Bound to the Billionaire

Chapter Nine: The Freak and His Crisis

My pack hadn't always been s**t. As hard as it is to believe, The Redemption pack had once been more than six people holding on to an old way of life that would never come back. Before, the Redemption Pack had been just as big and feared as the rest of them. Hell, almost as big as Nico's. That isn't to say we were respected. We weren't respected at all.

Most of our members had once been rogues. Many of them had turned their backs on their old roles, the old rules. Omegas were alphas, hybrids were welcomed. And most of the other city packs left us, the freaks, alone. Said the Moon Goddess would get her revenge on us for destroying her perfect order.

Some say say she already has. 

Nico must've known that when he first met me. I wasn't well-versed in the history of his pack, but ours was a little different, a little...famous. 

The freak pack. 

Well, the freak pack didn't have a healer. I was the healer, because who else would take on that responsibility? Jenna? Cole? Either I'd watch my pack-mates suffer, or fix them. Little bleeding heart I had, I was bandaging and cleaning wounds after every scrape and scuffle my i***t pack-mates got themselves into. 

So it wasn't out of the usual for me to be swabbing bite wounds with antiseptic and wrapping them with cut shirts.  I'd propped Nico up on the bed, tossed him a pair of joggers. He didn't seem that different, hardly seemed to register he was hurt. His ear was the worst of it. The other wolf had nearly taken it off. As werewolves, we could heal from injuries that would kill most humans, and we could do it pretty quickly, too. 

But his ear was still sliced half way through. Even so, Nico didn't even grit his teeth or flinch when I swabbed and wrapped it. He just looked at me with those same black eyes, they looked so soft in his beautiful face. I wanted him to pull me into his welcoming chest, wanted him to wrap me tight in those muscular arms. Was he angry? Was he insulted? I couldn't tell. He just watched me like I was something boring on tv, his face expressionless.

"Well," I swallowed tightly. "What the hell was that? What's going on? Who was that wolf? What did he want?"

"Must've followed me. Micah texted me back, said the pack house is safe. They haven't had an attack today. Micah sent a diplomat to their pack house with a small security party." His face hardened for a second. "Your pack might be in danger. That wolf has to know you're from the Redemption pack."

"Oh," I said, my hands trembling as I backed away from Nico's hurt ear. It was arguable whether I had self control; I hardly shifted when my wolf wanted, but I pounced on any pretty man who would have me, so the jury was still out on that one. "You mean because I'm a freak? So he has to know I'm from the Freak Pack, huh?"

"Easy, easy." Nico raised his hands, his brow furrowing. "There's nothing wrong with your wolf. You're just—"

"A hybrid." It felt so weird to say. My parents weren't mated together; f*****g hell, they were a different species entirely. My father, a timberwolf. My mother, a maned wolf, died when she had me. The Moon Goddess didn't want me to exist. The Moon Goddess had been cruel to even give me a mate, when I wasn't a part of her design in the first place. When I could only hurt Nico, Her perfect alpha. 

Your wolf is probably sick, my dad had said to me when I was little. I was eight. I'd been curled up in a ball under the sink because when I tried to shift like Jenna had, my wolf snarled at me. Snarled at me from deep in my chest. I'd been crying, because it's one thing when the monster is under your bed, but its another thing when the monster is caught under your ribs, wound to your very soul. You're going to be a great alpha, but you need to shift as little as you can. It's not your fault, he'd said, the crinkles around the edges of his eyes turning sad again for the first time in years. It's my fault. 

"There's nothing wrong with that," Nico said, looking out into the window.

"You never thought you'd be mates with a hybrid, did you?"

"Well, no, but—" 

"Never thought the Moon Goddess would punish you like this, huh?"

"Dimitri, you're not a punishme—"

"Yes, I am! I was born, Mom died. The pack fell apart. We f****d with the Moon Goddess and her dumb, stupid plans, and I'm here now, I'm a curse, I'm—"

"Christ, man! Will you let me get a word in or am I gonna have to gag you again, huh?" Nico had never sounded like that before. He'd always been commanding, always seemed in control, but never threatening, never angry. His eyes flashed  and I flinched a little. And then that smirk swept across his features again, all the calm returned, like that anger had been an act. "And to think, all I have to do is threaten to gag you. You're blushing." 

He was right. I touched my cheeks and the heat traveled into my fingertips. "Whatever," I muttered. 

Nico stood up. Shirtless, glistening with the sponge water I'd used to take some of the blood off of his skin, he looked gorgeous. As always. What a predictable man. He flinched a little as he placed his feet on the floor. I turned toward the window so I wouldn't have to look at him and feel bad for him. I didn't want to feel anything for him at all if I could help it.  "We can talk about you being a hybrid later. And for what its worth, your wolf is beautiful, Dimitri. Just like I told you I knew he would be." 

The blush deepened on my face. I felt my wolf sigh softly into my stern, the first time I felt him content. "You're lying,"  I said. I'd looked in mirrors and puddles on the forest floor. I'd seen those long bony legs and the unruly orange fur wobbling back at me. 

"I am not. Do you have your phone with you?"

"N-no." I'd lost it when my own pack went ape-s**t in my bakery. Too much was happening, too quickly. My mate, my pack, the attack. Moon Goddess, I'm sorry! What do you want from me? 

"Do you know any of their numbers?"

"You're kidding, I've been trying to forget them." 

"Then get in the car, we've gotta warn your pack."