Talons

Chapter 61: The Mud

Rhea’s POV

It has been a few days since I’ve returned to campus; Jamie is still on vacation with her family. Mike, Brent, and Brice had gone to Cancun for the break, and they asked me to pick them up from the airport today.

I borrow some of Jamie’s makeup, and try my best to mix something called concealer with another thing called foundation to match my color, but I end up looking like I have pale mud streaked on my face. 

I shrug it off and decide that I’ll tell the guys I was gardening. They are men, and they will probably believe me.

I still have bruises from the viscous slaps I was given. Sylvia says that because the bruising from the first rogue attack hadn’t fully healed before the second set of slaps, the blood under skin is beyond her control. We will have to wait for it to fade naturally, which may take weeks.

My other injuries are nearly healed now that Sylvia and I can actually sleep. For some reason, the only rogue I think of now is the one who saved me from having to kill Lark’s pack member. My brother has already accused me before hearing my side of the story, so I don’t even want to think about what he would have done if I had actually fought back.

I put on large sunglasses with a hat and start heading to the airport. I’m seventeen and not allowed to drive with passengers in the back seat yet, so one of the guys will have to take my place when I get there, but I’m saving them an expensive taxi ride back to campus, so I’m sure they won’t mind.

When I get to the arrival gate, I see Brent and Brice sulking while Mike is talking to a random girl. I roll my eyes and honk the horn, opening my trunk for them.

“I’m freaking starving,” Brent says as he climbs into the back. I clear my throat, handing him a container of food.

“Where is mine?” Brice asks with a whine, and I hand him a container as well. Mike is the last to enter the car, and I remind him that he has to drive.

“B babe, you will be fine. Just do the speed limit.”  Mike sniffs the air and turns to see Brent and Brice stuffing their faces in the back seat. They aren’t even paying attention to us, and I wonder if they haven’t eaten the whole time they were gone. “Where is mine?” Mike asks, looking at me intently. I don’t even want to give him the food, but Sylvia tells me it's petty, so I hand him the container without words.

The car is plunged into silence as they eat, and only when they have consumed the entirety of the meal does conversation start. 

Brice starts telling me about how much trouble they got into, and I find myself giggling at his stories. Brent chimes in every now and then, and I find myself laughing every time he corrects his brother's account.

They are like comedians, and truthfully the only reason we aren’t closer is because Mike doesn’t like me hanging out with them; something that will definitely change. I’m more than sure he and that girl exchanged numbers and Sylvia is not happy about it.

“Is there something on your face?” Mike asks, and I just realized that he has been staring at me. 

“It's dirt,” I lie. “I was replanting some flowers and I lost track of time.” Not Mike, but Brent pokes a hole in my story.

“So, you had time to cook and pack us meals, but not enough time to wash your face?” I shift uncomfortably and when we stop at a red light, Mike rips my hat off my head, making my sunglasses fall off my face.

“What are you doing?” I ask, completely irritated by his actions, but I’m met with silence.

The remainder of the car ride is awkward as I refuse to look anywhere but the road. I pull into the student parking lot, open my trunk, and try to bolt away, but Mike grabs my arm before I can.

“I’m coming over,” he says, and I pull my arm away, telling him I have work to do.

Mike’s POV

The flight back from Cancun was amazing. I have successfully joined the mile high club, and the chick I banged wasn’t bad looking.

As we wait for B to pick us up, the same girl approaches me and she and we start flirting, only stopping when we hear a loud honk. I look up to see B waving to Brent and Brice, and I quickly get the girl's number hoping B hasn’t seen us.

When I enter the car, she asks me to drive but I decline because I’m exhausted from my in-flight entertainment. I then notice my teammates eating and I start to feel jealous. 

I complain, and B slams a container of food into my hands, letting me know that she saw me, and she is angry. I want to give her time to calm down while I think of a lie, so I start to eat, absolutely amazed by the girl yet again. 

She is such a great cook that I fear being in a committed relationship with her. A girl like her will make me fat, but I don’t think I’ll be mad about it. 

I start staring at B, realizing that she has lost a little more weight, but then I also notice dark smudges on her face that look like makeup. I ask her about it, and she gives me a bullsh*t excuse about planting. 

Fortunately, Brent is the one to call her on it, and when we stop at a red light, I snatch her hat off her head, making her glasses fall off her face. It is clear she has caked thick layers of makeup on her skin, and the car plunges into an awkward silence that only gets broken when we get to the student parking lot.

I tell B that I’m coming over; I want to see what is under the makeup, but she lies again. This time, it's Brice who gets into the conversation.

“You can either let us come to your room, or I will file a police report.” B’s face takes on an expression of worry, and she nods at Brice, who closes the trunk, telling her that we can get our bags later.

The three of us follow B into her room, and Brice gently asks her to wash her face. I’m a little annoyed because Gavin and I are the only people who have seen B without her glasses, but that feeling goes out the window when the girl comes back with a face covered in bruises. 

Brent gets to her first, and Brice calls his brother. I don’t even know what to say, but the three of us have had this discussion before.

Whenever B goes home, she gets ‘sick,’ and on the times that doesn’t happen, she comes back scared and depressed.

We have all seen her back, and we know that her family practices a backward culture in which its okay to whip little girls, but as far as I’m concerned, they are abusing her.

“Did your family do this?” I ask, finally able to look at B closely because Brent left to put his brother on the guest list. 

“No,” she says animatedly. “They don’t even know what happened. I left home right after.” My heart starts to race as I consider all the possible meanings ‘right after’ could have.

“Did someone-” B cuts me off, shaking her head vigorously. 

“Someone helped me,” she says, and my heart constricts.

“So, someone tried?” Brice asks, clearly as agitated as I am.

“Guys please, I don’t want to make this bigger than it already is. It's bad enough that Braylen is on his way, and I don’t want to cause any trouble.”

Lark’s POV

The omega who presented with a wolf has been sentenced to two days isolation. He hadn’t been moved from the omega quarters because he told us that his apartment was the only memory he had of his mother, but his behavior has made him a threat to their safety. 

He has already tried to force himself on three teenage girls, who only managed to escape him because he was scared away by the patrols.

I know that he is having trouble suppressing his brand-new wolf, and if it were not for the fact that he promised not to press charges on my sister with the council, I would have made him a rogue after his first attempt to violate an innocent girl.

“You need to come to the main orchard,” Luke links. “And don’t shift,” he adds.

I get into one of the golf carts we have on the territory and start driving to the orchard that is closer to where our omegas live. That area is set up to look like a town complete with a small hotel, and my guess is that human visitors have arrived. 

It happens from time to time, but we have nothing of interest except the orchards, so humans get bored fast and leave quickly.

I get out of the cart at the entrance to the main orchard and I’m not surprised to see three humans waiting: two females and one male. The man is respectful in size, the same height as Luke, and he looks livid.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, extending a hand that gets slapped away. “I link my beta not to react because I'm curious as to what the human thinks he is doing.”

“Did you really make your sister leave after nearly being victimized by one of your workers?” I tense and pry the human’s hands off my shirt with enough force to show him that I could kill him if I wanted. He takes the hint and steps back. 

“What are you talking about?” I ask, both agitated and confused. I know humans won't understand, but fights happen between wolves regardless of gender, although he seems to be hinting at something else.

“Are you not Baby B’s brother? She asked us not to come, but I just had to see the i***t who blamed his sister for nearly being r*ped.” I link Luke, and he quietly leaves the area.

“I was told they fought, nothing more,” I say, trying to calm the human so he can leave, and I can go kill the boy responsible.

“B told me you’d say that but do us all a favor; if your family doesn’t want such a sweet girl, let my mother adopt her.”