Chapter 65

I’m intrigued by his honesty about Cole and I desire more information but the young man seems hesitant to divulge too much about his friend .

“ Nothing you tell me will change how I treat Cole. What are these tics you’re talking about? I have noticed that he has a liking for rhythmic moverents when he’s stressed but he hasn’t been active enough for me to see anything else . ”

“I don’t know what triggers it and we only saw it once during the eighteen months he lived with us but…… He came back from one of his monthly visits with his dad in really bad shape. The worst we had seen over the six months he had been there at the time. Dad pushed him to tell him what happened but instead of talking he got angry. Dad kept pushing until he put his fist through the wall. He ran away from us. Stayed away for several hours, he didn’t be back untilte that night. When he came back both his hands were in bad shape. Red, swollen and bleeding. He had a bad cut to his forehead, simr to the one you’re fixing on me and the back of his head was busted open too. When dad asked what happened all he was willing to say was that the cave wall won . Dad never pushed for answers again.”

“Self injury?”

“We guessed as much but dad decided that pushing for answers did more harm so he didn’t . ”

“Did your dad take him to the hospital?”

“No. Cole refused to go. Mom’s a nurse and dad has training as a medic so they used those skills to patch him up at home. Dad cut his hair really short so he could glue the cuts together. It hurt him a lot but somehow he never screamed. Mom cleaned his hands but couldn’t do much for the broken bones. We all know that he doesn’t heal like the rest of us so she was quite lost. Dad refused to let him work for two weeks and gave him light stuff for two weeks after that. We never saw anything like it afterwards. Dad simply took care of whatever condition Cole returned in after his mandatory visits with his dad.”

“Why did your dad let him go?”

“Cole was only eighteen so not considered 100 percent adult yet. It took my dad six months to convince Alpha Redmen to allow Cole to have a real apprenticeship, where he moves in with his teacher, so he was willing to agree to just about anything as long as he could get Cole out of the pack house . ”

“Sounds like your dad may have known more about Cole’s issues with his dad then most of the wolves in the pack.”

“More along the line of having a willingness to listen and believe Cole over his father. There were several times while Cole had just started working with dad when he showed upte. He became extremely submissive when my dad chastised him. Dad said he’s never seen an alpha so submissive . Said Cole refused to look at him, even after he calmed down. He was rmed when Cole stepped away from him when he tried to approach him. That he dropped to his knees in hard submission when he tried touching him. He was so afraid of my dad that his entire body shook and he struggled to breathe properly. It was after the third time Cole reacted that way that dad decided Cole needed toe live with us. It took six months but he made it happen. Unfortunately he couldn’t fully protect him but it did give us some insight as to who Cole really is.”

“When he’s not sick or afraid, who is Cole?”

“He’s very kind and considerate. He loves working in the nursery. He calls the pups the littles. That’s how we got to see the best of him, alpha. When he yed with my little sisters and brother. He would sit on the floor with them and justugh. There was no fear , no hesitation. He was able to push aside everything negative about his life and just live in the moment with them. It took awhile for mom and dad to see past the pedophile rumor.