Wounded Shifter

6. Long Awaited Meeting

Denis Wilder was a simple boy that wanted simple things, if his mother being a decent person was a simple desire that was. He knew that there would be a cold day in hell before she even looked at him the way a mother is supposed to look at her children. He didn’t know what his father was like. Everything his mother tried to beat into him usually was a lie so he would be a decent person, right? He's not going to be forced to stay with his mother, right? From what he gathered his mother is nothing like Ms. Grant.

The boy was standing outside of his father's hospital room after being brought by Uncle Issac so he could gather more damning information on his mother. And so Denis could finally meet his father.

Would the man hate him? His existence is the reason that Mr. Ross was exploited to begin with. He'd understand if that were the case. Ms. Hale had explained that being made to be in close quarters with him before he had a chance to heal and maybe even after that could make Mr. Ross feel bad again. Like how the smell of cigarettes made him flinch but worse. His ears perked up at the sound of Uncle Isaac wrapping up their talk.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Ross."

"Ezra, please." A pause. "Is there another cat outside?"

"I brought Denis with me so you too could commiserate. That and Ajax wanted a moment alone with his mother to see how she's feeling about all of this and that woman hasn't even bothered to look for Denis."

"Is he okay?"

"If you're asking if he's been abused I don't know the full extent past what he's been willing to share and conjectures Ajax provided from what he noticed at school." A pause. "You look like you want to meet him."

"To be frank, I'm scared of what I might do if we do meet."

"Look at it this way, if being responsible for his well-being feels like too much for you, and if Sam and David agree, I could adopt him. And you can get to know him in the capacity of an uncle."

"It's not that, Isaac. What if my bear doesn't appreciate his presence and lashes out at him?"

Denis has played through that scenario many times since he was invited to Amalie's party. He either winds up greiviously injured or very dead. Both of which he'd be okay with, he deserves it.

"The fact you're asking that means you won't."

The seconds between Uncle Isaac's last word and Mr. Ross's answer seems to stretch on forever to the boy who was now nervously picking at his nails.

"I'll meet him."

"Denis, you can come in."

So he did.

The moment he stepped into the room his nose was asulted with the smell of bear, like the houses at the Ross Ranch smelled. It was comforting despite his inner cougar screaming to run away from the bigger man, who wasn't all that big at the moment.

"If you want I can stay." Uncle Isaac said, probably more to Mr. Ross than to Denis.

"I'm fine, Denis, are you comfortable talking with me alone?" Denis almost felt himself crumble into a lulled sense if security.

"Don't wander too far, I don't like hospitals too much." Denis made a face that made Isaac chuckle and ruffle the boy's hair.

"I'll be just outside the door, don't worry." And with that the lion shifter left.

"I'm sorry I've been absent in your life. I- I don't have much of an excuse for it." The older man has a tone of something in his voice that Denis never heard before, his cougar calmed down and batted at the thought in his mind that maybe this was what remorse sounded like.

"I grew up with her, I know how she manipulates you to do what she wants. I get it. You don't need to apologize Mr. Ross." Denis kept his eyes on the blanket on the bed the man was in as he spoke. "She probably thought you'd try and relieve her of a cash cow had we met."

"Did she..." The man trailed off sounding like he didn't know how to word it.

"Once, a bison shifter with a liking for camels when I was five. I stayed away during her business hours after that." Why was he telling this man with a mountain of problems of his own to deal with.

"Oh buddy," There was that tone of remorse again.

"Don't, just-" Denis closed his eyes and sighed. "You've got your own issues to deal with don’t worry about mine."

"Your cougar probably felt grossed out for what felt like forever." Ezra said sagely. "You shouldn't have been in that situation to begin with."

"You neither." Denis finally let the eyes of the man who was his father, he took a moment to soak in the features that he shared with the man so he'd know how he shaped up differently should things go bad.

"Touché, so what do kids your age like to do for fun around here?" There were crinkles at the corner of his eyes that almost hid the pain in them from the boy.

"Most kids take justice into their own hands and try to get even for Ajax, so I wouldn't know." He paused then shook his head. "I was wrong I know, Jax and Odie showed me the joys of lego."

From there Denis began explaining the set he had been putting together with his brother and cousin in detail.

~~~~~

Ajax Ross is a simple boy with a simple desire. Never see his mother hurt like that ever again. So he sat across from his mother with a cup of coffee off to his side cooling, his elbows on the table so his hands could cradle his chin as he eyed the woman.

"Are you sure you want him back?" He had asked not too long ago and the pair had since been falling into a silence while she thought over her answer.

"He was drugged."

And like that everything crumbled. His father wasn't a cheating ass like he had thought. He swore he heard an error tone.

"Well shit."

"I'll let that one slide." Her stern tone made him wince.

"Sorry."

"Neither of us expects you to be immediately okay with a change like this. And he's not moving back in immediately. He's staying with David until he feels ready, until we all feel ready." Her tone had shifted, like she did as she took one if his hand in hers comfortingly. "We all are also going to be attending family counseling, there's a lot we all have to unpack."

"Amalie probably won't."

"You'd be surprised at the hoops kids are willing to jump through to be accepted by the family unit." She squeezed his hand be fore letting go and sitting back and giving him a smirk. "So who is this Kate you were going on about before I came in here?"

Instead of giving an answer, the teen downed his coffee and grumbled something about polishing saddles and escaping the situation by hightailing it to the stables.