Chapters 44

Leo's POV

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"I'm...I'm so sorry," she starts, her voice breaking. "I never wanted to give you up. It killed me to let go of you."

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I can feel my heart tighten as I look at her, studying her face trying to make sense of my feelings.

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"Eric is and always was a dangerous man, after he killed your father I knew he would never allow you to live. I needed to keep you safe."

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When I hear the word safe, anger spikes again.

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"Safe? I was anything but safe. I was passed from one shitty home to the next, homeless, unwanted. I was alone for a lifetime in a world that I didn't belong in. Wasn't there another way? Did you ever check on me?" I ask, trying to keep from letting the tears I can feel welling up behind my eyes from falling. "You gave me life and then you vanished from it."

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"I know, and it breaks my heart, but it was too dangerous. Eric had me followed anytime I left. His rein of terror started small, but over the years it escalated. I planned to kill him, but he was constantly guarded, he trusted no one. I even hired someone to kill him, but somehow they were found out and murdered in front of the pack."

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"Why didn't you reach out to Roman or get help from another pack?" I just don't understand.

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"Eric used dark magic from a coven to kill your father. He made promises to them and they had an agreement that if anything happened to him they were going to kill all of the children in this pack. As Luna, I couldn't let that happen."

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I see the pain etched on her face and I walk closer to her and sit down across from the bed and stare at my hands that are folded in my lap.

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"I've wanted to find you for so long, and at the same time I blamed you for everything," I swallow hard and I'm angry with myself for feeling this way.

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"I can't undo the past, Leo. But please know I love you. I have cried every single day since the horrific day that I had to let you go. Please, please look at me."

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I squeeze my eyes shut tight, in my mind a whirlwind of memories and emotions combine. The initial shock of talking with her, and the flare of anger that bubbled up is leading to something far deeper. Something I hoped for.

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I was wanted.

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I glance up at her and she slides to the side of the bed, tears still sliding down her cheeks. She motions for me to sit beside her and hesitantly I move. When she lays her hand over mine it strikes me that she made an enormous sacrifice to do what she thought was right. She sacrificed her presence in my life to keep me safe, that's how much she loves me. The realization floods me and unearths feelings that I didn't realize were there.

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"I've missed you," I whisper, the words escaping me before I even realize it. A tsunami of emotion wells up inside me and I feel the dam break. Tears start streaming down my cheeks and I can't stop them. I'm overwhelmed by both letting the pain of my past go and the happiness that my future might hold for me.

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She reaches out further and hugs me, closing a gap and providing a warmth that I have craved my entire life.

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"I'll never leave you again, my sweet Leo, please forgive me. I love you," she says and just like that the floodgates open and I sob in her arms.

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"I've always wanted a mother, I didn't know how much I needed one until now."

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Her arms tighten around me and my heart swells.

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"I've always wanted to be there, to be your mom," she holds me close and I let everything melt away. I've found her and she's found me.

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Elise's POV

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"He's been in there a long time, I can feel how upset he is. Should I go in there? Maybe I can help?" I say but my dad tugs the back of my shirt as I get up to leave and pulls me back down beside him.

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"No, this moment is not for you. He needs to feel everything he's feeling in order to move on, and Aria needs to be alone with her son. We don't belong in there, it's not for us."

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I know he's right, and although I fight my need for sleep, eventually I doze off. To my surprise it's nearly eight am when I wake. I look over at my dad and he pops open his cell phone when it buzzes.

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"Ah, Alpha Jonathan is here, he's headed over to see Jack."

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I quickly use the rest room to straighten up and when we hear the elevator ding we step into the hall and meet Jonathan. He looks a million times better now that he has returned to his pack and taken back his position as Alpha.

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We walk over to Jack's room and Jonathan just shakes his head.

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"Awe man," he sees what we all do. Jack is connected to all kinds of machines, his chest slowly rising and falling, but nothing else. "Come on Jack, you need to show me the rest of the Star Wars stuff, you gotta come back," He says and my dad wraps his arm around me.

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"Hey," Leo's voice is soft as he enters the room. His eyes are swollen and he looks exhausted, but somehow there is a light in them that he never had before.

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"You okay?" I whisper to him and he nods and smiles at me.

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"Alpha Leo," Jonathan comes over and shakes his hand and Leo just shakes his head. "Just Leo, Jonathan. Okay?"

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We start to make plans for the day when there is a knock at the door.

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"Reece, hey, I want you to meet Elise and Alph- um - Leo," he corrects himself awkwardly.

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"It's lovely to meet you. Hello again Alpha Roman." She is a beautiful girl, a bit older than Jonathan, but you can definitely tell they are related.

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She looks around the room and the expression on her face completely changes.

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"Who is this?" she points to the bed.

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"That's Jack," Jonathan starts to talk about him but she cuts him off.

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"What's wrong with him?" Her voice is shaky and she grabs his hand, "Is he going to be okay?" she asks desperately.

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I look over to the monitors connected to him, and his heart rate starts to increase.

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"Is he?" she asks again and my dad figures it out at the same time I do.

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"Are you his mate?" My dad asks her and she starts to tear up and nods her head.

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"Get the nurse," my dad instructs Jonathan and within a minute a nurse comes in.

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She starts checking him over and Reece starts to pray that he will be okay. She holds his hand up to her face and we all see his fingers tighten around her hand.

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"He grabbed her hand!" Leo says, "Did yo see it, he grabbed it didn't he?"

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"Yes, he did!" Reece squeezes it back and bends down and kisses Jack on the forehead. "You better not leave me, I was beginning to think I'd never find you."

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"I'm going to need everyone to step out okay?" the nurse says but she grabs Reece's arm. "Oh no, you stay sweetie. This boy hasn't shown a single sign of recovery until you showed up."

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Stefan's POV

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Nearly two weeks have passed and Luna Aria is starting to move around and is healing far quicker than anyone thought. I think it's because she has Leo back, it's motivated her and given her a new found strength.

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Whenever I see him though, I feel this deep guilt, and most of the time I have avoided him. Lucas too, he still looks at me like he is going to kick my ass at any moment. Sadia has told me that I need to reach out to them, but it's difficult.

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As I walk through the grounds I see Leo sitting on the front porch of a little house talking with the family.

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"He's been doing this for the last two days," I shrink when I hear Lucas' voice behind me. We both watch as Leo plays with a little girl while he talks with her parents.

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"He's going to every home, spending time with every family. He want's to get to know them and get a sense of not only who he is and where he comes from, but also what they need." Lucas says.

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"He's going to be an incredible leader," I say and I get a sharp answer back.

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"One you nearly helped Eric kill."

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"Lucas, I can never make that right. Helping Eric through the years, it wasn't me. I wasn't myself. How can I make things okay between us?" Lucas looks at me and he looks back over at Leo.

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"Protect him, Stefan, by every means possible make sure that he remains safe. That young man isn't just the pack leader, one day he will be the sovereign leader of the north and south. He's the future."

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I look at Leo as he hugs the family. He heads to the next house and the little girl is skipping beside him until her mother scoops her up, both have bright smiles on their faces.

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As he makes his way he spots Lucas and I and he changes course and heads towards us.

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"Alpha Leo," I say and he nods his head.

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"Have you seen Jack today?" he asks Lucas, and he gets the good news that Jack opened his eyes this morning. The smile on Leo's face is contagious.

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"I have to go meet Sammi for a bit, I'll catch up with you for dinner, okay?" Lucas says before he heads off, leaving Leo and I in an awkward silence.

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"Leo, I um...I know we haven't talked much," I start to say without a plan of where I want the conversation to go, but he interrupts me.

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"How's Ben?" he asks me and it takes me off guard.

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"Ben? Oh, he's amazing." I say as a smile creases my lips involuntarily as I think of my little guy.

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"I'm really glad you found them, he needs a good dad," he says. "Stefan," he pauses for a moment and looks out at the neighborhood next to the pack house, "people are really afraid of you."

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His words only confirm what I've been experiencing. Most of the pack is avoiding me.

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"Do you want to come with me today. I'd like to have you join me as I talk with people. It's important that they get to know you again. Get to know who you really are. You need to regain their trust." he says.

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"If that's what you want Alpha Leo" I say and he shakes his head in disappointment.

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"I'm not making you do it. Can I be real with you?" He says. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I don't have any idea what being an Alpha is, or how to run a pack or anything. These people are all strangers to me, and they only respect me because of a title. I want it to be more than that, I want them to know who I am and I want to know who they are.

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They did respect you at one time and you have known them all your life. Don't give up on them and lose what you once had. You can rebuild the relationships, I know it. But don't throw it away because you made some bad decisions. I'm not going to force you to come with me, or do some weird Alpha voice command. It's up to you, I just thought it would be easier if we went together. Not just for you but for me too."

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He waits for my answer and I nod in agreement. As we walk together to the next house I can't help but think that he's wrong. He knows exactly what it means to be an Alpha and his words and actions are showing it more and more each day.