Page 18 of Tamed Wolf

“I’ve made connections in here and I can get help. So try taking my kid away from me while simultaneously acting like you have no vested interest in his wellbeing and you bet your ass, I’ll take it to the alpha and get your ass in a tribunal. Pack law might say they belong with the fathers, but I’m sure there’s also a clause in there about the child’s wellbeing.

“You want to work through this situation as a fucking adult, then let’s do that. You have already clearly demonstrated that you have no idea what sort of language is appropriate for a child. You want anything to do with him, you will clean up your fucking act.

“You will in no way degrade me in front of him, keep that toxic shit private. You will not proposition me in front of him, but I can make your life real fucking easy and real fucking nice if you give me these basic things. All I ask is that I stay in his life.”

Ivan surges forward, grabbing me and pulling my mouth to his like he thought that was a damn proposal and invitation for fucking around, but I knee him right in the balls to stop that notion in its tracks. “I have no desire to touch either of you intimately as long as you’re touching other women; if you want my body on the table, that’s the rule. I don’t want to sleep with you, but I literally will do anything for my kid.

“I know that’s a lot of fucking power to hand to a couple of assholes who don’t give a shit about me, but Camden is theonlydamn thing I care about.”

Trevor eyes me up and down, thinking, which must be excruciating for him, before he finally nods. “You’ll do whatever we ask?”

“As long as it doesn’t endanger me or Camden. And you have to be a respectable father. You cannot parade women in front of him. He is eight years old and he’s far too young to learn how to disrespect women.”

“Fucking burn!” Ivan whoops, far too happy right now.

“And you,” I say, averting my eyes onto Ivan, “shut the fuck up. Don’t kiss me unless…actually, just don’t kiss me. I don’t know where your fucking mouth has been. I don’t do sloppy seconds, and I don’t want whatever incurable diseases are likely covering your dicks from how often you dip them into your employees and goddess knows who else without wrapping them. If any wolf could figure out how to contract an STI when it’s supposed to be biologically impossible, it’d be you two through sheer dumb determination.”

I storm off and head towards the door, typing in my access code to get inside.

“Wait! We still want the kid!”

I flip them off over my shoulder.

“Fine, wait. We’ll… fine.” Trevor catches up to me, followed by Ivan, and they’re looking inside the halls of our home, the one they condemned us to, with the purest form of distaste I might have ever seen.

“Still smells like gravy, and it’s…gross. I think I know why you said you’ll do anything to get out of here.”

I correct Trevor and his stupid mouth immediately. “This building has nothing to do with me wanting to get away. In fact, I’m not getting away from here, not permanently. I need my room here because I know there are going to be times when you don’t want me anywhere near you, or when you make me so batshit crazy that I’ll need somewhere safe to be. I need somewhere I can take Camden if I feel like you’re not holding your end of the bargain and we’re in danger. I don’t trust you two fucks as far as I can throw you, so we’re keeping the safety net. And you sure have a lot of shit to say for a place you’ve lauded as being so highly optimum in the past. Fuck right off. This place kept me alive and fed when neither of you could be bothered.”

I feel their eyes on me the entire length of the halls, and it’s empowering to know that they see me as a woman finally, even if it comes at a point in time where it’s laughably unreturned and purchased with a cost so high it nearly broke me dozens of times.

They might think they’re controlling me and Camden, but they’re still wolves and wolves are ruled by their basest of instincts. Even if they’ve smothered the shit out of their wolves to reject me and fuck other women the way they have, I know I can find ways to get their wolves to take over and piss them off.

“We’re stopping at the matron’s office before we do shit. We are her wards until papers are signed. She also has legal status to create agreements that will be held up in any sort of legal battle, so I need her apprised of the situation so that when you two fucks break your end of the agreement, I have ground to stand on.”

“That’s twice now,” Ivan rambles, “you’ve called us that. Is that the best endearment you can think of to call us? Surely if we have to be civil, you do as well.”

That makes me smile, something that’s usually as foreign to my face as health is to theirs. “I’m sure I can come up with plenty more names, many times better than ‘two fucks’, just give me a bit of time. I’ll absolutely be civil to you in front of Camden but only if you can reciprocate. In case you’re confused, that word means you have to be civil to me if you want to see that action returned.”

“I know what reciprocate means,” Ivan grumbles.

Matron is busy with someone else when I arrive, so I take a seat in the chairs in front of the office where she’ll see someone is waiting, relaxing for a moment because I’ve learned to take things one step at a time. I know right now at this moment that Camden is safe and in familiar surroundings, and if he needs anything until I get back, there are neighbors he is comfortable approaching. We all have to help each other out here.

When it’s finally our turn, I’ve returned somewhat to my inner peace I always try to use as a baseline, throwing mental darts at the faces of the assholes beside me.

“Hey Lark, come on in. Let me get my notary seal, I have a feeling I’ll be needing it for this conversation.”

“These two upstanding citizens would like to request custody of our son. In exchange for me not fighting them on it, they offered me a bed to sleep in at their home. The agreement is I get to stay in Camden’s life if I carry out the domestic duties they’ve requested of me. Don’t need to be specifically outlined. I just want it noted that they are required to treat me with respect in front of our son, and that sexual favors will not be happening as long as they continue to fuck the women they’re so fond of taking advantage of. I would like to require a minimum two-month pussy sobriety before any sort of negotiations happen on mine.”

Ivan is choking, but I’ve got this.

Matron takes this all in stride, because the deals us shelter girls learn to spin when our entire livelihoods are on the line get pretty wild. “Okay, I can do that. Gentlemen, is there anything you’d like to add to the contract?”

She looks up at them, eyes full of condemnation, and I fucking love her for it.

“When the boy turns 16, the extra stipulations are void. I’m only dealing with her bullshit as long as I absolutely have to and that’s the age wolves are considered adults in our community.”

“Fair enough,” she mumbles as she types everything up.

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