Scum (Book 1)

4. Decked

Liam’s POV

Royce predicted it, but it was easier to deny the girls who kept throwing themselves at me than I thought it’d be. I overate, so I was extremely full, and the cookies at dinner were all the ‘sugar’ I needed.

I headed straight to my room where I found Shelby waiting, but she isn’t crazy, so when I told her that I have a girlfriend, she pouted, kissed my cheek, and told me she would be waiting.

She’s the first woman I had s*x with, but she’s a few years older, so no one suspected us back then. Even now, people still think that she is waiting for her mate, unknowing that the woman has no interest in being tied down to one man.

She told me herself that if she has a mate, she will reject him, simply because she doesn't think she will be able to cope with the pressure of being in a committed relationship.

There are many wolves who share those sentiments, but most of them change their mind when they actually meet their mates.

Because of that, Shelby doesn’t like leaving pack grounds, hoping to minimize her chances of accidentally meeting her fated partner, but I feel like that’s going to work against her one day.

However, it's not my problem; we had some good times together, but I won’t spoil my relationship with Porsha for her. Despite my age, she is my first real girlfriend, which isn’t great.

Although we are ranked, Porsha and I may not have mates, so if I can show her that I can be loyal without the bond, she may choose me as her partner, binding together slightly hostile packs in the process.

Cheyenne’s POV

All pack members of a certain age were called to some random meeting, so as soon as I came home from school, I had to run to the training grounds.

Alpha Liam was in the middle of a speech when I snuck into the crowd, trying to pretend that I was always there. The man calls for a volunteer, and literally every female present steps forward, clearly wanting to be chosen.

“What did I miss?” Hector tells me that Alpha Liam plans to group male and female sparring partners for the week, saying that it could help bridge the gap between genders.

It’s true that most of our female and male fighters try to stay away from one another, but I have no idea why, and honestly, it was always weird to me.

“Why’re they volunteering to get decked?” Hector stifles a chuckle, tickled by my question, and at the same time my name is shouted, making me jump.

Alpha Liam is looking directly at me, and he beckons for me to join him. I put on a tough expression, but I’ve seen the man spar with my brother, and I’m likely going to be sore after this.

“I have school tomorrow,” I say, drawing out a few chuckles as I stretch my muscles.

Liam’s POV

Chey is a fool, and I heard her little comment about getting decked, but truthfully, she’s right. The girls stepping forward don’t want to improve their skill, they want to seduce me, so I called on Chey, half wanting her to save me, and half wanting to see her reaction.

As expected, she did not disappoint, and because of her reminder, I'll do my best not to leave visible bruises.

I explain what I expect, and Cheyenne gets into a fighting stance. Instead of waiting for me to attack, she goes on the offensive, making her brother stiffen, but I just chuckle.

She is much stronger than I thought, so after the first minute of seeing what she can do, I get a little serious, but Chey learned a lot from Dallas, so she too was holding back, smirking when she notices that I’m pleasantly surprised.

She actually landed a few blows, forcing me to use more strength than I wanted, and I can now see why Dallas is always stressed when she attacks him; you don’t want to hurt her, but you kind of have to.

I connect a solid punch to the girl’s shoulder, and she goes flying back as a chorus of ‘ohs’ circulates around the room. Chey didn’t scream, but I know that I dislocated her shoulder, in fact I could feel it.

“Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I’m done.” I go to help the girl, but she’s already standing, her arm unnaturally dangling as she does.

“s**t Cheyenne; I didn’t mean to do that.” I nod at Dallas, who rushes forward to help his sister.

“Why did you fight so seriously? Haven’t you learned anything? Now look at your arm.”

“You’re blaming me?” The girl incredulously asks, and once again people giggle. I feel like crap as I watch her slowly walk out of the training room, so I send my gamma to make sure that she’s okay.

However, there is some good that came from our performance because when I called for a new partner, absolutely no one stepped forward.

Chuckling, I assign pairs at random, settling on just observing what they do. No one wants to hurt the women they are paired with, and I can hear them talking with one another, asking about their level of strength and skill, pretty much getting to know their partners before they start fighting one another, something I probably should have done with Chey.

“You wouldn’t have been able to stop that from happening,” Royce links, patting my shoulder in consolation. “She was serious.”

I know that my beta is just trying to make me feel better, but I could have held back and still remained dominant. I’ve never thought of Chey as a small girl, but sparring against her made me realize that most of her mass is from the oversized clothing she wears.

Later, my gamma comes back, telling me that Cheyenne had to have her arm popped in place, and likely won’t be returning to sparring anytime soon. She hasn’t come into her wolf healing, so her arm will take a few days to stop hurting, and until then, she is still at risk of having it pop out at random.

“I should probably apologize again.” My gamma gives me a look that I can’t quite place, so I mind-link him, wanting an explanation.

“Would that not make you look weak?” He says, which is odd because he typically worries about coming off as cold. “I mean, she was coming at you pretty strong.”

If it were anyone else, I would agree with Kelvin, but Chey is Dallas’ little sister. There were other things I could have done to put the girl in her place without causing injury. I was enjoying our spar a little too much, and I got too excited, which is unbecoming of an alpha, something I’m shocked my gamma isn’t thinking about.

“I lost control of myself and that’s what I’m apologizing for.” Kelvin nods, and I leave, not entirely sure what the man’s problem is, but I can always ask him about it later.

I get to the infirmary just in time to hear Chey being scolded by, not Dallas, but her mother who is clearly unhappy.

“How could you challenge our alpha’s son?”

“I didn’t challenge him, he challenged me.”

“Cheyenne stop; do you know how dangerous that is? What if he takes it the wrong way?”

“I was following his orders. If I would have held back, I would have been insulting him, and if I would have backed down-”

“You wouldn’t be sitting in the infirmary right now.” Chey doesn’t respond with an excuse, choosing to yield to her mother’s worry.

“You’re right. I should have been more careful about my safety., but I’ll be fine to work in the kitchen by morning.”

“Cheyenne, that’s not what I meant.” I use the opportunity to clear my throat, stepping into the room as the two women try to pretend they weren’t just having a disagreement.

“Alpha Liam,” Cheyenne stands, revealing the slender frame that’s usually hidden by her brother’s old clothing. She hasn’t fully gone through puberty, so her body is like that of an overgrown child’s. “I want to apologize for my behavior. I was reckless, and I forced you to-”

“Chey stop,” I reply, holding up my hand for silence. “What you did wasn’t right, but I’m an alpha male, I should have controlled my strength.” I thought that would be the end of things, but she steps forward with folded shoulders.

“I’ll gracefully accept punishment.” Now, I feel even more terrible, but because Chey seems like she needs me to say something, I do.

“You will withdraw from all pack services for…” I pause, waiting for the pack nurse to link back with how long Chey’s arm needs to heal. “Seven days.” The girl’s lips visibly tremble, and I remember that she is a student. “You’ll be allowed to attend school, but under strict curfew.” She kneels, and I really want to kill Dallas for how formal he's taught his sister to behave around me.

Cheyenne’s POV

I understand that I’ve crossed a line, so I get that I need to be punished, but a week without work will really set my family back. My injury doesn’t fall under what's covered by sick pay, so after the time has passed, I will have to take double shifts to catch up, otherwise, my parents will start panicking.

At least I can go to school, and by the time the sentence ends, my arm should be back to normal.

When I get back home, my father is already waiting by the door, taking in my immobilized arm with a look of pure disappointment.

“What were you thinking?”

“Dad, I’m a pack warrior. I can’t just-”

“Cheyenne, we have already discussed this several times. Our family is rankless, but Dallas has been fighting to get to the top. What would happen if your disrespect makes it seem as though he is trying to gather support to challenge someone’s title after making delta warrior?”

“Sorry daddy, it will never happen again.” My father dismisses me, so I retreat to my room.

A short while later, Dallas knocks, holding an ice pack and a slice of cake I recognize from my birthday.

“Dallas, do people really think we’re a threat to the safety of this pack?”

“You don’t need to worry about it. I have no intention of shaking up the pack’s stability. Liam and Royce are my friends, and Kelvin is a good gamma. It would be selfish to put my ego over the good of the pack.”

"Then why is everyone afraid?"

“Toxic minds breed toxic thoughts,” he replies.