An Alpha's Bond

Twenty-Three

   For the first time in a long time, we had an argument. It was our first proper argument, and it went badly. Arguing with an Alpha, in the entire history of man and wolf, had never been a good idea. I remembered that after he hit me. Hunter hit me, and then he regretted doing it again.
  This time, it was almost like he didn't realise what he was doing until it was too late, but I didn't care. He didn't get to do that and just get away with it. It wasn't fair on me.
  "Wells— fuck, let me... please let me see. I didn't mean to do that..." he sounded like he was begging, but I ignored the desperation.
  "Well you did, didn't you?"
  "Just let me see what I did to you, and— and I swear I'll give you all the space you need. I just need to see what I did."
  "Yeah? I just need you to stop laying your hands on me every time you have a hissy fit, but instead, I got stuck with having to guess whether or not you'll decide to smack me if I upset you," he winced at my words, and I cut him off before he could speak. "Sucks, doesn't it? Not knowing sucks."
  I left the room without showing him what he had done and went straight toward the bathroom. Or, at least I tried. Hunter's Dad stopped me as soon as he spotted me, grabbing my face and looking closely. His jaw tensed.
  "Who did that to you?"
  "Hunter did. I was going to clean up and let him wallow in self-pity or something." he nodded, and let go. He was gone before I could blink.

   My reflection was proof that he had split my lip, bloodied my nose and bruised my face, all with one touch. A single touch with the same hands that had made me feel good in all different kinds of ways had also caused this much destruction.
  As I cleaned myself up, I could hear yelling, and things slamming against walls. I could also hear how Hunter wasn't saying anything back to his Father, and I couldn't find it within myself to feel guilty for it. The door to the bathroom swung open, and in the reflection of the mirror, I saw Alex, looking more pissed than I had ever seen him.
  "He did it again, didn't he?" I nodded, and he went to leave but the yelling and arguing were still happening in the other room, so approached me instead. I let him take a closer look, and soon Kyrell was in the room too.
  "Son of a bitch." he whispered. The yelling stopped, doors slammed, and Alex left the bathroom without thinking. Kai stayed with me and watched, helping me clean all the mess I had made once I was finished.
  "You really think that climbing the roof is going to stop me from beating your ass after that?" Alex yelled, shaking the walls of the house. He laughed dryly. "Hiding?! You should learn to keep your fucking hands to yourself, it's pathetic."
  "This is gonna get violent soon," Kyrell whispered, shutting the door and sitting against the wall. He threw an arm around my shoulder, and I leaned against him. "You know that Alex is gonna beat his ass."
  "Sounds like a Hunter problem," I mumbled, though I was starting to feel bad for him now that Alex was angry at him. He had hit me once this time and stopped. I wanted him to know that he couldn't do that to me, that he had to stop. I didn't want everyone to turn on him.
  "Hey," I look at my hands. "Hey, he shouldn't have hit you. He's getting what's coming. How many times did he hit you to cause something like that?"
  "Just once."
  "You can tell me if he hit you more than that. Right now it looks like he beat the shit of you. I mean, fucking hell, did he hit you with a truck?" I stayed quiet for a moment, leaning into him as his hand tangled into my hair. Kyrell was quiet too, resting his chin behind where his hand rested.
  "I feel bad," I whispered, biting the skin around my fingers. "He's already in trouble with his Dad, and with Alex. I didn't mean for everyone to get mad at him."
  "You shouldn't feel bad, but I understand. He should stop hitting his mate. I mean, he might be our friend and all, but I would rather not be friends with a mate beater. If he carries on, he won't have any friends, and that's his fault, not yours." When I could hear Hunter cursing, and the sound of his car starting, it was near impossible to stop the tears from forming. I was overwhelmed with everything, and now that I had a listening ear beside me I wanted to let it out.
  "I'm here, it's okay," Kai whispered, shifting so we were both more comfortable. "Come here."