Page 34 of The Wolf and the Monarch

All at once, he could see a myriad of emotions go by the man’s face. Hurt, confusion, betrayal, anger, sadness, frustration… the list went on and on. “He said my son?” Benji sounded like a lost child at that moment. His voice was so soft and so incredibly hurt.

Sawyer chewed on his bottom lip and nodded his head. “Yeah, he did.”

He wiped at his eyes so quickly that Sawyer barely noticed it. “But…Andi didn’t do it. She wouldn’t do that.”

“I don’t know about that. I just know what I read.”

“Andi wouldn’t do that!” Benji spat. “She wouldn’t. She’s my best fucking friend. I know everything she does. She never mentioned anything like that.”

“Well, would she tell you about something like that?”

“No, because there’s nothing to tell. She didn’t do it. My dad is probably just…mistaken or something. I-I don’t know.”

“Why would he say my son?”

He could see Benji swallow before he dropped his gaze to look down at the dirty mattress. “He’s…been weird with me for awhile now,” he sighed and Sawyer’s brow arched. “I really fucked up a mission he assigned me. It was my first solo one and I just…failed. Spectacularly. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. And he’s just…never trusted me much since then. And Andi, I mean, she can do no wrong in his eyes. He was probably just…watching out for her.”

“But why would he have to look out for her if she didn’t do anything?”

“I don’t know, Sawyer!” A couple tears dripped from the corners of Benji’s eyes which just led him to placing his face in his hands.

Sawyer had no idea what to do. He just knew that he felt absolutely terrible for dropping such a bomb on Benji after everything else he had to endure. “Benji… I’m sorry.”

He didn’t say anything. He just laid back down and turned his back towards Sawyer. Which was expected. What else could he do? He supposed that he could run but he didn’t think he was well enough for that. He about fell over when he sat up too quickly. There was no way he could escape like that. Sawyer sighed and folded his hands in his lap, a bit awkwardly.

That was until he heard footsteps above them. Loud ones. They were moving quickly. Sawyer immediately jumped into action and pulled himself over Benji so that he could look into his eyes. “I know you’re upset right now. I know and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. But you have to pretend with me right now, okay? You’re still Andi. And you’re still delusional.” Sawyer’s heart was about to beat out of his chest. He had been thinking about when Milo was going to find Benji untied in the basement and what he was going to do to justify it.

It seemed that time was coming quicker than expected.

“Benji, please. Just nod if you will play along. It’s for your own good.” He didn’t say anything, but he did nod, just like Sawyer asked. “Thank you.” He sighed and stood up the moment he heard the lock to the basement open.

Chapter Eighteen

Sawyer

Milo stomped down the stairs while Tank and Clay followed behind. Sawyer wasn’t quite sure why he was so angry but it really could have been anything. His anxiety steadily rose when he thought about the possibility of him finding out about his snooping. There’s no way he did. Sawyer told himself. He made sure that everything was exactly where and how he found it. There was no way it was that.

Milo’s gaze shifted from Sawyer down to Benji on the bed and the rage in his eyes was unmistakable. “Milo, wait–” He began but his uncle didn’t waste a second. A hard slap came down upon his cheek, causing his head to whip to the side. Sawyer didn’t even know someone could slap that hard. “Fuck,” he hissed, placing his own hand against his now throbbing cheek.

“What the fuck is this?!” Milo spat, pointing down at the man lying on the mattress. “I was hoping that what Clay told me was false and that my nephew wasn’t this fucking stupid.”

Sawyer’s gaze narrowed towards Clay and he saw his snigger beside Tank. Of course it was fucking Clay. He should have known. “Did you ask why he was down here?”

“I don’t give a shit why he was.”

He sighed softly and turned his gaze downwards. He wanted to tell his uncle about Clay and everything he had done over the years but would he even care? From the current reaction, he doubted it. Which was just even more upsetting when he thought about it. “He’s a predator, Milo. He’s the scum of the earth.”

“We all are. Who gives a fuck?”

I’m nothing like you. Sawyer thought to himself. He never wanted to be anything like anyone left in the bunker. The normalcy of it died with his mother, that much was for sure.

Milo reached out for Sawyer once again and curled his hand tight in his shirt, pulling him close. “Now answer the question. What the fuck is this?”

He swallowed. “H-He’s not well. He’s really sick. I’ve been trying to nurse him back to some type of health for a while now. You gave him hypothermia. And then this wound on his side got infected. He’s got a bad fever. He doesn’t know what he’s going on. He would be no use to you right now.”

His uncle whipped Sawyer backwards towards the other two. Tank immediately placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tight. He knelt down before the captive and tilted his head as he gazed at him. Benji looked catatonic. His eyes were glazed over. Wherever he was, it was probably better than being down in that basement. Milo snapped his fingers in front of Benji’s face and slapped his cheek three times.

Benji groaned softly and blinked a few times. His blue eyes shifted back and forth between Sawyer and Milo with a furrowed brow. “Dad?” He asked, his eyes finally settling on Milo. “Why are you waking me up? It’s Saturday.”