The Wolf Of The Moon & Sun

Desperation (51)

RYAN POV
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I was scared.

Well, I was always scared of everything, but never of the alpha house—my home.

Leo was no longer only screaming, he was hitting. The only ones safe from this abuse were Daniel, Riley and Lonni.

I hadn't gotten hit; I knew when to stop speaking. Noah and Alec, however, they got abused without fail every single time.

It sickened me. Noah would come to our room at night with a black eye. He'd be so upset that he'd just climb in bed and cling onto me. No words would be spoken, but I could feel him shake.

I don't know if he was shaking from fear or anger, either way it wasn't good.

One night I could hear the muffled screaming. I remained in bed, scared to leave the room. Noah was the loudest. I wasn't sure what they were fighting about but there was a thud then silence. It remained silent for a while.

Then there was Alec's muffled voice. Alec was always the scariest when he yelled because normally—when he was angry—all he did was glare.

Noah came into our room. He sat on his bed, his hands scrunching up his hair. He squeezed so tight I thought he'd rip his hair out. I didn't speak, I couldn't.

He wasn't crying, but I think he wanted to. Noah was never a crier.

He took a deep breath in before he climbed into bed with me. He hid his face in my shoulder and held onto me tightly.

"How do we fix this?" Noah asked with a quiet voice.

I didn't answer.

"What if we ran away, too?" Noah asked but I knew he didn't really mean it.

"We can't." I turned to look at him. Our eyes met and my heart sunk. His black eye returned, and his cheek was red.

"But what if he hurts you next?" Noah asked. The fear in his voice made my heart ache.

"He won't," I reassured.

"He has before," Noah said quickly. He was referring to the cabin.

It had been such a useless punishment; they didn't even find out Noah was my mate afterwards because they had been too worried with Ethan to care anymore.

"Lonni is no longer keeping us safe," Noah whispered.

In these moments I felt like a little kid again, depending on my mother.

I remembered our youth; we'd have conversations just like these out in the woods. We'd talk about escaping in the woods, far away from the village. I was always the voice of reason but there were times when I was tempted, Noah was so convincing.

"It'll pass," I said as I locked our fingers together. His fingers ran through my hair gently.

"I'm an adult," Noah said. I could hear the embarrassment in his voice, "So why..."

"Don't," I said before he could finish his sentence, "Even Alec is failing with Leo's temper."

Noah remained quiet for a moment.

"I hate this pack," Noah laughed a little as he pressed his forehead against mine.

"Don't say that." I frowned.

Noah hugged me tighter, "Let's just sleep, ok?" Noah asked and I nodded.

The next day, everything was the same.