Page 41 of The Wolf's Bullied Mate
A part of me really wanted to tell Oliver about the years of abuse I had suffered from my parents and my former pack.
The other part of me, who had always been told she was weak and insignificant, worried Oliver would think less of me if he found out how miserably I had lived all these years. So far, I had put up a strong front for him, a mother who had suffered through bullying in high school but somehow remained a functional adult.
Except most days, I didn’t feel like a functional adult at all. Most days, I was barely holding myself together. I acted like a strong mother, but only so Ray wouldn’t see what kind of mess I was inside.
Whenever Oliver looked at me with desire in his eyes, though, I wanted to let go of the act and just be the real me, broken into pieces by life. I wanted to gather the shards of me together with him and make myself into a healthy person again. Years of suffering had left me jaded, but when I looked into Oliver’s eyes, I wanted to be the Pauline I had been before the bullying. I wanted to go back to the simpler times of high school. Or, if that dream weren’t possible, I wanted to find a way to heal enough for us to move forward together.
Why was I relying so much on Oliver? Why did I long so much for him to help me put myself together, a task I hadn’t been able to accomplish all these years on my own? What made this one man so special that he somehow gave me the one commodity I’d had so little of in my life?
Hope.
Oliver breathed hope into my life, and I wanted to hold on to the hand he had extended to me. At the same time, though, I was afraid that he would pull me to him and let me float in bliss,only to take his hand away again to let me crash back down into misery.
I wouldn’t be able to survive him, leaving me with a broken heart.
Was I developing serious feelings for Oliver? Was it already too late to stop myself from wanting him?
One evening, when I was walking home with Ray after picking him up from kindergarten, I saw Oliver from a distance. There were three young men with him, teenagers, barely out of high school. One of them had bruises on his face, while the others stood with their heads hanging low.
“What have I told you about the anti-bullying policy,” Oliver said in his alpha tone. “The pack has strict laws telling you you’re not supposed to call anybody weaker than you. You’re not to beat anybody up. Is that understood?”
“Y-Yes, sir,” the two teenagers, without bruises, saluted.
“Will I see you bullying anybody again?” Oliver glared at them.
“N-No, sir,” they said in unison.
“I don’t have to remind you that if you’re caught bullying again, you will be expelled from the pack by law. You will become rogues, and no other pack will want to take you in,” Oliver said. “Now go home. I don’t want to witness anything so ugly ever again.”
The two bullies ran off. The bullied kid remained. He looked at Oliver with gratitude in his eyes.
“Thank you, sir,” he said.
“If you’re ever bullied again, please don’t hesitate to let me know,” Oliver said in a much gentler tone.
The teenager nodded.
“Oliver is a hero!” Ray chose this moment to call out.
Oliver turned around, surprise in his eyes. He had not realized we had been watching him.
Ray and I approached him, and the bullied kid excused himself and ran off.
“Is it true? Does the law in this pack really say the punishment for bullying is expulsion?” I gave him a surprised look.
“Yes, it’s true,” Oliver nodded. “I suggested the law. I really wanted to discourage such unkind actions from happening in Moondust Hollow,” he sighed. “Funny, isn’t it? Considering what I did to you?”
I shook my head. “You’re protecting as many people as you can.”
He gave me a warm look. “I’m trying my best.”
“Oliver is a hero!” Ray exclaimed again and hugged Oliver’s leg.
Oliver chuckled and lifted Ray in the air. He put him on his shoulders, and we headed home together.
As I walked alongside Oliver, I looked at him with renewed respect. He had changed a lot since his high school years. He had become much more protective and had grown into a good man, a real beta of a pack.
Being a beta in Moondust Hollow meant something entirely from what it meant in Lone Bite. Oliver was a protector of everyone who suffered. People came to him with his problems. They weren’t afraid of telling him about their troubles. He fixed that pain for them, just like he fixed the old radios in his garage.
