SWNOVELS Chapter 73: Tell me no!
“Did you see the look on her face when he said that?” Damon asked, they were sitting in the office going over the photos again, they were waiting for Dax to get back to them with the emails but she hadn’t yet. Then again she was dealing with a grumpy Alpha who was acting like a four year old and she probably had her hands full.
“I pretty much think the look on her face was the same one on all our faces. I can’t believe he said it either.” Johnny said bewildered,
“In his state yesterday, he had no filter, he could have said worse, much worse.” Kenneth said,
“What did I say yesterday that has all of you so concerned?” Kane asked as he stood in the door looking at them all.
“Nothing much, just after we told feisty pants you tried to bury Lacey when you were four, you made an off the cuff comment about how everyone probably wishes you did bury her now.” Damon replied,
“Was I lying?” He asked, when no one answered, he shrugged like he did last night and moved towards his desk.
“Then I stand by that statement,” he said, and sat down.
“Are you ok brother? You don’t seem quite yourself today” Damon asked,
“I’m feeling slightly agitated.” They all looked at each other and then took a step backwards away from him.
“Why?” Johnny asked taking another step back,
“The next time you idiots get the bright idea to tranq me, don’t” He said,
“Why?” Damon repeated, he to took another step back
“Apparently a rare side effect of being tranqed is uncontrollable urges. Whichever one I satisfy first is the one I want to do and seeing how I am not running around killing people, I did not satisfy the homicidal urges I woke up with this morning.” He said, clenching his fists under the desk, trying to keep control of himself. There was nothing really stopping him from hunting her down and taking what he wants again, aside from the fact that he would hurt her. Holding onto that thought was the only thing keeping him in his seat. They all looked at eachother again.
“Which one did you satisfy fir…..oh!” Kenneth cut his question there when he saw the look on Kane’s face.
“The doctor recommended that I not be present in her appointments today, so she kicked me out and gave me a list of things to do to keep me occupied. The doctor’s theory is that it will be out of my system by the time she’s done.” The more he thought about being away from her the more agitated he was becoming.
“What did she want you to do?” Damon asked, they were picking up on his state and continued backing up in the room.
“Emails, photos, questions” he replied, “Tell me about the photo”
“Two unidentified shadows were discovered in the bottom right corner of one of the photos. She thinks the smaller one is a boy and is….” Damon was explaining as he cautiously approached him, handing him the photo.
“Looney toons” Kane finished for him,
“Looney toons?” Johnny asked,
“It’s what they’re calling him, because freaky fucking nutter butter is too much of a mouthful.” Kane explained looking at the shadows in the corner, he couldn’t help the smile that spread on his face when she explained why she called him that. Don’t think about her! He scolded himself.
“She thinks the other shadow is White, and if you look at the expressions on Carl’s and Magnus’s face she thinks it’s because White and….Looney toons crashed the gathering.” Damon went on to explain.
“Makes sense!” Kane agreed,
“Why does she want you to go through the photos?” Damon asked,
“Her and….wolfie were discussing it last night” he paused and waited for the snickers to die down.
“I guess if she doesn’t know what to call her, wolfie works” Johnny laughed.
“Any way they were discussing it last night, her wolf remembers a boy coming to the house, not this boy but one that looks just like him, something about the eyes being different” Kane said holding up the photo of the family gathering.
“What?” Damon said,
“She thinks he’s a twin to this boy. We know this boy isn’t Looney toons, and she knows this boy is. I need to pull all photos of the boy and spot the difference between the two. Maybe Looney toons showed up a few times when he wasn’t supposed to in place of the other boy.” Kane held up the other photo of the boy holding her hand.
“What about the emails?” Kenneth asked,
“She said look at them as two boys fighting over a toy, not two men talking. The White Carl was talking to, is not the same White Magnus is talking to, because why would White be taunting the nut job? And Magnus taunts him just as much. He could have taken her 6 times. Except if Looney Toons was going to the house when Carl used to beat her, how many times could he have taken her but couldn’t because he was too small? On top of that she thinks he’s been watching her, and if he’s been watching her, he’s a member of the town and she’s seen him 100 times and $100 says she’s probably even spoken to him a time or two and didn’t know it. So the emails need to be seperated” Kane said as he started pulling photos that had the boy in them. Again they all just stared at him.
“Holy fuck, we really are idiots” Johnny finally said, Kenneth and Damon just looked at him.
“Remember how Lacey and Kane used to fight all the time? If she got something he didn’t she would taunt the fuck out of him” He was speaking more to Damon.
“I remember him smacking an ice cream cone out her hand once when she was teasing him with it” Damon said,
“They didn’t have the greatest relationship when they were younger.” Johnny explained to Kenneth.
“It didn’t really get better the older they got either” Damon added,
“Funny how it came full circle, hated her then, hate her now” Kane said, pulling more photos. They all shared a look amongst themselves but none of them dared to say anything about what he just said.
“What questions does she have? Maybe we answered them already” Johnny asked,
“How did Magnus know Carl was talking to someone? How did Magnus know to follow Maria and go to the house that day?” He replied looking at the different photos. They looked at each other, those were questions they didn’t think of.
“She has a theory, doesn’t she?” Kenneth asked,
“She thinks Looney toons may have been talking to him as either himself, they are cousins after all or someone else because if Magnus knew who he was he’d go after him as well. So Marco is going to need to get into Magnus’s email to see if anyone else has been talking to him.” Kane explained,
“Who else feels stupid?” Damon said raising his hand, Johnny put his up, so did Kenneth, even Kane raised his hand.
“I’ll get Marco on Magnus’s email, I think Jackie gave him the boys for the day. He might want the break, the two older ones aren’t that big of a deal they can entertain themselves, but the youngest he’s a little….rough!” Kenneth said as he pulled out his phone to call Marco.
“He’s a boy of course he’s rough” Damon said grinning, Kane could only laugh, he remembers how rough they were.
“He said he’ll be here in a bit, he just has to get Marcus off his head first” Kenneth said, putting his phone away.
“Wait, off his head?” Damon asked,
“Which one’s Marcus again?” Johnny asked,
“The three year old,” Kenneth replied, trying not to laugh.
“Wasn’t he the one that sat in Kane’s lap and ate his supper?” Johnny asked,
“I think he was!” Kenneth said, nodding his head,
“Whoa what? That’s a ballsy little kid” Damon said,
“Kane looked down at him, put his fork down and said good thing I’m not hungry. Marco and Jackie had no idea what to do, just started apologizing, he was maybe two at the time” Kenneth started laughing,
“He had his own dinner, he just wanted to eat with the big boy.” Johnny started laughing as well.
A knock came to the door, and when Damon answered it there was a very tired Marco standing there with a small squirming child thrown over his shoulder.
“Glad to see you got him off your head” Damon said grinning, letting him in the office.
“Are you supposed to carry kids like that?” Johnny asked,
“Sei gentile con il primo, quando arrivi al terzo, comunque riesci a controllarli funziona (You’re gentle with the first one, by the time you get to the third, however you get a hold of them works)” Marco replied, with a shrug.
“Jackie needed a break?” Kenneth asked,
“Lei e Seraphine andarono incontro a Lydia a pranzo. Ha detto che sarebbe tornata più tardi, questa è meglio che stia facendo un pisolino (Her and Seraphine went to meet Lydia at the dinner for lunch. Said she be back later, this one better be napping)” Marco said,
“I don wan to, I not tied,” Marcus huffed, still squirming on his shoulder trying to get away from his dad.
“Convincimi!” Marco said to him as he moved towards his computer.
“I a big boy, big boys don nap” Marcus stated very matter of factly.
“Oh tu sei un ragazzone, i ragazzi grandi non fanno i capricci (Oh you’re a big boy, big boys don’t throw tantrums)” Marco replied to him sitting down in front of his computer. Kenneth choked back a laugh, he didn’t see his Alpha last night.
“He just told him big boys don’t throw tantrums” Kenneth whispered to Damon and Johnny. They too bit back their laughter as they looked at Kane behind his desk.
“I din’t” he huffed starting to kick his legs,
“Oh ma l’hai fatto, quando è stata l’ultima volta che hai visto Luca fare i capricci? (Oh but you did, when was the last time you saw Luca throw a tantrum?)” Marco asked, as his computer came to life.
“The otta day when mommy took his bideo game away.” Marcus said as he slid down Marco’s arm onto the couch.
“Cosa hai bisogno che io faccia? (What you need me to do?)” Marco asked,
“Get into Magnus’s email” Kenneth replied, thoroughly amused at the conversation he was having with his three year old.
“Stai per cadere dal divano (You’re going to fall off the couch)” Marco said as he kept an eye on what his son was doing.
“No not” as soon as the words were out of his little mouth he started to fall backwards off the couch, Marco’s arm shot out, grabbed him by the front of the shirt and pulled him back onto the couch. Then he went back to his computer. This happened a few more times, then he made it a game, he would pretend to fall off the couch and his dad would pull him back onto it, until his dad ended the game when he went to fall off he grabbed his leg and gently lowered him to the floor.
He laid on the floor for a minute then started kicking him in the leg.
“Basta Marcus!” Marco said, grabbing a hold of his foot. The others in the office were trying to hide their grins. He kicked Marco again
“Ascoltami, mi prendi a calci ancora una volta… (Listen to me, you kick me one more time…)” Marco started to say to him
“I din’t” Marcus said,
“Non mi hai appena preso a calci? (You didn’t just kick me?)” Marco asked,
“No” he shook his head,
“Allora chi mi prende a calci? (Then who kick me?)” Marco asked,
“I don know!” Marcus replied, looking him dead in the eye. Johnny was covering his face trying to hide his laughter, Damon had his back turned.
“Non sai chi mi ha appena preso a calci? (You don’t know who just kick me?)” The little boy shook his head staring wide eyed at his father,
“Uno Kenneff” Marcus replied,
“Lo zio Kenneth non mi ha solo preso a calci. Allora chi mi ha preso a calci? (Uncle Kenneth did not just kick me. So who kicked me?)” Marco shot back, the little boy just shrugged his little shoulders and shook his head.
“Ebbene, se lo fa di nuovo, avrà il sedere molto dolorante, quando va a fare il pisolino. (Well if he does it again he is going to have a very sore bottom, when he goes for his nap.)” Marco replied,
“I Don Wan a Nap! I Not Tied” Marcus yelled back at him throwing himself on the floor.
“Why are you grinning over there? That was pretty much you last night, tantrum included” Damon said, looking at Kane.
“Ascolta ragazzo, appena avrò finito farai un pisolino. O ti infili nel letto come un ragazzone, o ti butto dentro, ma il tuo culetto finirà in quel letto. (Listen boy, as soon as I’m done you’re gonna take a nap. Either you slip into bed like a big boy, or I throw you in, but your little ass will end up in that bed.)” Marco said as he pulled him off the floor and onto the couch to face him ….grrrRrrrr…. For added emphasis, a small warning growl escaped him, Marcus’s eyes widened and his face scrunched up.
“I sowee” He sniffled, Marco gathered him into his arms as he cried.
“That didn’t sound good,” Johnny remarked, Kenneth shook his head.
“Little man’s just tired,” Damon said.
Marco continued to work at getting into Magnus’s email, but with Marcus the process was taking longer than it should have. He was now standing on his dad’s arms making it impossible for him to type anything. Grabbing Marcus by the legs he threw him over his shoulder behind him and went back to work.
“Marcus, devo vedere (I can’t see)” Marco told him when he covered his eyes.
“Aww you dun yet? Dis bowing” Marcus complained and jumped on his back again.
“Avrei finito molto più velocemente se smettessi di saltarmi addosso (I’d get done a lot faster if you’d stop jumping on me)” Marco said, Marcus went to jump on him again and Damon caught him instead.
“Hey little man, why don’t you give your dad a break and go jump on Johnny, he’s a bigger jungle gym” Damon said,
“You’re bigger than me, let him jump on you” Johnny said,
“By an inch” Damon countered,
“Still bigger,” Johnny replied. Damon looked at Kane, he whispered something in Marcus’s ear and put him down on the floor.
Kane had his head down on the desk, he was ignoring everyone in the room. He did almost everything he was supposed to do on the list she gave him. Marco just had to get into the emails and it was taking forever. He didn’t want to be there anymore, he wanted to be with his mate. He behaved and stayed away long enough, he had more control over himself now. Do you really? Wondering when I was going to hear from you! What? Don’t get grumpy at me because you woke up horny as hell! Someone else was apparently fucking horny as hell last night! She talked to me! Ky gushed in his head. What the fuck did she say to you? Hi! Hi? She said hi and you ripped her clothes off? What? I got excited! No shit! You ripped the red lace panties! Oops! Oops? That’s what you have to say for yourself, oops! Someones grumpy! I’m not grumpy! Are you sure about that? I’m not grumpy! Maybe you need a nap! I don’t need a nap! Now you sound like the three-year old! Fuck you!
Feeling eyes watching him, he lifted his head and looked to his right, Marcus was standing there watching him.
“Can I help you?” He asked the little boy, sitting up and back in his chair. Marcus took that as an invitation to sit in his lap and climbed up.
“What the fuck?” He asked, looking down at him. Marcus went wide eyed and stared at him.
“You say a bad wowd” He proclaimed,
“I did not say a bad word!” Kane said back to him,
“Uh huh, you dit. Mommy says you not pose to say dat wowd” Marcus said to him,
“I’d like to see your mommy tell me I’m not supposed to say that word.” Kane said to him, he could hear the snickers of the others in the room over his conversation with the three year old.
“I get in twubow when I say dat wowd” Marcus exclaimed,
“Well I’m a big boy” Kane replied back,
“I a big boy too!” He countered,
“I’m a bigger boy, so I’m allowed” Kane ended that conversation when the small child just looked at him. He went back to looking at the pictures and ignored the child sitting in his lap, for the most part.
“Doin?” He asked, looking at the pictures as well.
“Playing a game!” Kane said,
“Wat game?” Marcus went to touch one of the pictures and Kane moved it away from him.
“Spot the difference!” Kane said,
“I hep, dey aww diffwent, I win,” Marcus said as he looked at all the photos. Johnny’s laughter was getting louder.
“That’s not how the game works, so you don’t win” Kane said,
“Uh huh, dey aww diffwent!” he argued,
“Don’t you have brothers to play with?” Kane asked him,
“Dey say I to yittow, and hafe to stay with papa” he rubbed his eyes. Kane looked at Marco and then back at the little boy. That didn’t seem fair to him.
“You have to find the difference between these two boys.” Kane moved some of the photos closer to the boy so he could see.
“Dey yook da same” he huffed,
“Yes they do, but they aren’t, there is something different about them” Kane said,
“His eyes awe scawy, I don yike dem” Marcus pointed to one of the pictures.
“They are scary, looks like you found one,” Kane said, moving it to the side. They spent the next 20 minutes looking at the photos. Marcus pointed out some of the ones with the scary eyes.
“Dis bowing!” He stated after a while,
“Yes it is, but I said I would do it and it’s keeping me occupied” Kane replied,
“You get in twubow too?” Marcus asked looking up at him, he rubbed his eyes again.
“Sometimes” Kane said, he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.
“But you da Awpah! No one teww you no” Marcus said, he rubbed his eyes again.
“True! But I was advised by a doctor to stay out of trouble” Kane had to agree with that, no one usually tells him no.
“Does he know you da Awpah?” Marcus asked,
“He does!” Kane said,
“Is he tupid?” Marcus said,
“Marcus, non dirlo (Marcus, don’t say that)” His dad scolded him, Kane bit back a chuckle,
“He thinks he’s smart,” Kane said instead of agreeing with him.
“Souns tupid!” Marcus whispered,
“Adesso basta!” Marco looked at him again.
“I like this kid!” Kane said, moving his arm more around him to keep him secure on his lap.
“Who dat?” Marcus pointed at the picture on his desk of Dax.
“My mate!” Kane replied,
“Is she a eff?” He asked,
“No, she’s not an elf” Kane answered,
“She pwetty!” He said,
“She’s very pretty” Kane agreed,
“Is she nice?” he asked,
“She’s very nice,” Kane responded, as he looked at the photo of her. She had a bright smile on her face, and was unaware that he even snapped the photo of her.
“She a meanie! I don yike her,” Marcus pointed at a picture of Lacey, drawing his attention from his mate.
“Why don’t you like her?” Kane asked, as he glared at the photo of Lacey on his desk. The more he stared at it the more his blood boiled, thinking of what she did to his beautiful mate.
“She towe my cookies, den said too bad nuffin I do bout it, she Awpah sitter. She a meanie” Marcus repeated, rubbing his eyes once more. That made him angry too, who steals a child’s cookies. One quick swipe of his hand and the picture was knocked into the garbage can, he looked up and no one said a word. He could feel Marcus starting to snuggle into his chest.
“I don’t know about you, but I could use a snack” He always slept better when he had something in his stomach. Marcus just nodded his head. The others just watched on as Kane picked the boy up and tucked him into his side high enough that he could rest his head on his shoulder. He looked at Marco, who looked like he was about to protest and arched his eyebrow
“I’m the Awpah, go ahead tell me no” he said,
“Ok” was all Marco could say and then they watched him walk out of the room with the boy.
Um, you just stole Marco’s kid! I wanted a snack! So you’re going to do what with him? He’ll sleep better with something in his stomach! I see, you’re going to see mate! I want out of the office, I’m not sure where I’ll end up! Uh huh! They walked into the kitchen, and Margie’s eyes lit up at the sight of Kane holding the little boy.
“Don’t get any ideas Margie! He’s hungry and in need of….quiet” Kane said, he didn’t want to say nap, in the off chance that it would set him off. She fixed them up a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk. Kane sat the boy on the counter and stood close by just in case. He wasn’t sure why, but when the boy told him his brothers said he was too little to play with them it bothered him a little. A little? You kidnapped him! Even Ky didn’t believe that. Ok it bothered him a lot. He just wants to be a big boy, now he gets to hang out with the biggest boy! Seems fair!
“Why don’t we go for a walk?” Kane asked when the little boy was done with his cookies and milk.
“Ok!” Kane helped him down from the counter, cleaned up their dishes and they went out into the yard. Marcus walked for a bit and talked. The kid talked a lot, then his legs started to get tired, so Kane lifted him back to his hip and they continued their walk. Others would look in their direction, some she-wolves would ogle but they paid no attention. Marcus was just happy talking away about something. When he started yawning and rubbing his eyes, Kane switched directions towards the medical ward. He would go see his mate and Marcus would fall asleep.
He reached the door, and he could hear Dax and Carter laughing inside. Carter never said much, but he seemed to come alive around her, she had that ability to draw people out, they seemed relaxed around her. She listened to every word they would say and made them feel comfortable talking to her. When he entered the room, Carter stood to his feet and bowed, though he didn’t miss the questioning look that passed over his face at the little boy.
“Before you ask, I behaved myself. Who’s your little friend?” she asked, looking at the little boy, cuddled into his arms.
“I Mawcus, who dat?” The little boy proudly answered her, smacking his chest.
“Marcus, it’s nice to meet you, that’s Carter” she said,
“Do you get in twubow too?” he asked, she smiled at him and heard both Kane and Carter fighting to control their laughter.
“Sometimes! Do you want to sit down?” She asked, patting the couch beside her. He nodded his head and Kane put him on the floor and he crawled up on the couch to sit next to her.
“The Awpah say bad wowd,” Marcus said as he moved to sit closer to her.
“I did not!” Kane argued,
“He did? What did he say?” She asked,
“I no pose to say dat wowd” Marcus said wide eyed,
“Oh, you’re not supposed to say that word, but how do you know it’s a bad word?” She asked him,
“Mommy said so” Marcus looked at Kane then looked back at Dax.
“Oh ok! Maybe I can guess what he said.” She offered, Marcus nodded.
“Ok, did he say shh?” Marcus shook his head
“Um, did he say ahhh?” again Marcus shook his head
“Hmmm, did he say ffff?” Marcus nodded his head
“He did? That is a bad word, that naughty Awpah” Dax giggled, when she caught Kane glaring at her.
“Are you a eff?” He asked looking at her ears
“Do you think I’m an elf?” She asked him instead of answering
“Eff’s hafe poiny eaws yike you” he replied,
“Yes they do!” She agreed, he moved closer to her so he could touch her ears.
“Eff’s can wiggow dey eaws” he said, as his little fingers traced them.
“They can?” She said,
“Uh huh!” He said, nodding still tracing her ears.
“Like this?” his fingers stopped moving on her ears when she started to wiggle them. His eyes lit up as he felt the movement.
“She a eff” Marcus exclaimed excitedly as he looked at Kane, though in his excitement he bumped the side of her cheek and a small gasp escaped her mouth and she grimaced at the pain she felt shooting through her cheek.
“I sowee” his little face scrunched, when he saw that he hurt her, he started crying.
“It’s ok sweetheart, I know you didn’t mean to” She wrapped him in her arms and held him tight to her to calm him down.
“I sowee” he blubbered again.
“I know, shhh. I’m not mad, it was an accident” she said, running her hand up his back. Kane watched her interact with the little boy, he watched her cuddle him and soothe his cries, place gentle kisses on his head. When his sniffles turned into light breathing and his body relaxed against her, he knew she had put him to sleep.
Carter had left to give them some privacy and Kane moved to sit behind her on the couch. While she cuddled the boy he cuddled her.
“You didn’t tell me you could wiggle your ears,” Kane said,
“You never asked” she replied,
“I didn’t know I was supposed to” he said,
“I can wiggle my nose to” she announced,
“I want to see” he said, she looked back at him and she started to wiggle her nose.
“That’s adorable” he kissed her lips.
“So why did you bring me a child?” She asked, hugging him closer to her body.
“Marco was trying to get into Magnus’s emails, and Marcus wasn’t helping. He was tired and needed a nap, but he didn’t want to do that either. I figured someplace quiet would help him.” He answered.
“So you stole him? You are a very naughty Awpah, what am I going to do with you?” She asked, he could hear the teasing in her tone.
“I can think of a few things” he nipped the tip of her ear.
“That is not happening with a child in the room” she said,
“I have control over myself,” he said, moving her closer to him.
“No more uncontrollable urges?” She asked, leaning against him, finding comfort in his embrace.
“No, just the controllable ones, don’t get me wrong, I still want you but I’m not going to throw you into the wall and just take you, at least not yet anyway….maybe later” he replied, her laughing caused him to grin.
They sat in silence enjoying the quiet and each other’s company.
“How did your appointments go?” He asked,
“Good, he said I could be discharged tomorrow. I got the stitches out on my side and my hand. He said the ones in my cheek can come out tomorrow. My x-rays came back good for my ribs. He didn’t take one of my wrist, he did that when he x-rayed my arm. The fractures in my cheek are healing fine, though he is concerned about the blurry vision in my left eye still and says I need to stop getting into trouble and they would probably heal better. Carter told him trouble just seems to find me.” Kane laughed,
“He’s not wrong” he replied, he was running his hands up and down her arms and she snuggled in more to him.
“Hey now, I’m not that bad” she said,
“Of course not. What did he say about the scan he wanted to do?” Kane asked,
“He didn’t do it, I was getting tired and I figured you’d want to be there for it, so after I get the stitches in my cheek out tomorrow morning he wants to run it.” She answered, stifling the yawn
“I do want to be there, when they make your brain glow” he kissed her head, shifting to make them more comfortable.
“He wanted me to remind you to find things that would cause an emotional reaction” she said. They settled back into a comfortable silence and she could feel her mind starting to drift.
“Why didn’t you tell me what I said?” He asked,
“When?” She asked, her eyes were closed, she was about ready to fall asleep when he spoke.
“After you heard the story of me trying to bury Lacey, the boys said you might have been upset by that,” he said. Dax opened her eyes. Not sure how to answer that question she sat quietly for a bit running her hand up and down the little boy’s back.
“Because you also said that when the baby was born, you were going to snap Lacey’s neck after I asked what was going to happen to her.” She replied, “I knew you were telling the truth, I just didn’t know how to take that, and I still don’t.” She added.
“What is upsetting about that for you?” He asked.
“I don’t want you to regret your choice or decision and hate yourself for it. If you do that, there’s no taking it back, and what if down the road you want to talk to her again, or….she’s your sister, you can say she’s not, but she still is, and she will always be.” He continued moving his hand up and down her arm, as he thought about what she said. His other arm circled around her and rested over her hand that was on the little boy’s back, he shifted slightly but settled back down, his head resting on her chest. Lucky kid! Kane thought.
“What would you want to do?” Kane asked,
“I want to know why she did it. But let her go, give Johnny the baby, and let her go, give her a chance to make it right, if she doesn’t want to then she doesn’t want to. But you won’t have to live with regretting a possible mistake.” Dax replied. “That being said, she touches me again, I’ll kick the shit outta her,” he chuckled at that. Goddess how he loved this woman, his little firecracker with a pure heart.
“She did it because you outshine her in every way, no matter how much you tried to dull yourself you couldn’t. She had respect because she was my sister and Johnny’s mate, she demanded it, she didn’t earn it. You have the respect and adoration of the whole pack house because you go out of your way to make others feel important.” He spoke after a bit. “You haven’t seen our room in a couple days” He added when he saw the look of confusion cross her face.
“Lacey may be blood, but she never felt like family.” Kane began, he had to tell her why it was so easy for him to come to the decision to cut her out. “When I was little, I was excited about having a sibling, a sister would have been fine but I wanted a brother. When Lacey was born, I don’t know what it was about her but I didn’t want her and repeatedly told my parents that. I didn’t feel a connection to family with her, like I do with Johnny or Damon or the rest of them. I wouldn’t even call her by her name. I called her the baby for the first five years then she was the girl that lived in my house after that. When they wouldn’t take her back, I tried to give her away a bunch of times. My dad would get called or my mom and they would have to go get her from whoever’s house and I would get a lecture about trying to give my sister away. I remember telling my dad once that she wasn’t my sister, I didn’t know who she was but she wasn’t my sister. I gave her to Edward a bunch of times, but he would just show up with her and I would get in trouble.” Dax sat there listening to him talk and explain why he felt the way he did.
“Then Johnny, Damon and I got this idea, we would just switch her for Johnny. Seemed to make sense for us, Johnny wanted brothers, I wanted brothers and Damon pretty much already lived with us both, we could all just live at my house. We got caught when we couldn’t get the crib out the door. My dad asked what we thought we were doing and I explained our plan to him, that we would just switch Johnny for the baby. Hell half his stuff was either in my room or Damon’s and half of hers was in one of the spare rooms at Johnny’s. My dad said you can’t just switch kids with someone, and Damon asked ‘well why not? You’re the Alpha just fucking switch them’ my dad just about lost it. He was trying really hard not to laugh at us, and my mom was upset. My dad told Damon he couldn’t say that word and you can’t just switch kids, not even the Alpha is allowed to do that. Then he made us put everything back. He was quite surprised by how much we had managed to get in and out of the house without them noticing. When switching them didn’t work, I tried to bury her. When my dad asked me why I did it, I said because she wasn’t family, she was a stranger and I didn’t want her here, she wasn’t my sister. To prove to me that she was in fact my sister, my dad had both our blood tested, but I still wouldn’t believe it and truthfully I still don’t. She didn’t feel like family so she would never be my family.” He continued to explain.
“When my parents died I forced myself to take care of her, and it took everything I had not to treat her like every other member of the pack. I had to remind myself constantly that she was my sister, my family, and I was supposed to love her, but I didn’t. I don’t feel anything for her. There is no connection, no bond, nothing. I feel more of a connection to this boy than I do to her, and I met him over an hour ago. I remember it was a few months after she had turned 16 she came crying to me about some boy, saying he was cheating on her. I was livid, it’s disrespectful to do that to someone and I kicked the shit out of him, turns out he broke up with her a week before he turned 16 because if he found his mate which he did on his 16th birthday he didn’t want to hurt her. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out how she didn’t know Johnny was her mate, him and I were always together, and she always hung around, at least she did until Damon came home. She didn’t want to make friends with any of the other girls, because she was Alpha’s sister and she felt they were beneath her, but she could fake nice real well.” Dax just nodded at the last part, she knew how well Lacey could fake being nice, she was proof of it.
They fell back into silence after that, he was lost in thought and she was digesting everything she had just heard. Him saying he would snap her neck after the baby was born made sense, especially if he felt no connection whatsoever to her. She still hoped he would just let her go.
“I still want to hear it from her mouth why she did it, and I still would like her to be let go, but that can be decided after we hear what she has to say” she finally spoke. It was a very diplomatic response, the response of a true Luna. He held her tighter to him, letting her cuddle right into his chest and all seemed right with his world for a moment.
“We’re eventually going to have to give him back” He said, resting his cheek on her head, looking at the little boy sleeping on her chest.
“Not right now, he’s sleeping” she said cuddling him tighter,
“His brothers said he was too little to play with them, I didn’t really like that. He just wants to be a big boy” Kane said,
“He got to spend all day with Awpah, he’ll make his brothers jealous when he goes home” she said, he could hear the sleep in her voice, she had a long day.
“He also got to sleep cuddling in the arms of a beautiful elf” he whispered, she murmured something, about this being their life one day before she fell asleep in his arms and he could only hope that she was right.
He woke to the sound of a child laughing and his mate giggling, when he opened his eyes, he saw them sitting on the floor around the coffee table colouring and drawing. Marcus was telling her all about his day and how it was the best day ever. He got to spend it with the Awpah and got cookies and to sit on the counter like a big boy.
“Sounds like you had a good day!” She said,
“Bes day eba!” He exclaimed,
“What are you drawing?” She asked him,
“Awpah!” He excitedly replied,
“Do you like to draw?” She asked,
“Uh huh!” He said nodding his head
“Me too! You’re really good at it.” He beamed a big toothy smile at her.
“It take pwactise” he said proudly,
“Yes it does!” She agreed,
“Dat pwetty!” He said pointing at her drawing,
“Thank you!” She replied smiling at him
“You pwatcise?” He asked,
“I did, I practised a lot” she went back to her drawing and he watched her shade and highlight certain areas.
“Wiw Awpah yike it?” He asked holding up his picture
“I think he will very much” she said,
“He needed a nap” Marcus said,
“Yes he did, he was really tired” she laughed and looked over at the couch, he had a grin on his face as he watched the two on the floor laughing and drawing. A small glimpse into his future was sitting before his eyes. Oh how he hoped that would be his life.
“I think it’s almost time for supper, we should get you cleaned up” she said, he nodded his head and they got off the floor moving towards the bathroom.
Dax helped him wash off the pencil marks from his hands and face and when they came back out into the room Kane was sitting up on the couch.
“How long was I asleep for?” Kane asked stretching out his back
“Yong time. Yuna say don jump on you, I din’t” Marcus said,
“Thank you for not jumping on me” He said,
“Wewcome!” Marcus walked back over to the table and picked up his picture. He walked over to Kane and gave it to him
“Is it for me?” Kane asked, as he accepted the picture
“I made it fo you” he said,
“Is that me?” Marcus nodded,
“And that’s you?” The little boy nodded again,
“Thank you!” Marcus gave him a hug,
“Yook wat Yuna made fo me” He ran over to the table when Kane let him go and held up the picture for him to see.
“Wow! That’s nice” Kane said,
“Yeah!” Marcus exclaimed excitedly,
“We should go find your dad now,” Kane said, holding out his hand for the boy to take.
“Yuna come too?” He asked looking up at Kane
“Of course she can,” Kane said looking at her, then he looked down at her pantless bottom and arched his eyebrow. Finding the sweatpants she was swearing at a few days ago she sat on the couch to put them on. It was a bit of a struggle, but she did manage to get them up without swearing at them.