Scum (Book 2)

133. Transfer

Liam’s POV

I was afraid that something would happen if I fell asleep, so I stayed awake, but now I regret it because I feel terrible.

I haven’t showered, brushed my teeth, or even splashed water on my face; a mistake because I forgot I had a leadership interview, and missed it.

My father hasn’t stopped yelling at me about it, and I can’t even respond because my brain can’t formulate an excuse.

“Answer me!”

“What exactly do you want me to say? I f*cked up, and I lost my mate in the process.”

“Yeah, well sh*t happens. You were bound to lose Chey the moment you allowed yourself to be whipped by that-”

“Don’t finish that statement unless you’re prepared for the consequences.” I have never threatened my father, but I’m really in a fragile state of mind.

It’s so bad that my claws are already extended, and seeing that, the man drops the conversation.

“You need to sleep.”

“I don’t want to miss anything.”

“Are you expecting a fight?”

“I think Chey’s boyfriend is coming.” My father knows what I’m hinting at, and he strongly urges against it.

“Killing someone who may have taken care of her when she didn’t have-”

“She had plenty of people,” I interject, hating that my mate's previous statement leads me to believe that she jumped from man to man, all likely to get over what I did to her.

I’m not faulting her for moving on, I just can’t stand knowing that I’m the reason she has a warped sense of relationships and intimacy, so to her, s*x is just a ‘helpful’ act between two people.

“Who told you that?”

“She said-” I pause, resting my head in my hands because… “She said it to hurt me, didn’t she?”

“You clearly aren’t thinking straight.” I’ve never been able to think straight when it comes to Cheyenne, so I can’t even argue with that statement.

“I feel like I’m going crazy.” I run my fingers through my hair, trying desperately to heed my father’s words.

As I sat, my eyelids got heavy, so I tried to sleep, but I was interrupted by a mind-link from Royce.

Chey’s friends have arrived, and I’m told that they brought a lot of ‘things’ with them, including clothing.

My father must have received a link at the same time as I did because he’s preparing to greet the visitors as well.

“You need to calm yourself,” he says, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Now that the pack elders know the truth about what happened between you and Chey, they’re not too keen on supporting you. Right about now, Kelvin has more appeal than you do.” This is the first I’m hearing of that.

“I’ll kill him before I let him-”

“LIAM STOP IT!” I literally jump, not expecting my father to shout so loudly, in my face no less. “You created all of these problems by not respecting the boundaries between friends. If you’d never crossed the line with Cheyenne, you would never have been able to have it used against you. You wouldn’t have been trying to make her jealous. You wouldn’t have invited your terrible ex to come back, and your fated mate would have celebrated her eighteenth birthday in this pack, probably working.” My mind nearly fractures as I imagine it.

If I would have given up on Porsha, I wouldn’t have asked Chey to pretend to be my girlfriend, I wouldn’t have been put in a situation to start lusting after her, and our relationship would likely have stayed at just a few friendly texts here and there.

Eventually, though, I would have picked up her scent, likely in the cafeteria, and I would have been free to claim my fated mate without any of this drama.

By the time my head stops hurting, I notice that my father is already gone, so I stumble to my feet, shuffling quickly to get to where Chey’s friends are, but all I got to see was one of them hugging her a little too tightly for my liking.

I tried to lunge toward them, but my father and beta were able to stop me.

“She’s meeting with them alone?”

“Just because she can’t leave doesn’t make her a prisoner. Chey is an alpha female, and we have to respect that.”

“I swear that I’ll kill all of them.”

“You will do no such thing, and I’m ordering you to leave this place.” My father looks at Royce, giving him a silent command that I know involves me.

“Let’s get away from here,” my friend says, tugging on my arm a little more aggressively than what I feel is necessary.

“Let go of my arm now…”

“I will, as soon as we leave this area.” I now understand how hard it must have been for Cheyenne to have gone back into the guest room when I asked her, and I’m not even mad at Royce.

“I will not.” My beta looks over to my father pleadingly, and sensing the kind of issue that could arise, the man waves his hand, prompting Royce to release me.

I can’t wait for Chey’s meeting to close because I keep imagining the absolute worst-case possible scenarios.

It’s heartbreaking that my mate and I are in such a dark place when, just a few months ago, we were literally living in bliss.

I had her whenever I wanted her, she had me whenever she needed me, and we were there for each other regardless of the consequences, but I’m no longer the center of her circle, I’m outside of it.

This isn’t healthy for either of us, and I can feel my sanity slipping by the minute.

As we're waiting, my father gets called to greet the council members who are coming to reassess the situation between Chey and I.

“Please don’t do anything stupid. Now isn’t the time.” He leaves, making me feel like I now have the authority to interrupt if I feel like it, but before those thoughts become too prominent, Royce mind-links me.

“So, is it true? You’re really going to let her go?”

“What else can I do, Royce? She hates me to the point that she can barely control her anger around me… and look at me… I’m a mess.”

“I know exactly how you feel because I’ve been there, but you haven’t even begged yet,” he adds, almost making me laugh. “I’m talking on your hands and knees.”

“If I kneel before Cheyenne, she’ll kill me.” Royce makes a face, remembering that my mate responds to me with violence ninety percent of the time.

It hurts, but I understand that it’s mostly my fault, so I’ll be okay because…

“All I want now is for Chey to go on with her life.”

“You mean the life where she was fighting for money, working in between, and being sold out by her-”

“She said that they aren’t together.”

“Oh? Then why-”

“She just wanted to hurt me.” I’m saying that, but I saw the look on Chey’s face when I showed her those pictures, and she wasn’t happy. “For all I know, she could be dating one of the men in that room.” I don’t even know when I stood up, but it felt like I only blinked, and then I was standing in the middle of the conference room, ready to kill anyone.

Chey’s POV

I wasn’t expecting anyone other than Bruno, but seeing the people who came felt really good.

I know they’re here because they care about me, and they want to make sure that I’m okay.

That aside, this is a big decision I’m making, not just for myself, but for the pack I left behind.

We took a good portion of the half hour we were allocated just talking about how the pack is doing before we moved onto why I actually asked Bruno to risk his safety and come here.

“Do you understand the commitment that you’re about to make?”

“We do.”

Almost instantly, my connection to Valoria is gone, and with it, some of the stress I was carrying.

“Anytime you’re ready to reclaim your-”

“I won’t-” I interject, knowing that, even after a rejection, Liam and Porsha will never leave me alone.

Because of them, my life is ruined, and I don’t even have to check my email to know that I’ve been dropped from the were-nursing program. Truthfully, I’ll probably only find peace if I leave the country entirely.

“I loved being your alpha, but I hated it as well. I wasn’t meant to be a leader; I was raised to be a killer.”

“Don’t say that, Cheyenne. You may be a bit rough, but you’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Ask Maya.” The look on the woman’s face tells me that she completely disagrees, in part because she’s seen me in the middle of a conflict, and I was far from ‘sweet.’

“She’s nice but…” Everyone starts laughing as Maya struggles to find the right words to describe me.

I’m going to miss them, but turning things over felt like the right thing to do.

I’m losing my mind in Alpine, and if I’m declared unfit, someone will be randomly chosen to take over in my stead, but I’ve heard enough horror stories to not want that for the people I’ve grown to love and care about.

“No phone?”

“It was confiscated.”

“By?”

“The gamma and his son; this pack’s beta took your clothing. He said that your brother would know what to do with it.” I wish this were a friendly visit because I would love to formally introduce Nora and my brother to my friends, but this isn’t that, and as if the man wanted to remind me, Liam burst into the conference room, prompting me to stand in defense of my friends.

I’ve never seen him look like he’s ready to kill anyone other than me, and that, for whatever reason, hurts more than his lies.

The only reason Liam hasn’t attacked is because Royce is holding him, and since I know the council is either on territory or arriving shortly, I choose to yield by holding my hands up.

I’m still a Valoria member, although I’m no longer the alpha, so I’ve mind-linked my friends to remain calm.

They already don’t like Liam, especially Jett, who lunges before anyone can stop him, but Dyson manages to tackle him to the ground.

He’s just broken the law, leaving Bruno to deal with an issue that may become more complicated since he’s only just taken over as alpha.

“Liam… Our issues are personal. Don’t involve anyone else.”

“Fine, but only if you agree to talk to me,” he replies.