I frown as I roll over as I awake to find Dom's half of the bed empty. I sit up slowly and look around but don't see Dom anywhere in the room. I quickly get up and get dressed before heading to the bathroom to do my morning business. Vince is just coming out of the bathroom when I get there and almost hits me with the door.
"Sorry, Brian, I didn't see you there. How are you feeling?" Vince says, smiling at me. "Not too sore are you?"
"What?" I ask, feeling confused.
"Vince, don't be mean to Brian," Dom says, walking up the stairs, walking over to me, and wrapping his arms around my waist.
"I was just asking a serious question. I was concerned our new pack mate might not be able to work today," Vince says, smiling and walking off.
"What is he talking about?" I ask, turning and looking into Dom's eyes.
"It seems not everyone was asleep last night and heard us. He then decided to blab and tell everyone else," Dom says, nuzzling a mark on my neck.
"Oh god, no, please tell me this is a joke," I say, laying my head against Dom's shoulder.
"I'm afraid not," Carter says, walking over to us. I bury my face into Dom's shirt as I feel my face heat up.
"Who was it?" I ask while keeping my face buried.
"It was Vince. Why?" Dom asks.
"Vince, I'm going to kill you," I yell, running down the stairs, which is where Vince had gone. I can hear someone get up and run out the back door while laughing, so I run that way. I quickly run out the door to see Vince running towards his car. I chase after and start to catch up when I suddenly feel someone tackle me to the ground, which knocks the air out of me. I turn to see Jessie staring up at me with wide eyes.
"Please, don't kill Vince," Jessie says, frowning.
"Jess," Vince says, running back over and kneeling next to us. "He wasn't going to actually kill me. He was just kidding."
"You were?" Jessie asks.
"We were just messing around, Jess," I say, sitting up as Dom and everyone else come outside. Dom sees us on the ground and quickly rushes over, dropping down and kneeling next to me. "I'm fine, Dom."
"Oh my god, I am so sorry. Please, don't hurt me," Jessie says, scrambling backwards and away from us.
"Jess," Leon says, kneeling next to Jessie and stopping him from backing away anymore.
"It's ok, Jess. I know you didn't mean to," I say.
"Didn't mean to what?" Dom asks, pulling me against him.
"Jessie heard me say I was going to kill Vince and panicked. He tackled me to stop me from hurting Vince," I say.
"He what?" Dom asks.
"Dom, he didn't mean to," I say, curling into him to stop him from doing anything he would regret.
"Why would you do that Jess?" Mia asks.
"I don't know. I just panicked when I heard Brian yell that he was going to kill Vince," Jessie says, crying.
"He had another nightmare," Leon says, pulling Jessie into his lap and fully against him.
"He has nightmares frequently?" Owen asks.
"When I first saved him from his father, he had them all the time, but they slowly went away," Leon says.
"He hasn't had one in years," Dom says.
"I bet it was caused by what my father did yesterday," I say.
"What do you mean by 'saved him from his father'?" Carter asks as everyone sits down on the grass around us; Mia in between Letty's legs, who is in between Vince's legs, Jessie curled on Leon's lap, Carter in between Owen's legs, and me in between Dom's legs. Dom quickly explains what happened to Jessie at the hands of his father.
"Sounds like we have another alpha to take down," Owen says.
"Where is your father?" Carter asks.
"Right on the outskirts of Barstow," Jessie says.
"Barstow?" I ask, sitting up.
"Yeah," Jessie says.
"What part of Barstow?" I ask.
"The south side," Jessie says.
"We can get both him and my father at the same time," I say, leaning back against Dom.
"How?" Jessie asks.
"My father and your father are very good friends," I say.
"Why does that mean we are going to get both at the same time?" Dom asks, rapping his arms around my waist to rest on my stomach.
"Once a month, my father invites Jessie's father and several other of the alpha's of other packs for a poker game," I say.
"How do you know that? I didn't even know that. I just knew that my father disappeared one night a month," Jessie says.
"My father used this as a way to arrange for me and my siblings to be mated off," I say, looking down at Dom's hands. Dom hugs me closer to him and nuzzles my neck with his nose.
"I am so sorry Brian," Jessie says.
"It's ok, Jess," I say, smiling slightly.
"While we are on the topic, what all did your father do to you, Brian?" Owen asks.
"He used to use me as his personal slave. If I did anything wrong, he would beat me," I say.
"Show them the scars under your shirt, Bri," Dom says, leaning back from me after kissing my neck. I slowly reach down and begin to lift my shirt, which Dom helps me with. I can hear several people gasp as they see all the scars on my chest. "There are more on his back and legs."
"What could you have done to deserve all of those?" Jessie asks. "I don't have that many. Those look deeper as well."
"Some are from accidently dropping the things. Most are from not doing something he said to do immediately. A few are from refusing to let him sell my body to a drunken friend that night of the poker game. After he was done beating me, I was too bruised and battered, so the man didn't want me anymore," I say, staring down at Dom's hands on my stomach again.
"That is horrible," Mia says.
"Can we eat breakfast now?" Vince says as his stomach growls. We all laugh.
"I'll go start breakfast," Mia says, getting up.
"I'll help," Letty says, getting up as well. Vince follows the two into the house as Dom helps me put back on my shirt.
"We'll get both of these guys along with the one that wanted to rape you, Brian. Do you know the name of the man?" Owen asks as we all stand up.
"They all at one point or another wanted to," I say, glancing at Jessie.
"My father tried to rape you?" Jessie asks.
"None of them actually did anything," I say as Dom wraps his arms around me.