Chapter 12

Elise's POV

“Please, please talk to me,” I beg him, and when I approach him he stands and turns his back to us, and leans against the window.

“We’re getting nowhere,” my dad says, and I can hear his frustration. “Leo,” my dad uses his Alpha voice and it shutters around the room, “Leo I command you to talk to us!”

“Roman, that isn’t necessary.” my mother says, we both know that Leo will be forced to talk if my father commands it. Until he accepts his wolf and takes his position as Alpha, he will have to submit to him.

In a low and strained voice, he finally speaks.

“What do you want from me? You’ve kept me locked up in this room for days. I just lost the only person that ever gave two shits about me, and it was my fault. I find out my mother is alive out there somewhere and that my father is dead. Don’t you think that maybe it’s hard to let go of the thought of someday finding him? I dreamed that one day, just maybe, I’d find him and he’d want me.”

He doesn’t even bother looking at us. Just keeps staring out the window.

“My life was shit before, but I don’t know what it is now, or what I am. If your plan is to keep me as a prisoner here, then you may as well just kill me.” He presses his forehead against the window pane and doesn’t say anything else.

“Young man, do you have any idea how important you are? Millions of beings can be saved from a life of terror because you exist.” My father says sternly.

“I didn’t ask for that!” Leo turns around and yells, his puffy red-rimmed eyes give away the fact that he has been crying and my heart simply shatters. Over the last few days he's completely ignored us. He just stares at the photo of his parents.

“I didn’t ask for any of this, it’s too much! I can’t save anyone! I couldn’t even save myself! I got the shit kicked out of me every single day, I let that happen. And what, now you expect me to be the savior for a world I never knew existed?” His voice cracks and I notice that his hands start to shake. He stumbles slightly and then grabs onto the chair to steady himself. “I - I don’t feel good.” He murmurs and then suddenly he falls to the ground and passes out.

“Leo!” I drop down to the ground and pull him up into my arms. “Leo?”

“He's refused to eat or drink anything for days. He probably hasn’t slept either. Roman, we can’t keep him like this.” My mom kneels down beside us and takes his pulse.

“Here, let me grab him,” My dad nudges us to the side and picks Leo up in his arms, and carries him out. “We’ll move him into the guest room. Give him his space and some limited freedom. Elise, call the kitchen and have them bring up some food, all kinds, we don’t even know what he likes. Tonight take him to the gardens. I’ll ensure that it’s clear. Anna, if we allow him this, I have to tell Lucas so we can get added protection.”

Beta Lucas is completely devoted to my father, so I’m not worried that he knows, and my mom agrees.

“Maybe we can have Jonathan meet him as well. It might be good for both of them to be able to talk to one another. They have both been through so much.” My mom pats me on the arm and my dad agrees to it.

“When he wakes let us know. I’ll help prepare some food for him. He’s going to be okay honey. Leo is a fighter and always has been. It’s just such a shock for him.” I nod and as they walk out I hear my dad call Beta Lucas to his office.

Alpha King Roman's POV

“Lucas, I didn’t want to keep all of that from you,” I tell him. He is my best friend, not to mention my beta.

“I should tell you, I already knew that Elise met him. I busted Sammi talking about going into town with Elise. She told me Elise found her mate and how dreamy he is.” Lucas rolls his eyes and laughs. “Sammi described the kid to me, and then in the council meeting when you explained what he looked like I realized it was probably him. Seeing Elise’s face in the council meeting solidified it. I knew it was him. I figured she would tell you, but damn you guys are good at keeping things quiet.” I shake my head as we make our way to Leo.

“I’m anxious to meet him. It’s not every day you get to talk to a King.” He smiles and gives me a nudge. “He’ll be okay, Roman.” Lucas can sense my concern and I know he wants to try and lighten my mood.

“Wait, does Sammi know who he is? Who he really is?” I ask suddenly. That would not be good.

“No. The council has kept this very quiet and she has no idea. She is just pissed that Elise hasn’t called her or been to school in a few days. She isn’t believing the ‘I’m sick’ excuse.”

“Hmm. Okay. Let’s keep this quiet for as long as we possibly can. We need to figure out a plan, but first I need this kid to stop freaking out and get it together.”

I knock on the door and open it to find Elise on the couch watching TV and Leo still asleep in bed.

“He passed out about an hour ago. You have any smelling salts? We need him to get up.” I say, and Lucas just shakes his head.

“Do you really think I carry smelling salts around?” he asks with a chuckle, but just then the young man starts to shift and all eyes are on him. Slowly he wakes up and when he sees a new face he just stares at him.

“Alpha King Leo, It’s an honor to meet you.” Lucas bends on his knee showing respect and then stands to shake Leo’s hand. I’m surprised when Leo returns the gesture.

“I’m Beta Lucas, but please just call me Lucas.”

I watch as Leo swings his legs around the side of the bed, and he pauses for a moment, probably getting light-headed.

“Where am I?” he asks as he takes in his surroundings.

“Well, you are in your new room, complete with a door you can open and close,” Lucas says with a smile. “Come, eat with me. I’m starving and I know you are too, and this food just looks too good to waste.”

I watch Lucas pat Leo on the back and I’m relieved when Leo follows him and they sit down beside the tray of food.

“Start with this one. Mrs. Baily is a wizard in the kitchen, but this right here, it’s the best thing you will ever eat.” Lucas picks up a mini quiche and pops it in his mouth. “Leo, I know we just met and that things are shit right now, but I don’t think you want to starve yourself to death. Horrible way to go.” He chuckles and pops a few pieces of cheese in his mouth.

I watch Leo look at him and then he grabs one of the quiches and bites into it. It’s as if that one bite woke up his appetite and he eats as if he never has before.

“That a boy,” Lucas says and then steals a cookie from Leo’s hand. “Nope, that one’s mine.” Lucas grins and for the first time so does Leo. I am truly amazed at the effect Lucas has on people. They are drawn to his personality, he is so open and approachable.

“Can I ask you a question?” Leo asks as he stuffs a piece of ham into his mouth.

“You can ask us anything,” Lucas looks up at him and then darts a look over to Elise. “Damn girl, this mate of yours is a good-lookin’ guy. I see why Sammi was going on and on about him.” Lucas grabs a handful of grapes and tells Leo to continue.

“Why do you call me Alpha?”

“You guys didn’t explain that to him?” Lucas chastises us and shakes his head.

"We tried, but he's been very upset with us." I say and Lucas darts me a nasty look.

"Well, you basically kidnapped the kid and told him he wasn't human, so..." Lucas smiles but it annoys me.

"We had no choice. We were protecting him." I say and Lucas can sense my annoyance and drops that portion of the conversation.

“Okay, Leo, let me try and explain the Alpha thing. Humans have leaders. Each one of their countries has a king or a president, or some bat-shit crazy tyrant. They are sometimes born into royalty or they are elected. But physically all humans are the same, no special powers. Some are smarter yes, but brains have nothing to do with leadership for them. They have proven that over and over again, which is why we keep them in the dark.”

I smile at Lucas’ explanation so far.

“Wolf packs have born leaders that carry the bloodline through every generation. An Alpha is politically like a president and every pack has one. But, they are born as Alphas because their parents were. It’s in their DNA. The males are referred to as Alphas. The females are referred to as Luna’s. Betas, like me, are the same, we are kind of like Vice Presidents, but we were born into the position as well. Only Alpha’s and Luna’s possess powers that are supposed to be used to protect all others. Questions yet?” Lucas pats his stomach and leans back in the chair. “Damn that woman can cook.”

Leo takes a huge drink of lemonade before he asks his next question. “So you’re telling me I’m an Alpha?”

“Well, yes, almost, you need to accept that damn wolf in your head. The poor beast must be driving you absolutely mad.” Lucas grabs for the last quiche. “You okay if I eat this?” Leo smiles again and nods.

“We are going to figure this all out Leo, I promise. Alpha Roman is an incredible leader, and probably the smartest person I know. And that girl over there,” he points to Elise, “that girl already loves you. When you find your mate it is the most beautiful thing in the world. Don’t fight it. I know you feel it and I know it hurts to not have her by you. She was made for you by the Goddess herself.”

“I do feel it.” Leo looks up shyly at her and she is standing still with tears ready to fall.

Lucas and Leo talk for a while, and he answers as many questions as he can. We discuss Frank, and he tells us how Frank took care of him. He's terribly worried about school, but that really is the least of his problems.

“Okay, how about some outside time? That is if it is okay with you Alpha Roman.” Lucas asks and I nod my head in agreement. “Why don’t you two grab your coats and head out to the royal garden? Get some private time.”

Leo's POV

“I’ll prepare security,” Roman leaves the room and Elise tells me she’ll be right back, she just needs to grab her coat, but Lucas stays behind.

“Alpha Leo, you need to understand that Alpha Roman only wants to protect you. No one wants to see you locked up in here, you aren’t a prisoner, but please understand that the danger of your uncle Eric is real. If he finds you, he will kill you, and he will kill Elise as well. This is a very serious situation, and one I'm afraid, that you won't have much time to adjust to.”

The thought of any harm coming to Elise instantly infuriates me, and the voice in my head gets restless.

'No one will harm our mate. NO ONE!'

“You are the future of our kingdoms. You will unite the North and the South. But for now, tonight, go on a date with a young woman that is already totally in love with you. I think you’ll find that if you let her in, you feel the same about her.” He grabs one more cookie and then pulls out his phone.

“What’s your number? I’ll send you my contact info so you can reach me anytime.”

“I don’t have one,” I say slightly embarrassed. “I could never afford that.”

Lucas smiles at me and then makes a call. “Yeah, hey Marco. I need a phone, a new one. Put every privacy setting you have on it, and load it up with N*****x and Hulu and stuff...no, no social media, disable all of that...okay thanks.” He ends his conversation and sticks his phone back in his pocket. “You’ll have one by the time you get back tonight. I’ll drop it off. Ah! there’s the pretty young lady!”

Elise comes into the room and she looks so beautiful. Her hair is tucked under her hat and her face is full of light and smiles. I put my coat on and she takes my hand. We walk out of the room and Lucas shouts to her.

“You better call Sammi too! She can’t know about Leo, but she is getting suspicious and causing her father problems!”

“I will!” Elise calls back and we head down the long hallway and out through double doors to the most incredible space I have ever seen in my life.

“Let’s get to know each other a bit, okay Leo? Let’s pretend we are on a date and everything is normal, can we do that?” She asks hopeful, and I honestly want that too.

“I can do that,” I say as we sit down on a lavish outdoor couch that faces the incredible scenery of flowers and mountains.