Chapter 16: Chapter 15

With his head bent low, they arrived back to the Alpha house without any altercation… just nasty words and looks. He was shaking as he stepped back into his room. He was so preoccupied he hadn’t heard or felt Trey step in behind him until he shut the door. “I’ll sort it,” he promised.

Chris shook his head. He stumbled back and landed on the bed, “Marc’s going to… he’s going-”

“Chris, it doesn’t matter what they’re saying. Calm down, I will sort it, sort all of it.”

“Y-you can’t… I…” His breath began sawing in and out of his chest, the words wouldn’t stop in his head, the abysmal horrified looks of those under his brother’s rule span around his head. They knew… they all knew.

“Chris.” A hand landed heavily on his shoulder shook him back to the room, the dizzying spin stopping sharply. “It’s just a rumour, it means nothing.”

“It’s true,” Chris croaked.

“What do you mean?”

“Jaxson… he- my wolf-” He gripped onto the edge of the bed, his short nails cutting into the fabric, his mind swimming in a fog of panic. “I’ve tried to ignore- I- I’ve drank to stop my wolf… I-I- they know.” Spots were descending on his vision, he couldn’t breathe.

Trey’s warm hand slid onto his cheek, “Li’l buddy, you’re OK. It’s going to be OK.”

“N-no one’s going to talk to me. I-I can’t. No one… I- I’m scared.” Trey sat on the bed before pulling Chris onto his lap like when he was a pup… wasn’t quite as effective as when he was small, but Chris didn’t care as he flung his arms around the elder male.

“Everything’s going to be OK. I’m here, I’ll always be here no matter what.”

Chris shook his head, “You can’t. Th-they’ll disown me.” His grip tightened around Trey as if, if he let go, he would vanish in a puff of smoke.

“Course they won’t.”

“It’s not normal.”

“If this is what the Goddess has decreed, it’s right.”

“Jaxson doesn’t want me.”

“Do you know that?”

“I-I messed up.”

“We all mess up, li’l buddy.”

Chris pushed himself off of Trey, realising where he was. “I’m a Hunterson… I can’t. This… this kind of scandal? At least fucking every female would be a more acceptable scandal!”

“I’m going to sort it. The pack will be under Royal guard until we can smooth it over.”

“No! That’ll just spread the rumour more. I… I don’t know… I’ve got to act normal.”

“You can’t when everyone is behaving like that. Trust me, I’ll smooth it over.”

“Trey.” He turned, pleading.

“Trust me.” Trey gripped his shoulder again before leaving the room.

Chris paced up and down, his sense of panic not as gripping as before. His fear, however, was solid. This rumour would spread, regardless of what The Crown would do… it was probably already in other packs. Most households had phones, most went across pack lines, true only the Alpha phone was nationwide.

They were only one territory away from Royal Packland… how long had this rumour circulated? It could already be within Royal packland… meaning it was potentially minutes away from getting to the castle.

He ran his hand through his hair, catching tangles and tugging unnecessarily hard. He couldn’t believe this got out. But how? It had to be Jaxson, there was no alternative.

‘Mate wouldn’t betray us.’

Chris shook his head, intentional or unintentional… he’d allowed it to get out. Chris knew he hadn’t breathed a word, even paralytic he never breathed a word.

He grabbed the backpack he’d found in the wardrobe on his first day and shoved a few sets of clothes inside. He glanced around, thinking what else he may need… but came up blank. He shrugged and threw a few more sets of clothes to be safe. In the attached bathroom, he found the strongest smelling thing he could, which was peppermint oil; he then found another essential oil; pine which was less strong. He showered in the pine. Dowsing himself just enough to mask his scent. He then smothered the bathroom and bedroom in the peppermint.

After dressing and flinging the backpack on his shoulders, he timed the guard walk that Trey had put in place around the Alpha house, dropping from the window at just the right moment.