Chapter 7

Elise's POV

I smile uncontrollably and I study him for a minute. He’s listening to headphones, but they are old ones, the kind my parents had, and he has a cassette tape player on the table. He’s flipping through papers and taking notes. I walk in and the little bells go off over the door. I notice him look up, but I go to the counter first and grab two coffees before I walk toward him. He’s in a grey hoodie that looks fairly tattered, his raven hair is a mess of wavy and unruly curls on top of his head, and he has a pair of Oakley's on.

'Those damn sunglasses. I want to see his face!' Lily pouts and curls up in the back of my mind.

As I make my way over to him a slight smile cracks on his lips.

“Mind if I sit?” I ask, hoping that he accepts my company. With those sunglasses on I can’t tell if he’s even looking at me.

“Uh, sure, yeah.” He says cautiously and he pulls the chair out and motions for me to join him.

“I saw you in the window and I just wanted to thank you for the other day. The pawn shop. That locket belonged to my parents. I’m Elise, by the way.” I start with some common ground, but inside my wolf is dancing in circles. I hand him the other coffee and he looks at me curiously.

“Thank you." He says and then he points at himself in the most adorable way. "I'm Leo.” He grins a beautiful and embarrassed smile with the most gorgeous dimples. “Frank can be cranky, but there is a sliver of good in there somewhere.” He chuckles. “I hope your parents liked it.”

'Touch him, Elise please, just touch his arm.' Lily can barely contain herself.

“Do you wear those all the time?” I point at his glasses, I desperately want to look into his eyes.

“Uh, yeah. Sensitivity to light.” He points outside not realizing how overcast it is, but he doesn’t make any moves to take them off.

“So, where are you from? You don’t look like most people from around here.” I ask, desperately wanting to know his background. I know he is my mate, and there is no way he can be human, but he acts as if the bond isn’t there at all. It’s unusual, to say the least. What if he rejects me? A sick feeling overcomes me at the thought of it and I push it down deep into my belly.

“Um, here, in the city.” He answers simply, but it just doesn’t make sense. How can he be born and raised in the city, in human territory? I need to know more.

“How old are you? Do you go to school around here?” I ask taking a sip of my coffee.

“I’ll be eighteen in a few weeks. I actually go to school outside the city, at Fairview. What about you? I haven’t seen you around before.”

'His voice is like velvet. Make him talk more.' Lily can’t get enough of him and I have to push her to the back of my mind again so she stops distracting me.

“I’m just visiting. I live several towns over, and my parents sent me to a private school, so I don’t get into the city much.” I say, which is kind of true. “So, Leo. That’s a nice name. I like it.” I try to flirt a bit, but I think I’m making him uncomfortable. I take another sip of coffee and the little bells on the door sound and a big burly kid walks in.

“Shit,” Leo mutters under his breath and he shrinks into his chair. I watch this big oaf turn and he clearly recognizes Leo and gets a devious grin on his face as he approaches the table.

“Hey there Ellis,” He says and I watch Leo shift uncomfortably. “What ya doin’ here?” This creepy kid looks at me like he wants to own me and I instantly hate him. “Who’s this? Is this loser bothering you, sweetheart?” He squats down and folds his hands on the table and stares at me. “You’re way too pretty for a freak like Leo.”

“Leave her alone, okay? I don’t want any trouble.” Leo’s voice is a bit shaky but he sits up tall when he says it. I can tell that he’s intimidated by this kid.

“Awe, this your girlfriend?” He gets up and stands extremely close to Leo. “Na, she wouldn’t go with someone like you.” He reaches out and rips Leo’s glasses off his face and tosses them in the corner of the cafe. Leo squeezes his eyes shut instantly, but I see the bruises now and I’m certain that this asshole is the one who gave them to him. When Leo opens his eyes he is looking directly at me and I am completely mesmerized. He has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen and I gasp at the sight of them.

“Donavan, please just give me a fucking break, what are you doing here?” Leo asks, and as I look at him my wolf is howling with excitement, but she is also getting angry and I have to tell her to calm down before she rips this Donavan kid to shreds.

“Dad’s at the precinct around the corner. I’m just grabbing a coffee. I guess your little girl here knows why you’re down here though.”

I decide to jump in. “We just met actually, and I was hoping to get to know him better until we were very rudely interrupted,” I say and give Leo a smile. But the asshole kid just starts laughing.

“Let me save you the trouble darling. See, Leo the freak lives in the slums down here, probably in the gutter by looking at him. He is nothing and has nothing. Why don’t you tell her about your parents Leo? Oh, that’s right, they took one look at your sorry ass when you were born and ditched you.”

“Shut up,” Leo responds and I see that his fists are balled tight.

“Abandoned you so they didn’t have to raise trash probably.” The kid pauses with his verbal assaults and picks up the walkman. “Wow, how old is this?” He pops it open and pulls out the cassette and pulls all the tape out of it and piles it up on the table. It’s then he notices the papers that Leo was looking at.

“What are these?” He lifts up a folder and Leo tries to snatch it back but fails. “Lookey here,” he flips through the papers. “Colleges? That’s funny. How exactly do you plan to pay for that? You can’t even afford a shirt that doesn’t have holes in it.” He drops the papers on the floor and then walks towards me and I stand. I will not be bullied by this prick, and I don’t know why Leo would put up with it. He stands an inch from my face and I won’t budge, but I notice Leo is now standing and looking like he wants to rip this kid apart.

“Maybe you should leave with me, I’m a way better choice than that loser. I’ll be killer in bed too, you won’t be able to get enough of me.” He says and wraps his arm around my waist.

“Oh, I’ve already had enough of you. Why don’t you go home and fuck yourself.” I rip his arm off of me but still hold my ground. This kid has the nerve to come at me, but Leo is between us before I can say any more. He stands in front of me and takes his hand and pushes Donavan away.

“Please, please I’m begging you to just leave us alone.” Leo makes one more plea, the restraint he is showing is remarkable. So many boys I know would have already beat the crap out of this kid. I’m shocked that the next thing Donavan does is slap Leo upside the head. He does it again and again, taunting him and Leo is just taking it.

“That’s enough!” I yell as the café owner comes out from the back room.

“Leo, what’s going on here?” She asks and he looks up at her as if he is the one to blame.

“Nothing, I’m sorry, everything’s fine Ms. Miller. I was just leaving.” Leo grabs his backpack, stuffs the walkman in it and the destroyed tape, and looks at me with the most beautiful and sad eyes. “Nice to meet you, Elise, I’m sorry about this.” He says and then dashes out the door.

“Fuckin’ idiot,” Donavan says and I turn and punch him in the face, hard.

“Ms. Miller, trash like this shouldn’t be allowed in your place, stinks it up.” I pick up the papers that were dropped and the sunglasses in the corner and I rush out the door and search the street, finding Leo turning a corner about a block away.

“Leo, Leo please wait. Please.” I run to catch him and he keeps walking until I reach out and grab his arm. Shocks fly straight up into my body and he stops in his tracks and looks at his arm.

'He feels it too.' Lily says and smiles. 'We found him. I love him already but our mate is sad. I don’t want him to be sad, you need to fix it.' Lily says softly in my head.

'Lily, we need to move slowly, okay?' She agrees and can’t help but stare into his eyes.

“Did he do this?” I reach up and point to the bruises on his cheek and he flinches away before I can touch him.

“Yeah. It’s kind of our agreement, he kicks the shit out of me most days and I get to graduate if I keep my mouth shut.”

“That sounds like an unfair agreement,” I say as I hand Leo the folder that he had and he thanks me and puts it into his tattered old backpack.

“Can we go somewhere and talk?” I ask, wanting to be by him longer.

“Uh...sure.” Reluctantly he agrees and has me follow him to a nearby park. He points to a bench that is hidden mostly behind the trees. “Is it too cold for you to be out here?” He asks as we sit down.

“No, I’m good.” Just then I remember that I have his sunglasses, and I hand them back to him. “Please, don’t. Don’t put them on, I mean unless the sun really bothers them.” I say, sad that he hides them from the world.

Leo's POV

I don’t know what’s gotten over me, but everything about her is perfect. She has curly long brown hair and her beautiful green eyes have shimmering gold flecks in them. When she touched my arm it was like an electric shock tingled through my body and left me craving more.

'Because she is our mate. She is our destiny. The goddess chose her for us. Acknowledge me Leo so that I may meet her other half.'

I shake off the voice in my head and try to focus. Of all the days for Donavan to come to the city, what are the odds that he would come today? I’m so fucking embarrassed. If I wasn’t so entranced by this girl I would’ve bolted.

“I’m sorry I left you back there with that jerk, but I can’t afford to get into another tangle with him. I knew Ms. Miller wouldn’t let anything happen.”

“It’s okay. So, what’s your story, Leo?” She asks me and given that Donovan already gave his version, I decide to just be honest.

“Donavan summed it up pretty well,” I say flatly. “My real parents dumped me off as a baby at the fire station down the street. I guess the name Leo was pinned to me. I was adopted by a woman, but I don’t remember her. She gave me up when I was about two. I've been bounced around eight different foster homes and state facilities. Apparently I'm not a keeper. I can't blame them, no one wants to be stuck with a kid that might go blind and has a freak blood disorder.”

“Blind? Blood disorder? I don’t understand.”

“My eyes, there is obviously something very wrong with them. That’s why I wear glasses all the time. When I was little I was sent to a doctor and they said that they were abnormal and that it was very likely I would lose my sight. I had blood drawn too, and they found something wrong there as well, said I had some kind of disease and it was abnormal. It went in my permanent file. They tried treating me for a million different things but nothing fixed any of it."

“Well, you look perfect to me.” She says, and I twist my hands together and stare at the ground. "How did you wind up in Fairview if you live down here?"

“My case worker put me in high school in the suburbs, better education he said. That’s where I, unfortunately, met Donavan. I didn’t always take his shit. One day I got so mad I punched him in the face and broke his nose. His dad, who is also the chief of police, found a way to blame me and I was charged with assault. Ended up in juvie for a while. When I was discharged they moved me to a group home about two blocks from here. I put up with Donavan’s shit because I need to graduate. Once I do, I have enough money to get out of town and that’s about it.”

I can’t believe I just told this beautiful girl the horrible truth, but what’s the use in pretending to be something I’m not? Now she knows and can just forget about me. But I have to admit that the thought of her rejecting me is painful. How on earth can I be feeling so connected to her?

“Leo, please look at me.” She says and hesitantly I do. “Leo, you’re eyes are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. There is nothing wrong with them. They are stunning, you should never hide them away.”

I swallow hard and try to not look away.

“And you know what, your birth parents must have loved you to give you a name. It meant something to them, you meant something to them.” She says and I’m shocked. Of everything I just told her, she found something good in it. Something I had never thought of before. I can’t help but just smile at her.

“Thank you, I never looked at it that way.” She takes my hand in hers and the buzzing that starts to rush through me is like a drug, it calms me and makes the empty hole in my chest fill with warmth and light.

'Please, Leo, acknowledge me so that I can come forward. Please. We are one Leo.'

The voice slams me back to reality. I look at our hands intertwined, mine is rough and warn out and hers are beautiful and soft, manicured perfectly.

What am I doing?

I look at this girl and she is way out of my league. Not to mention that there is a very real possibility that I am losing my mind. She leans in to kiss me but I back away and take my hand and stick it into my pocket.

“Sorry, um, you just met me and I’m not sure what’s going on but I look at you and I know I can’t be what you want.”

“Leo, stop. Don’t you feel it? The sparks? The bond? Surely you feel it?” She asks and I do, I feel all of that, but this girl is going to need someone way better than me.

“Elise, I look at you and you’re dressed perfectly, you obviously come from a good family and have a life that is completely different from mine. It’s only a matter of time before you realize I have nothing to offer you. I’ve had a lot of rejection in my life, I’m not sure I’m ready for another one.”

“Maybe you could let me make up my own mind?” She stares a hole right through me and I want to be near here more than I’ve ever wanted anything.

“I like you, Leo, I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I saw you in the pawn shop. I want to get to know you, please, let me get to know you.” She moves in closer and the voice starts up again.

'Do not let her go, Leo. She is the one the moon goddess selected. I love her already. Stop being such a coward. You are so afraid of everything. Kiss her, Leo. Grow a set of balls and kiss the girl!'

I don’t know what comes over me but I gently put my hand behind her head and pull her close to me, and when our lips meet it is the most heavenly feeling. It also terrifies me, how can I be drawn to her this fast, it doesn’t make sense. When our lips part she looks deep into my eyes and runs her hand through my hair.

“I’ll be careful with your heart Leo, I promise.”

Elise's POV

I could get lost in this boy’s eyes, he is so beautiful, and he seems to be a good person. I want to stay with him all day, I want to curl up in his arms and let him just hold me.

We both flinch when my phone starts beeping. I pull it out and see a text message from Sammi.

SAMMI: Code Red. You need to get your ass back here ASAP. Some shit’s going down. Alpha Roman has called an emergency meeting for this afternoon.

“Shit. Leo, I have to go. Can I see you again?” I ask, knowing that wild horses couldn’t keep me away from him.

“I-I’d like that. Yeah.”

“Give me your number and I’ll text you.” He cocks his head at me and twists up his face.

“Just call the pawn shop, I’ll get the message there. I um, I don’t have a phone.” He says, looking a bit embarrassed.

“No problem. I’ll call the shop.” I smile at him and he reaches down and kisses me again. Another spark rips through me that nearly brings me to my knees, and his body reacts too.

'Elise, something is wrong. I can’t reach his wolf. I can sense that he’s there, but it’s like he’s stuck behind a wall. I can’t communicate with him. He is our mate, I should be able to reach him.'

Lily doesn’t want to leave but we have no choice. I will make sure to meet up with him again, and next time maybe I can try and make sense of this.