“It is. It would’ve ended very differently if he hadn’t been.”
I shuddered. It was a reminder of how fragile we humans were. How something so tiny could spell the end for us. It wasn’t something the rest of my family had to worry about. You’d think being immortal would make them more empathetic to those who weren’t, but nope. “Yeah.Thank fuck. Still, I can’t believe he spent all that time with you posing as a dog.”
We talked some more about Finn playing at being a pet to get closer to Chester before moving on to some of the clan dynamics. I was so fucking relieved that Chester knew the truth now. I was used to watching my words around my friends, but that was before shifters had once again intruded on my life. Having them around us on a daily basis…yeah, I was glad I didn’t have to censor myself with Chester.
Unsurprisingly, the topic came back around to my family. To how I was different from the rest of them.
“That can’t have been easy,” Chester said quietly. “Growing up somewhere where you’re seen as different.”
I stopped spinning in my chair as I considered how to answer his question. “I think it was the type of difference that bothered them.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was weaker. Slower. Prone to illness and injury.” I listed off the reasons my father often threw at me, finishing with the one that hurt the most. “Instead of being an asset, I was a liability.”
Because rather than being born as the next alpha and leader of the clan, I’d been born human.
The lowest of the low.
“I’m sorry they made you feel like that, Reid. I don’t know you as well as I should, and that’s my fault, but what I do know is awesome.”
Fuck. Compliments were my kryptonite. I sank lower in my chair as if that would hide me from Chester’s earnest gaze. “I’m perpetually late, scattered, unable to focus unless I’m interested, and completely unlovable as far as my family’s concerned.”
And everyone else. Well, my friends loved me platonically. That counted, I supposed.
But it wasn’t the unconditional love I’d grown up missing. I wasn’t sure I’d ever find that.
Even if I wanted to.
Desperately.
Chester got to his feet suddenly. Marching over to me, he put his hands on both my shoulders. “Right, you listen here, Reid Clarkson.”
Oof.The full name. I was definitely in trouble.
“I know you’ve been told a lot of bullshit about yourself,” Chester continued firmly, “and not just by your family, but now I’m going to tell you some stuff.”
Despite myself, my lips lifted in a tiny smirk. “Because you’re more worthy of listening to than them?”
“Yes.” Chester nodded. “I am, because I’m going to tell you the truth. You, Reid, are caring. You refused to give up on trying to get me out of my shell, despite all my grumpiness.”
I fidgeted in my seat. Ireallycouldn’t cope with people being this nice to me. “You were very grumpy. I get it now though. I should’ve been tempting you with bears instead of twinks.”
My attempt to derail Chester’s compliments failed miserably.
“You’re tenacious. You don’t give up on anything. If a design isn’t going the way you pictured, you don’t throw it out, you keep working at it until it’s just right.”
God, my face was on fire now. Chester didn’t stop though, just pushed through, determined. “You’re ridiculously intelligent. You might think your brain is scattered, but I wish I had a tenth of the knowledge you do. And you’re kind.”
I ducked my head as heat burned at the back of my eyes.
Chester refused to let me hide away, crouching in front of me so I could see exactly how much he meant what he was saying. “Most importantly, even if you werenoneof these things, you still wouldn’t have deserved what you were put through as a child. No one should be abused. No one, Reid. Including you.”
A single tear slipped free.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Chester said quietly. “I’m so fucking sorry, Reid. It’s not your fault though.”
I wished I could believe him. I did. But the old patterns were too ingrained for my brain to overwrite them. “But I was born human.”
