Page 18 of The Alpha and His Song: Volume One

This time when my mom raised her to slap me, I was ready. I caught her arm and squeezed. She yanked away from me, rubbing it. Mom shouted, “You will never see your little friends again, Odette. You and Luke WILL get married and you will stop this attitude with me. You are going to give me everything I have deserved for so long.”

I told her, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and frankly I don’t care. As the parents you’re supposed to give me a better life, not the other way around. You can’t make me marry Luke. I’ve looked up the laws and I’ll fight you. I’ll go to CPS and just deal with it.” I walked away to my room. Mom yelled, “Pack your things right now!” I slammed my door shut.

I snorted, “Marry Luke. She didn’t even care that he hurts me.” Physically and mentally. I ignored all the signs because for the first time since Lux had vanished from my life, someone had cared about me. The girls I worked with at the fast food place had warned me, but Luke told me they were just jealous of what we had.

I’d never had many close friends so I thought he was right. After he beat me up, he blamed me. He yelled at me, screaming at me to look what I made him do. How dare he come here and report on me to my mother! I couldn’t help but think of the last time I saw him on my birthday.

Flashback

Odette was excited. It was almost midnight on my sixteenth birthday, and my boyfriend was on the way. Luke was running late, but that was ok. I heard the knock and squealed. I threw the door open and hugged him. Luke pushed me back, “You’re being needy again.”

I winced, knowing I probably was. I was never around anyone but him and my co-workers. That was distanced now though because Luke explained they were jealous of us. I was moving soon anyway. I explained, “I’m just excited that it’s almost my birthday.”

Luke said, “It’s just like any other day.” I looked in his hands, but he didn’t have a gift. Luke scoffed, “I see you’re still begging for gifts like a whore again.” I jolted back and said, “It’s my birthday.” Luke retorted, “It’s not your birthday yet.” That was true, maybe he had plans for later.

We sat on the couch, and he started making out with me. I didn’t respond. He hissed, “Kiss me back NOW!” The now had me moving. It felt against my will, but I was reciprocating. Then I heard a growl and pulled back.

I asked, “Did you hear that growl?” Luke replied, “No, you’re just crazy.” Someone said, “You’re not crazy and I’m Tatum.” I looked around but I didn’t see anyone. I insisted, “Luke, can you please search the place?” Luke snorted, “Fine.” He looked around but he didn’t find anything.

Luke declared, “Nothing is here and since I did that, we’re having sex right now.” Tatum snorted, “What a pretentious jerk. A truly horrible boy. Why are we with him? He doesn’t appear to have redeeming qualities.” I snickered.

Luke’s eyes flashed with anger and he shouted, “YOU THINK THAT’S FUNNY?!” Tatum snarked, “He’s probably got a two second draw issue. Touchy, touchy. We deserve so much better.” Now I busted up laughing.

Luke demanded to know, “WHAT IS SO FUNNY?” I answered, “Nothing it’s…” He cut me off staring into my eyes demanding to know, “TELL ME NOW!” My body locked and I answered, “There’s a voice saying funny things. Her name is Tatum.”

Luke hissed, “HOW?! Fucking Alpha’s. Luckily, I’ve been prepared for this with your disease.” What? Luke said, “Just in case I came prepared. You’ll be handled, rest assured.” He pulled out a syringe. I screamed and tried to run from him, but he caught me and tackled me.

I pleaded, “Luke, stop.” Luke hissed, “Never. You are mine to toy with and nothing will interfere with that.” Tatum snarled in my head, then whimpered as if in pain, and fire exploded in my veins. It felt like I was burning alive. I screamed until Luke hit me in the head with his elbow.

Flashback Ends

I was pulled out of those thoughts when my mom knocked on my door. She held out her phone and left, slamming the door as she went. I hoped Melanie was calling excitedly greeting, “Hello.” Luke’s voice came over the phone, “I’m very disappointed in you, Odette.”

I sighed, knowing mom was right. I was naive. My mother was never going to let me talk to Melanie again. I retorted, “If only I still cared about what disappoints you, Luke. What did I do this time? I’m terribly sorry I live off my income and maintain a 4.0 GPA. I’m really the worst. Or maybe it’s because I called you an abuser, which you are, and broke up with you.”

Luke warned, “Don’t you speak to me like that. We are not broken up, and we never will be. Your mom told me you got yourself kidnapped.” I muttered, “Thanks for your concern and we are broken up.” Luke asked, “Do you know how long it would’ve taken me to track you down? Do you think I have the time to save you all the time?”

I told him, “I wouldn’t ask, or want, you to save me. I’d have rather stayed with the crazy people, who thought they were Demons, than spend one more second with you.” Luke said, “Odette, you need to be very careful. I am angry enough because your mother told me you were rude to her.”

I asked, “Why are the two people who claim to care about me more annoyed that someone broke into my old apartment and kidnapped me than worried about me? The answer is obvious: neither of you actually care about me. You never did, and now you’re mad I noticed.”

Which I’d noticed before I was kidnapped. Luke’s voice softened, “Baby, I’m sorry. I just tried to visit you and couldn’t get in your building. It made me angry.” I told him, “That doesn’t make sense, Luke. You could’ve just walked through the front doors. Besides, we are not together.”

Luke told me, “One day you will understand that you are mine, Odette.” I rolled my eyes, “I’m not yours, and I don’t even think you like me. You hit me, Luke. You hurt me, locked me away, then just left without an explanation.”

“You make derogatory comments about me and my body. I’m never good enough for you, no matter how hard I’ve tried. As you said, I’m too immature. So, I’ll do us both a favor and tell you to find someone closer to your age. Preferably someone who has graduated high school since we are DONE.” I hung up on him.

Mom flung the door open and ripped the phone away grumbling, “I don’t know what I did to deserve such an ungrateful daughter. I’ll call Luke’s father and try to undo the damage you have done.” I told her, “Don’t bother. I don’t want to be with Luke. As far as what you did, maybe not being a mother at all. To get loyalty you have to give it and you certainly have never done anything for me.”

Mom yelled, “Life isn’t about what you want.” I snorted, “Of course it’s not. My life has always been about what you want. Sorry, there are consequences for not acting like you give a shit about me. They happen to be that I don’t care what you want for my life. It makes me want it less than I already do.”

I paused then added, “It also makes you a worse mother than I thought. Which was already a hard bar for you to beat. Yet you’re here telling me a man who injected me with an unknown drug, knocked me unconscious, then was nowhere to be found is who you want me to marry.”

I pointed at her, “Keep this up, and I’ll go straight to the police. You don’t want to go to jail and we both know it. So, keep Luke away or suffer the consequences of your decisions for once in your life.” Mom retorted, “We are leaving in thirty minutes.”

Of course we were. I was happy here and I had friends. Lux lived in this state, but not this area. If only I had paid more attention as a child, I’d know where he lived and could go talk to him personally. I just didn’t remember the name of the town we lived in no matter how hard I tried. It gave me one hell of a headache when I did.

Why couldn’t I ever have nice things? My mom yelled, “Have you taken your medicine today?” I shouted, “Yes!” I clutched my pills to my chest. My one lead on my birth father was that he had a blood disorder.