The Runt novel Chapter 13

**trigger warning**

When I first took the she-wolf back to my place, I fully intended to have sex with her. I wanted Penelope to feel as awful as I do, knowing what was going to happen had I not interrupted... knowing what is inevitably going to happen between them since she has so willingly and easily given him her consent over me.

No! Something isn't right, Nova is too upset for it to be the way your father- Phoenix tries to argue with me for what I'm sure is the tenth time today but I won't have it. I know what I saw and what I heard – Penelope was sitting there the entire time and at no point did she argue or dispute what my father was saying. All she had to do was disagree and I'd have-

You'd have done what? Killed him? Jailed him? Let him have his way with her anyways? Phoenix snarls at me angrily before closing our mindlink completely. Happy for the silence, I pointedly ignore everything he has to say because I know he's coming at this from a purely emotional perspective and nothing more. The mate bond drives him and so he'd be willing to forgive him all manners of sin – but not me. While there are many things I'd like to think I could overlook, cheating isn't one of them.

Which might be why when it came down to it, I was unable to perform for the first time in my adult life. My she-wolf guest kissed, sucked and twirled my tongue and dick for a long time but to no avail, I could not get hard no matter how much she tried – and believe me, she tried. I only stopped her when I was rewarded with a sensation of my own – overwhelming sorrow that I knew I was somehow getting from Penelope. The sorrow was followed by something else entirely – something I've never felt before in my life so at first, I didn't recognize what it was, in fact – it took me nearly an hour.

Grief.

My arms are on fire and I feel physically weighed down by grief... grief over what I have no idea but I do know I need to get to Penelope – NOW. I thank the she-wolf for her efforts and ask her to see herself out while getting myself re-dressed on my way out the door. It isn't far to Penelope's suite and in seconds I'm pounding on the door, only to be rewarded with silence. She doesn't answer the door, she doesn't even acknowledge my presence which at first infuriates me but as Phoenix grows increasingly alarmed, my attitude changes to worry.

"Penelope!? Penelope!! Answer this door right now!" I shout, using my Alpha command which she should be unable to resist. Seconds pass and turn into a minute – still nothing. I want to respect her privacy but her refusal to acknowledge me means I have to enter her room whether she likes it or not. "If you won't answer me, I'm coming in whether you like it or not," I shout at the closed door, opening it as I go. The moment I crack the door open, the metallic scent of blood is heavy in the air.

At the hospital, the doctor is already there and takes her into the back once I lay her down on a gurney. I'm drenched in Penelope's blood and both AJ and I stand there, in silence and dumbfounded, stunned by what just happened.

Neither of us knowing if she is even going to survive.

Neither of us knowing if she even wants to.