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“Paige, I may be a little overbearing at times, but it makes me feel better knowing you’re safe.”
I can’t help but arch my brow at him. “A little overbearing? Showing up to my workplace because an elderly old man touched my ass is a little overbearing?”
“I don’t care how old he was. That shit is disgusting. Besides, I should have protected you better when you were younger…I won’t make the same mistake again. So sue me if I need to threaten an old man.”
I smile at that, but it also makes me a little sad. He shouldn’t blame himself for what happened to me. He did his best and so did I. He was the one that got me away from our old pack; he set me up here in the city, paid for my school. He is a good brother. Us being fifteen years apart, he could have left at eighteen and never looked back, but he didn’t. He came back every year for my birthday, and once I got older, he came back several times a year so we didn’t lose contact and sometimes mediated between me and our parents, but there was always something there. Something that I never understood. I don’t know what happened to him, but if what I went through is any indication, he had a hell of a childhood, too. Our old pack had a very toxic culture. Weakness in the pack was a surefire way to be ostracized and beaten down. The Alpha believed that the weak didn’t need a helping hand, but rather needed to be taught to be stronger. By 'taught,' I mean physically beaten until they essentially became strong enough to fight back. My old pack didn't care if you tried your best; they figured you better learn how to be strong, or you would die in the process of getting there. It was always a fight to be at the top of the pack. The strongest made it there; not necessarily the smartest, but the strongest.
Some of us were a hopeless cause, me being one of those lucky few. I'm not built like the other women in the pack; I'm curvy and not nearly as strong as other shifters, so I was constantly verbally abused by the rest of the pack and essentially disowned by my own parents for being a defective shifter. Many of the other female shifters would try to “teach” me how to be stronger, but I never fought back. I was too scared, and I wasn’t strong enough; it didn’t matter how much I tried.
With my parents barely acknowledging my existence, I never got the encouragement and strength a parent was supposed to give a child. They didn't even help clean my wounds when some of the lessons were taken too far. Their philosophy was to ignore their problem child, a stain on their name. I still wonder if they ever heard me crying at night. I can't imagine ignoring my own child, but I also can't imagine what my life would have turned into had I stayed. The best thing to happen to me was Thorn coming to visit before my eighteenth birthday and then taking me away.
“Thorn, you have done so much for me. Thank you. Please don’t beat yourself up over that. We are free from that place now. Life is really good.”
“That’s one of the things I admire about you, little sis; you have a very optimistic attitude. Unlike me, who sees the bad constantly. It’s hard to be positive.”
“Well, I don’t mind being your optimism,” I smile broadly, because I don’t mind bringing some happiness to his life; he brought a lot to mine. He stands from his chair and comes around to my side. I also rise and give him a big hug. Others might find Thorn’s standoffish personality a problem, but his steadfast presence and quiet thoughtfulness have kept me strong over the years. He kisses the top of my head before quietly saying, “I love you, sis.”
“I love you more.” One more big squeeze, and then we step apart. “Well, I better get going.”
“Alright. I’ll run some errands and be here when you get home. Ric is fine with handling the preliminary stuff.”
“Okay, I’ll see you when I get home. Should I pick up supper?”
“Nah, I’ll grab food. You just worry about getting home safe.”
The day goes by really quickly, and as I'd expected, my manager has no problem with me taking some time off. I take a week, hoping that will be enough time to help and have a nice break. I miss having Quinn live close by. This will be a good break for me. Now I just need to tell my match I have to postpone our meet-up.
At lunch, I open up the app to talk to my match. Normally, we talk at night, but I am going to need to pack and get myself ready. Hopefully, he'll understand.
Wineowolf: Hey, Sexywolf, I have some sad news.
Sexywolf: First of all, I’m supposed to message first. Second, if you’re about to tell me dragons aren’t real, we are going to have a problem.
I laugh out loud at that because, really? Dragons? I mean, I know we're shifters and technically an urban legend ourselves, but still. Man, I really like talking to this guy.
Wineowolf: Hate to break it to ya, sweetheart, but dragons aren’t real.
Sexywolf: My entire world is crashing around me! But you called me sweetheart, so I guess it’s ok.
A warmth spreads across my body, and I can’t help the huge smile that breaks out across my face.
Wineowolf: Well, SWEETHEART, I’m afraid I need to postpone our date. My best friend needs help with her kiddo, and I said I would help. I need to go visit her for a week.
Sexywolf: Damn, that is sad news. I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed because I am, I really am, *insert a picture of me weeping*, but I get it. It’s great you are able to help out your friend. It shows how loyal you are. We will plan for another time.
Wineowolf: Thank you for understanding. But I will still be available to message just in case you get bored.
Sexywolf: I can think of plenty of things to do while messaging ;) Like emoji transaltion.
Wineowolf: What the hell is emoji translation?
Sexywolf: You know, when you put a bunch of emojis together to create a phrase or sentence, and the other person needs to figure out what the other person is saying.
Wineowolf: What the hell do you do in your spare time?
Sexywolf: Listen, it can get boring in the community houses; we have to entertain ourselves somehow. You should have seen some of the older guys; we had to explain to them what an eggplant emoji was…I don’t think I have ever seen such an old shifter blush.
Wineowolf: Well, I guess I’ll try anything once.
