Scum (Book 2)

124. Different

Chey's POV

Everything is spiraling out of control, and when the door is finally kicked open, Jett comes in swinging, only he can't get to Liam without hurting his mate in the process.

“Calm down, I'm not here to hurt anyone,” Liam says. “All I want is for my mate to come back to her rightful home.”

“Then let ‘my’ mate go.” Jett is a good fighter, but he’s nothing compared to Liam, who’s clearly worked on his physique while I was gone.

He’s still lean, but his muscles are bulging, and based on his lack of reaction to Marissa’s struggle right now, he’s much stronger than he used to be.

“I’ll let her go when my mate agrees to leave with me.” I can now hear a commotion from down the hall, and based on Liam's calm demeanor of speech, he knows exactly what it is.

This situation is dangerous because, not only am I angry enough to shift, but Mr. David’s family still lives here, and I’m almost positive that they’ll call the police. So, I mind-link Maya, asking her to make sure that doesn’t happen.

She can make a sleeping powder that also alters the memory, and because she’s terrified of any sort of bloodshed, she agrees, easing my worry in that aspect.

“Alpha Chey, there are foreign wolves pouring in. I don’t think we can fight them and win.” I was prepared to go down swinging, but Dyson's mind-link breaks my heart with the thought of losing anyone I'm sworn to protect, so I drop my hands and surrender as my hatred for Liam grows.

Liam's POV

I couldn't trust Kelvin or Porsha, so I had several of our best pack fighters follow us in secret, something that came in handy because I'm almost positive Chey would have fought me to the death.

The only problem I have now is that she’s no longer posturing to fight, and I fear that she may say what I want to hear without actually meaning it.

“I said let them go, and I'll follow you.” I don't believe Cheyenne at all, so I mind-link my reinforcements to aid Royce get the crying infant out of the building, while I pull the still struggling ‘alpha’ toward the door.

Her mate is being held back by his pack members, but I have no intention of making Chey hate me more by separating a young family, so I have people grab him as well.

Chey follows us without the need for an escort, but I notice that she’s made no attempt at making eye contact with the people I brought with me, which tells me that she may have ‘given up,’ but her fight is far from over.

If given the chance, she’ll attack them, so I give the order for them to stay away from her, not wanting Chey to hurt anyone I believe she considers a friend.

That means the family we’re taking with us have been moved further away from her, agitating Chey in a way that I’ve never seen before.

“Liam… stop this. Those people have done nothing to you or Porsha. You came here for me, right? I said I would go.” I hate hearing that name come from my mate’s lips, but I’m more concerned about how good her acting skills are right now.

“Do you really think I don't know you, Cheyenne?” The woman says nothing as we continue to move, but before she can climb into the car we'll be riding in, I stop her. “Lift your shirt.”

“Because you want to humiliate me further?” She asks, glaring at me as though I’m the scum of the earth.

“It’s because I know that if I get into a confined space with you, you'll stab me to death.” Chey makes no move, so I not so kindly remind her that I could have killed her alpha if I really wanted to.

“My what?” She questions, trying to change the subject.

“Cheyenne, cut the sh*t. Humans are starting to stare, and you know-” cutting me off again, Chey lifts her shirt and removes five blades from her body.

They’re heavy, so when they hit the ground, the sound carried, drawing the attention of Royce, who refused to let anyone else take his mini hostage.

I know from a mind-link conversation that he's struggling with the guilt he feels toward resorting to such a low, but nothing bad will happen to the child or her weakling parents. I’m simply using them as an insurance policy.

“Get in, Cheyenne.”

“I’d rather ride with them,” she says, pointing to the car next to mine.

“No. You and I need to talk.” It’s a long drive back to Alpine, and I plan to use it to beg and plead but at the same time... “Show me your wrists.”

“What?”

“Just give me your hands.” I’m not entirely sure the woman is unarmed, so I bought handcuffs that are specifically made for our species.

Cheyenne literally snarls as I shackle her, but then she chuckles, shaking her head as though she should have anticipated my actions.

“I promise this isn’t what I wanted for us.” Cheyenne’s beautiful green eyes flutter as she looks up at me, her beautiful features morphing into an expression of pure hatred that makes me feel like my entire world is still on the verge of collapse.

I badly want to start begging for her forgiveness right here and now, but I’m afraid of what Chey might say, so instead of driving with her like I planned, I put her in the car with Royce, the baby, and her old patrol partner, knowing that he’s at least a little experienced with small children.

“We need her car seat,” Chey nonchalantly says, staring at Royce who jumps to do what the woman is asking. “It’s in my car over there.” My beta actually takes a step before he realizes that something isn’t quite right, causing him to narrow his eyes at my mate.

“Cheyenne… Jenna is pregnant.”

“I don’t see how that’s my problem. You are the one who attacked-”

“Let’s go quickly…” I interject, also aware that something isn’t right.

Cheyenne is way too calm for my liking, making me feel like she’s planning for us to be followed or attacked on the road.

Chey’s POV

I feel really uncomfortable having Sophia ride in the car without a car seat, specifically because Royce has her shoved between his legs in an attempt to obscure her from view of the police.

She’s asleep right now, but soon…

“She’ll need to eat. She still drinks from her mother, so if you pull over…” I let my sentence drop, shrugging as Royce continues to stare at me.

“What happened to you, Cheyenne?”

“Where do I begin?” I make a pensive expression, leaning back a little to further show the man that I’m not afraid at all.

Alpha Franchelle is already involved, and before we left, I gave Bruno, Dyson, and Miguel detailed instructions on how to proceed with running the pack without me.

Bruno is an alpha male, even if he doesn’t want to be, and with the right guidance, he can and will be instrumental to the development of any pack.

“I’m serious, Chey. Something is different with you.”

“Of course, something is different with me. I was taken advantage of, humiliated, and then finally exiled. I had to start my life over, killed someone almost immediately, got into trouble with the council, and now I just found out the man I’ve literally dreamed of killing is my mate.” Royce winces as though I’ve said something so wrong, but… “Don’t worry. I won’t drive myself into madness by having something bad happen while we’re still bonded. I am curious though…” I lean forward, looking at the side of Brandon’s face as he silently drives. “How’d they get you to put your life on the line like this?” Brandon swerves, probably because he was anticipating a blow to the side of the head, but I’m not going to risk killing myself or Sophia to get away from Liam.

“I-I wasn’t told what we were doing or where we were going.”

“How’s Mac and the baby?”

“Chey please… I’m telling you the truth,” My face bunches in confusion because I don’t understand why Brandon is acting like I said something ugly. “I’m just asking.” I lean back again, my eyes resting on Sophia, who’s now sucking her bottom lip. “She’ll wake up soon, and she will need to eat.”

“I’m not stopping this car.”

“So, you intend to make an infant starve? I guess a lot has changed since my ‘departure.’”

“Cheyenne… please stop,” Royce begs, once again confusing me.

“Stop what?” I say with an attitude, hating that I’ve only been around Alpine pack members for all of an hour, I’m already confused about something, and no one is telling me what that something is. “My hands are shackled, my friends are being held hostage, you’ve got one of my youngest nestled between your ankles in a moving vehicle, and you’re asking me to stop?”

“You’re doing it again,” Royce says, his voice making Sophia stir.

“Your time is ticking…”

“Cheyenne please. I want to meet my child and Brandon is a friend in your debt. You protected his daughter and saved his mate.”

“And he should seek to remember that.” Both men are sweating, making me roll my eyes. “I ‘m not going to hurt either of you. I’ve moved on with my life, and while I would rather not have to be dragged all the way back to Alpine, I’m confident things will end exactly the way I want them to.”

“Would you please f*cking stop!” That does it.

Sophia starts whimpering, and after twenty stress-inducing minutes of crying, the car finally comes to a stop.

The car with Jett keeps moving, probably because they don’t want us all in the same place.

Marissa looks like she’s been crying, but she calmly takes her daughter from Royce and feeds the girl as she mind-links me about our chance of survival.

“We will live.” I say aloud, not afraid of anyone despite being cuffed.

“I trust you, alpha,” she replies. “But I don't trust him.” I can feel Liam staring at me through the car window, so I don't have to look to know who she's talking about.

“It's his chosen mate we'll have to be wary of.”

“But… I thought he said he wanted you?”

“And yet, he chose to visit me with a small army.” With Liam, I never had a choice; the bond changed nothing. “He’s already tossed me aside once.”

“What about your family?”

“you're my family. Everyone else is as good as dead to me.”