A Father's Arrogance Ch.08

Thanks to markf52 for the editing help.

All characters in sexual encounters are 18 years of age or older.

Characters:

Kyle Trident: Pack leader

Hank Trident: Kyle's abusive and arrogant father.

Marcus Trident: Kyle's deceased grandfather.

Kimberly (Kim) Trident: Kyle's mom, but not biologically, pack member.

Kenzie Iverson (Kenz): Kyle's half-sister, pack member.

Monica Iverson: Kenz's mom, pack member.

Kelly Sonders (GG): Grandmother, Kim and Kelcey's mom, pack member.

Kelcey Sonders: Aunt, older sister to Kim by two years, and Kayleigh's mom, pack member.

Kayleigh Johnston: Cousin, not yet a pack member.

Aleza Lambert: Older neighbor, Kyle's first everything, pack member.

M. A. R. C. U. S.: AI/Mobile pact Arbiter, one of three of the Triskele.

M. A. R. C. I.: AI/Mobile Crime Investigator, two of three of the Triskele.

E. L. S. A.: AI/Study Aide from the Library, three of three of the Triskele.

Nora Kellum: Account Manager, possibility of becoming a pack member.

Trina Kellough: Native American, car salesperson, pack member.

Mike Winslow: security guard at Trident Shipping, longtime family friend.

Liam Appleton: Friend and Corporate Attorney, Acting CEO of Trident Logistics and Transport Company.

Zayla Marrow: History Teacher, not yet a pack member.

Tristian Oliver (Triss): Kyle's girlfriend, pack member.

Hellen Keyler (Titania): Her nickname is from Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' as the Queen of the fairies, tattoo artist, loves extremely hot showers, and pack member.

Ophelia Quentin: Heiress to the Quentin Grocery store chain, won from a pact her husband lost, pack member.

Brook Snow-Wolf: Native American, pack member.

Ashley Johnston (AJ): Police officer, not related to Kayleigh, pack member.

Teresa Toliver (Tess): Police officer, pack member.

Maureen Jakeob: Married neighbor who broke into Kyle's old house to take a shower, pack member.

Andi Hill: Schoolmate, Dani's twin sister, rescued from Maureen's husband and sons, pack member.

Dani Hill: Schoolmate, Andi's twin sister, rescued from Maureen's husband and sons, pack member.

Nadia Hill (Nadi): Andi and Dani's mother, rescued from her abusive husband, will be a pack member.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't fall asleep. Having four of the pack not with me here in our bed felt off, so I got out of bed and dressed as quietly as possible. I needed to go to the hospital and check on Nadia. I kept seeing every individual bruise on her from the beatings she had endured, and I was worried for her health. If Patrick wasn't dead already, I'd kill him.

Andi and Dani woke up, which woke everyone else up. "I'm sorry for waking you," I said to the group of ladies rubbing their eyes. Before I knew it, we were all dressed and on our way to the hospital. We got quite the looks when we walked into the hospital. I had sent a text to Aleza letting her know that we were on our way. GG, Aleza, Maureen, and Ophelia got up and greeted us with hugs when we finally made it to the emergency room waiting area.

"She had several cracked or broken ribs, a bruised spleen and liver, her left orbital socket was fractured, and a ruptured left eardrum, along with a myriad of cuts and bruises," GG told us.

Andi and Dani were the only ones allowed to go back and see Nadia, so we all waited for them to return with more news on how their mother was doing. AJ and Tess got up and walked to the nurse's station, showed their badges, and were allowed to go back. We all waited for what seemed like hours upon hours.

Dani came out, and a short time later Andi came out. We gathered around to hear what they had to tell us, and it was a doozy. "Mom is in surgery now; they're trying to fix a bleed that she has on her left lung from one of the broken ribs, and the doctors say that she'll be okay once they can stop the bleeding," Andi told us.

When I tell you that the next several hours dragged on, I mean it. Five and a half hours it took them to fix the bleed in Nadia, and we felt every second of them. Dani and Andi never left my side, and they always had one of the others next to them. Tess came out and told us that Nadia was in recovery, and she was doing remarkably well; that made all of us very happy. A short time later the surgeon came out and told us what he and his staff had found.

"If Mrs. Hill hadn't been brought in when she had, she would have died within a day or two. Fortunately, she was, and now I expect her to make a full recovery, with minimal restrictions once she is totally healed. She needs at least two weeks of good solid rest, and we'll give her a list of what activities she can and cannot do while she recuperates," the doctor informed us.

"I can guarantee she will be very pampered and well taken care of," I told the doctor.

When she was moved to her room, we went up in small groups so as not to upset the hospital staff. She was somewhat lucid when I went in; she grabbed me by the hand and pulled me down so that she could kiss me.

"Thank you for saving me and my daughters. I will never be able to repay you for what you have done for us."

She fell back asleep holding onto my hand; when I would try to get up, she would grip my hand tighter and pull it close to her chest. After a couple of attempts to go and let someone else visit, and her not letting go of my hand, I pulled a chair closer to the bed and sat down, letting her keep my hand. The news of the shooting made the local news, which had some of the reporters coming to the hospital to try and get interviews with Nadia, Andi, and Dani.

AJ and Tess made the decision to take shifts standing guard and would screen every person that tried to enter Nadia's room. It didn't take long until a less than scrupulous private eye tried to sneak in and get photographs of Nadia. The next was a reporter, who went as far as to dress up as a doctor and tried to push past Tess. Tess was having none of it and quickly had the asshat on the ground and in cuffs.

I walked out of the room to hear, "Let me go, you bitch. I have a right to be here and get an interview with Mrs. Hill. You can't......."

"That's where you're wrong, Mr.?" I said to the man.

"What?"

"Your name, what's your name? Moron,"

"I don't have to tell you a damn thing, boy!"

"Maybe not me, but you do have to tell her," I said, pointing at Tess.

"I ain't saying shit."

"Marci?"

"Under Penal Code 127.02D, failure to identify to a law enforcement officer (felony, two years in prison) and 457.11C Impersonating medical personnel (felony, seven years in prison), 551.00A Using a disguise to gain entry to a restricted area (felony, three to fifteen years in prison) depends on the severity of the level of the area that was breached; in this case, I would expect no less than five years in prison. 1103.12B Assault on a police officer while in the commission of a felony (aggravated felony, fifteen years in prison), 412.79C Hindering an investigation (felony, three years in prison). All will be enhanced due to multiple felonies being committed at the same time; the courts could add ten to twenty years in prison as the enhancement."

"Tess, what's his name?"

Tess pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and read his name, "Arthur Hargrave. He's a private detective, and a shady one at that. I thought I recognized him."

"Well, now we know you're not with any media outlet or the hospital. Care to fill us in on why you're really here?" I asked.

"Fuck off, junior!"

I wanted to penalty kick him in the side of his head so bad, but I refrained from doing so.

"Gun!" Tess called out.

The two officers who had been walking down the hallway in our direction broke out into a full-on sprint when they heard Tess yell, "Gun!" When they got to us, they took control of Hargrave and his weapon, which had an illegal suppressor on it.

"I will add 303.19D Possession of a prohibited weapon (felony, ten years in prison) and 303.127A Possession of a weapon in a restricted area (felony, five years in prison)," Marci told us.

I walked over to Tess and whispered to her, "I don't think he was here to see Nadia; I think he was here to see me, GG, or Kenz."

Tess's eyes went wide, and she ran down to the officers who were now standing at the elevator. I could see Tess point in my direction and tell them something that had one of the officers get on his radio. A short time later a message came over the hospital intercom: "Code Venetian, I repeat, this is a Code Venetian." The staff got up and immediately started locking down our section of the hospital.

Tess got back to me and pushed me into Nadia's room and shut the blinds on the windows. A doctor, M. Cantu, came in a few minutes later, and I asked, "Can we safely move her?"

"Move her where?"

"Some place that's more secure and safe than here," I told him.

"And that's where?"

"Doc, you're wanting to know something you don't need to know; why is that?"

"I do have a right to know."

"No, you don't. Someone tipped a hitman off as to where I and my family were at, and you're asking me to tell you where we will be moving Nadia to, so that makes you look awfully suspicious to me."

"Marci, what would be the charge for the doctor if he's a conspirator in attempted murder?" I asked.

"78.112 A 1. a conspiracy to commit a felony that causes serious bodily injury and/or death (life in prison) if death occurs as a result (the death penalty is imposed)."

The doctor lost his coloring and began to back out of the room. What he didn't know was that while I was talking to him, AJ had entered the room behind him. He backed into AJ and jumped like someone had grabbed his ass and goosed him. He spun around and had the business end of a pistol pointed at his head. He put his hands up and froze in place, which was a smart move on his part.

"It's in your best interest right now that you don't move a muscle," AJ said to the doctor.

Tess was already in motion and had the doctor in handcuffs before he could blink twice. I was very impressed at how smoothly AJ and Tess worked together; it was almost as if they could read each other's minds. Once Tess had him cuffed, she had him kneel and cross his feet. Another guy walked into the room and said, "That's not Dr. Cantu."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Because I'm Dr. Meguel Cantu."

AJ and Tess were already in his pocket, getting his wallet out, when I turned around to look at them.

AJ read his credentials and said, "Thirston Devarough, another shady PI turned hitman."

He too was going to be going away for a very long time. Then two more officers arrived to take Thirston away. I looked at the real Dr. M. Cantu and asked, "Can we safely move Mrs. Hill?"

He walked over, picked up a file folder from the plastic holder on the wall, began to read it, and then said, "She can be moved; I don't see anything to the contrary."

Nadia managed to sleep through all the shenanigans, which is a good thing. I, on the other hand, had 'cotton mouth' and felt like I was about to throw up. I went and sat in a chair out in the hallway that AJ and Tess had put there for them to sit in. Tess came out of the room, handed me a small glass of water, and had me drink it slowly.

"First time in a situation like that?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"You did really well, for it to be your first," she said with a giggle.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know if I wanted to shit myself or throw up."

I've been there; it's the backside of the adrenaline high that's a bitch."

"I can feel myself shaking."

"That's you coming down from the adrenaline rush; it'll be over soon, and if you do like I did, you'll want a nap," she told me.

After twenty minutes or so, I was feeling back to normal-ish and a little sleepy. I walked to the vending machine down the hall and got myself an energy drink, then walked back to the room. I was just about to open the drink when AJ snatched it from me and said, "Ohhhh, no, you don't; you'll crash like a motherfucker if you drink that right after an adrenaline high." Then she gave me a peppermint candy to suck on instead.

I had Marci contact Liam and let him know what was going on and have him hire a security firm. Nadia slept for another six hours, and then when she finally woke up, we told her that we were taking her home, and she got a very distressed look on her face. "No, no, no, your new home, with all of us," I told her. That seemed to calm her, so we got her ready and made our way to a car I borrowed from the good Dr. Cantu. Tess and AJ drove Cantu's car, while Liam had a shuttle bus from the office come and pick the rest of us up.

Mike was our driver, and that made me feel a hell of a lot better. As we drove up to the gate, there were patrol cars parked on either side. An officer stopped us and got on the bus, but over the officer's radio I could hear AJ tell them to let us through. The officer got off and waved us through the gate. Mike pulled up to the front door, and the ladies got off, but I stayed on the bus to talk with Mike.

Mike closed the door to the bus so we could talk without being overheard. "Two hitmen, within an hour of each other, tried and failed to do something today."

"You think it's Hank's hit list?" Mike asked.

"I think it has something to do with it."

"So, who were the guys that you caught?"

"I didn't catch them; all the pats on the back go to AJ and Tess. They were the ones with the cool heads."

"Can I ask an off-topic question, Kyle?"

"You know you can, Mike."

"What's the deal with all the ladies around here?"

"This may take a bit to explain."

"I have time if you do."

"I do,"

"Is this a popcorn story?" he asked.

"Maybe, do you want some?"

"I am a little bit hungry, now that I think about it."

"Okay, let's go inside and get some food, then we can talk in grandfather's study."

"Sounds good to me," Mike said as he opened the door, and we left the bus to go inside to get some food and continue our conversation.

Ophelia, Maureen, GG, and Aleza were all in the kitchen cooking something that smelled wonderful.

"It's mixed vegetables, tripe soup, curry shrimp, jasmine rice, roast duck, and homemade Durian ice-cream," Ophelia told us.

My stomach took this opportunity to growl, and so did Mike's.

"How long?" I asked.

"About an hour."

I grabbed a couple of fruit bars and water for Mike and me, and we retreated to the study. I let Mike into the study and went to check on Nadia. She was in the room across from our room and was being tended to by the rest of the ladies. I had no idea how they did it, but they had all the equipment and devices that the hospital had and even managed to bring Rebecca McCormick home from the hospital with them to be Nadia's personal nurse. Nadia saw me and held her hand up, motioning me to come over to her.

When I got close enough, I held my hand out and took Nadia's hand in mine. She pulled me to her and then down to her so she could kiss me. It wasn't a tongue-battling, lip-smacking kiss, but it did convey its undeniable message to me, one that even I could understand.

"Thank you for caring enough to take care of me and my girls."

"You and they are more than welcome."

The smell of the food reached the room, and everyone's eyes told me there would not be any leftovers from tonight's meal. I leaned down and kissed Nadia on her temple and quietly said in her ear, "You rest and let us take care of you. This is your home if you wish to stay, so relax and enjoy the pampering for a while."

With a smile and a slight giggle, she said, "I think I will do both."

I made my way around the room, giving hugs and kisses to everyone that was there. Even Rebecca had somehow managed to get in line to receive her hug and kiss as well; that made the others laugh at me. When I reached the door, I turned around and said to them, "I am very grateful for all of you to be in my life and don't know what I would do without any of you," then continued to the study where I had left Mike.

"Sorry for making you wait," I said to Mike as I walked into the study.

"No worries."

"So, where were we? Yes, I got it, from the top then."

"Please," he said.

"I had been wanting to get away from Hank's abuse for a long time and take Kim with me. I started to read and try to find a way out from his tyrannical ways. Just by chance I pulled a book at the library that had case studies on 'pacts,' how to make them, and what was needed to have them made legal and binding. I read everything I could on making pacts."

"Okay, but that doesn't explain the ladies."

"I'm getting to that, so bear with me. I was mowing Aleza's yard, and I wanted to learn how to please a woman, and who better to teach me than a beautiful woman like her? I asked her, and I thought that she was going to kill me on the spot. Turns out she had been flirting with me, and I didn't know it. We did the deed, and during my lesson a wonderful thing happened."

"Gotcha ya self a cougar, huh?"

"A few of them."

"Wait, what?"

"As I was saying, during the time Aleza and I were making love, she bonded herself to me. It's something that rarely happens, according to the ladies. The woman's body floods itself with all sorts of chemicals, and they are literally bound to me. They don't want, or need, another man, just me. When we finished, I came home to find Hank and a couple of his cronies trying to force Kim over the kitchen table. I kicked one of the guys trying to have his way with Kim in the nuts, and the other I hit in the head with a frying pan, and that gave her time to get her pants up and get away from them."

"I've always disliked Hank," Mike said.

"Hank was pissed, and I needed to get him gone before things got unbearable or dangerous for Kim and me. I told Hank we should do a pact, and he agreed to it, and he set the terms of the pact. For the pact to be legal and binding, an arbiter must be brought in and told the terms of, and then witness, the pact. The Arbiter then passes judgment on whether the Pact terms were followed and gives his decision on the Pact. It just so happened Hank chose Kim as one of the stipulations."

"Why did he choose your mom?"

"Because he was an arrogant asshole who thought he was 'The Man!'" Kim said from the doorway, making both of us jump. Kim walked over, sat in my lap, and asked, "Do you mind if I continue?"

"No, not all," I told her.

"Like Kyle was telling you, Hank set the terms of the Pact. I was the main one, but the rest involved me as well. Hank bet Kyle that he couldn't make me orgasm as fast as he could, and what Hank wasn't expecting was for Kyle to agree to his terms. Then Kyle made his terms to Hank: one orgasm, and Hank leaves and doesn't come back. Two, he lost his car; three, he lost the house; four, Hank would lose his bank accounts; five, he lost his seat on the board at Trident Shipping; and anything over that would be icing on the cake. Hank agreed, thinking Kyle wouldn't be able to complete his terms. The Arbiter judged in Kyle's favor, and Hank refused to comply with the Arbiter's judgment. The Arbiter gave him a chance to comply with the judgment, but Hank refused and was sent to prison."

"Wow," was all Mike could say.

"During the Pact, Kim locked me up and bonded herself to me, so now at that point, I have Aleza and Kim who have bonded themselves to me."

"So, you're telling me that all the women in this house are bonded to you and are essentially your wives?"

"No, not all; one in this house isn't bound to me, but the rest are, though. And by how the law is written, yes, they're all considered my wives."

"This Arbiter you're talking about, I've not heard of it before, until you did what you did at the office."

"Mobile Arbitration, Recording, Certification, Utility System. Marcus, for short, the name I gave him anyway."

Marcus spoke up, "Hello, Mr. Winslow."

"Um, hello."

"He's an artificial intelligence."

"And he's in your portable phone?" Mike asked.

"The phone is way more advanced than what they were to start with. It has more processing power, storage, memory, and a connection to the internet, which makes things better for Marci and Elsa," I told him and then continued, "We also have two other AIs. Marci, Mobile Analyzing Recorder for Criminal Investigations, anything to do with the criminal law is her domain. And then there's Elsa, Edenborough Library Study Aide, who has all the knowledge on the internet and the books in the library at her disposal. They're part of what I call the 'Triskele'," who both then greeted Mike.

"So, everything seems to be running smoothly, to have all of them sharing you?" It might not have sounded like a question, but the look on Mike's face said it was.

"Sort of," I said with a grimace.

"What do you mean, "sort of"?" Mike asked.

"Well, there was a hiccup a couple of days ago."

"What kind of hiccup?"

"One that none of us could have known and one that could have been fatal."

"Fatal, how?"

"When Ophelia was brought home, she was supposed to be a house pet of sorts."

"House pet?"

"Not the point, I... we were doing our thing when I could feel her about to bond with me, so I stopped and left her alone. Her body had already flooded her with the chemicals to bond her to me, and well, that led to her becoming very depressed the next morning when AJ and Tess were bonded to me. Ophelia became very sad, and when I say sad, I mean die of a broken heart kind of sad."

"That sounds horrible. What did you do?" Mike asked.

"Monica, Kenz, and I took Ophelia to the library to try and get information on what was causing her to be so sad. That's when we added Elsa to the family."

"You obviously found out how to help her."

"We found out what was causing the sadness, yes, but not how to fix it, so to speak."

"You're losing me, kid."

"We had the cause, not the cure. So, on a hunch, I took Ophelia to the ladies' room and picked up where I had left her. Once she had bonded to me, I thought she would be fine, but she wasn't. She was still sad, so we left the library and went home."

Ophelia stuck her head in and told us we had fifteen minutes before dinner was ready.

"We were just talking about you," I told her.

"Oh?" she replied.

"I was telling Mike about how you were sad and all."

Ophelia blushed, then came over and sat on the arm of the chair I was sitting in, and said, "It was all very weird."

I could tell Mike was a bit confused by her statement, so I filled in the rest: "When we got back from the library, I carried Ophelia up to our bedroom and put her in bed. I was mentally exhausted, so I joined her, and then Kelly and Aleza joined a short time later."

"What's so weird about that?" Mike asked.

"It isn't; it's the dreams we had that would be considered weird."

"Dreams?"

"I'll try the best I can to explain them to you."

Brook and Trina walked in and sat at my feet and said, "If you need us to explain it, we would love to do it."

I kissed Ophelia on the cheek and asked, "Can you please get Mike a nice stiff drink and make it at least four fingers?" She nodded, got up, and fixed Mike his drink, which he sat down on the end table next to him.

Trina and Brook began to tell him what had happened: "With us being Native American, we believe in a spirit world and that things in the spirit world can affect the living world."

"Okay," Mike said.

"When Kyle and we bonded here in the living world, we also bonded in the spirit world. We were greeted by a medicine man, and he did a ritual that bonded us in the spirit world. We were consumed by the fires of passion so that we may burn inside us for all eternity. We also were introduced to our spirit animals, white wolves for all of Kyle's women and a black wolf for him." Mike reached over and grabbed his drink and downed it in one go, so Ophelia got up, took the bottle of whiskey over to Mike, and sat it down on the table.

"Now that you know the basics, the rest might make better sense to you. When Kyle and Ophelia fell asleep, they were taken to the spirit world, where Kyle could see that Ophelia and her wolf were very close to death. Kyle did the only thing he could think of; he gave Ophelia his heart."

Mike made him another glass, drank it down, and said, "His heart? In for a penny, in for a pound; please continue."

Brook picked up from where Trina had left off, "Like Trina said, Kyle could see how bad a shape Ophelia and her wolf were in, so he asked the wolf medicine man to save her, but he couldn't; what he could do was help Kyle. That help was providing Kyle with a ceremonial knife. Kyle knew what he needed to do, so he went and sat in the fire that was burning next to him, then he cut his heart out and offered it to Ophelia. The medicine man took the knife and Kyle's heart and went over to Ophelia, where he cut out Ophelia's heart, which was barely beating, and put Kyle's, very strong, heart into her chest. The medicine man returned to Kyle and put Ophelia's weakened heart into him."

I could tell that Mike was becoming more, and more, visibly shaken by the story.

"You okay, Mike?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I think," he said as he took another drink.

"I woke up feeling wonderful and thought I had one hell of a strange dream," Ophelia told Mike.

"As Ophelia and her wolf got stronger, the weaker my wolf and I got. I knew, as long as I was in the fire, I would be okay, except my wolf had lain down next to Ophelia's wolf, so he was a few feet from the fire, and when he tried to make it back to me, he fell and couldn't make it back. I couldn't let him die, so I left the fire, picked him up, and started back for the fire. I knew I wasn't going to make it back after a few steps, so I threw him at the fire, hoping to get him in it, but only getting some of his back in the flames. I took one more step before I fell, landing just shy of the flames. I can't be sure, but I think Ophelia's wolf nudged me to where the top of my head was in the flames of the fire."

"Aleza and Kelly came downstairs and said, 'Kyle's speaking weird," so we ran up to see what he was saying. He was talking in our native tongue, "My heart for yours." He had given his heart to Ophelia in the spirit world, and if he died there, he would die here in the living world as well," Trina said.

"We knew what we needed to do to save Kyle, so we made a very big fire out back, where all of us gathered around it, and then Trina and I began to call on our ancestors for help. After a little while we were all transported to Kyle and could see just how he was. We were greeted by the wolf medicine man and the coyote medicine man, who picked up Kyle's wolf and placed him, and then Kyle, into the fire, all the while we had coyotes gathering in a circle behind us, and when their circle was done, our wolves formed a circle behind them."

"And everyone had the same dream?"

"We did," a voice sounded from the doorway. GG (Kelly) was standing there; she had come to let us know that dinner was ready and for us to come to the table. Our conversation was over for the time being, so we all went to the table. At some point, someone had called Mike's wife, Keena, to come and join us for dinner. I'm glad they did, because Mike wasn't in any shape to be driving. All was quiet while we ate, and Mike was the quietest of us all. The food was going fast, so I asked for enough to be left for Nadia and Rebecca.

"They were fed first," GG told me.

"Thank you," I said, smiling at her.

GG got up, walked over to me, and kissed me as a lover, not as a grandmother. Keena shook her head and said, "Thank you for inviting me and my husband to this wonderful meal. I think we will go home and relax for the rest of the evening."

Mike stood up and said, "Welp, that's my cue," then he took Keena by the hand and walked to the front door.

I walked them to their car and received a hug from Keena and then Mike. "Thank you for thinking of us when you made that pact; we appreciate it very much," Keena said to me as she kissed me on the cheek.

"You two are like my surrogate parents; I would do anything for you."

The love and affection in Mike and Keena's eyes were enough to tell me that they loved me too, and I would never be without a family. I stood outside watching them drive away until I couldn't see their taillights anymore, then I went back inside. I went up to check on Nadia and make sure she didn't need anything; she didn't. Rebecca, on the other hand, wanted me to sit and talk. I had no idea where this was going, but I'm sure it was a setup.