Page 22 of The Wolf and the Monarch

“Great.”

“How do you feel?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I care about everyone here.” Sawyer simply snorted at that and pushed himself to stand up. “I do!”

“Right,” he muttered. “Get out of my room, Clay.”

The little man huffed and folded his arms across his chest before he walked out of the room. “Clean yourself up. You look like shit.”

Sawyer attempted to ignore that comment but he was probably right. He could use another shower to help loosen his now extremely sore body. Grabbing himself a change of clothes and a towel, he wandered back over to the showers for the second time that day and took himself a well deserved, hot shower. It felt so good. So good that it made him feel extremely guilty for leaving Andi downstairs freezing. That was enough to get Sawyer hustling.

After drying off, he made it back to his room and he got dressed as quickly as possible before he gathered a change of clothes for Andi. The whole reason he had come upstairs. He balled the clothes up as small as he possibly could and tucked it into the crook of his arm. Sawyer moved quickly through the hall, hoping to go unnoticed so he could get back downstairs. However, he heard someone call his name. “Sawyer.” It was Milo. Of course it was. “Get in here.”

Sawyer sighed and turned around. His uncle wasn’t looking up from his paperwork so he took the opportunity to toss the ball of clothes off to the side before he entered his office. “Yeah?”

“Sit.”

“I really should get back downstairs…”

“Sit. Down.”

Sawyer did what was asked of him and immediately sagged in the chair. Even though the shower had done him wonders, his head was killing him. He really didn’t want to be scolded by his uncle at that juncture but it seemed like there was no way around it.

“What’s gotten into you lately?” He didn’t say anything but he didn’t think he was supposed to. “That altercation with Chuck…why didn’t you fight back?”

“I didn’t want to.”

“Why not?”

“It was stupid.”

“I think getting your ass beaten in front of the team was stupider.”

“To each their own, Milo.”

His eyes narrowed a bit. “What the fuck has gotten into you? You’re not willing to fight Chuck but you’re willing to fight me?”

“I’m not fighting–”

“I’m not done speaking,” Milo seethed. Sawyer took a soft breath in and adjusted his position in the chair. “You’re fighting me at every turn. Your insubordination is extremely worrisome.”

That was a bit of an extreme thing to say. Sawyer didn’t necessarily think he was being an insubordinate. He was just sick of the bullshit.

“You do remember that I am the one that pays you, right?”

Sawyer didn’t say anything. But from the look on his uncle’s face, now he wanted a response. It was difficult to respond to because, yes, he did pay him, but Sawyer didn’t see the money. It just went into a bank account somewhere that he barely had access to. The only money he could really call his own was the actual dollar bills he kept hidden in his dresser. Still, he answered, “Yes.”

“I’m the one that houses you?”

“Yes.”

“I’m the one that took you in when your parents tragically passed?”

Sawyer swallowed a lump that had suddenly grown in his throat. There were plenty of times in his life when he thought he’d be better off alone or in the foster system. But even then, he said, “Yes.”

“Then why are you acting like I’m the bad guy?”