Scum (Book 1)

15. Unreasonable

Liam’s POV

The party continues, but my mind keeps going to how sad Chey looked.

I know that all she wanted to do was sell herself as the best option for Luna’s escort, which she is, but right now, my girlfriend is singling out any woman who rests her eyes on me for too long.

“And that’s the person you want to bring in as your future luna?”

“Dad, she’s in a foul mood. You claim to know what it’s like to wait for your mate for years, but clearly, you’ve forgotten. We just witnessed Jenna find her fated partner, then turn around and say she doesn’t want him, while Porsha and I are still struggling to accept that we don’t have the goddesses blessing, and may never.”

“If that’s the excuse you want to go with, fine, but remember that her behavior will only get worse in the future.”

“Dad I-”

“Liam… don’t dig your hole any deeper than it already is. That girl is just like her father, and the sooner you realize it, the better off you’ll be.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Do you think that woman will simply leave if you find a mate? To her, you are property, not a love interest.”

I fall silent, realizing that my father may have a point, but I don’t get to sit and think for too long because there’s a scuffle, and when I get there it’s between Porsha and Shelby.

I don’t know how to react to the situation, but fortunately, my father is an alpha with experience in this area, so it looks like I’m just letting him take charge.

“Alpha Lucas, she’s crazy. She just attacked me.”

“Don’t lie, you know what you said.”

“You asked me a question, and I respected you by telling you the truth woman-to-woman. If you can’t accept that then…” Porsha goes to jump on Shelby again, but I catch her, using strength against the woman for the first time ever.

“You need to calm down and talk to me. I will not allow you to randomly attack my pack members without consequences.”

“She’s nothing but an omega, and you’re choosing her over me?” Porsha’s words hurt, and I find myself melting into them.

“Listen,” I whisper, cupping the woman’s face gently. “You are the woman I chose, which is why I’m stopping you from breaking our pack’s laws. Now, tell me, what did she say?” Porsha responds with a question that tells me exactly what Shelby said.

“How many women in this pack have you been with?” Panic settles within me, and I struggle to come up with a response, but in that time, Porsha smacks me and walks away.

I’m so angry that I nearly returned the favor, but I don’t hit women, and my father urged me to calm over mind-link, so I did, turning to Shelby who looks terrified of me.

“What the f*ck did you tell my girlfriend?”

“Liam!” my father shouts, making me glare at the man. “Your anger is with the woman who just embarrassed you in front of everyone, not with Shelby.”

My father is right, and because I have no rebuttal I leave, wanting to find Porsha who crossed way too many lines for me to ignore tonight.

I get to the guest room, surprised to see the woman packing, which is an added insult to me.

“You’re really going to leave, just like that?”

“You have plenty of women to entertain you,” Porsha says, gathering the few items she removed from her luggage and putting them back.

“I just introduced you to my pack, you just embarrassed me in front of them, and you plan to just walk away? No communication?”

“There is no communication needed. I told you that I wanted you to tell them that I was your luna, but you told them that I ‘might be’ your luna. You clearly have doubts about us, and that woman is probably one of the reasons why.”

“Porsha, you knew that I wasn’t a virgin when you got with me. You had to know that there would be at least one woman in this pack that I’ve slept with, but you wouldn’t have even known if you hadn’t asked her.”

“I asked her because I saw the way she was looking at you, and I wanted to know what my competition was.” Porsha is being absolutely unreasonable right now, but I really don’t want her to leave me, so I swallow my pride, practically begging the woman to stay. “I’m done Liam. I thought you and I had something special, but just like I’m not your luna, you’re not my alpha.”

My heart starts to beat rapidly, and I wrap my arms around the woman, promising to kick Shelby out of the pack, anything I can think of, but she pulls away, picking up her bag and walking out, leaving me to chase her.

I wasn’t even paying attention to anyone watching; I just wanted my girlfriend to stay with me, but it seems like the woman was prepared to leave because she already had a car waiting on territory, which can only be done through pre-approved arrangements.

“Are you really doing this to me right now?” I whine, clutching at my chest in pain. “Do you know how much this situation is hurting me?”

“If you truly cared about me, you would’ve gotten rid of those women before I came.” Porsha is right. If I didn’t want an issue, I should have made arrangements with my father to keep Shelby and any other woman I was with away, but I didn’t because I didn’t think about my future luna’s feelings.

“Please babe. I don’t want to lose you.”

“Then you should have held onto me tighter.” Porsha gets into her car and drives away, and like a fool I chase the vehicle down, only stopping when the driver accelerated faster than my human legs can take me.

I walk back to the packhouse fuming, ready to tear the head off of anyone who even looks at me, and before I go inside, I issue a warning that I’m sure carried the weight of a command.

“If I hear anything about this, you’re dead.”

Cheyenne’s POV

It’s been two days, but Alpha Liam never texted, or called me, and when I got to work, the tension was so thick that it was having a physical effect on me. I’m of gamma blood, so I guess it makes sense that I would be able to sense when something is wrong, but I don’t have a claim to the title, nor have I been bonded with Alpha Liam, so it’s more likely that I’m just over analyzing.

Since I don’t know what’s wrong, I decide not to bother Liam, fearing that I may say something stupid. I can always talk to him later, but for now, I need to attend to the pack duties I already have.

After my kitchen shift, I bumped into Alpha Lucas, and respectfully bowed to the man, who pretended to be offended, well at least I hoped he was pretending.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“I heard that you counseled Jenna and Royce last night.” I shake my head vigorously, waving my arms back and forth to let the man know that I did no such thing.

“I would never break rank alpha.” I bow to the man, folding in my shoulders to show my submission, until I feel him pat the top of my head.

“You’re a really good girl, do you know that?”

“Thank you alpha, but if I’ve done something wrong, please address it before others misunderstand.” Alpha Lucas sighs, straightening my shoulders and lifting my chin, almost making me whimper in fear.

“Little girl, because of you, my daughter and her mate actually had a productive conversation, and if I’m right, there won’t be cause for a rejection.”

“You’ve raised smart children alpha; I’m sure I had nothing to do with it.”

“Two souls that can’t function without their other half?” I bow my head again, feeling as though I’m being tested in some way. “I remember when your father used to say that, and because of him, I waited, and now I have the most amazing woman by my side.” Alpha Lucas pats my back, and walks away, leaving me to release the breath I was holding.

Maybe I caused the bad atmosphere, and I really hope that I haven’t started any drama within the pack again.

Scared, I enter my home, going straight to my room where I attempt to nap, but sleep is hard to find, so I get up, eat, and report to the patrols an hour early. My partner is unusually quiet, but then again, so is everyone else, so I say nothing, but eventually the silence is broken between us.

I point to my ear, then to the direction of where I heard a twig break, and my partner backs me up, stalking behind me until he extends his arm across my chest, stopping me from going forward.

“Alpha Liam,” he mouths, shaking his head in the negative and retreating a few steps back, which confuses me.

Ignoring my partner, I cautiously approach, only to be viciously swung at by the man, but I’ve sparred with my brother for most of my life, so I know that sometimes the best defense is evasion, which is what I did.

“Alpha, stop. It’s me, Chey. I heard something, and I came to check on it. I’m on patrol tonight.”

“Take me back to my room now!” The man orders, and I nod, not understanding why he’s being so foul. “She left me Chey. She f*cking left me, and she won’t even let me step foot on her territory to win her back.” I don’t know what to say, so I just act as the man’s crutch until we are outside of his room, but he’s so out of it that I have to actually walk him inside.

I put Liam on the couch, taking off his shoes, and arranging his legs into a more comfortable position, wishing that I had the ability to mind-link because I need to go back to work.

“Stay with me,” the man whispers, but I’m not sure if he’s talking to me, or dreaming about Porsha, so I stand to leave, but he reaches out and catches my arm. “Please Chey, I don’t want to be alone right now.”

I know what loneliness is, so I sit on the floor, resting my head on the couch that my alpha is lounging on.

“I hope I’m still getting paid for this,” I tease, making the man chuckle deeply.

“Sure,” he replies.