Unrejected Mates (Black Moon Book Two)

Chapter 24: "Trust"

Rob POV

Eighty-five lashes, that was my punishment. Forty for attacking other warriors when brawls are strictly forbidden, and forty-five for ignoring Gamma's order.

True, I ignored him completely. Before somebody entered the changing room to stop it, half of them were already on the floor. But still, it was one against eight, so they managed to put some damage on me as well. Patrick, the Gamma, came incredibly angry because we, or mostly I, couldn't stop throwing punches at each other. 

I recall telling him to fuck off.

Gamma is a man of his world. Like Hank or Mikkeli, he doesn't take breaking the rules lightly, so he personally whipped me in front of the packhouse, with many people looking, and made a speech about how lack of discipline wouldn't be tolerated sent all of us involved to the infirmary.

Roseanne keeps snorting while cleaning my wounds; Dalton, who is standing in the corner, also seems pissed off. They both send me "care to explain" looks.

"Good that Patrick didn't gather the whole pack to watch this, good that mum didn't have to watch this," she hisses, pressing the cotton pad more into my wounds. "Stop wriggling; you've deserved it. I will go now to talk with Patrick; you will need to stay in bed for at least a week; you better make up your mind to talk with me before I'm back."

She closes the door with a strong bang, and Dalton keeps giving me the look.

"I've told you once that I knew that something bothered you. Rob, I see how tense you are all the time. What's going on?"

At first, I want to ignore his question, but I'm tired. I'm tired of boiling everything inside.

"I fucked up things between my mate and me; I guess I had to find a way to blow out my steam, and they just were there."

Dalton looks at me with pity and pats my arm in a comforting way.

"You young ones are so clueless when we talk about relationships. Rob, try talking; if your mate doesn't want to talk with you, try again. But if you ever do something like today again, I'll personally make sure you won't be able to sit for days."

The door gets open, and Kyle enters with his son in his arms. Mikkeli went back to the main territory, but Kyle refused to separate from his son again, so Dalton removed him from the main search routes for now.

"I have to call the Alpha, Kyle; stay with Rob; it's better if he is not alone."

After he leaves, the silence is awkward. Finally, Kyle sighs, puts Carson away, and starts caring for my wounds.

"Dalton midnlinked me and asked me to come, don't flatter yourself," he says in a harsh tone, but his touch on my wounds is gentle and full of care. Blake purrs in the enjoyment that our mate is so close to us.

"You don't think about the return to the main territory?" I ask.

"I may not take part in searching now, but I don't know when I'll be needed again. Plus, it's getting colder. There will be snow quite soon."

"Skyler doesn't like snow?" I ask.

"I don't like snow. When I was younger, Alpha liked to punish Mikkeli for something by making him stay unshifted in the snow at the night. Plus, some years, he allowed omegas to have heating in rooms and some not. My mum used to shift and wrapped herself around me to keep us warm."

"Your father..." I start, but Kyle doesn't let me finish:

"He wasn't my father; he was my mother's tormentor and a shitty Alpha. I got it easy because he never spared me a single glance except..."