Page 28 of Bait Wolf
“Do you not have any other family?” I asked gently.
“None that I know of,” Coal said. “My mom was killed in an accident years ago, when I was ten.”
He swallowed, gaze dropping to the carpet as the memories came and a wave of sadness rolled off him. I held him tightly and waited until he went on.
“My dad was a bit of a degenerate after that, to be honest. Gambling, drinking, drugs, you name it. For his ruts, he would get with street omegas around town… One of them had Asha. She didn’t want her. Dropped her on our doorstep when she was born. Of course, my dad didn’t want her either, but I did… as soon as I saw her, I knew she was my baby.”
He chuckled.
“Good thing I took that attitude from the start too, because a couple months later, Dad vanished. Haven’t seen him since.”
I grimaced.
“You don’t think he’s…”
“He might be. His gambling was out of hand. He owed a lot of people. Dead or alive, it doesn’t really matter, does it? He stopped being a father a long time ago. That’s why my boys are so important to me. My team of fighters are closer than any family I’ve had.”
I didn’t know what to say. I felt for this man. I hadn’t expected someone living in a house like this to have a past just as dark and unstable as mine had been.
The sudden urge to shareeverythingwith this person was overwhelming. But we would have time for that later. Right now, for Asha, time was limited, and I now wanted the little girl to be found and brought home more than anything.
I took a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and pushed Coal back from our embrace.
“Go,” I said. “Get her back.”
Coal nodded, appreciation in his eyes.
“I won’t be long. A couple hours. Will you be here when I get home?”
I nodded, taken aback for a moment. Coal didn’t notice though, just swept forward, brushed a kiss to my lips, and left.
I stood there in the big empty house reflecting on everything that had happened in wonder.
I’d found the person I was meant to be with, and he didn’t treat me at all like I’d thought he would.
I’d thought I would be controlled. I’d thought he would act as the caged animal he had been in that fight ring. I’d thought I would have no freedom at all.
Still not believing it, I went to the front and back doors, checking if they were locked from the outside.
They both opened.
Coal really trusted me. More than that; he’d given me my freedomandhis affection.
Maybe this could really work.
ChapterTwelve
Coal
“You normal again?” Everest asked the second I stepped out of my car.
I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t have time for your bullshit,” I said. “Let’s just get this meeting done.”
Everest gave me a long look and then laughed.
“Damn, I thought you’d be nicer after you got your mark in the little thing. Youdidfuck him, right?”
