Demonic Regime

Chapter 7: Dark Chocolate (Collin)

Milo was on his hands and knees scrubbing the baseboards. I didn't even tell him to do it. He just walked in with a bowl of water and a small scrubber. Maybe Julie told him they needed to be done. I sent the last couple of emails and leaned back in my chair. Facing the window, I swiveled from side to side. I glanced at the corner to see that Milo was gone. Looked around, I spotted him right before he disappeared into the bathroom. Shaking my head, I sunk back into my chair. The human was like a mouse. Milo the mouse, I barely ever heard him make a sound.

The boy returned and set back to work. My office had literally never been cleaner.

Someone knocked on the door. It opened before I could say anything and my mother entered.

"Collin."

"Yes?"

She jumped and clutched her chest when she heard a noise come from the wall. "What is he doing?"

"Cleaning the baseboards." I shrugged. It was the only thing left for Milo to clean.

"Oh." She sat down on the couch. "We've been invited to the Randolph Estate. They're holding a party to celebrate the beta announcing his mate. We're going to watch the broadcast and have a fun little get together with the neighbors."

I rubbed my forehead. "I'll pass."

"Collin," she said firmly. "I already said we would be attending."

"Tell them I'm busy."

"You will not embarrass me. This event has already been declared a pack holiday. The slaves have it off." She motioned to Milo.

"Well, I better stay behind and make sure they watch it and aren't enjoying having an unsupervised household too much."

She eyed me. "You're going."

"I'm not. I gave you an excuse. Use it if you want or tell them the truth. That I will not be going to a party simply because you want me to get back with the woman who cheated on me." I gripped the desk and noticed my claws were digging into the wood. "I'm not going. Besides, Axil is an asshole. I don't give a damn if he found his mate. I'm only going to watch it to see who the poor soul is that has to put up with the bastard."

My mother sat there with her mouth open. "How could you say that about your beta?"

"The bastard tormented me for years." I pointed to my face and ear. "He did this! That fucking asshole made it his goal in life to beat me up every chance he got. I do not care if he is the beta"—I leaned over the desk—"I'm still allowed to hate him."

She stood, struggling to find the words. She pointed a finger at me. "You need to take some time and look at yourself. Because this kind of attitude is only going to hurt our position in this pack." She marched into the hallway and slammed the door behind her.

That woman, my mother needed to realize when something was dead. I was never getting back with Ebony. She was a rank chaser. The moment someone with a higher one came along she'd ditch me. We'd already be mates, but she kept saying let's wait. Whether it was her college days and she'd changed, I wasn't going to play her game anymore.

My ear flicked to the side. Milo was kneeling in the corner, wringing the brush in his hand.

"Come here."

His head perked up.

I moved to the couch and waved him over. Milo shuffled to me and stood there.

Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, I pressed the power button. "Sit."

He plopped down on the floor.