Scum (Book 2)

132. Disliked

Chey’s POV

I don’t know what it is I’m feeling. All I know is that I’m hurting in a way that I’ve never hurt before, not even when Liam kicked me out.

My fated partner was supposed to be my other half, the person who completed me, the man made for me and only me, but that isn’t what I got.

“Chey, can I come in?”

“Not right now. I really don’t feel in control of myself.” If I’m going to be honest with anyone, it’s going to be my brother, and maybe his mate.

“Trust me to lay you out before you can hurt me?” Laughing while crying is weird, but because I feel a little better, I open the door to the man. “How do you feel?”

“Miserable.” My brother pats my back, but I need a hug, not a gentle slap.

“Wasn’t expecting my little alpha sister to still need a cuddle every now and then.” Being away from Dallas was difficult, but I’m only just realizing that it’s because he and I weren’t just bonded as siblings.

He’s probably my true gamma, but I always saw our closeness as coming from the fact that he practically raised me alongside our father.

“Why did it have to be Liam?”

“I really don’t know, but-” My brother’s nostrils flare as the sound of voices floats into the room. It’s coming from the window, and upon closer inspection, Kelvin and Porsha are arguing again.

She’s telling him about the new promises that were made between her and Liam, but all the man keeps saying is that he has ‘orders’ to protect her from me until everything is ‘resolved.’

“I can’t take this!!!” I seriously feel like I have to kill someone, and since Porsha doesn’t seem to acknowledge me as dangerous, it might as well be her.

I dash out of the room, but Liam’s body crashes into mine, pinning me to the nearest wall.

“Relax,” he says into my ear, reminding me of the many, many times he and I were intimate, and I foolishly allowed myself to believe that it was more than s*x. “You are already under suspicion of being unfit to lead your pack. If you do anything else, you may be forcibly stripped of your title.” I have to will myself to calm down because my mentor already warned me about that possibility, which is why I insisted on calling my ‘boyfriend.’

I will not allow anyone to strip me of something I worked hard to achieve ever again.

“Let go of me and I will,” I reply, needing Liam to back away before I involuntarily shift.

Somehow, being able to see my brother’s willingness to fight if I do is keeping me calm, in part because I don’t want him involved in my drama.

“Let’s go back into the guest room. I don’t want you to hurt anyone.” I hate that ‘my mate’ is protecting another woman, but she is the choice he made; I was simply dumped on him when I turned eighteen, and thinking about it in that way actually sets my heart at ease.

Sensing that I’m calm, Liam lets me go, following me into the guest room alongside my brother.

“I know that you’re stuck here for three weeks, but…” All I hear is ringing as Liam says exactly what I’ve been waiting for him to say all this time, but him agreeing to reject me doesn’t feel as relieving as I thought it would.

I guess Porsha was telling the truth, but just like I said back at my apartment, I have no plans to interfere in their relationship, so long as they don’t interfere with my life.

I don’t know what to say to the man, who suddenly hands his phone to me as though I’ve asked for it.

For a second, I thought he was giving it to me so that I could make phone calls, but on it is a picture of Noah and a woman I know from his social media account.

Personal trainers don’t make out with their clients, and for the second time in my life, my heart breaks.

“I may not deserve you, Cheyenne, but neither does he, and for the record, he belongs to the pack that sold me your information.” Hurting me must make Liam feel good, but I already knew something was up with Noah, I just didn’t think that he was seeing other people, nor did I think he would have sold me out, especially with him knowing what I went through.

“You really want to break me for that woman, don’t you?”

Liam’s POV

I don’t know what my mate is talking about, so I ask Dallas, who reluctantly tells me over a mind-link.

“That’s bullsh*t,” I say aloud, realizing at once that my mate was jealous. “Chey, my love… I agreed to reject you because-”

“I don’t want to hear it,” the woman says, cutting me off with a raised hand.

I can tell she’s struggling to remain calm, and because I don’t want another reason for someone to call her competency into question, I leave.

If I don’t calm down, I might track down and kill both Kelvin and Porsha, but after mind-linking my father, I find out that my gamma does indeed have orders to protect, it’s just being misconstrued as something else.

“I already told you, Liam. Let that woman dig her own grave. If she wants to continue antagonizing Cheyenne, let her learn her lesson the hard way.” I owe Porsha nothing in terms of protection, but I still want to know what she showed Kelvin, so I ask Royce to figure it out for me.

I may have told my mate that I would reject her, but in reality, I’m just trying to buy time.

Bruno’s POV

Our alpha managed to call us under the guise of talking to her boyfriend, but none of us liked how depressed she sounded.

Alpha Franchell told us that Chey’s case isn’t being fairly heard, but my family is unwilling to help, and even my uncle doesn’t want to get involved.

The sad part about it all is that she didn’t even do anything wrong; she just has the misfortune of being liked by one faction of the council, which automatically makes her disliked by the other.

It doesn’t help that she speaks her mind as freely as she does, and, from what I heard, she called a council member corrupt to his face without even batting an eye.

“So, we’re going there? Even though she told us it was dangerous?” My mate isn’t much of a fighter, so I can understand her worry.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to, but Cheyenne is our alpha and friend. I don’t feel right being this far away from her.” What I’m not telling my mate is that I could sense in our alpha’s tone that she needed me to step up and take over for her.

She wasn’t around for that conversation, and I haven’t told her because I haven’t decided just yet.

“I’m not letting you go alone,” the woman says, grabbing a bag that she starts filling with random potions she’s made.

I’m glad that she and I have come this far, but she needs to know that we could be walking into a commitment that I know she didn’t sign up for.

“First, I have something to tell you…” Once I explain, Maya takes a deep breath.

“That is a lot of ‘commitment.’”

“I know, but it’ll only be temporary. When Alpha Chey comes back, I will step down.”

“And she’s not going to be offended by it? Like, you won’t have to challenge her or anything, right?” My mate hasn’t fully unlearned all she knows about our species, so I have to be patient, even though this is the hundredth time I’m explaining the same thing.

“Chey isn’t that kind of person. If she were, she wouldn’t have let me join her pack, nor would she have given me access to all of her banking information.”

“But what about Miguel, Dyson, or Jett, won’t they feel as though they were skipped over?” I mind-link the men, who come to our apartment looking like they haven’t slept in days.

Marissa and Jett only just came back, so I know that the man is exhausted, but he’s going crazy not being able to feel a connection to his alpha, as are the other two. “I know it’s early, but Maya wants to confirm that neither of you are offended by Alpha Cheyenne’s decision…”

“You woke me up for that?” Miguel asks, glaring at my mate, who is friendly enough with the man to know that he won’t hurt her.

“I’m sorry… it’s just that-”

“I know, I know… ‘That’s not what you were taught,’ and ‘you want to hear it for yourself,’ but the truth is that we can’t confirm anything. If I had to choose between Bruno and Chey, I would choose her on any day, but your mate is a good man, and I respect him. So, if Cheyenne believes that he’s more suited, I’ll have to trust her judgment. I mean… Valoria has only gotten this far because of her.”

“But-”

“If you’re about to put yourself down by commenting about not being fit to be a luna, I’m going to curse you out…”

“But-”

“But nothing. Chey picked Bruno, and by default that means she picked you too.”

“Also, Miguel and I are happy with the role we play, and Jett…” Everyone looks at the man, who hasn’t been himself since his return.

We all know that it’s because he could feel that Cheyenne wasn’t in a good place mentally, but she gave him a command to leave her behind, which is literally eating him up inside.

“I just need to know that she’s okay. Not as my alpha, but as my friend.”

“Then come with us,” Maya says, making my brows furrow. “Why don’t we all go? We can ask Alpha Franchelle to watch over the place until we come back…”

“That’s a good idea,” Miguel says to his mate, clasping the man’s shoulder because the ‘you’ wouldn’t include him. “Go with them and give us an update. I’m sure Chey would love to see you too.”

Travel arrangements are settled within minutes, and just as we drive away, Dyson leans forward and taps my mate’s shoulder.

“That was a mighty luna-like decision you made back there.” Maya is barely able to hide her embarrassment; I just hope that things go as smoothly as we hope because if not, my mate may get to experience some of the brutality her mother warned her about.