The rest of the day went by pretty quick, Madox stuck with us between classes saving him from Carl. As the last bell rang, I headed into the hall to find Madox. After waiting a few minutes without him appearing, I headed to the locker room since I was sure Carl would take him there again. As I got closer to the door, the stench of blood and the soft thud of someone being hit or kicked attacked my senses pissing me off. Deciding to do the most correct thing, I cracked the door and yelled “teacher in here, someone's being attacked” before stepping back down the hall as I heard footsteps coming towards the door. As I watched, Carl left the room in a panic without looking back. Shaking my head, I entered the locker room and found Madox exactly where and in the same shape I thought he'd be. However, he surprised me by still being conscious though the second his eyes landed on me, he teared up and looked away again.
“You know, you don't have to do that” I said moving to see how badly he was hurt this time.
“Yeah, I know but I can't help feeling ashamed that this is happening” he said as tears slide down his face. Turning his head to make him look as me, I said “tears are nothing to be ashamed of and this won't be happening for much longer because we're gonna work on defensive moves first. And he should be ashamed for doing this not you.” Releasing his face, I gently slid my hand under his arm to help him stand. Once we were off the ground, I wrapped his left arm around my shoulders and put my right arm around his waist to support him. As we left the locker room, I noticed him limping and holding his ribs still causing me to say “I'm surprised you didn't pass out this time.”
“He wasn't beating me for that long and I had no doubt you'd come looking for me. I'm surprised you didn't just kick the crap out of him though. Yelling for the teacher was a nice touch and got the job done though I suppose” he said with a chuckle and then winced when his ribs moved too much.
“Yeah, I thought about it but that might've made you more of a target. So, I held off opting to go with the option that would get him out of there faster” I explained. As we walked, I realized he wouldn't be able to ride in this condition so I mind linked Tyler.
“Hey Ty, are you at the house?” I asked.
“Nah, but I think Kyle is. Why?” he asked.
“I need him to bring my truck to the school. I'll explain later” I said before cutting the connection linking Kyle seconds later.
“Hey Kyle, are you at the house?” I asked for the second time.
“Yeah, why what's up?” he answered quickly.
“Can you bring my truck to the school? The keys are in my room on top my dresser” I asked hoping he'd agree.
“Didn't you take your bike this morning? Can I ask why you need your truck too?” he asked confused.
“I did but I've got an injured friend with me and he won't be able to ride on my bike” I explained.
“Okay, I'll be there in twenty minutes” he said cutting the connection. Turning my head to look at Madox, I said “well you're gonna meet my older brother here in twenty minutes.”
“Huh? Why?” he asked confused.
“Because I asked him to bring my truck since you're in no condition to ride on my bike” I explained.
“Okay point taken. Which brother is bringing it?” he asked. Chuckling, I said “I'm surprised you remember they're both technically older than me. It's the oldest one, Kyle, that's bringing it for me. You'll probably meet Tyler later on tonight.”
“Oh wait, isn't he the soon to be Alpha? The one that's getting married next month” he asked looking a bit worried.
“Yeah, that's the one but don't worry he's not a stuck up asshole like some Alphas. You'll see what I mean when he gets here” I said as we continued out of the school. As we made it to the front steps, I looked around and noticed my bike and a few other cars in the parking lot were the only ones left. Noticing my look, Madox said “soccer practice” before going quiet again. Looking over at him, I noticed the sad far away look he had on his handsome face. To distract him from the memories, I asked “how long does it usually take you to heal from the beatings?”
“A few hours if it isn't a bad one. A few days if it is” he said looking at the ground.
“Do you shift to heal or stay human?” I asked trying to figure out why it takes so long.
“Usually, I stay human since I usually have several broken bones and it'll hurt twice as much to shift” he said surprising me.
“Well, you're going to shift tonight, it'll help you heal faster since our wolves can push their bodies in ways we can't as humans” I explained as I heard my truck heading down the road. Looking up at the sound, we saw a dark blue four door pick up heading our way.
“Okay, but won't it be dangerous for me to shift in your territory?” Madox asked as Kyle parked my truck next to my bike.
“Normally, yes but I'll be with you the entire time. So, you'll be safe” I said as we walked towards my truck. As we got closer, Kyle got out of the driver seat and walked around to the passenger side opening the rear door as he did.
“Hey Kyle, thanks for this” I said as we maneuvered to help Madox into the truck.
“Yeah, no problem little brother. Hello, I'm Kyle by the way” he said extending his hand to Madox once we had him in the seat.
“I'm Madox, nice to meet you” he said taking Kyle's hand. Releasing his hand, Kyle closed the door and turned to me.
“He's one of us but not of our pack” he said confused.
“I know, dad asked me to train a wolf from Wind Walker this morning and I happened to run into him before class started. Madox is that wolf. It was even confirmed with Beta Charles Richards” I said watching him.
“Oh, that explains a lot. So, what shall we do with your bike?” he asked.
“Help me get it into the back and I'll tie it down” I said giving Kyle the keys so he could put it in neutral to move it before opening the tail gate and climbing inside. As I waited, I could smell the faint stench of fear. Following it, I turned to the cab and realized it must be coming from Madox but what was he afraid of. Kyle must've sensed it too because he looked at me confused. Looking at Madox through the rear window, I saw he was staring at something without blinking. Following his line of sight, I saw Carl with a group of guys all staring at Madox. A few seconds later, I heard Kyle hit the kick stand and saw him move in front of the truck exuding his Alpha aura which made them all back down and leave.
“You alright in there Madox?” I asked watching him. With a sharp nod, tears fell down his face but he still made no sound.
“Kyle, let's get this done as quick as possible. So, we can get back on our land” I said turning towards the back of the truck.
“Yeah” he agreed returning to my bike. While he was busy moving it, I thought “hey Moon, do me a favor and talk to his wolf. I wanna know what he was so scared of because it's not like it was the first time Carl had glared at him.”
“Alright, I'll try” he answered. Moving as quickly as we could without damaging my bike, we carefully got it into the truck. As I strapped it down, Kyle climbed in the passenger seat. Removing the keys and covering it with a trap, I put one last strap over it before climbing out and closing the tail gate. Heading to the drivers seat and climbing in, I strapped myself in and said “let's go home” to which they both nodded. As I backed my truck out of its spot, I glanced at Madox in the rear view to see he was still crying and looking terrified. It was silent as I drove giving me time to think. Ten minutes into the drive, Moon said “according to his wolf, those boys were threatening to rape him and mark him against his will which is why he was so scared.”
“Oh my god, we need to keep him away from them as much as possible. Maybe I'll see if dad will let me train him on our land” I said and then mind linked Kyle.
“Hey Kyle, don't react. When we get back could you help me convince dad to move the training to our land? I had Moon ask Madox wolf why he was so scared and apparently those guys were threatening to rape and mark him against his will. I wanna keep him away from them as much as possible” I said keeping my eyes on the road.
“Yeah, I'll see what I can do. Mind if I tell dad all that?” he asked.
“Nah, tell him everything I told you and I'll explain the rest to you both later” I said gripping the wheel harder.
“Alright little brother” Kyle said before cutting the connection. Eight minutes later, we were pulling up to the guard house at the pack border. Pulling to a stop, Felix the wolf on duty stepped up to the window and said “Kyle, Alpha says to have you come find him when you get back to the pack house.”
“Thanks Felix, I'll do that” Kyle said with a smile as Felix waved us through. Pulling up to the house, Kyle left to go find dad as I rounded the truck to help Milo out of the back seat. As we walked towards the house, Tyler came out the front door.
“Hey Con, who's this? The friend you were telling me about?” he asked.
“Yeah, Ty this is Madox. Madox this is my twin brother Tyler” I said as we climbed the stairs.
“Hi” Madox said and winced as we took the last step onto the porch.
“Hi. Oh, by the way Con mom said he wants to see you when you got home” Ty said moving to Madox other side.
“Okay, let's go find him” I said as Ty moved to help Madox in the same fashion I was supporting him. Entering the house, I mind linked mom as Ty shut the door behind us.
“Hey mom, Ty said you wanted to see me. Where are you?” I asked.
“I'm in the kitchen sweetie” he said as we crossed the living room.
“okay we'll be there in a minute” I said.
“We?” he asked confused.
“I'll explain when we get there okay” I said then turning to Ty added “mom is in the kitchen” making both of us chuckle since he only cooks when he's stressed like me. Heading into the kitchen, we weren't surprised to see four baking trays filled with an assortment of cookies and two baking dishes filled with fudge brownies. Mom was standing with his back to us, his long silver white hair trailing down his back in a long braid. Moving to perch Madox on one of the bar stools that had a back, I asked “what's got you so stressed mom?” even though I was already fairly certain of his answer.
“One of my babies is leaving tomorrow for an undefined amount of time” he said sounding like he was gonna cry.
“Aww momma don't cry” Ty said rounding the counter on one side while I moved around the other side. Reaching mom at the same time, we wrapped him in a hug from both sides leaning our heads against his.
“I just love my boys so much” he said as tears started to fall. Glancing over, I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on Madox face causing mom to bop my arm.
“Hey what was that for?” I asked.
“That was for laughing at your mother” he said sounding irritated.
“I wasn't laughing at you mom, I swear. We have an audience and he looks shocked and confused. That's why I laughed momma, I swear” I said chuckling again.
“Oh” he said turning towards the bar where we'd deposited a shocked and confused Madox.
“Madox, this is our mom and Luna of the Blood Rose pack, Luna Kris. Mom this is the boy you guys asked me to train this morning, Madox Richards” I said still hugging him.
“Hi sweetie” mom said slipping back into mom mode before turning to me and asking “why do I smell blood?”
“Hi, that would be mine. It's part of the reason my parents asked for a trainer for me” Madox said raising one hand before I could answer.
“I take it you're being bullied” mom said without missing a beat.
“Yeah” Madox said looking down.
“Don't be ashamed honey, there's nothing you could do if you don't know how to fight back but I promise that is all about to change because you have the best teacher possible for the job” mom said reading the situation perfectly.
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