Chapter 9

Elise's POV

The room is buzzing after the meeting and I’m feeling sick to my stomach. I stand beside my mom and dad as we shake hands with the exiting council members, and once the last one is gone we head up to our quarters.

“Mom, Dad, I need to talk to you.” I can hear the shaking in my voice, I’m so nervous to tell them.

“Everything okay peanut?” My dad comes in and gives my mom a peck on the cheek. “I know it was a long meeting, and it is a very serious issue. Eric has been a nightmare all these years, but endangering other packs and territories isn’t something we can tolerate. I hate to get us involved in this, but I don’t see much choice.”

I follow them into the kitchen and my mom can tell that I am extremely upset. “Let me make some hot cocoa,” she says and my dad gives her a thumbs up and gestures for me to join him on the couch in the living room.

“Now, what has you so upset?” my dad asks and I'm not sure how to tell them. I need to confess that I left pack grounds without escorts, not once but twice, and that will have me grounded for life.

“Please, promise you won’t get mad, that you will hear me out completely,” I say and my father’s expression gets more serious. “The locket I gave you? I found it online, it was for sale at one of the pawn shops.”

“We don’t have pawn shops on pack grounds.” My father points out sternly.

“Let her finish, Roman,” my mom says handing him his mug of cocoa.

“I know. It was in human territory. I drove there and went to pick it up.” I debate on whether I tell them Sammi was with me. I decide against it. I don’t want to drag her into this.

“Elise, you know the rules, you could have at least told Lucas.”

“Dad, that’s not the point. I went there, and there was a boy. He was working there and I instantly felt it, the bond. Lily did too. So I went back this morning.”

“You went to human territory this morning? Elise, you told me you were with Sammi. I went by her house several times, and your car was there,” my mom is now getting upset with me and I can’t blame her, but I have a much more serious issue here.

“Mom, I needed to know if he really was my mate. I took the tunnels.”

My dad freaks out and he stands up and paces a few times. “Elise, you lied to us on top of having no regard for your own safety. You are the heir to the entire Northern Kingdom, you put yourself at risk --”

“Dad, I know. But, I found him. I found my mate.” I say and I start to cry. “It’s Leo. It’s the boy that Alpha Jonathan described.”

Both my parents stare wide-eyed at me and my mother gasps.

“His name is Leo Ellis, black curly hair, a beautiful smile, and eyes that are unlike anything I’ve ever seen. One is electric green and the other is electric blue. It’s him. I can’t stop thinking about him and I ache to be near him.”

“Elise, if what you say is true, he is in terrible danger.” My mom stands up and joins my dad in the kitchen.

“What the hell is he doing in human territory?” My dad asks and I try and continue.

“He said he was abandoned as a baby, but the name Leo was pinned to him. A woman adopted him, but doctors told her that he was sick. Given his strange eyes and irregular results from blood tests, they said he wasn’t normal and that he would need extensive care. So, she gave him up and he was passed around to different foster homes. He thinks he wasn’t adopted because he has some kind of sickness. A disease.”

“Wait, hold on. How do you know this? Did you talk to him?” My mother asks.

“Yes, the bond is strong mom. Lily is worried though, she can’t reach his wolf. She says she senses him, but she can’t communicate with him.”

“Where is he now.” My dad asks, reaching out to hold my trembling hand.

“He lives in a group home. It’s so terrible, he’s been alone his entire life. He doesn’t have anything.” I start to cry again, thinking of how awful his life must have been, with no one to love him.

“He has no idea.” My dad stands and paces the floor. “His wolf should be communicating with him by now, but if he doesn’t know what he is, that means he hasn’t accepted him. That explains why Lily can’t reach him. His wolf must be acknowledged before he can come forward.”

“How old is he? Do you know?” My mother asks.

“He said he turns eighteen in a few weeks,” I say trying to keep my tears under control.

“When he turns eighteen, his wolf will force its way to the surface, which is extremely dangerous. His human side could die from that and his wolf will be all that’s left. Elise, you need to take us to him.” My mom goes to grab her coat but my father stops her.

“No, we can’t just pounce on the kid in the middle of the night. We’ll look for him tomorrow. Elise, I want you to go to him, but not alone. I’ll be going with you. It’s odd though, he should have a watcher. I can’t imagine the coven would leave him so unprotected.”

I think about that for a moment and suddenly I realize it. “A watcher, oh my gosh that’s who the creepy guy is!” I explain, realizing that Frank is his watcher. “The owner of the pawn shop lets Leo stay there sometimes and to my knowledge is the only person Leo is around. He smelled off, not human.” I explain.

“It’s settled. Tomorrow we go find this Frank guy and talk with him. Tell no one about this, do you understand? Not even Sammi. Leo is in terrible danger. We will not be sharing this with the council tomorrow either. I’ll be back, I’m going to go check on Alpha Jonathan. You two okay here?” My dad asks as he pulls on his coat.

My mom nods and when he leaves she looks at me and grabs my hand. “You’ve found your mate.” She says and I start to cry yet again.

“It hurts to be away from him. I’m so scared for him. Mom, he is so sad, I could feel it when we touched. And now, he’s in so much danger. He doesn’t even know what he is, let alone how important he is.” She gets up from the table and wraps me in her arms.

“We will protect him. After all, he’s your mate which makes him part of our family. He’s our future son-in-law.” She smiles down at me and squeezes me. “The mate bond is very strong, and between two that are of royal blood, it is even stronger. My guess is, even though he hasn’t accepted his wolf yet, he already feels it. His poor wolf must be going crazy. I can only imagine what that poor boy thinks is going on in his head. The sooner he knows the better.”

Leo's POV

All night all I can think about is Elise, I toss and turn on the little couch and get very little sleep. I’m so restless, and honestly, if I knew where she lived I’d probably go seek her out, the pull is so strong. Instead, I just lay there waiting for the alarm to go off so I can start another week of school. Frank lets me use the shower that’s in the basement of the shop, and I pull out the clothes I wore yesterday, giving them a sniff and hoping they are clean enough.

The first couple of periods go fine, but as I make my way to the third period Angie makes a beeline for me.

“Ok spill it.” Angie grabs my arm and pulls me through the double doors into the music room.

“Whoa, take it easy Angie, what’s up with you?” I smooth out my twisted sweatshirt and look at her.

“Who’s the girl, Leo? Donavan made sure to tell me this morning that you were cheating on me with some chick in the city. I mean, obviously, that isn’t true and he’s an idiot, but I have never seen you hang out with a girl. Tea, spill the tea, Ellis.” She blocks the door and smiles at me.

“I just met her. She came into the shop I work at. We went for coffee. Nothing happened.” I respond but I can feel my cheeks heating up.

“I call bullshit. Did you kiss her?” she is burning a hole through me with the intensity of her stare and I can’t hide it. “Oh my God, you did. You kissed her! Was it your first kiss? It was, I bet. This is a big deal! I want to meet her. If she hurts you I’ll beat the shit out of her.”

“Slow down,” I laugh. “I just met her, but I admit, I can’t stop thinking about her,” I say shyly. “I’ve never even dated a girl, but I know that I’m drawn to her. It’s an odd feeling.”

“Love at first sight! When I get back from vacation you are introducing me, you got that?” She says as she pokes me in the chest.

“Yes ma’am,” I say as we go back into the hallway on the way to our next class. “Where are you going on vacation?”

“We are visiting my aunt down south. She lives in a quiet little town that looks like a postcard. It’s nice, but boring as hell after a few days.” She tugs at my arm again before she heads down a different hallway. “I want to meet her, Leo. When I get back, don’t forget.”

Angie skips down the hallway and I turn and make my way to class when the principal sees me and waves me to go into his office.

“Have a seat, Leo.” He says and he sits behind his desk. “Leo, we have a bit of a situation regarding Donavan and an altercation over the weekend.”

I look at him confused, “I’m not sure how that involves me.” I say and I shift nervously in my chair.

“At a coffee shop in the city. He said you pushed and struck him.” He takes his glasses off and places them on the desk next to his #1 Dad mug.

“What? Mr. Patterson, that’s bullshit! He’s the one who harassed me!”

“Not according to the shop owner. When Donavan’s father went in he questioned what was going on because Donavan was upset, has a pretty good shiner too.”

“I swear to ya, I was just sitting in there when he came in and started up with me like he always does. I’m telling you I didn’t touch him.” I can’t believe this is happening again.

“What’s going on in here?” Mr. Jackson comes in and I’m relieved for a minute. He knows the hell Donavan puts me through.

“Donavan Kratz and his father have made a formal complaint against Leo regarding an offsite altercation where Leo physically assaulted Donavan.” He says it with a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“I didn’t do it. I can prove it. There was someone else with me. She’ll tell you exactly what happened.” I think about Elise, I know she would help. Although I have no idea how to even find her.

“Alan, there is no way Leo did anything to that kid, and honestly if he did he has every right. Do you know what Donavan does to this boy on a daily basis? Just last week I found him with a bloody lip and eye from Donavan and his idiot friends.” Mr. Jackson stands behind me and puts his hands on my shoulders. He has always been in my corner.

“There’s nothing I can do. Leo, we are suspending you starting immediately, but expulsion isn’t off the table. Donavan’s father was discussing pressing charges, but I may have talked him out of that.” I jump from my chair in a panic.

“No, please, you can’t! I only have a few more weeks. Please Mr. Peterson, I’ll - I’ll do my work off-site, I’ll do it all away from here, I'll do anything, but please I need to graduate.”

“Alan, you know he didn’t do this. Are you afraid of Donavan’s father too?” Mr. Jackson asks him. “Jesus, that guy bullies everyone at this school and his kid is a real prick. You and I both know it. Leo is top of his class, and you’re just going to ignore it because the chief of police scares you into it? What about Leo’s life? Is that worth nothing?”

“I’ll do what I can, but for now, Leo you need to go home. Check-in with me on Wednesday, okay?”

“Home, yeah I’ll just go home,” I say, and I bolt out of his office with Mr. Jackson right behind me.

“Leo, wait...” He stops me on the steps out front of the school and I try hard to keep my cool, but the wall that I have built up around my emotions is starting to crack.

“He wants me to go home, Mr. Jackson. Home...a place that I don’t actually have. This isn’t fair. I didn’t do anything to that fucking prick.” I yell at him.

“Leo, I’ll make sure to work this out, I swear.” He actually believes his own words.

“Why? So it happens again? So he gets even more pissed off with me for whatever reason he has? I need my diploma, and I won’t survive another year in this school if I don’t get it. If I get expelled, then what?”

I look at Mr. Jackson and it dawns on me that he really doesn’t know much about me either. No one does, except Frank.

“Do you want the truth about me, Mr. Jackson? Do you even know where my home is? Because I don’t. Do you want to know what I own? This. Right here. These aren't even mine," I take off the sunglasses and shove them at him, "Everything I own is in this fucking backpack. I don’t leave school and go home to my parents, my loyal pet dog, or a home-cooked meal. I check in at the shitty group home once a night because I’m a ward of the state, they check off the box and that’s the extent of my importance. My entire world exists right here.” I lift up my backpack and shake it at him as a tear betrays me and slips down my cheek.

“So forgive me if I don’t think everything will ‘work out’ ’cause it never ever has. Not for me.” I don’t even allow him to respond before I’m off the steps and walking down the street. I don’t even know where I’m going right now, I just know that any chance of escaping this life is getting smaller and smaller by the minute.

I walk around aimlessly until I get to the run-down church that sits across the street from the group home. But it isn’t the church I’m interested in. It’s the cemetery that’s tucked behind it. I go through the warn-down gates and wander around all the broken and crooked headstones until I finally pick one of the inhabited graves. I drop my bag and sit on the ground. Everything is falling apart. I think about Elise and all I can do is laugh at myself for thinking that she would really be interested in me. I have nothing to offer her. All I have ever wanted was a normal life, a place that I felt safe and could call home, and in this moment I realize I'll never have it.

You are never alone Leo, you have me. Please understand I can’t help if you don’t accept me. I’m part of you and I feel your sadness and pain and I want to be there for you. Please, let me in.

When the voice comes back I know I’ve completely lost it. It pushes me over the edge and I finally let the wall crumble all the way down, letting the horrible feelings of loneliness and the longing for something I’ll never have engulf me. I drop my head in my hands and let out long-held sobs of frustration and despair over the grave of a complete stranger.