Scum (Book 1)

16. Together?

Liam’s POV

I’d been binge drinking until I drunkenly swung at Chey, which would have been bad if the girl didn’t drop to the ground as fast as she did. Embarrassed, and grateful to see her, I ordered her to take me to my room, and surprisingly, she stayed when I asked her to.

When I woke, she seemed to have stayed awake, staring up at the ceiling of my lounge area as though she wished it would collapse in on her. I know sadness, and Chey is hiding a lot of it.

“Why do you look so miserable?” The girl jumps, scrambling to her feet so quickly that I become frightened. She makes a weird face and holds up a finger to me, taking several deep breaths that scare me to the point of feeling like she may need my help. “What’s wrong?” I try to touch her, but Chey lifts her arms, keeping me back.

“No-no-no-no. My legs are asleep.” I chuckle at the girl, who, now that I’m more alert, looks exactly like what she said she was feeling, and wanting to be a jerk, I hit her thigh, making her hum in annoyance.

We had a good laugh about it before she hobbled to the couch, stretching her legs out to get the circulation flowing again. I’ve experienced that weird feeling, so I know how irritating it can be.

“I’m guessing that you stayed in the same spot for too long.”

“Well, I didn’t want to accidentally startle you into swinging at me again.” That was a jab that I definitely deserve, and it reminds me of Chey’s ‘Golden boys’ quip, so I ask her how she came up with it.

“Girls are attracted to shiny things,” she says, shrugging as if her words are no big deal. “Golden just fits.” That was anticlimactic, but then again; that is Chey.

She says and does what she wants without really caring about what people think about her. People jokingly call it Dallas syndrome, but truthfully speaking, the man was never as candid as his sister, so the credit shouldn’t be his.

“Hungry?” Chey asks with a raised brow.

“Sure.”

The girl makes her way into the small kitchen area built into my room, which is setup like a mini apartment. It was meant to accommodate my mate and I if I found her at exactly eighteen, but I didn’t.

The woman finishes cooking, and I honestly didn’t even know I had half of the stuff she made in my kitchen, but I’m not complaining.

“You’re awesome”

“I work in the kitchen,” she corrects, and after a while, she makes that sad face again.

“Something on your mind?” Chey shakes her head, so I press her for details, careful not to use my alpha tone and ruin the moment of peace she seems to be enjoying.

“I just… I was thinking about some of the things you said last night, and if that’s how bad it hurts to lose someone you aren’t fated to, then what would happen if my mate doesn’t want me?”

That question came as a shock to me, in part because I don’t remember half the things I said, and because any man who rejects Chey would have to be a fool.

The girl is on the taller side, probably about five-foot-nine or five-foot-ten, and to match her height, she’s got beautiful features that make her stand out in a crowd.

I have no idea where she inherited it from, but Chey’s hair is an auburn color, not quite red, but not actually brown. Her eyes are the most amazing shade of green I’ve ever seen, and her sun kissed skin has a healthy glow to it that’s kind of like honey.

It’s not as golden as my skin, nor as brown as Royce’s, but it’s warm, and it suits her well.

“Mates don’t just give up on each other that easily. Something drastic has to happen for a rejection.”

“Maybe for ranked pack members, but it’s common for people like me.” Chey’s right, I don’t know what it’s like to be in her shoes, and I never will, but I do know that she’s not going to get rejected based on looks alone.

“Listen, you’re a smart, sweet, kind, and strong girl. If your mate even hesitates to claim you, then he didn’t deserve you in the first place.” Chey giggles with uncertainty, but even still, it’s the sweetest sound to me. However, I am curious about what she finds ‘funny.’

“You sounded like an old man just now.” I did sound like an old man, so I laugh as well, and with the heaviness out of the way, we finish breakfast and Chey asks me to send a text to the patrol leader, letting him know that I gave her outside orders.

I vaguely remember her telling me that she was still getting paid, and I remembered acknowledging it, but I thought she was joking.

“You played me,” I say, narrowing my eyes at the girl, who instead of trying to screw me while I was drunk, robbed me of the money I’m allocated to send people on errands or tasks, which is a first.

“I absolutely did not. I was given an order and I followed through.” I mockingly glare at Chey, who playfully backs away from me.

“So, you wouldn’t have stayed if I said no?”

“Of course I would have, but you didn’t say no, did you?” I jokingly lunge for the girl who scurries out of my room, making me laugh.

She’s a really good girl, and I hope that I can help her more than my father’s been able to when I'm this pack’s alpha.

Chey’s POV

I walked into the mandatory training session Alpha Liam called and took a seat next to Hector, my unofficial boy best friend. He’s getting older, so he’s been attending mating balls almost weekly, but hasn’t had any luck.

Those events are long, expensive, and they can be mentally draining, so I’ve been offering him my shoulder to cry on, knowing that in the last year, our other friends have seen success where he hasn’t.

“What did I miss?”

“Nothing yet,” the man says, but he’s stretching, so it’s obvious that some instruction was given. “I’m stretching because if I get called out, I’m not trying to end up like you.” I cringe, knowing that every single person in this pack still refers to the spar between Liam and I as ‘The Great Decking.’

I should probably be irritated by that, but it’s pretty funny, especially since I’m the one who originally made the joke.

“Any idea what this is about?” I ask, duplicating the man’s actions, just in case I’m called out again.

“I wish that you could mind-link,” he replies, letting me know that what he has to say is not a conversation for every set of ears.

“No one is in any trouble.” I look up from where I’m sitting and see gamma Kelvin, who sits on the opposite side of me, making me feel like I’ve done something wrong despite his words. I glance at Hector, who shrugs, clearly getting the same vibe as me. “How have you been?” My head tilts all the way to one side like a chihuahua before Hector nudges me to respond.

“Oh, I’m fine… Um… but I’m confused. Why are you sitting back here?”

“I don’t want to blind anyone with my glow.” I cover my face, which has gone hot in embarrassment. “Don’t worry; I’m not offended, but you said some pretty mean things to me the last time I saw you; did you know that?”

“I’m sorry,” I whisper, causing Hector to scoot back, clearly thinking that I’m about to be attacked.

I wondered when the things I said in delirium would come up again, especially because alpha Liam personally came to confront me afterward. I was wrong, but I meant every word I said, so the only thing I’m apologizing for is my delivery, which was pretty rude.

“Why do you look so pensive?”

“I’m trying to figure out how much trouble I’ll get into if I defend myself against you.” Kelvin chuckles, relaxing in his posture which makes me stiffen further.

“Do you want to grab something to eat after this?”

“Is it my last meal?” Hector snorts, but when I turn to look at him, his face looks so white that I’m not sure I heard correctly.

“No, it’s not your last meal. We can just have lunch.”

“Me and you? Together?”

“Yes.” My mind is spinning in every single direction it could be going because I can’t tell what gamma Kelvin is trying to do. He can’t be asking me out on a date, but before I can reply, alpha Liam calls me.

Liam’s POV

It was hard to concentrate on what I was talking to Royce about when Chey walked in. She smells unusually clean, not that she was ever dirty, but as a she-wolf who works all day and night, she usually has the faint smell of sweat on her body, however, right now, there’s just her natural odor.

She smells sweet, almost like a snickerdoodle, and I find myself licking my lips thinking about the cookies she makes.

“You okay bro?” I hadn’t even realized that I stopped talking with my mouth hanging open until Royce asked me what was wrong.

Instead of responding to him, I did something that could be considered embarrassing, but Chey is Dallas’s little sister, not some girl for Kelvin to lead on with his innocent act. He focuses a lot on image, so people tend to think he’s much less promiscuous, but he’s right up there with me, he’s just better at hiding it.

“Chey, I need you to demonstrate the best way to stay alive when faced with a larger and stronger opponent.” The girl just looks at me like I’m crazy, but she cautiously stands looking between Kelvin and I as though something is wrong.

“I don’t know how many times I can say sorry to either of you,” she whispers, walking toward me with shoulders so slumped that Royce mind-links me to ‘let her off’ indicating to me that he also thinks she’s in ‘trouble’ for something.

“Chey relax. I was just…” I can’t really think of any excuse, so I throw myself under the bus. “I almost hurt you recently, but you reacted quickly. I just want to show everyone what we’ll be working on for the next few weeks.”

That was a terrible lie, I just didn’t want her to go eat with Kelvin, but I can’t exactly say that, especially since he’s probably looking at Chey as a possible mate.