10

Chapter 10

Mercury's POV

I was starting to get the itch to go back to that part of my life I left so long ago. I watched my son do what I used to do, but every now and then I get that urge to head to one of the collections. So when Isiah mind-linked me, telling me he needed to talk to me, I knew what I planned on saying to him about going tonight. I took the folder I was looking at, which I planned to give to him tonight. Maybe he can find the son of bitches who took my money. There are only three, and they are the best at hiding. That's the thing – I could never find them, but I know he can. I walked into the office; he was sitting there looking at the computer. I took a moment to look around; he hadn’t changed much. He once told me he wanted to keep it as I had it. The only change he made was to swap the couch. That's a good thing, as if he only knew what his mother and I used to do on the old one. There were a few more bookshelves in here now, but that was it. Everything else remained the same. Dropping the folder on the desk, I knew he would look at it later. He started talking right away, not even saying hello.

"Dad, Kayla told us that her lycan surfaced a few days ago. They won’t shift until her twenty-first birthday. What I'm asking from you is for answers. Is she going to be okay? How hard is it going to be on her when she shifts into both?" I was a little shocked because I wasn't expecting this. Having a lycan and a wolf sometimes skips a few family members. But I tried to calm him down, letting him know everything is going to be okay.

"Son, she will be alright. She is tough as nails, knowledgeable, reads a lot, and trains with your mother and you. Yes, it's going to hurt like hell, but other than that, she will be fine. Her lycan will take most of the pain away, but she is still going to hurt. So, you and her mother will need to be there. By the way, I'm going on your next collection. I know this son of a b****; he owes me money, and I want it back." I heard my son laugh; he knew I was getting the itch back. I want to go, and that's what I plan on doing tonight.

"So, when is everyone leaving to head out?" 

"Dad, are you sure Mom is fine with this? You know, the last time she almost killed us both because we didn't tell her you were going."

"Yeah, he's talked to me about it. I'm not too happy with it after I said that I didn't want him to go because he was the one who said he wanted out. Seems to me, Mercury Black, you don’t want to be fully out of this. So what are you going to do now, because you're not taking the title away from your son?" We both jumped when we heard Mom’s voice. Oh, sh×t, and she is pissed. I could tell from her eyes and the way her nails were growing. She knew how to control it at times, but sometimes she couldn’t, so we always had to be careful.

"Honey, just listen, okay? I'm not taking the title back. Isiah is doing amazing at this. The pack is following him, and he gets the job done. All I want is to go on collections every now and then. You need to understand, Cheyenne, before you, this is all I had ever done. I was three hundred years old when we met. You just can’t tell me I have to stop altogether. This is my life, and if I have to follow my son, then so be it. But it doesn't mean I'm taking the title away from him." She looked at me with anger in her eyes. She wasn't about to back down from this. She is going to be pissed for a few days after I say what I should have never said in the first place. But my big mouth just overrides my brain all the time. I'm about to screw up big time, but I just could not stop myself from speaking.

‘Cheyenne Black, this was my pack before you even came along. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have anything at all. I was the f***ing Mafia king before anyone came along, and now look - our son is the mafia king. He kicks ass every time he goes out. I'm proud of him. But for you, you are holding me back." Yep, there it was. I stuck my foot right into my mouth, then into my ass because she just looked at me. I didn't see it coming, I didn't even see her hand ball up into a fist until she punched the s*** out of me. I fell to the floor with a shocked look on my face.

“You listen to me, you f**king sorry-ass mother f**ker. I was fine before I met you. I was okay. I had human friends, friends that cared about me. If you forgot, you are the one that took me in trade because my father owed you f**king money. I didn’t want to go with you, but if I didn’t, you would have killed them. If you remember, I wanted nothing to do with this life, but you brought me into it. So, f**k you and the horse you rode in with.” Standing up on my feet, I tried reaching out to her, but she jerked away from me. Yeah, I messed up big time. I don’t know how I'm going to get out of this one. I hurt her in the worst way, and I haven’t ever done that before. We have gotten into arguments and fights, but I have never said what I said to her like I just did. The hurt and anger in her eyes say it all.

“When you get back tonight, your shit will be outside waiting for you. You can move back into this pack house and stay as long as you want because you're sure as hell not staying with me.” She turned on her heels, storming out. Oh, s**t. This is serious. There was no way in hell I was going tonight.

“Son, I'm not going tonight. I have to fix this before she decides to reject me.” I didn't give him time to say anything. I went running out after her. I don't know how she got to the house so fast—yeah, I do. She shifted and ran back there. Half of my sh*t was thrown out into the yard. Screw this sh*t. She was in the living room butt naked. I got hard really quickly, but right now is not the time. I had to fix this. Many years ago, she gave me her heart so I could live, but she died. The Moon Goddess brought her back. We had to fight to be together. I'm not going to lose her again. This is not going to happen. I won’t let it happen.

Cheyenne POV

I was wondering when Mercury was going to be back. I had some stuff to do, and I needed to get it done. He said he would be back in an hour, but it's been that plus more. I knew what was going on; I felt it when Kayla was training. Her lycan surfaced, and Isiah was going to ask him for advice about it. But I had a feeling about this. We have talked about this from time to time, but what I was worried about is that he would take his title back. That would be unfair to Isiah; he's worked too hard on what he has built. When I walked into his office, Mercury was right in the middle of telling our son he was going, then Isiah was asking him what I would say and do. That's when I spoke up,

"Yeah, he's talked to me about it. I'm not too happy with it after I said that I didn't want him to go because he was the one that said he wanted out. Seems to me, Mercury Black, you don't want to be fully out of this. So what are you going to do now because you're not taking the title away from your son?" I wanted to smirk when they both jumped, but I didn't. He then just started talking out his ass. I knew he wanted the title back; he just didn't want to admit it.

"Honey, just listen, okay? I'm not taking the title back. Isiah is doing amazing at this; the pack is following him, and he gets the job done. All I want is to go on collections every now and then. You need to understand, Cheyenne, before you, this is all I had ever done. I was three hundred years old when we met. You just can't tell me I have to stop altogether; this is my life. And if I have to follow my son, then so be it, but it doesn't mean I'm taking the title away from him." Just say I was pissed off; even my lycan and wolf wanted to rip his head off. But oh boy, he wasn't done yet; by the time he was finished, I was fuming. What right did he have to even speak to me like that? It was like he was the old Mercury when we first met. He was disrespectful and mean. I was balling up my fist; my nails were growing, and I felt them going into my skin.

"Cheyenne Black, this was my pack before you even came along. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have anything at all. I was the freaking Mafia king before anyone came along. Now look, our son is the Mafia king now; he kicks ass every time he goes out. I'm proud of him, but for you, you are holding me back." I have had enough of this bull shit; I had never felt this angry before. I balled up my fist as tight as I could, swung back, hitting him right in the face. He went down hard, right on his ass. He looked shocked, but I didn't care.

You listen to me, you sorry excuse for a motherfu*ker. I was fine before I met you. I was okay. I had human friends and friends who cared about me. In case you've forgotten, you are the one who took me in trade because my father owed you money. I didn't want to go with you, but if I didn’t, you would have killed them. If you remember, I wanted nothing to do with this life, but you brought me into it. So screw you and the horse you rode in on.

"When you get back tonight, your stuff will be outside waiting for you. You can move back into the pack house and stay as long as you want because you're not staying with me," I didn’t give him time to speak, and I really didn’t care. Storming out of the house, I shifted into my wolf form and ran back inside. I didn’t bother getting dressed; I started throwing his stuff out. I wouldn't let him talk to me like that, nor allow him to say that I wouldn't have anything without him. I didn't care about any of this, and I never will. I love my family; that's all I need. As I was heading into his office to toss his belongings out the window, I felt a pair of arms wrap around me. I turned sharply in his arms, making him let go.

"My advice to you, Mercury, is to let go of me before I let my lycan side come forward and rip your head off.”