Chapter Thirty-One
Dominic
Dom’s hands were gripping the steering wheel tighter than necessary. It was either the steering wheel or Jace’s neck. And he figured he’d go to jail for strangling a student. He pushed his conversation with Jace out of his mind. He had to or he’d turn the truck around and face incarceration anyway. His mind automatically spun to Corey. She’d been so wonderful with Riley and Jasper; it was obvious she cared about them. Dom couldn’t believe what a prick he was back at the house. A kid lay broken and bleeding and all Dom felt was jealousy and possession. Corey was right to send him away. He wouldn’t have lasted much longer seeing her hands all over Jasper. He prayed like hell that the stress and gravity of the situation was a contributing factor to his crazy behavior.
Now that he was away from the chaos that had been going down in the living room when they brought Jasper in, Dom felt nothing but concern for the kid, and fear that Jace had caused irreparable damage. And, of course, Dom had nothing but admiration for his girl. She was so loving, and so kind, he didn’t deserve her. He pulled the truck into their driveway. She was sitting on the porch with Baze and Linc, head resting on her arms.
She looked exhausted and beautiful.
He cut the ignition and looked over at Keller, who’d remained quiet through the whole ride home. “Hey, man, you okay over there? We need to tell them what Jace said, but not where Jasper can hear. Then I need you guys to go. Corey looks beat. I’ve got to get her cleaned up and in bed.”
“Yeah. I’m good. Let’s go get this over with. I’m so ready for this night to end, dude.”
Dom hopped out of the truck and went to sit next to Corey on the porch step. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head when she rested it against him. “Hey, baby, how are the boys?”
She snuggled deeper against his side. “They’re as good as can be expected. Jasper is still passed out cold and Riley is asleep on that tiny loveseat. Riley talked to me a little bit about what happened. He was really freaked out by the whole thing.”
“Wait ’til we tell you what Jace told us, you’ll all be freaked out.” Keller was leaning against the porch railing, arms crossed.
“I’ll tell you mine, then you tell me yours.” Dom felt Corey nod. “Jace was sitting in his room, doing homework, as calm and collected as can be. If I hadn’t seen the evidence of what he did tonight, I would never have guessed that he beat the shit out of his brother. It was like nothing happened. He even looked surprised to see us, like he didn’t know why we would be at his dorm so late.”
“The kid is messed up.” Keller pushed off the railing. “When we asked him what the fuck happened between him and Jasper, he said, ‘Jasper can’t lose control.’ I thought Dom was going to rip his head off. I asked him why he pounded on him in front of everyone, and he said that Jasper was weak. That he let his emotions lead him and that it would cause problems for the whole family.” Keller shook his head. “He never once looked even slightly remorseful.”
“That kind of mirrors what Riley told me. He said that Jasper started to shake, like he couldn’t control the shift, and that Jasper was headed to the woods. Jace wouldn’t let him get there, and Riley said Jasper could’ve made it. Jace beat his brother in front of everyone. Riley told me that when they finally dragged Jace off, he said, ‘Clean him up.’ That’s it.” Corey sat up and rubbed her temples. “He also said that from where Jace came flying out of the woods, he had to have been watching Jasper hook up with that girl. He saw everything they did, and watched when the six guys tried to jump his brother. Jace stepped out of hiding only to hurt Jasper for showing weakness.”
“What now?” Linc asked.
“We call their parents,” Keller answered. “We don’t have a choice in the matter. It’s school policy. We all know emotions run high with shifters right after their first change, fights aren’t out of the ordinary. But parents have to be called no matter what.”
Baze stood up, stretching his back. “I’ll call Mr. Franklin tomorrow morning. I’ll let him know that the boys fought and that he needs to come up here. Shit. It’s going to be a long weekend. I’m headed home to get some sleep while I can.”
After they had said their good-byes, Dom and Corey headed inside hand in hand. He went through the house locking up while she checked on the boys. Dom stood leaning against the wall watching her with his ballplayers. She checked Jasper for signs of a fever, placed her hand on his cheek, then covered him with a warmer blanket than the throw that had been on him. Then she went over to Riley and smoothed his hair before pulling up his covers a little higher. So much compassion in such a tiny package. Corey would make an excellent mom to their children, and at that thought, Dom’s heart swelled with pride.
She met his eyes and caught him staring. “What? What’s that face for?”
“You are the most amazing woman I have ever met. You love so completely. There’s no judgment or limitations to it. It simply is. Me, my friends, my ballplayers? None of us deserve you. But having met you, I don’t think any of us could make it on our own now. You have every one of us wrapped around your little finger.” He crossed the room and took her face in his hands. “Thank you.”
“There’s no need to thank me. I love you. I love all of my wolves, but I love you the most, you are my forever. So please, don’t ever feel like you have a reason to be jealous.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth gently. “I need a shower and a bed in the worst way.”
“Yeah, you reek.” He wrinkled his nose.
Corey sniffed her shirt. “I do not. I smell like b-b-q and vanilla.”
“You smell like wolves, plural, not me. It’s really irritating. Please go take that shower.”
“You can smell them on me?” She seemed intrigued.
“Well, you have Jasper’s blood on you, so that’s a strong scent.” He leaned down and smelled her hair. “Riley hugged you. Or you sat really close to him. And I can smell traces of Baze, most likely from when he was down on the floor helping you treat Jasper.” He put his hand on the small of her back and pushed her toward the bathroom. “So that’s at least three wolf scents that do not belong to your mate. Take care of it. I’m begging you here.”