Scum (Book 1)

41. Forgiven

Liam’s POV

I don’t know why Chey said yes, but immediately after kissing her, she practically ran away from me.

I was only able to catch up to her because she didn’t have the room key, but as soon as I opened the door, I had to grab her arm to stop her from hiding in the restroom.

“What did you do?” She asks in a whisper-shout that makes me feel horrible.

I know I crossed the line, I could feel it in the way her nails dug into my skin, but I was really into the moment, so I didn’t care.

“Chey, please forgive me, I-I thought you already had your first kiss.”

“Alpha Liam, when would I have done that? I’ve never even been on a date before.”

“Then consider everything we did today a date; just please don’t hate me over this.” Remembering the backpack, I quickly shrug it off and push it toward her. “Please don’t allow my anger to overshadow everything else we did. I wanted the night to be special for you.”

“What are you doing?”

“Chey, I bought this backpack for you.” I know that doesn’t make up for the moment I just took from the girl, but I hope she understands that she’s more than a tool to me.

“Who’s everything else for?”

“It’s for no one,” I lie, really hating that I considered giving it to Porsha. “But I’ll probably give it to my mother; unless you like it.” Chey shakes her head so vigorously that I feel bad for even asking. She’s not an afterthought, in fact, I only bought things she looked at.”

“Alpha Liam, let's never do that again, okay?”

“Okay,” I whisper, but when I go to give Cheyenne a consolatory hug, she extends a hand instead. “I’m not going to force myself on you.”

“You were very aggressive,” she adds, touching her still pink lips after speaking. “I almost punched you.”

I wouldn’t have been mad if she did, and part of me wishes that she would have because I can’t undo what I just did, and I can’t unsee Chey as a single woman now.

At first, she was just Dallas’s little sister to me, but now, she’s someone I’m interested in, especially now that I know my relationship with Porsha is over.

Chey’s POV

I don’t know why I said yes to Liam’s kiss, but I honestly thought he would just press his lips against mine, not assault my mouth the way he did.

The worst part is that I didn’t hate it, and instead of pushing him away or hitting him, I just allowed myself to be kissed, and a backpack doesn’t make up for that.

He tried to sleep on the couch, which was fitting since he was the one who took advantage of my ignorance to the world of kissing, but about midway through the night, I felt too guilty and threw a pillow at him.

He looked so uncomfortable that I couldn’t sleep, and the way he practically passed out when he got under the covers made me feel so horrible that even though he was sleeping, I couldn’t.

In the morning, I felt weird, and when Liam woke, he pulled me into a hug that scared the crap out of me.

“Chey, stop being mad at me. I don’t like it. This is our last day away from the pack, and I would really like to enjoy it with my friend.”

“If you don’t let go of me, the only thing you’ll be enjoying is a black eye.”

“Chey… Please? I’ll do anything you want.”

“Anything?” I face the man wearing an evil smirk that he recoils at, but because he already agreed, he can’t take it back now. “Wear my heels to breakfast.”

“Chey… that’s too much.”

“No, your kiss-” Liam places one of his fingers over my mouth and sighs before forcing his foot into a pair of heels.

“After this, I don’t want to hear another word about what happened. I was jealous, angry and Chey, you don’t understand this feeling yet, but I’m really wound up. If wearing these shoes makes you feel better, I’ll do it, but please, please, don’t treat me the way you treat Riker.”

“I don’t treat Riker any differently than I treat anyone.”

“Yes, you do, and worse than that, when you were mad at me, you specifically chose to collapse into his arms. Don’t think I didn’t notice.” I definitely did that, but Alpha Liam is reading too much into it.

“I was angry, and I didn’t want you to touch me.”

“That’s horrible. Not only am I your ‘boyfriend,’ but I’m your friend. You can be mad at me, but you can’t treat me like scum.”

“Are we arguing right now?”

“YES!” I start giggling, and because I’m laughing, Liam starts laughing.

I never thought I’d get into an argument with my future alpha about something I technically allowed him to do, even if I didn’t know it was going to be that deep of a kiss.

“Listen Chey, I was wrong, I admit that, but I thought you forgave me.”

“I did forgive you.”

“Then why did you pile the pillows between us?”

“Because I’m still mad at you, and I probably won’t stop being mad unless I hit you.”

“Is that what you want?” I think about it for a while, but that is not what I want. In fact, it doesn’t even sound appealing to me, so I make up an excuse.

“No thanks, you know that it’s hard for me to hold back, and my shoulder only just healed.” Liam’s face takes on several expressions before landing on realization.

“Has your arm been f*cked up since that time?” There’s a sadness in the man’s tone that I hate, and it successfully lets me know that I’m not really mad at him; I’m just disappointed.

“It’s not your fault. I think I had a lot of small injuries that weren’t fully healed until after I drank Morgan’s potion.”

Done with our stupid fight, Liam and I are talking at a normal volume as we make our way to breakfast.

It’s early, but Riker and Phoebe are already eating, and since there’s no point in avoiding them, we sit at the same table.

Conversation gets passed between us, plans get made, and somehow, Liam and I end up roped into going to another party, this time at a pool. Our flight is tomorrow afternoon, so we were planning to take things easy, but we still want to do something fun.

Liam’s POV

Chey in a swimsuit is torturous to me, but I know she doesn’t even look at me in that way. I practically f*cked her mouth with my tongue, and she didn’t even become aroused, not even a little.

None-the-less, my eyes are always on her, from her face to her body, and I’m not alone. This party is being hosted by the council, a celebration to end the conference if you will, and in attendance, there are many unmarked individuals.

Chey’s seventeen, but she’s legal by the standard of our species, and there are men as old as twenty-four talking to her, asking her about her ‘training’ schedule and what not, but all I hear is, ‘how is your body so sexy?’

It’s not just me, Riker and Phoebe are also pissed, but between the men Chey is talking to right now and them, I would prefer the latter.

For Riker, he’s willing to be in a relationship with Cheyenne, at least that’s what he says, and for Phoebe, she really just wants a friend she can also sleep with, but even that’s better than the unknown.

From what I can tell, the men surrounding Chey are only interested in her lineage, which is fairly decent. She’s from a long line of gammas, although she isn’t allowed to tell people, specifically because she’s under strict orders not to.

My father told her that it was a test of her loyalty to the pack, but I know it’s because we do not want people offering trades, alliances, or dowries for her.

Our pack doesn’t really have friends, we don’t have enemies either, but there are pack members, including my father’s gamma, who believe that we need to join an alliance with one of our neighboring packs.

My father doesn’t see it that way, especially because they’re a very combative pack, and they’re often in trouble.

Being in an alliance with them would mean that we’ll be compelled to come to their aid, and at a time when rogue attacks are on the rise, it’s not really advantageous for us to go looking for trouble.

“So, you’ve fought multiple opponents in a real combat setting?” One of the men asks, looking more at Chey’s breast than up at her face.

“I have; we live in a semi-rural area, and it looks as though a few misplaced alphas have set their sights on our territory.”

“That’s what rogues do sweetheart.” I roll my eyes at the man who’s trying to woo Chey with cute titles, hoping it’s not working. “Some weak-minded individuals get roped in by someone with a hint of alpha blood in them, and they’ll do anything to secure that person a territory.”

“They aren’t just weak-minded,” another says. “They’re usually sick, sometimes inbred, and they really need help. Eliminating them isn’t the solution, something needs to be done about the alphas who keep fathering illegitimate children and abandoning them.” Again, I roll my eyes.

This ass must have heard that Chey’s a justice warrior, and he’s playing up on the fact that she’s naturally sympathetic toward underdogs, but he’s underestimated how ruthless she can be.

“I agree, but anyone who steps foot on the territory I’m trusted to protect with foul intentions is subject to immediate termination.” Chey is dead serious, down to the hard expression she’s wearing, but instead of being intimidating, a strong wave of arousal emanates from the men.

“Alright, I’ve had enough.” I drag Chey away, much to the enjoyment of the men who are actively laughing at me.

My guess is that they wanted to see how long I would last, but they got dragged into the conversation because Chey is just that damn sexy.

“Did I say something wrong?” The woman asks, putting on my button up because I just handed it to her.

“You didn’t do anything. It’s those as*holes.”

“Were they making fun of me?” I wish they were, but because I don’t want to tell Chey that they were eye f*cking her, I just nod, earning myself a thumbs up from Phoebe and Riker.

“Thanks for helping me,” Chey innocently replies.