Monday July 23 Pt. 3

“Good afternoon, Alpha Demetri. How are you doing?” 

“I’m doing well. How’s Cole fairing?” 

“He’s unfortunately on quite the roller coaster but I’m hoping this conference call will help him.” 

I stand just in front of the couch not certain what to make of the situation. 

“Cole, before we start talking too deeply I need to know if we need to cut the crap.” 

“Wh…. What?” I barely stammer, unable to comprehend what he’s asking me. 

“Do you remember the first time, the only time you have ever said that to me?” 

“Ye… yes sir.” 

“So I need you to slow down, think about the situation you were in then and tell me if we need to cut the crap.” 

His voice is stern, making me wonder if I’ve done something wrong. 

“No sir.” 

Hearing his voice has made it even more difficult to function. 

“Can you hand Cole the phone? I have an important question to ask him.” 

“You’re on speaker phone so he can hear you but yes, I can give him the phone for a little bit.” 

Alpha Andrew walks up to me with his hand held out waiting for me to take it. 

“Cole,” Alpha’s voice is much gentler and easier to handle. “Have you been put in a link lock since your arrival Friday night?” 

“Alpha please, I don’t want to talk with them. They are part of the council. Things are already going to be bad when I return to Red Fang. Really bad. He’s already promised me that.” 

My voice is barely above a whisper as I speak. Jamie is staring at me as I finish as I haven’t told him about the torment I endured last night. 

“When were you told this?” 

“I didn’t get much sleep last night.” 

“What else did he tell you last night?” 

“No, alpha. I can’t.” 

“Yes you can, Cole. Angela has vouched for them. She spent her first five years in the council in the New England South-central Headquarters. Andrew and Michael were there with her and together they made a lot of changes towards the humane treatment of all wolves, not just the omega ranks. They want to help you just like we do. They will not hurt you while you are at White Ridge and they will not allow you to be alone with Alpha Whiteman. They have promised us that. Angela told me about the old Alpha Whiteman but the purpose of this meeting was to allow the three of us, you, me and Jamie to understand who Alpha Whiteman is now and what the expectations are so that you are as comfortable as possible until we know if you can come back to me.” 

“I want to trust you alpha.” 

My voice quivers as I fight the sobs that threaten to break through. 

“I know you do. My fear is that he’s already chipping away at what little trust you have in me. That’s why I need to know what he’s told you.” 

“He knows I’m planning something, he just doesn’t know what. He knows that Jessa is my mate. He named her directly. He knew while she was there that she was my mate. That was the year he made certain to convince me that I was too weak to be awarded a luna by the moon goddess. Convincing me that I would never get one made it easier to keep her away from me. It made it easier for him to abuse her.” 

I can’t hold back my tears as I let out what he made certain I understood. 

“Did he give you details?” 

“No sir. He refused to tell me what he did to her.” 

“Does he know you met her?” 

“I don’t know. The way he spoke made it sound like he was teasing me with it. That he knew I had a mate in the world that I would never meet but I can’t be certain.” 

“Do you know if he’s capable of stealth linking?” 

“Stealth, sir?” 

“It takes a lot of practice to do but Damian knows that I can listen in on conversations that he has when he’s linked with others in the pack. My understanding is that stealth can only be done when one of the wolves participating in the link gives permission for the extra link to happen but I have managed to do it with Damian accidentally and he’s never known it.” 

“I’ve never heard of such a link. I’ve heard of the head alpha being able to do a broadcast link to all pack members but that’s about the closest thing to what you’re describing. Could that be part of being an intuitive?” 

I startle hard at the sound of Alpha Andrew’s voice. It takes a moment for me to finally let my breath out. 

“Try to make yourself comfortable.” 

I manage to cough instead of yelp in response to Beta Michael’s hand on my shoulder. 

“May I see the phone? I’d like to set the Bluetooth speaker so we can all hear him a little easier.” I nod as I hand him the phone back. 

“I never thought of it as a special ability, Mike. I suppose it may be unique.” 

“I hope it is.” Jamie chimes in.

 He’s been so quiet that I had nearly forgotten that he was sitting there. 

“Can you hear me, Demetri?” Alpha Andrew asks as he puts the phone on the table. 

“Yes sir.” 

I whine hard and instinctively cover my ears not expecting the phone to suddenly become so loud. 

“I’m going to turn the volume down. It appears to be too loud for Cole.” 

I watch as he presses a button several times on a short but wide pyramid located in the middle of the table. 

“Can you speak again so I can hear where the volume is at?” 

“Sure, is this any better?” 

I slowly let go of my ears, wanting to trust this new but unfamiliar technology that I’m being introduced to. 

“Is this better for you Cole?” I hear alpha address me directly. 

“Yes sir, thank you.” 

My voice is back to being meek. I finally sit back on the couch with Jamie, placing my head in my hands.

“Are you okay, Cole?” Alpha Andrew’s voice is quiet but close. 

I stifle my yelp when I look up, startled by him crouching down so close to me. I simply nod my head and wait for him to return back to his seat on the other side of the coffee table. 

“Do you believe that your father is capable of linking with you without you knowing it?” Alpha asks again. 

“No sir. All connections with the link hurt me now. I can feel him before he says anything to me.” 

He sighs loudly, letting me know that he doesn’t like my answer. 

“Who in your pack do you have a link with?” Beta Michael is getting curious. 

“For a while everyone in my family could connect with me as well as the reverse but everyone stopped by the time I shifted. Dad figured out how to force a link with me two years later but no one else has bothered to try. I can link with Jamie and Jon but it causes me a lot of pain to communicate that way.” 

“Does it hurt you all the time?” 

I can’t help but sigh as I wasn’t prepared to get so deep into something that is normally quite simple. 

“Yes alpha. I can handle the pain when I’m not dealing with a concussion on top of it but yes, it always hurts.” 

“I can tell that talking about this so unexpectedly is creating a lot of anxiety so I’d like to ask one more question before Andy starts talking about the pack, how he came to be there and how he would like to help you get away from Red Fang.” 

“Yes sir.” 

“Has it always hurt you to link?” He asks me quite gingerly. 

“No sir, the link didn’t physically hurt when I used it with my siblings.” 

“What about your father or mother?” 

“I thought the previous question was your last one.” I carelessly remark. 

“Yes I did.” 

His voice is soft but almost joyful with my remark which I find relaxing despite the subject that we’re on.