Scum (Book 2)

127. Destroyed

Chey's POV

I hate that it feels like my family is trying to manipulate me, but Nora has never had a cunning or mean-spirited bone in her body. She’s always been a meek and tenderhearted person, so I believe what she’s saying, although I still feel like someone in this pack could have at least posted a clue as to what was going on.

That said, her affirmation doesn’t change the fact that I’m hurt, but it does help me to understand why everyone I cared about ‘abandoned’ me.

“I have to go now…” Nora says, slowly reaching up to take my nephew out of my arms.

I can still smell Liam at the door, so I won’t ask her to stay, knowing that violence is highly likely to occur the moment he walks in.

As my friend exits, he enters, changing my mood from neutral to foul all over again.

“Chey sweety-”

“Don’t call me that,” I harshly interject, not bothering to raise my voice because my ‘mate’ isn’t worth it.

“Okay, I won’t call you that, but I would like it if we could sit and talk about what’s happening between us.”

“I won’t sit, and I have nothing to say.” The man sighs, but doesn’t insist, which is good because, right about now, I’m ready to attack with the slightest of provocations.

“I understand why you don’t trust me, but let me at least start by apologizing. What I did to you was disgusting, and I regretted it the moment I did it.”

“Are you referring to the night it ‘slipped,’ or something else?”

Liam’s POV

I don’t know this woman.

Well, I know her, I just don’t know what happened to the person she used to be.

She’s clearly grown in the time that she’s been away, and I hate that maturity was forced on her by my inability to control my anger.

“I wanted to be with you, Cheyenne, and I never meant to hurt you.”

“You say that now, but I distinctly remember you trying to drive me into an early grave by working me to death.”

“I just wanted you to need me again.”

“I never needed you, Liam. I’m wise enough to know that now.” I need to be careful with what I say because…

“I’ve always known that, but at the time- I just didn’t- Chey, I thought you would have come to me for help.”

“And then what would we have done, ‘alpha’ Liam? Would we have shared your bed with your luna when she came back?”

“That woman is not my luna, and you don’t understand what was going through my mind at that time. I only put up with her because I overheard you talking about finding your mate. I thought I would lose you to-”

“Yourself?” I can’t respond because that’s exactly what the situation turned out to be.

I was afraid that Cheyenne would find me, her fated mate, and leave me, the man she was sleeping with, so I pushed her away, not wanting to go through the pain of losing her to the ‘someone else’ that turned out to be me.

“Chey, love-”

“It’s Alpha Lively,” the woman growls, challenging my authority as her mate.

“I’ve heard, but I’m not going to call you that.” Technically, my mate outranks me right now, but I won’t use titles because it’ll put distance between us, and I don’t want that. “I’m your fated partner.”

“Unfortunate, isn’t it?” This is not how I envisioned our conversation going, but it’s much better than the fight my father predicted. “Where are my pack members, and where am I sleeping?” Chey questions, seeming to have decided that she’s done listening to me.

The truth is that I don’t have an excuse, but my mate needs to know…

“I really do love you, Cheyenne. I loved you then, and I still love you now.”

“Did you realize that before or after you found out that I was an alpha female?”

“Do you think that I-” Pounding on my door interrupts my question, and I guess my face gives away the fact that I’m shocked by it.

“Open this door now!” Porsha must have really lost her mind, but I know that she won’t leave without a fight, and I can hear someone struggling to ‘pull’ her away.

“Just let her in,” Cheyenne says, sitting for what I can only assume is the first time since she’s entered my room.

She’s truly unafraid, so I do as she asked, only to immediately regret my actions.

“Is it true? Did you really meet your mate?” At first, Porsha didn’t notice Cheyenne, but as soon as she did, her expression went from troubled, to loathsome.

“No worries, Liam’s Luna. I won’t be here for much longer.” I forgot that Chey can mind-link with her own pack members, and I start panicking with thoughts of the worst, but I don’t know which of her statements I should address first.

“Porsha is not my Luna, Cheyenne. You are.”

“What are you talking about, Liam? I-”

“It’s Alpha Liam to you.” My mate slowly shakes her head, which reminds me that it wasn’t so long ago that I said the same thing to her.

I don’t want my mate to think about that moment, but I also can’t tell her that I've been pretending because that’s also how our relationship started.

“Chey love, this woman is delusional.” My mate looks sick, but I’m afraid to approach her because I refuse to raise my hand against her, and I know that she’ll hit me.

“I’m Delusional?” Porsha asks, rambling off all sorts of lies that I know my mate will believe because once upon a time, choosing Porsha was an option. “That girl clearly doesn’t want you. Why would you let her destroy everything you've been working toward?”

“Destroy?” Chey questions in a whisper, finally looking at us again. “I haven’t destroyed anything yet.” My mate stands, making Porsha assume a defensive position, but she isn’t even looking at the woman.

Instead, Cheyenne extends a single claw and runs it along the entire length of my sofa.

“Chey, please stop it.” The woman is now breaking anything in her path, completely indiscriminate of its value or meaning. “Cheyenne please… This is our home.”

“Our home?” She mocks, pausing for just long enough to open the fridge and start pulling everything out. “You think that I could ever see this place as home when you and your chosen humiliated me, then went out of your way to have me removed from the were-nursing program?”

“That wasn’t me, Chey. That was-”

“The Luna of Alpine. I know; I was told.” I glare at Porsha, hating that she’s the reason my mate is going on a violent rampage around my room.

She’s already done hundreds of dollars’ worth of damage, but it clearly isn’t enough because she moves to my bedroom where she starts laughing before tearing the head of the plush wolf sitting on my bed.

“You really thought I would forgive you, didn’t you?” Porsha is a wise woman when she needs to be, so she’s slowly been retreating, trying to make a discreet escape before the inevitable happens.

I’ve already linked for assistance, not that I can’t restrain my mate on my own, but because if I try anything right now, one of us may actually die.

I’m left to just watch Cheyenne break things to her heart's content, and when she runs out of items worth ruining, she pries the wood out of the broken couch and starts using it to smash bigger holes into the walls.

Her hands are completely covered in blood, and I’m not sure how, but she’s got a deep scratch on her neck.

“Chey, sweety, please stop it. You’re bleeding.”

“I’ve seen much more blood than this. Want me to show you?” I’ve never seen Chey’s eyes glow with such a menacing intensity that I have to fight the urge to shift.

I barely jumped out of the room and closed the door before what I assume is her wolf smashed against it, and that's when the howling started.

When werewolves go on a rampage the way my mate is, they should be left alone.

If not, their anger can turn on a dime, especially when the source of their strong emotion is standing right next to them.

“She's insane…” I hear, reminding me of Porsha's presence.

“She's just venting,” I reply, simultaneously mind-linking the waiting guards to escort Porsha back to where she's staying.

They can hear that my mate is still destroying things, but she’s, at least, no longer clawing at the door.

“Alpha Liam, it’s dangerous for you to stay here.”

“If I let go of this knob and my mate gets out of that room, a lot of people may die.” As if on cue Chey’s wolf crashes into the door again, but she moves on after a while, likely because just scratching something isn’t enough for her.

Eventually, though, the room is quiet, but I haven’t moved because I don’t know what could be waiting for me.

“Alpha Liam,” a guard who stayed behind asks. “Don’t…” I’ve let go of the door, completely and totally intending to check in on my mate because, for all I know, she could be dead.

I wouldn’t feel the loss of connection because we don’t share our marks yet.

“Chey…?” I whisper, not wanting to frighten the woman and lose my head.

My mate is asleep on the floor, still completely nude, and she’s covered in her own blood, making me feel like the worst partner in the world.

Staying in wolf form for too long can be draining for a person who isn’t used to it, and Cheyenne sleeping on a pile of debris lends to the fact that she collapsed from exhaustion.

“Alpha?”

“Don’t come in,” I reply, scanning the room for something I can cover my mate with.

She hasn't stirred, but I won’t pick her up because I don’t want her to wake up and choose violence again.

Instead, I make myself comfortable beside her, wanting for just a few minutes to admire my mate's face.

“Liam? I hope you’re alive.” I get that my beta is trying to be playful, but I can’t even smile right now.

“I am, but my mate is covered in wounds. She needs medical attention.” I can hear the man’s footsteps approaching where Chey and I are lying, probably because he can smell blood. “Did she do all this?” Because my mate’s body is covered, I don’t mind Royce’s presence, but I don’t want him or anyone else judging her.

“It was my fault,” I lie. “Leave Cheyenne out of it.”