002: Pretty, and Problematic

{~Nathaniel Cross~}

When I married Magaret I thought I was getting two angels who deserved to be treated with gold. Hugged, taken care of, and protected from the bastard who thought child abuse was a normal thing.

And for a while, they were angels. They kept their grades up and slowly started to open up to me. I didn’t think anyone could be as adorable as the twins were before they turned fifteen. Cherlyn got into trouble at school for breaking the nose of a boy who insulted her mother. I was proud of her, but I could sense the shift in her.

The moment I said she was right to defend herself and her mother, I knew I’d fucked up. I just didn’t think I’d be showing up more and more to get her out of trouble. That girl can’t stay away from a fight. She’s not the omega I’m used to being around. Not like her mother.

Soft spoken, sweet, and always looking for the easy way out of a conflict. Even her twin sheryl, is a saint. That girl can’t do anything bad without suffocating from the guilt of it.

But cherry? I fear that the girl is allergic to peace. If I didn’t have a place in the pack’s council, I think she’d be serving years in prison for the things she’s done.

Forget the fights; she drinks more than I do. Smokes and parties every chance she gets.

I can forgive all of that if she would just try to date someone sensible. Five boyfriends in six months is ridiculous.

I lay in bed, the phone held up while Margaret slept soundly to my right. Unaware that her daughter has gotten into another predicament. The last boyfriend before this... what’s his name? Jazzy? What a stupid name. The last one before him tried to convince her to let him pee on her. I wanted to kill him. Luckily for me, Cherry didn’t like his suggestion. Which resulted in another fight, and that asshole trying to run her over with his car while she was on her way to class the next day.

She can’t seem to choose a good fucking man.

“Cherry.”

“I know, I know. I’ll do better with the next one, I promise.”

I clenched my phone so tight I thought I’d break it. The next one. By tomorrow, she'll have another loser as her boyfriend. “Do you recognize anything about the area?”

“No. I saw a bird, but it’s so dark I don’t know what kind of bird it is.” She sounded small and a little bit scared.

I could feel my beast getting anxious.

“I’ll be there.”

“But how—” I hung up before she could ask me anything.

Turning my head a little, I checked on Margaret. She looked so at peace. I shouldn’t bother her.

After the twins got lost a few years ago i gave them matching ankle bracelets. It was pretty and diamond, they loved it. What I didn’t tell them is that it came with a tracker, which I could access. I thought I’d never have to use it, but apparently, cherry is against being safe.

I got out of bed and reached for the shirt resting on the armchair. I tugged it on and grabbed one of my car keys before leaving the room.

I made it to the front door without making a noise, and somehow I still managed to wake Sheryl. She’s a light sleeper; nothing keeps her down unless it’s medication.

“Hey,” she yawned. “Where are you going?”

“Why are you up?” I asked, deflecting from her question.

She raised a glass full of water that I hadn’t seen. “I needed something to drink. Your turn.” She smiled, swaying a bit. Clearly, she wasn't fully awake.

“Cherry,” I didn’t have to say anything else. Her smile dropped, and she waved me off.

“Go get her. I hope she’s alright.”

“She is. Don’t stay up. Okay?”

She nodded, but I knew she’d wait by the stairs until her twin returned. This only served to enrage me more. Cherry is always doing this.

I exited the house without saying another word and got into my car. I pulled up Cherry’s location and shared it with the GPS installed in my car. The drive there did nothing to tame the anger boiling within me. At some point cherry has to stop. She has to stop the habit of causing problems for those who love her.

I get she’s 22, I was that age once. I was in college, and I loved to party, but I was reasonable about it. No one got harmed. And I didn’t go through crazy girlfriends every single month.

I need to talk to her. I need to draw the line.

My wolf snarls, and I’m reminded that my animal side has a mind of its own. It wants something it shouldn’t. The dark thoughts fill my head. Reminding of the change.

I forced myself to focus on the drive, not on the nonsense filling my head. But it’s harder than I thought. I wish I’d never gone to that play. I was normal before that.

It happened two years ago. Cherry... forget all the anger I have against her bad choices. When it comes to ballet, she is majestic. For years.... I was normal. I saw her as nothing more than my wife’s daughter. Who’d found something she loved, and she perfected it.

But that play changed everything. Cherry wasn’t Margaret’s daughter anymore. She was a young woman who awakened something in me. She performed a play about the pains of a one-sided love. Something in her movements, in the pain crossing her features, broke the image I’d had of her. She was... enthralling. When she cried i wanted to comfort her. And not in a fatherly way.

I’ve lived my life with a slightly defective wolf. It’s a rare condition for an alpha wolf. While my beast was good at everything, he just didn’t face ruts. I didn’t crave another person once every year like most of my peers. Didn’t feel mating bonds or the urge to stake a claim to another person. But that play changed everything. The very next day, I hit a rut for the first fucking time in my life. I handled it well. Got medication to suppress it, but the reason for that rut disturbed the hell out of me.

I can’t have anything with someone like Cherry, for god’s sake. I raised that girl. I treated her injuries. I was the one she called when she had nightmares. Turning that sweet adoration into something sick....

I inhaled. I’ll be damned if I do something that disgusting.

My beast seemed to calm after this. As though finally remembering that cherry isn’t a walking hole for him to breed.

I shuddered, fucking hell. I shouldn’t be using the word breed in the same sentence as my stepdaughter.

I stared ahead, hushing my thoughts.

There she is. Just a few miles out of the town in the empty woods. That’s the name. It’s just a forested area not claimed by any of the packs around. It’s a shortcut to one of the major cities; however, it’s advised not to take it. People stage robberies here.

My throat tightened. If cherry’s hurt... I’m going to kill someone.

I saw her before my car even got close enough. She was sitting on the side, her chin on her knees. I didn’t stop the car until I was right in front of her. I rolled the passenger side window down and leaned over to call her attention when I noticed something.

What the fuck is she wearing?

Her auburn hair covered the sides of her face. I breathed in sharply as my eyes went straight for the exposed parts of her body. I shut my eyes and turned off the car. She’s wearing a short jean skirt that probably doesn’t even count as a skirt. That thing is better as a top, and even then, it would be a bra. Her white shirt is no better. It’s cut shorter than normal, almost revealing the undersides of her breasts. Is this how she left the house?

Where was I when this happened? 

Goddess, help me.