His Apprehensive Mate - Brea Alepou Page 0,5

Fuck, he would give his very soul just to make the wish come true.

When Morgan opened his eyes, he looked around at everyone. He was met with eyes of conviction. He knew as shifters every single one of them had heard Kenny’s declaration. Kash gave him a smile and a small nod. He didn’t want to lose them either. But everyone left after they found out the truth, and they turned on Morgan. Was he stupid that a part of him believed they were going to be different than his old pack? Probably, but he couldn’t get rid of the small inkling of hope.

Kenny soothingly rubbed up and down on Morgan’s arms, his big calloused hands calming Morgan further. “Is your old pack who did this to you?” His words were uttered over a barely contained growl.

There was no turning back, not that he ever wanted to. “Yes,” Morgan whispered out.

The room erupted in growls, and the smell of anger filled the room, along with a hint of fear. Everyone noticed and tamped down their animal sides as all eyes went to Ava. She squeezed herself closer to the wall, trying to make herself small. Dillan was up and moving toward her, along with Kash.

“Why?” Cole asked.

Morgan dreaded the why, hated it his whole life.

He forced out the words that had branded him since he was fifteen. “Because I’m a runt.”

There, it was out, and now they—

“That doesn’t give them a right to hurt you,” Kash said angrily. “That practice has been banned for years. How barbaric and ugh—” Kash stood, his hands balled in fists. It took Dezi pulling him back into his lap to calm him down.

Morgan sat there frozen. They weren’t disgusted by him or looking at him any differently because he was a runt. He had to be imagining things. Ever since it was discovered he was a runt, he had been treated as if he was an abomination, even by his own family.

“Ava, are you okay?” Dillan asked, pulling Morgan’s attention over to his niece.

Morgan was up and moving toward her in a split second. They had never been close, but it wasn’t from lack of trying on Morgan’s part. His sister had been adamant about her children not associating with a runt. Everyone in his old pack had been taught runts were the weakest members of a pack and were never supposed to survive; they made packs weak and easy to kill off. At least those had been the words he’d been taught.

He crouched down, hesitating just a moment, before he placed his hands on his niece’s trembling shoulders. She had the same dark eyes as his own, and she was scared. Morgan recognized that fear he’d seen in the mirror more times than he could count, even after he walked away from his pack and became a lone wolf.

“You don’t have to worry, no one will hurt you here,” Morgan said. He believed it more than ever. How could he ever have doubted the people around him? Even for a split second out of fear, the thought should never have passed through his head. They were nothing like his old pack. They were so much better.

She looked deeply into his eyes. “I’m not one. I can’t be. I—I’m goi— I can’t be.”

Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Morgan gently wiped them away. He wanted to give her some philosophical quote or some type of pep talk that would make things better, but Morgan wasn’t able to. Not when he knew exactly what she was feeling. Instead, he gave her the one thing he never got when he found out what he was. He pulled Ava into his arms and held her as she cried. Her hot tears soaked into his shirt, her body shaking with every cry.

No one rushed them apart; no one said anything while Morgan held his niece. She was fourteen and hadn’t shifted yet; Morgan had the distinct feeling she wasn’t going to before she turned fifteen. But even if she shifted tomorrow, Morgan knew his old alpha would still declare her a runt and make the others treat her differently.

“What’s a runt?” Dillan asked.

Morgan sighed. He wished he’d never know the cruelty of it. “Someone weaker than other shifters.”

“But if you’re weaker, wouldn’t that mean they need to protect you, not hurt you?” Dillan asked.

It hurt, but Morgan knew that Dillan was only asking questions that made sense to him. But in Morgan’s world, runts were the worst—they were