me swear not to mention my brother and sister to anyone, so I didn’t. I then saw my uncle every other month after that and even came to stay with him and his mate now and again. It was tough because Dom’s mate, Sandra, didn’t like me. She couldn’t have a child of her own and resented me for being born, and she hated that Dom had lowered himself to accept a human as family.

My grandmother was human; how did Sandra act around her?

Goddess, I was a confused child, trying to come to terms with the fact my uncle could change into an animal, and his mate was a bi.tch!

Dom tried to shield me from Sandra’s anger, but it wasn’t always easy, and she often hurt me. Sandra would lock me in closets for hours and wouldn’t feed me unless Dom was around. If Dom had to work overnight, Sandra would punish me terribly. She’d bend me over the kitchen table, pull down my panties, and beat me with Dom’s belt until I passed out from the pain.

There were times she’d burn me with things. She would choke me and tell me I was worthless. Sandra even poisoned me once. I was so ill; I had to be taken to the pack doctor. I remember clearly Luna Mia yelling at Sandra inside my hospital room.

‘What the hell did you do to that baby!?’

‘I didn’t do anything, Luna.’ Sandra lowered her head. ‘The child got hold of Dom’s Zanten supply.’

Zanten is a paralyzing agent used on enemies Warriors need alive. They inject the liquid into the prisoner and drag them to the dungeons, where they interrogate them. An antidote is required for the person not to lose their life in the process. Dom had a bottle on his nightstand, but he shouldn’t have and could have ended up in prison if the Alpha saw fit.

‘If I find out you’re lying, I’ll k.ill you myself!’ Luna Mia walked away, and Sandra threatened to k.ill me if I told anyone she’d put Zanten in my drink.

After that incident, Dom began to notice how withdrawn I was every time I came to visit. He also realized Sandra wasn’t very nice toward me and even caught her beating me with his belt once. He was fuming and slapped Sandra to the ground.

Dom carried me to bed and begged me not to tell my mother; for fear, she’d stop me from visiting or Dom having any access to me at all. Little did he know that I would never have told Mom. My life with her was so much worse than anything Sandra could have put me through. Being with Dom was my break away from it all, regardless of how Sandra treated me.

I came to live with Dom after my mother was sent to prison in the human world. Two of her three children had been mur.dered by her husband, and the other, me, was left for dead. I don’t know how I survived, but Dom said it was because of whatever my father was, but he didn’t believe it was a Wolf. He passed part of himself onto me, keeping me alive.

I never want Mark to have to go through what I went through. I would cut my hands off before I ever hurt him and destroy anyone who tried to harm my child. I am not weak where it counts, and no one shall physically harm my baby and live to tell the tale. All I want is better for my son, better than I ever had.

Is that too much to ask?

I don’t date because I fear how that person might treat Mark. Not that anyone here would ever ask me out on a date. No one would be caught dead with a half-breed like me.

Mark and I would be okay if I returned to the human world. We could live in a place no one knew me, and perhaps I’d make friends. I could teach Mark how to enjoy life, and he’d never have to witness his mommy being verbally and physically abused the way I am in front of him almost every day. I try to fight back; the Goddess knows I do. I don’t just stand there and allow people to physically attack me. But it’s never one-on-one, and when Mark is with me, I have to protect him.

“Mommy, can I have ice cream? I was very good at playgroup.”

I smile at my little man while crouching down in front of him. I stroke my hand over the back of his dark hair, and he giggles, making his blue eyes shine. Mark is the image of me and, thankfully, looks nothing like his so-called father. Okay, he does look like his father a lot when he smiles, and it hurts looking at Mark sometimes. But it isn’t my son’s fault his father was a no-good bas.tard. It was mine for believing I could be happy. Mark’s father didn’t mention us being mates, but I didn’t think it mattered when he wanted me so badly. I thought I’d wake up to see him smiling at me; then he’d ask me to leave with him.

Isn’t that what happens with mates?

You meet, mate, and one follows the other to a better life?

How stupid was I?

“You were a good boy, Mark, and I am so proud of you. So, yes, just this once, you can have ice cream.”

“Yay!” I breathe him in as he wraps his little arms around my neck. The only person who has ever truly loved me is my son, and the Goddess knows that I love my boy more than anything.

I rarely take Mark to the diner in town, but now and again, I take him for ice cream. I couldn’t afford anything else, but he deserved a treat.

As usual, everyone stares as we walk through the door. I take a deep breath and find us a booth at the back of the diner. We shouldn’t have to hide, but it’s better than being gawked at all the time.

“What can I get you?” Waitresses are supposed to give you a bright smile and speak in a cheery voice. However, Winnie here always speaks to me like I was sh.it on her shoe.

I look at Mark and smile. “What would you like, baby?”

“Stawberry sundae, please.”

Winnie writes down what Mark asked for and then looks at me. “And you?”

“Nothing, thank you.”

She huffs and walks away. Bit.ch!

“Mommy, why don’t you have ice cream?”

“I had a big lunch, baby boy, so I’m not hungry. But you enjoy.” I smile because I can’t tell my three-year-old son that I didn’t eat anything at lunch, and I can’t afford ice cream for the both of us. Not that I mind; ice cream isn’t something I eat often.

Winnie soon returns with Mark’s order, which she places on the table and storms away. Goddess, I have to get away from here before these people break me completely.

“Fancy seeing you here, Freak.”

Great, this bas.tard is all I need.

“What do you want, Miles?”

Miles is a guy I went to school with, one who bullied me something awful. He turned the whole school against me because I’m half-human. I couldn’t walk down the corridor without him tripping me up or shoving me into walls.

This as.shole would pour drinks over my lunch or slap the lunch tray out of my hand. I often went without lunch because I didn’t want to give Miles the satisfaction of making his friends laugh at me.

The only time he left me alone was when Alessia used her Beta dominance on him. But as soon as she wasn’t around, he’d drag me into closets or bathrooms and slam my head into the wall. Miles knocked me out once or twice, but he always made sure I kept my mouth shut about who’d hurt me.

After we left school, the torture didn’t end. Sometimes, he follows me around to spit his verbal abuse at me. He always makes sure Alessia isn’t around because he’s afraid she’ll tell her dad. I could go to Greg. As my Alpha, it’s his duty to stop people like Miles. But the bas.tard knows I won’t go running to anyone.

“I see you brought your mini freak out for ice cream.”

Mark’s eyes well with tears, and my nose burns with emotion. My son is not a freak! I can’t believe that Miles would do this again. Every damn time we see Miles, he calls my son, and I freaks.

I’ve had enough.

“Don’t you dare...” Miles slams his hands down on the table, cutting me off and scaring Mark half to death.

My son is now crawling to the back of the booth, crying to himself, arms wrapped around his knees. He’s so frightened because of this pig, and I just want to scoop him up and take him out of here. But Miles has other ideas as he grabs my face in his hand.

“Getting brave, huh, Freak? You know, there’s only one use for someone like you.”

“Take your fuc.king hands off her before I break them!”

Sh.it!