“See ya!” Matteus called, as the alpha wrenched open the door to his car.
“Fuck you!” He hissed back, before his eyes slid to Oliver. Patrick stared at him for a long moment, the look full of malice.
Matteus was about to hurl something back, when Oliver slapped his chest. “Matty, we’re police officers, not monkeys flinging s-h-i-t.”
When Lucas finally appeared in the doorway, Patrick’s car had already fled the drive. He gave Oliver a hard look, beforestepping aside to allow him into the house. Oliver shivered. He’d never seen the alpha’s eyes so cold.
Alfie woke up when the warm air hit his face, and he let out a loud wail as Oliver tried to hand him over to his foster mother.
“Hey, hey! It’s okay, little guy. We’ll see each other again,” he cooed.
“Ollie!” Alfie whined, wiping his snot covered nose all over Oliver’s cheek. “Ollie, can we go to the park?”
“It’s your bedtime, sweetheart. Look, Sarah’s ready and waiting with your pyjamas.”
Alfie whimpered as Oliver placed him on his feet. “Read me a bedtime story?” He said, gripping Oliver’s trousers.
Oliver bit his lip, becausefuck, his heart ached. “I don’t—I can’t, sweetheart. I’ve got to get back to work. Lucas and Matteus are waiting for me.” Alfie’s little face scrunched with displeasure. His bottom lip jutted out, before he shifted into wolf form and was nothing but streak of golden fur and discarded clothes as he bolted up the stairs.
“Sorry about that,” Sarah sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.
“Stay,” Matteus said, stepping into the house. “I’ll take the car back to the station. You come back with Lucas.”
“I… is it appropriate? I’m not sure?—”
“It’s fine, Reed.” Lucas said, tugging the car keys out of his hand and passing them to his brother. “I’ll wait in the car.”
To no one’s surprise, Alfie chose The Gruffalo for Oliver to read. However, as he lay curled within a mountain of blankets, still in wolf form, his dark eyes slowly drooped at the sound of Oliver’s voice. Oliver gently stroked his tiny muzzle, his downy fur soft under his fingertips as he quietly closed the book and placed it on the bedside table. Alfie’s paw pressed against his hand, and it was taking all of Oliver’s self-control not to scoop the boy into his arms. Instead, he leant down and placed agentle kiss on the top of his sleeping head. He was warm, and so impossibly small.
“One day, you’re going to make a family so happy,” Oliver whispered, inhaling the scent of the boy’s yellow fur. “You’ll run like the wind into the arms of someone who cherishes you. I promise.”
Lucas stoodlike a spectre at the end of the driveway, his head tipping up as Oliver closed the front door. He gave him a tertiary glance but said nothing as they got into the car.
Street lamps reflected across the window, lighting up Oliver’s face every few seconds. He rested an elbow on the door of the BMW, pressing his cheek against his knuckles as he thought of Patrick’s sallow face. He hadneverseen the alpha so frightened, or so quiet. It was quite nice. Except, it wasn’t nice. Nothing about the situation could be construed as ‘nice.’
Lucas’ steady breathing was almost inaudible behind the roar of the engine, and they said nothing to one another during the ten minutes they’d been on the road. He’d expected the alpha to shout, or at least lecture him about not valuing his own safety. But instead, they sat in heavy,heavysilence.
Oliver opened his mouth several times to explain, but each time the coil of annoyance tightened in his gut. Because why the fuck should he explain? It really was no one’s business except his own. His pain. His torment.Hisdecision on how best to deal with it. Was he being pig-headed?Probably.
“Did he hurt you?” Lucas finally said, soft and unsure.
Oliver’s eyes flicked to the alpha’s hand as it rested on the gearstick. “No.”
Except he had. Hehadhurt him, even without raising a hand.
“Did he touch you?”
Oliver scoffed, stretching his legs into the footwell. “He tried. But I threatened to break his fingers.” His flippancy had been a mistake, and a terrible misunderstanding of Lucas’ mood.
“Is this a joke to you, Reed?” he said between clenched teeth. Oliver scowled and turned his gaze back to the window. Leather strained as the alpha tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “I asked you a question. Is what we have a joke to you?”
“What do you think?” Oliver snapped, the words sounding flippant again. Swallowing, he stared down at his hands. They still held the scars from where the hospital staff had saved his life with antibiotics and blood transfusions. The callus marks on his palms from months of relying on crutches. And the blister scars across his knuckles, from his boxing gloves, as he’d thrown himself into the sport when it was all over. All those things had faded, but they’d never leave him.
Lucas let out a quiet breath. “I don’t know what to think, Reed. You say one thing, and do another. You ask me to trust you, but dive headfirst into the company of a man that hurt you. Alone.”
Oliver’s gaze trailed up the alpha’s neck, pausing over the tight line of his jaw. “I told you about the diffusion day,” he said, eyes turning back to the road.
“Yes, but you only told mehalfthe story. Had you of been honest about who he was since the start, I could have protected you, I could have stopped?—”
