Talons

Chapter 122: The Memory

Rhea’s POV

I don’t know what to think right now, but I know I can’t trust anything Colton says. He claims that Tyson and his sisters are important to him, but he hasn’t bothered to formally adopt them or even figure out why the boy doesn’t speak.

If you ask me Colton is raising a bride in Crystal. It isn’t unheard of for alpha males to have ‘back-up mates,’ and some of the more jealous types try to choose them young.

"I don’t think that’s it," Sylvia says, but before I can hit her with my very accusatory question, she finishes her statement. "Don’t jump to conclusions; I just don’t see Colton as that type of person."

“He’s jealous of pictures,” I say, and once again I see Sylvia shrug.

"I didn’t say he was smart. I just don’t think he is looking at Crystal in any way other than cheap labor." Sylvia’s closing makes me feel a little better, but I’m still not in a good mood.

Not wanting to argue with my wolf over something we both may never get the answer to, I climb into my bed and sleep.

Colton’s POV

I’m about five or six and I’m tugging on my mother’s sleeve. I’ve been visiting the Claw pack for years, but this is the first time I’m seeing her. I tried to talk to her, but she just kept making weird sounds.

“Mommy, Mommy, why doesn't she speak?”

“She does, you just don’t understand her. She speaks Spanish.”

“Why haven’t I seen her before?”

“Colton, that’s enough. Go outside and play.”

“But mom.”

“Colton!” My mother has never raised her voice with me, so I instantly quiet down, but instead of going outside, I sit in front of the little girl who I can now see is Rhea.

“Can’t you say something?”

“Something,” she repeats, and her accent makes me laugh. Rhea smiles at me with absolutely no fear in her eyes, then hands me a piece of chocolate and I notice it’s one of my guilty pleasures as an adult now.

“I’m not allowed to eat candy,” I say, but she clearly doesn’t understand, and thinking I don’t know what to do, she takes the candy, opens it, and pushes it into my mouth.

“Bien?” She says, but I have no idea what that means so I just stare at her. She doesn’t look like anyone in particular, and it's really bothering me that I don’t know who she is.

“What is your name?” Rhea shakes her tiny head in confusion, so I point at myself and say ‘Colton’ before pointing at her.

“Rhea,” she replies, but because of her accent, I hear it as ‘Lea.’

“Hi Lea, do you want to play with me?” Her eyebrows furrow, so I reach out my hand to her, causing the girl's face to turn red. “Are you okay?” I ask, but she just giggles as she turns away from me.

I can see now that she was shy, but back then I was confused and thought she was playing a game, so I started to poke at her, making her giggle loudly.

Rhea and I are minding our business tickling one another while she continuously force-feeds me chocolate, but it isn’t long before our small bubble pops.

“What are you still doing here?” My mother questions, and her tone sounds unfriendly. “I thought I told you to go outside and play. Raven and Robin are waiting for you.”

“I don’t like Raven or Robin.” My mother smiles softly before extending a hand to me and I take it.

“Colton, please go outside.” I nod and as I start to leave, Rhea runs up behind me and grabs onto my hand. She smiles brightly at me, and I playfully squeeze her fingers.

However, as soon as we step out, one of her sister’s pushes her, and she scrambles to her feet in shock.

“He is not your mate!” Raven shouts, and the young me gets irritated. I check ‘Lea’s’ hands and notice a small scrape on one of them, which makes me angry.

“Why did you push her?” I ask.

“She isn’t your mate,” Robin replies. Although I’m young, I know what I want, and it's not either twin.

“I don’t care if I’m fated to you. I hate you and I want her.” I’ve watched enough television to know what a kiss looks like, and I press one against ‘Lea’s’ lips, completely satisfied when it makes Raven cry.

However, Rhea looks scared, and Dolton’s continuous, ‘oo’ noise that he is making isn’t helping. The little girl holds my hand tightly, and I can feel it slightly trembling in my grasp.

I look up to see Luna Mavis and my mother running out, and before I know it, ‘Lea’ is being snatched away from me.

“Apologize right now Colton!” My mother says, and I grit out an ‘I’m sorry’ to Raven who looks triumphant. “He didn’t mean it, okay? He just wanted to make you jealous, but fated mates should never hurt one another. Do you understand me boys?” My brother and I nod, but my mother still drags me away.

“Where are we going?” I ask, I’m a little worried because my mother has never been rough with me, and truthfully, I still want to play with Rhea.

“Don’t worry baby. Mommy will fix everything for you.”

I sprang up in bed covered in sweat. My heart is racing, Orlin is on edge, and unable to calm down, he starts pushing me to go to my mate.

I check the time because I don’t want to wake her, but I know that if my wolf doesn’t lay his eyes on her right now, he is going to go crazy.

“What was that?”

"It was a memory," Orlin replies. "Dolton was telling the truth."

“How did we forget?” I ask, pushing my leg into my pants, trying to make myself decent. The last thing I need is for Rhea to think I’m barging into her room to force myself on her. “Wait… What is that smell?”

"Rhea’s cooking," Orlin says excitedly, and after pulling on a shirt, we come out of the room to find the woman working in the kitchen.

“G-good morning alpha. I m-made breakfast.”

“No alpha,” I say, moving closer to my mate who looks unsure of herself. “Just call me Colton, I told you before there is no need for titles between us.” She nods, but I can tell she won’t actually listen. I noticed that she calls me alpha anytime she wants something, and with the spread I’m seeing, she must have a big request. “What is all this for?”

“Y-you said we needed to have a daily meal together.” I take a seat at the small kitchen table, trying hard not to let a creepy smile grow on my face.

I wasn’t expecting her to actually cook the day after I suggested a daily meal, but I’m so glad I didn’t specify because this is so much better than what I was thinking.

“Do you like to cook?” I ask, trying to make small talk with Rhea. Orlin is still on edge, and I can feel him poking around my mind trying to see if he can remember anything else, and truthfully, it’s giving me a headache.

“I-I don’t hate it and I just got used to it.”

“Did you work in the kitchen?” I know that everyone in the Claw pack has a role to play, and I honestly can’t fault them.

“N-no. I lived o-on my own for a-a long t-time.”

“Why?” I ask, genuinely interested because the reason she moved has always been a pack secret.

“I- My wolf was g-gone, and I wasn’t safe.”

“From whom?” I question, but Rhea casts me a glance that lets me know that I’m the threat. “I ruined your life, didn’t I?” My mate shrugs as she sets a plate in front of me and takes a seat in the opposite chair.

Her portion size is significantly smaller, and it tells me that she wasn’t lying to me yesterday. She eats less because she doesn’t taste anything.

“If it wasn’t you, it would have been someone else,” she says nonchalantly. I hate that she is so casual about something so serious, but I guess I’m also the reason for that too. I made my mate feel like it was normal for her to be treated poorly, but if my memory is real, her sisters didn’t help.

“Have you seen a doctor about it lately? Maybe there is something we can do?” Rhea shakes her head, but I'm not sure which question she is answering.

“I’m a rogue, so my medical bills aren’t covered by Claw Pack taxes. I’ve learned to live with it.”

“What do you mean aren’t covered. You’re Alpha Jay’s daughter.”

“You can always ask them yourself, but the last time I was there, I had bleeding in my chest and they didn’t want to treat me;”

I love that my mate is talking to me, and I love that she isn’t stuttering anymore, but the conversation we are having is weighing me down, and Orlin keeps trying to convince me to track down every person who ever hurt Rhea and kill them.

“Thank you for last night,” I suddenly say, and when my mate’s face contorts in confusion, I smile. “You showed me how great of a luna you will be to this pack. You’ve already found two problems and at least one of them is already being addressed.”

After Rhea went to bed, I talked to omegas from the kitchen staff, and they said that they prefer Sebastien over his father. They said that he didn’t shout orders for them to follow, but he actually helped them get the job done and showed them where they were working harder.

Basically, Bernard is going to be replaced, and because he has no usable skill other than talking down to omegas and making sure rooms are clean, it will be his ‘useless’ son taking care of him.

“C-Colton,” my mate says in a sweet voice. She keeps stealing glances at me and my mind goes back to the dream I just had. I wonder if she can remember that far back or if it’s something she blocked out the way I did.

"Answer her," Orlin growls, and I give my undivided attention back to my mate.

“I... to get the daycare done, I will need access to my phone and a computer.” My mind starts to race with all the possible consequences of giving Rhea her phone, but it’s unrealistic of me to keep it forever.

“Okay, but to be safe, I want you to use it within my view.”