Page 17 of Tamed Wolf

Camden cuddles against my back, gripping onto my sweater. “Can we go inside now, mom? I’m done playing.”

I start backing up, hoping they’ll just leave, but I’m unsurprised it doesn’t work. I’ve ignored every visiting attempt they’ve made, shredded every letter that’s been sent, returned everything they’ve tried to give me. I want absolutely nothing to do with them.

“Time to pack up your stuff kid, you get to come live in a real house now, instead of this dump heap. Wait ‘til you use the bed we hooked you up with. You’re going to love the big ass tv in the room as well.”

“No thank you.”

“Let’s see you then,” Ivan says, staying true to character and being the less abrasive of the two.

“Can’t you see he’s uncomfortable? He wants to stay with me.”

“You know that’s not possible,” Ivan says with something that’s suspiciously parallel to regret.

I can feel Camden’s fingers turning to claws, shredding my shirt because he’s fucking terrified. These two in front of us give off nothing but slimy, menacing vibes, and Camden has such little interaction with men at the shelter. Sure, he sees some at school and we interact with them when we need to go in public for something, but there’s been none in our lives the entirety of our time here at the shelter.

My heart is compressed so tightly it’s fit to explode, and I’m racing through a million different scenarios in my mind, looking for any possible obstacle that might prevent this atrocity from coming to fruition.

“What if we start doing more visits? If you want to get to know him, we could have some outings, maybe? He doesn’t know anything about you.”

Trevor snarls and steps closer to me, nicotine-tinged breath far too close to my face. “And who’s fault is that, bitch? You gonna raise my kid and not tell him about me? Huh? You think that was fucking smart?”

“Please don’t talk to my mom like that. She’s too good of a person. Maybe we should go get the matron and ask for help; she’s really good at fixing problems. We c-could maybe get a soda from the vending machines? I think we still have a few quarters left in our room.”

Hearing my kid beg guts me, and I have to throw in my offer as well. “P-please. I’ll do anything.”

“Absolutely not, Trevor,” Ivan growls as he grabs the back of his packmate’s neck when he opens his mouth to offer me something. “I don’t care how good of an idea you think it is; she’s not doing that shit. I don’t want her anywhere near there. Don’t want anybody looking at her like that.”

My thoughts are racing again, trying to figure out what they’re discussing right in front of me. Trevor doesn’t make me wait long. “You know it’s the best solution. You either want her or you don’t. Since you haven’t rescued her from here like a fucking knight in tarnished armor, I’m going to assume she thinks she’s too good for us now. You know what no woman anywhere is too good for? Making money. I bet you she’d do it in a heartbeat if it meant being around the boy.”

All these years, I hardly ever hear from my wolf because of the rejection. A lot of wolves just die off after their human gets rejected, but because I was fully claimed before being rejected, mine is a bit stronger. She’s weak now and likely always will be, but she’s there when I really need her.

Like now.

I don’t have the strength to go through with whatever half-cocked plan they’ve come up with, and I’m sure this is all a trap, but I wasn’t lying when I said I’d do anything to stay with my child. So, I use the strength of my wolf to hold my shoulders back and keep my voice steady.

“Just tell me, please. You can’t separate us.”

“You’d have to live with us part time,” Trevor says, laying the trap.

Not what I was expecting, but even that isn’t a deal breaker. “Okay. What else?”

“Seriously?” Ivan asks, intrigued.

“Yes. I told you, anything for him. Do I at least get my own room? Or I can share with him. In fact, I prefer it. We’ve been sharing all this time, and I don’t know if I could sleep elsewhere.”

“Don’t really give a fuck where you sleep as long as you take care of the meals and laundry and all that shit you used to do. You also don’t get to comment a damn thing on who comes in and out of that house.”

I know he’s referring to women, but I could even listen to them fuck somebody else if it meant staying with Camden. I will become a fucking maid if it keeps me with him. “Fine. What else?”

“You’re really fucking motivated, aren’t you? Are other things on the table?” Trevor wags his eyebrows, telling me exactly what he means.

“There’s a fucking kid, right fucking there, ass wipe. We’re not going to talk about sex in front of him. Especially sex with his hot mom.” Maybe I should appreciate the sentiment that Ivan is going for, but it falls so far below the bar that all I can do is stave off the tension headache trying to form between my eyes.

I start nudging Camden towards the building, but he’s not at all interested in leaving me here alone. “Just plug your ears, baby. Pretend we’re on the bus and there’s a stranger trying to talk to you. We’re going to get this figured out, okay? I don’t want you to worry about me. Why don’t you head inside and read a few chapters of your book? I’m going to talk to them, and I’ll be there soon.”

“He can’t—"

I glare at Trevor and take a step towards him, blocking him from chasing after Camden, completely over him ruining my life. “You just showed up out of nowhere with the intention of completely disrupting our lives. He doesn’t deserve that. If you want to be involved with him, this is something you must do. You must consider him above everything else. If you don’t show us the most basic of courtesies in this manner, I will fight you fucking tooth and nail every step of the damn way. I may be a nothing rejected wolf, but you haven’t taken my voice.

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