Fuck I'm old

I thought as I rolled out of bed the next morning. My back was so unbelievably sore, and the worst part was that I had no clue as to what I had done.

It felt as if someone was continually punching the lower portion of my back, and it was starting to irritate me.

My thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door. Sighing, I walked over quickly and pulling the door open, coming face to face with Spider and Ripper. They each had very serious expressions, worsening my mood immediately.

"What happened?" I asked, watching their reactions carefully. Both of their bodies were extremely tense, their eyes guarded.

"We found her," Ripper stated.

Immediately I stood up straighter and followed them down the hallway into my office.

"Where is she?" I asked.

Spider took a deep breath and pulled up a screen on his laptop.

"We were able to find out her credit card information, and tracked where she was spending it. She's a couple states away, and she's been there for around a week now it looks like so we don't know when or if she will move. She might be hunkering down right there because she thinks she's safe, so we should probably make our move soon," he explained. The whole time he was explaining Ripper was silent. And I mean, I would be too if the people I was involved with was hunting down my mother who tortured me for years.

"Spider, can you give us a moment please?" I asked, my eyes never leaving Ripper who continued to stare at the laptop screen. Spider nodded and with a glance towards the both of us he walked out, shutting the door to my office behind him.

I stared at Ripper for a moment longer before sighing and standing up straight.

"How're you feeling? Be honest."

He sighed softly before taking a seat in one of the chairs that was in my office. Over the years I had gotten good a reading people's expressions and emotions, and at that moment I could see the amount of stress that he was trying to hide.

"It's not me who I'm worried about," he started. "Ever since I found out that my mother was trying to pull a bunch of shit the only person I've been worried about is Lilly. I have nightmares every single night now and I know she hears them but I can't bring myself to talk about them, knowing that she'll just stare at me with a look of pity which is the last thing I want. I love her Alpha. I know that I do. I just don't want her to get mixed up in this and end up hurt."

He placed his head in his hands and groaned in despair. I felt pride in knowing that my daughter had found herself a man who will love and protect her for the rest of her life like I know Ripper will, but it made me depressed knowing that neither of them know how to talk about these issues with each other.

I walked over to him and crouched down, forcing him to be eye level with me.

"You listen to me and you listen to me damn well. I get that you're scared. But have you ever doubted your ability to protect my daughter?"

A guarded look came across his face along with a murderous glint in his eyes.

"No."

"You'll do anything to protect her right?"

"Yes."

"You will make her feel safe, loved and cherish correct?"

"Of course."

"Then stop it. Talk to her about your concerns. Keeping it all in does nothing to help out either of you." My tone was stern so I knew that I was getting my point across. Even though the man in front of me was mature enough to not need a talking to, I knew that he needed a father figure in his life still that he could go to for advice.

He sat there for a few moments, I assume gathering his thoughts. What I said had to of made sense and if it didn't then I would gladly explain and say it again.

"Okay, I get it. That makes sense. I'll try my best but I just don't know how to bring any of this up to her. I don't know how to tell her about how every day I hoped I wouldn't wake up. I don't know how to tell her that from the age of five I was chained to the ceiling, dangling as my own mother put out her cigarettes on my body. I don't know how to tell her that each day my mother came down with a new friend to rape me and abuse me. I don't know how to tell her that my own mother even tried to rip out my god damn heart, and that's why I have so many scars on my chest," he sobbed.

For the first time since he arrived at the club, I was witnessing the most feared killer around break down right in front of me.

Even the strongest of people have their weak moments in life.

I pulled him in for a hug, allowing him to feel the comfort from someone which he desperately needed. Listening to his sobs as he broke down about something he has kept inside of him for years made tears come to my own eyes.

Hugging him tighter, I let one tear trail down my face as his sobs started to subside.

For a couple minutes longer I continued to hold him until he was only sniffling, and then I pulled away so I could look at his face.

Puffy, bloodshot eyes stared back at me. I could still see the sadness in them but it was thankfully less than before.

"Better?" I asked.

He nodded. "Much. Thank you Alpha."

"Good. Now let's get back to work."

_____________________

I hummed as I made breakfast for some of the guys who were too lazy to do it themselves. The chef was out today so a few of them had come up to me, practically begging for me to make them food.

These men need to learn how to cook. I thought with an amused smile.

Of course, I didn't mind cooking for them though. It made me feel useful and special that I could do something for them.

Plus them praising my cooking might just boost my ego a tad.

As I finished up the food, the men were practically beginning to drool from the smell coming from the kitchen. All of them were eager for the food to be done and honestly, I couldn't blame them.

My thoughts began to wander as I turned off the stove and began to plate the food. There was more than enough for seconds and thirds for everyone, but I figured I would at least give them their first plate.

My thoughts wandered to the events that had been happening over the past few weeks.

I knew Bryan was stressed as fuck about what was going on, and that made it harder and harder for me to be even remotely calm about the situation at hand. I knew that because I was his girlfriend the club was starting to view me as a higher rank, so I knew that I couldn't break down about this.

Breaking down wasn't something that I did a lot, only when a stressful situation came up and my mind couldn't cope with it. And that was exactly what was happening.

The events kept happening right after each other, barely spaced out enough to allow the club to have a break in between. I could tell from looking around that it was beginning to stress out everyone, not just Bryan.

I cursed as I accidentally spilled a little bit of the hot food, causing it to land on my hand. Quickly I wiped it off and, ignoring the now prominent red mark on my skin, I began taking the plates of food out to the guys who were no doubt very hungry and eager.

As soon as I stepped out of the kitchen all eyes were practically glued to me. I tried to give out the plates as quick as I could, but thankfully Smiles volunteered to help me carrying the plates back and forth so it went quicker. The guys dug into their food like they had been starved for years, barely pausing to praise the food and say their thank you's.

I watched with amusement for a little bit before going back into the kitchen to make my own plate of food.

Together the guys and I ate with a calm atmosphere around us as we listened to the girls and the children play in the main room.

"So," Jason turned his attention towards me. "How does it feel to be Alpha's girl?" He asked with a smirk, nudging me with his elbow. A few of the guys around us heard his question as well and shook their head with a smile.

I grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know," I winked. Jason laughed.

"Oh you caught me Scarlett, how I would give everything to have that man love me," he said wistfully with a smile.

I rolled my eyes and playfully shoved him away from me. We laughed together before we sobered up a little bit.

"But seriously," he started again. "He treats you good right?" He asked.

I smiled as I remember everything that's happened since I've been here. The memories cause me to blush slightly as the smile was difficult to wipe from my face.

"He treats me like a true gentleman. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. He's so protective and caring, I've never felt unsafe in his presence. Every day when he holds me at night I feel so unbelievably cared for it shocks me. I just hope this feeling never ends because that would absolutely break my heart," I whispered. My voice had trailed off near the end and I could see both happiness and sadness in Jason's eyes as he heard the last little bit.

"For the sake of both of your guys's happiness, I really hope that feeling never goes away. Y'all are like a match made in Heaven."

____________________

"Nox! Leo! Would you two stop that?!" I heard Lilly yell as I opened the door to the backyard. I laughed when I saw what was happening.

The poor girl was struggling to get the two pups to stay out of a mud puddle that they had located.

Lilly turned and glared at me as I continued to laugh. Her pants were soaked from the two pups splashing water onto her. All three of them were covered in mud and by the looks of it, only two were enjoying themselves.

"Little hand here?" She asked grumpily.

I walked over to her while still laughing and together we each managed to secure the two puppies. Water and mud was all over my clothes but I didn't really mind as Leo leaner up to lick my face happily, Nox doing the same to Lilly. Together we laughed and brought them inside, immediately going into the main bathroom to give them a bath together.

As we walked through the main area the guys couldn't help but chuckle at us, causing them to receive a glare from Lilly that shut them right up.

It was a pain in the ass but after many hilarious incidents, both of the puppies were clean and dry.

"I'm going to go shower and probably not leave the room for the rest of the night," Lilly laughed.

I grinned. "Me either. Bathing those two is a workout alone holy fuck."

Together we had one last laugh before we parted ways. After careful consideration, I decided to go upstairs into Bryan's room to shower, hesitant about if I was allowed to or not but decided to just go with it in the end.

Oh well.