The Abandoned Alpha

Letting Go

Alpha King Roman

"Elise, I need you to go into my bag on the floor in the back seat and pull out the small black case, open it and take out the syringe with the purple tip on it," I instruct my daughter and she doesn't hesitate and starts looking.

"What is this?" She asks as she shifts into the back seat and holds up the syringe.

"It's a sedative, very light, but it will keep Leo out for a couple of hours while we get him back to the pack house. We can't risk anyone seeing him, and he isn't going to be cooperative when he wakes up." I tell her and she doesn't question me, the trust she has in me is unwavering, and she knows I would never do anything to harm someone for no reason. Especially the boy lying in the back seat. "Just inject it into his arm, and do it quickly, before he stirs.

"Done." She says as she pulls the boy onto her lap in the back seat and I watch her through the rearview mirror stare down at him and run her fingers through his hair. I can sense the sadness coming off of her as she holds him.

"What's going to happen to him? He's going to be so scared." She says and I step on the gas trying to get home quicker.

"He's going to be terrified. Elise, Leo has no idea who or what he is. We need to introduce him to his new life slowly. He isn't going to trust any of us to start, and you must remember that he just lost Frank, the only person that probably meant anything to him. It was a pretty gruesome scene, he's going to have a lot to process."

"He's going to think we kidn*pped him." She says and I don't deny it.

"Yes, and when he wakes up in a strange room with nothing familiar around him, he's probably going to freak out. I'm going to take him to the private chamber behind your mother's office. It's extremely important that he isn't seen by anyone. Not any of the council, not even Sammi, understand? His life depends on the fact that no one knows he's here." I explain, but I'm also considering that I may have to restrain the kid in there too, temporarily until I can get him to calm down and truly listen. I don't like the idea, but the young man is strong.

We finally get to the pack house and I drive into our underground parking garage and pull into my private parking area. I pull out my phone and call the head of my security detail.

"Jack, I need you to turn the cameras off in parking bay 3, and the cameras in the elevator up to my floor. Shut down all surveillance for ten minutes and then turn it all back on... Everything is fine, Elise had a small and slightly embarrassing accident and I don't want anyone observing. Understood? ... Excellent. Thank you." Elise isn't too happy with my excuse, but she just grumbles slightly.

I watch the cameras, and as soon as the red light is out, I get out of the car and grab Leo. I take him to the elevator and we easily make our way unseen to the private room that is hidden behind a false wall in my wife's office. This room was built decades ago when war was raging between the different territories. It's only ever been known about within the royal family, it is a sacred and protected place that even my Beta is not aware of.

I place Leo down on the bed that's in there and look around.

"Ooof, this place is a bit dusty," Elise says as she pats down curtains that drape over a large arched window. "Won't people see him through this?" She asks and I realize that she hasn't been in here since she was a small child.

"No, from the outside it just looks like brick, it's an optical illusion that is created from the outside. You can see out, but people can't see in."

I get a fire roaring in the fireplace and turn the heat up in the room while Elise does a quick dusting to make the place look more appealing.

"Roman, is everything okay?" Anna comes in and walks over to the bed. "Oh Elise, he's such a good-looking boy, the poor thing." She says and smiles at our daughter. "How long do you think he'll be out?"

"Another hour, maybe less," I respond, lifting the kid's eyelid up gently and see that his eyes are moving rapidly. "He's dreaming about something right now." I say and Anna comes by and grabs Leo's hand.

"I can feel he is very distraught. What is the plan for when he wakes up?" she asks and I look at my watch.

"The council meeting isn't until four this afternoon. I think we should all be here when he wakes. Anna, I'm going to need you to help calm him. I hate to ask you to absorb his emotions, but I don't know any other way." she nods and motions for Elise to come by her.

"Honey, I want you to sit here and hold his hand. Open yourself emotionally to him, and let Lily come forward as well. His wolf is trapped in there, maybe knowing Lily is here with him will help settle him so he doesn't overwhelm Leo with his own thoughts."

I notice his backpack beside the bed and I pick it up. It's heavy, that's for sure. I go to unzip it and my wife gives me a disapproving look.

"That's his. Don't go through his things." She says, and I know she's right. I set it down, but I desperately want to know what this kid is carrying around in there. It feels like a lot more than books.

I settle back down and we sit like this for only about thirty minutes, and then he starts to stir. We all tense knowing that as soon as he wakes things are going to get turbulent.

Leo

I slowly open my eyes and scan the room. My mind is trying to connect to something familiar, but nothing looks remotely like anything or anywhere I have ever been. I close my eyes again and open them once more and I can hear someone saying my name but it feels like it's a thousand miles away.

As I push through the fogginess an image comes flashing in my mind and I shout out loud.

"Frank!"

The image jolts me upright and suddenly I'm slammed back into reality and I remember what happened. My heart starts to race and I now see Elise, the man that killed Frank, and another woman in the room. I jump from the bed so fast I nearly fall out of it and I back myself into the corner of the room as far from them as I can get.

"Where am I?" I ask, trying to swallow my fear and have some kind of assertive voice. "You, you killed Frank, you bastard."

"Leo, no. Leo, we need you to calm down. No one is going to hurt you. I understand what it looked like, but I promise you I didn't kill Frank. Please, come and sit."

Trust them, Leo. They are our friends, and she is our mate. It's time, Leo. I know you hear me and I can't be kept locked away forever. I won't be!

The voice is so loud and rings through my head and I put my hands up to my ears and just want it to go away. I feel like I'm spinning out of control.

"Leo, we are Elise's parents. My name is Anna and this is Roman. We don't want to hurt you, we are here to help you."

The woman, Anna, starts to approach me. She is incredibly beautiful, and when I look at Elise I can see the resemblance is uncanny. So this much must be true, they are most certainly mother and daughter.

"I - I don't know who you people are, or what's going on, but I - 'm getting the hell out of here."

"And go where Leo?" His voice drips with authority and he is the most intimidating man I have ever seen. I'm about six-two, but this guy towers over me. He is muscular even where I didn't know you could be. His hair is sandy blonde and he has bright green eyes that are almost hypnotic.

"Please, just let me go. I won't tell anyone what happened. I swear. I'll disappear and you won't ever see me again. Please." Maybe begging for my life will work.

"Roman, perhaps you and Elise could allow Leo and me to talk privately. Just for a moment." Anna says and the two nod. Roman presses something that causes one of the wall panels to shift open and the two exit. I'm so confused about what's going on.

Anna comes closer to me once they have left. The closer she gets it's almost like there is a warmth that envelopes me and somehow calms me. I got a similar feeling from Elise, but not nearly as strong.

"Leo, take my hand."

I don't know why but I reach out to her and let her take it. When she touches me I am flooded with sadness, fear, and anger. All the emotions that I keep locked away come rushing to the surface. I look up at her with tears in my eyes and she gently guides me to a couch in the room and sits beside me, she never takes her eyes off of mine as the feelings intensify.

"Let them out, Leo. Let all of your emotions come to the surface. Everything you've been holding in. There is nothing to fear." Her voice is soothing, but I feel like I'm going to shatter. I can feel that I start to tremble as if I'm slowly unraveling, fighting to keep everything in and hidden.

"I can't." I try and fight it.

Suddenly she wraps her arms around me tight. She takes a deep breath and exhales into my ear.

"Let it go, Leo, let it all go."

As soon as she says that, she pulls me in tighter and it's like a dam breaks and I feel like I truly do shatter. I can't hold anything in anymore and I start to sob against her. Crashing waves of emotion wrack through my body and I find myself unable to turn them off. Sadness, hatred, anger, fear, and gut-wrenching loneliness flow out of me, and this woman just holds on to me. She is a bouy in this horrific ocean that I find myself drowning in. I realize that I have wrapped my arms around her too, and as I shutter she tells me that everything is okay, that I'm finally where I belong and that I no longer need to worry about the life I had. She comforts me with assurances that I'm not sick and that the love I'm about to experience will be more than anything I could have imagined.

... and I believe her.

When I finally let go, I feel a weight that has been sitting on my chest disappear. I brush the last lingering tears away from my swollen eyes and when I open them she is looking at me and smiling. She brings her palm up to my cheek and places it there for a moment.

"Welcome home, Leo. I know you're confused and have so many questions, and we will answer them all. Is it okay if I bring Roman and Elise back into the room? Elise has been dying to be near you since she first laid eyes on you. I think my dear daughter is in love."

I don't feel frightened of her at all, I feel comforted by her. Going against my initial instincts to run, I decided to hear them out. Just maybe they know something about me, and I can't explain it, but I can feel the thing in my head, the voice, settle and it's almost as if it curls up in the back of my mind content for the first time.

Queen Luna Anna

As I hold on to the child I wasn't prepared for the rush of emotions that flow from him to me. They are intense feelings. Feelings that have been tucked away for so long that he wasn't aware of how they had hardened him. Feelings of abandonment came rushing in first, feelings that he would never be good enough for anyone to want to keep him or love him. So much sadness was sitting and rotting in his core. There was a longing to be normal, and a deep hatred directed at himself for the way he looked and who he was which led to feelings of embarrassment and a need to hide from the world. Fear seemed to be the strongest though. This boy is frightened of himself and what he will become, and of course the feeling of loss for Frank. A feeling so fresh that he has yet to fully process it.

When he holds me tight the full force of his feelings rush into me like a tsunami hitting the shore, and it is all I can do to hold on to him and not push him away.

When he finally pulls back, I look into his eyes and they truly are beautiful. As if the color in his iris' are dancing as he stares at me.

I reach up and place my palm against his cheek.

"Welcome home, Leo. I know you're confused and have so many questions, and we will answer them all. Is it okay if I bring Roman and Elise back into the room? Elise has been dying to be near you since she first laid eyes on you. I think my dear daughter is in love."

He nods and stands up, and I mind-link Roman that it is okay to come back in.

When they enter, the weight of Leo's feelings intensifies and I make a beeline for the bathroom and find myself heaving over the cold porcelain.

"Anna!" Roman rushes in after me. "Are you okay?" he kneels down and grabs my hair, gently pulling it to the side.

I nod and sit back up, I quickly wash my face and try and compose myself and we go back into the room to see that Elise is now sitting beside Leo, holding his hand, and they are just staring at each other as if they had just found something they lost.