Betrayal - The Matlock Pack: Book Two

Chapter 15 - Cody

Monday 25 January

~*Cody*~

Nahi was setting up our next experiment and I was engrossed in the book she had given me to read when we heard the knock at the door.

“Keep reading, Cody. I’ll get it.” Nahi picked up the cloak she always had handy for visitors, paused as she stared at the door, then put the cloak back down. “Actually Cody, on second thought, you can answer it. Tell me who you think it is first, though.” She crossed her arms, leaned on the workbench, and gazed at me expectantly.

Late last week, Nahi had given me a new skill to learn—untethering my wolf spirit Roux from my body so she could determine who was around corners or on the other side of doors. It was something that Nat had done unconsciously when she was still suffering from amnesia and she was now trying to perfect it. It only worked over small distances, but Nahi told us both that the distance would grow the older we got and the more we trained.

Before I got up from my seat, I sent Roux out as far as I could, but it wasn’t enough to get to the door. Nibbling at my lower lip, I made it halfway to the door before I tried again. I closed my eyes to what was around me and tried to see through Roux’s spirit eyes.

Oh! I tapped at my phone. “It’s Mum.” I glanced at Nahi, who nodded, then looked pointedly at the door, without shifting any other part of her body. Oh, right. I still needed to answer it.

Pocketing my phone, I skipped over to the door and flung it open. Sure enough, Mum was standing on the other side. I beamed at her, not only happy to see her, but thrilled that I was able to use my new skill correctly.

“Took you long enough,” she grumbled as she walked in.

Frowning, I closed the door and followed her into the lounge. Mum had always been abrupt, but normally she at least said ‘hi’ when she showed up unexpectedly at someone’s door.

“Hello to you too, Auden,” Nahi said, a cheeky smile in her voice. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Mum sagged into the couch and took a deep breath. She looked into the middle distance, avoiding both of our eyes. “I need some help this afternoon.”

I raised an eyebrow and looked from Mum to Nahi, then back again. Mum was asking for help? From Nahi, of all people? I crossed my arms as I stood on the other side of the room to Nahi.

Nahi tipped her head to the side as she studied Mum. Finally, she broke out into a huge grin and bounded over to sit her naked self down next to Mum. “You took my advice!” She clasped Mum’s hands in excitement.

Blushing, Mum chewed her bottom lip nervously, then looked over Nahi’s shoulder to me with a vaguely guilty expression. “And that’s why I need some help.”

I mouthed the word ‘what?’ at her, with my forehead crinkling in utter confusion. What on earth was going on?

“Of course!” Nahi said enthusiastically. “Oh, I’m so happy for you two!”

I took two steps forward and tapped Nahi’s shoulder and once I had her attention I raised my hands in the universal sign for ‘will someone tell me what the hell is going on?’ with as much bewilderment as I could muster on my face.

Nahi started laughing. “It’s not my place to say. You’ll have to ask your mother.”

I turned my befuddled expression on Mum, who had turned a deep beetroot colour. Whatever had happened had made her incredibly embarrassed.

“Uh…” Mum stuttered, looking at Nahi for help, though none was forthcoming. She swallowed. “Um… I might have… Uh…” She averted her gaze away from mine and lowered her voice to barely a whisper. “I might have slept with Takeshi…” She coughed.

My eyes widened to saucer-like proportions and my jaw dropped open enough to fit a car into my mouth. WHAT?!

Nahi clapped her hands together in absolute joy.

I stood still, blinking as I absorbed the news that my mum had had s*x with the pack alpha. Okay, enough thinking about that. I don’t need those types of images in my head. I shuddered, my shoulders shaking the thoughts out of my head, hopefully never to return.

Mum coughed again. “And yeah… That’s why I need some help this afternoon.”

I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and started typing away furiously. “I don’t want or need any details about you and Takeshi. Honestly, the least said, the better, because vomit.” I pretended to poke my finger down my throat. “But you know I’ll always help you with anything you need, Mum. What do you need us to do?”

Nahi burst into a new fit of giggles at my words, but Mum gave me an appreciative smile. “I need to clear everything out of our apartment while your dad’s at work.”

“Let me get some clothes on,” Nahi said before dashing out of the room.

Mum looked at me with an anxious expression as she twisted her hands together. It had been years since I had seen her as nervous as this.

I sat down next to her in the spot Nahi had vacated and placed my hand on her knee. “We’ll make it work, Mum. Whatever you need.”

“Oh, honey.” She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything.”

I hugged her tighter. “Just tell me one thing, Mum.”

“Anything.”

“Does Takeshi make you happy?”

I felt her sniff and lift her hand to wipe her eye. “I haven’t felt this happy since your daddy died.”

“Oh, Mum…” I felt a tear roll down my cheek. “I’m so thrilled for you.”

She burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m crying.”

“Happy tears, Mum. Happy tears.” I kissed her on the cheek as I let her go and wiped my cheek. I got up, grabbed the box of tissues that lived on the bookcase, and handed it to her with a smile.

“Thanks, hon.” She plucked several out of the box and blew her nose just as Nahi reappeared, now clad in a white tank top and cargo pants that hung low on her hips.

“Let’s get this show on the road!” She headed over to one of the spare rooms and picked up a stack of flattened boxes. “I’m happy I didn’t throw these boxes away now. Cody, can you grab the tape dispenser from under the kitchen sink?”

I nodded and once I had the dispenser in hand, we made our way to the apartment where soon, only my dad would be living.

~~~

We were packing the last of the photographs into a box when Dad came home.

All of Mum’s personal possessions, as well as what little remained of my own, had already been removed. We’d left all the household goods and furniture for Dad to use, except for one chair that used to belong to Daddy. The only items that remained in the apartment that Mum still wanted were the family photos on the wall.

When the door clicked open, we all froze and stared at each other in horror. He wasn’t due to be home for another couple of hours.

Nahi noticed the terrified look on Mum’s face and immediately positioned herself between Mum and Dad. I kept packing as quickly as I could, shoving as much as I could into the box without a care of how they fit. We were so close to having everything done.

“What’s going on?” Dad asked, suspicion creeping into his voice. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as I continued stuffing the box. He cast his eyes around the living areas, pausing on the now rather empty bookshelves next to the TV.

No-one responded.

“Auden?” He narrowed his eyes and turned to Mum, whose hands were visibly trembling as she stood behind Nahi. “Cody?”

I took a deep, steadying breath in as I continued packing.

“Cody, stop packing.” His voice was like ice, yet remained calculating. “No-one’s going anywhere.”

I paused for a second, gulped, and kept going. We needed to get out. This wasn’t going to end well if we didn’t get out in the next five minutes.

“CODY!” He roared, unable to hold in his anger any longer.

I kept my glare aimed directly at him as my hands continued to work. I didn’t need to see what I was doing. Just a few more to go.

He stormed towards us, then paused halfway across the open space and sniffed the air. “You. f*****g. Whore.” Rage consumed him as he realised what Mum had been up to. “WHO?!”

Mum breathed the tiniest sigh of relief when she realised he couldn’t scent who she’d been with. I didn’t understand how he could not smell Takeshi on Mum, but thanked the Goddess above that it was so. I think Mum was more scared that Dad would go after Takeshi than her at this point.

Dropping the last photo into the box, I picked it up and nudged Mum in the back with it to indicate it was time to go. She startled, glanced over her shoulder at me and nodded before placing her hand on the small of Nahi’s back.

“We’ve got everything. We can leave now,” she whispered in Nahi’s ear.

Nahi nodded, never shifting her focus from Dad for a moment.

When Dad realised we were getting ready to leave out the guest exit, he began stalking towards us once more. “You aren’t going anywhere. You’re my f*****g wife.”

Nahi planted her feet and spread her arms out in front of us. “Cody, I need you,” she said calmly, reaching her right hand behind her, searching for mine.

I pushed the box into Mum’s hands as I went past her and clasped Nahi’s outstretched hand, glaring at my dad who was still advancing on us in steady, measured steps.

He was only two metres away from us when Nahi spoke. “Hold.” She pressed her left hand forward, splaying her fingers, reminding me very much of what Jedi’s did in the Star Wars movies. I shook my head to get the image of Nahi holding a blue lightsaber out of my mind.

Dad stalled but didn’t stop. It was almost like he was moving through molasses.

“Let go of your fear, Cody,” Nahi muttered, visibly straining against Dad’s continued efforts.

Channelling the sessions Nat and I had done before Christmas with Kennedy, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath in, held it, and opened my eyes to glare at Dad as I breathed out, letting all my anxiety drain from me.

“Well done.” Nahi stood taller as she flexed the fingers on her left hand. “Hold.”

Dad grunted as he froze, grunting with the effort of trying desperately to reach us. The invisible binds that held him in place didn’t stop him from screaming at us, though. “You f*****g witches! First, you take my fated mate away from me, now this?!”

Dad kept up a steady stream of profanity as Nahi ordered Mum to leave the apartment. Neither Nahi nor I moved an inch until we heard the door click behind Mum. “Cody, we’re going to walk steadily backwards, but I need you to keep focus. Can you do that?”

I squeezed her hand in an affirmative.

“Good.” Nahi started moving, but kept her hand up in front of her. Dad’s furious eyes drilled into us as we stepped carefully back.

“You’re not my daughter, Cody! No family of mine would EVER do what you and your whorish cunt of a mother have just done! You evil f*****g bitches! I WISH YOU WERE BOTH DEAD!”

Walking backwards, I led the way through the corridor to the exit, then opened the door and slid through, never letting go of Nahi’s hand, even when I bumped into Mum, who was still waiting for us. Once she was through, Nahi let go of me, held the door handle with her left hand, and drifted the fingers of her right across the lock.

Three seconds later, the door started shaking violently from the pummelling Dad was inflicting on it, still yelling obscenities at us. Nahi and I stepped carefully back from the door, staring at the handle while it jiggled as Dad tried desperately to get the door open.

Nahi turned around and looked at Mum and I with wide eyes.

“Run.”

~~~

We stood in the foyer of Takeshi’s apartment, trying desperately to get our breaths back under some sort of control. Mum had linked Takeshi as we ran up the stairs, and he told her he was on his way.

It didn’t stop us from getting startled when the door opened, though.

He went immediately to Mum, rested his hands lightly on her shoulders, and looked directly into her eyes. “Talk to me, Auden. What happened?”

I watched him as he embraced her and held her tightly to his chest and gently rocked her as she hiccupped her way through our experience. Nahi and I nodded whenever he looked over at us for confirmation of certain points, but otherwise, his focus was one hundred percent on Mum.

“She’s going to be well looked after with Takeshi,” said Roux, echoing my own thoughts. “She’s in safe hands.”

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realised how right she was. Mum had definitely traded up.

We eventually settled onto the sofas in the lounge room. Takeshi held onto Mum as she cried into his shoulder, letting out all the years of anguish she’d suffered under Dad’s hands. I felt helpless as I sat there watching them, but I also knew that Mum needed Takeshi way more than she needed me right this second.

I grabbed my phone out and started tapping. “How can we keep Mum safe?” I looked at Nahi, figuring she would likely be the one with the answers.

I wasn’t disappointed.

“It’s a public holiday tomorrow, so I’m assuming Auden’s not working, correct?” Nahi asked the room.

Takeshi nodded, his hands never slowing as they rubbed gentle circles into Mum’s back.

“Okay,” Nahi continued. “I need to talk to Tuka. She’s the protection expert. She’ll be able to create a talisman for each of us, but it’s going to take at least a week to have all three completed.”

“As soon as we’re done here, I’ll change the access codes on Jackie’s bracelet for the pack house.” Takeshi looked around for his laptop, which was currently sitting on the dining room table. “He doesn’t have access to Building Two at the moment, so you two should be safe there. He can’t get through my front door, so Auden will be safe in here.”

Mum quietly choked out a sob at his words, burrowing deeper into his neck.

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You’re safe,” he murmured as he kissed her forehead and held her closer. He looked over her head at Nahi and I. “Once he leaves the pack house, he won’t have access past the ground floor. I can bar him from the Emergency Department and Auden’s office, but I can’t keep him from the entire floor.” He heaved a sigh. “He’s still pack, which means he has to have access to the leadership offices on the ground floor and the grounds surrounding the pack house and Building Two.”

Nahi nodded in understanding. “If Cody and Auden can’t leave the buildings, then I’m going to need Tuka to come here.”

Takeshi raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to either object or ask why, when Nahi cut him off before he’d uttered a syllable.

“Tuka will need physical contact with each of us to bond each talisman to its host. If they can’t leave, she needs to come here.”

I could hear Takeshi grinding his teeth from where I sat two metres from him and Mum. “Fine,” he said after about a minute of thought. “But she’s staying with you.”

Nahi grimaced, but nodded. “That is acceptable.” She rose from her seat, indicating that I should join her. “I’ll escort Cody back to Building Two, then I’ll shadow walk to Tuka. I’ll let you know when we return.”

“Okay,” Takeshi said, sounding resigned.

I leaned down to give Mum a quick hug and kiss on the cheek before I left with Nahi. “I love you, Mum. Promise me you’ll stay safe, okay?”

She nodded, still sniffling, her eyes rimmed in red from the tears she had shed. “I promise.”

I patted her on the shoulder and mouthed ‘thank you’ to Takeshi. He smiled sadly at me in response, but remained silent. His focus was still entirely on Mum, just as it should be.

True to her word, Nahi escorted me across the courtyard, keeping our eyes peeled the entire time for my dad. Neither of us could breathe freely until we were inside Building Two and Nahi was dropping me off at the door to my apartment.

“Stay home tonight and tomorrow,” Nahi said, holding my hand with both of hers. “When you come up for class on Wednesday, my friend Tuka will be waiting to work on your protection talisman, but I also want her to train you in the process. She’s the best I know at working that magic; you’ll be in excellent hands.”

I gulped. This sounded like it was going to be above my current knowledge level.

Nahi let go of my hand and stepped back as I opened my front door. “Oh, and Cody?”

I turned back to look at her.

“You did good today.” Nahi took two more steps backwards into the shadows and disappeared.