Monday, May 13th Pt. 19
“It is the reason I ran from the hospital. While I had heard the crying, begging and screaming the day before, the night I ran, I woke up screaming. I was completely alone and I had forgotten that I asked Andre not to stay with me. It felt like his presence made my fear worse. I didn’t know how much I needed him there. I grabbed the bag sitting at the end of the bed and put the clothes inside it on. Then I tried the shoes that were sitting on top, they fit too. Just like the doctor and my so-called brother, the bag felt familiar. Not just familiar though. It felt very important. I poked around the room, grabbed the unopened bottled drinks I could find and left. I got lost looking for the elevator. I ran into a nurse in the hall. She was nice and wanted to get me back to my room but I had already removed my bracelet. I ended up fleeing her and running into the elevator.”
“What about the dream itself? You said that it’s the reason you ran. Do you believe it’s more than a dream?”
“I don’t remember it happening but the familiarity of it…..”
He pauses as his body shakes in silent sobs. I had no idea he was so close to breaking down. I remain silent as I remove the medication and set up saline infused with vitamins, minerals and glucose. So far this is the only thing he hasn’t had a bad reaction to. I set the feeder so the saline is infused over twelve hours allowing Sheila and I to get some sleep tonight compared to last. I’ll be up before the two bags are empty. The second is simply a backup that the machine will switch to when the first runs empty, a nicety only given to in-home caregivers.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Cass tries to calm him but his touch is met with dramatic twitching that wasn’t present before.
“Just like the doctor, brother and bag, the dream feels familiar even though I have no memories of it. Just like it feels like I should be naked, pinned to the desk and hit with the thinnest belt you own until the backs of my legs bleed.”
Cassius looks up at me, I’m certain his face mirrors the same shock I feel mine must possess.
“Why do you feel you should be punished so harshly?” Cassius struggles to even get the questions out.
“Three of you are claiming I’m an alpha. Even I spoke of being one earlier today. I hurt your beta. I’m supposed to be bigger, faster and stronger than him. An uneven match. My punishment is simply the way it is.”
He’s gotten himself worked up in a bad way as Cassius tries to reign him in. He yelps several times as Cassius attempts to place his hand back on the back of his head. He ushers the young man back into the crook of his neck with great difficulty but somehow as soon as Colton smells him he collapses. He holds the young man close waiting for the panic attack to calm.
‘Dev?’ He reaches out to me in the link.
‘You know what this means Cass.’
‘I need you to create a physical list of everything that we have learned about him from the moment you realized he was following you. There has to be a way to give him sanctuary status despite his lost memory.’
‘We need a gps tracker that he can’t remove. It’s the best thing for him until he gains his memory.’ I feel him disconnect without confirmation towards the tracing device.
“Now that you’re calm I think you’re in a better position to comprehend what I need to tell you. For offenses such as assault, you are correct. The alpha of every pack has a choice when it comes to the physical punishment of their members. Majority of alphas choose to implement the punishment that the council has relied upon for decades and unfortunately, most of them choose to keep it because it allows them to abuse it. The punishment that you feel the overwhelming sense of deserving. I’m sorry son but that is abuse. The council wouldn’t implement that on a murderer. In your case with my beta, we have undeniable proof that you are physically the same height but you’re smaller in weight. You are also very malnourished and underweight for your height and rank. Combine that with the fact that you’re healing from multiple broken bones and only Diana knows what else, he was the stronger one in this battle. Like all large packs I have surveillance cameras inside and outside my territory and I will be reviewing the footage of what happened. If Clayton and you are truthful in your story than nothing will happen to you.
What a lot of pack members don’t know is that when I was coronated as alpha of the pack at sixteen, there was a lot I wasn’t allowed to do. My mom was instrumental in preventing the council from moving in and changing the way the pack was run but we still had to agree to several things. This agreement resulted in a rare but reasonable hybrid approach to physical punishment. From sixteen until I turned twenty-one I wasn’t allowed to implement physical punishment because most of those that would be eligible to receive it was the same age or older than I was. When I turned twenty-one I insisted on witnessing the physical punishment being implemented on my pack and I very strongly disagreed with what I saw. It took a lot of negotiations but I got the majority of that power back. I do not punish alphas and betas as they often need a bit more force to make a proper impression. Lower ranks and everyone under twenty-one are at my discretion. The fight between you and Braysen will be investigated. Once I have a clear picture of what happened a copy of the video including ten minutes before and ten minutes after the incident will be given to the council. They will receive all additional evidence and any testimony obtained from those involved. Braysen will also be turned over to them during their investigation. When they finish their analysis they will decide if he’s guilty or not, they will assign a punishment and implement that punishment before releasing him from their center.”
“Won’t he be angry when he returns? What keeps him from enacting revenge?”
“That’s part of the hybrid agreement. Anyone that I turn over for punishment is given the opportunity to leave the pack. Majority of those that haven’t been jailed do choose that route. All abusers are re-educated before being released to the pack no matter which one they choose to go to.”
“What about me?” He asks nervously but a lot calmer.
“The severity of your weakened state and the reasons we believe you to be in that state would prevent you from receiving physical punishment. I’m not certain what would be agreed upon but you would not be beaten.”
“But that’s only if I lied. If I attacked without reason.”
“Yes. We don’t punish those who act in the protection of others.”
“Don’t fight the sleep Colton.” I speak softly as I pet the side of his head. It’s easy to tell that the effects of the medication are creeping up on him. It takes just a few minutes longer in the silent comfort of our presence for Colton to drift into a decent slumber. I wait until Cassius’s mate and mother come looking for him before attempting to move Cole. The young lad handles the change with little protest allowing me a sigh of relief. I walk with Cassius and the two lunas to the door.
“I have a meeting with the council at one tomorrow. I need you in my office at that time. You and Sheila are off the next two weeks. I’ll take care of alerting those who need to know, it’s difficult to predict what is going to happen or how things will get scheduled.”
I nod, grateful for the time I didn’t ask for.
“I need you to start journaling your time with Colton. Without a memory it will be difficult but not impossible to get him into the sanctuary program. He needs a lot more than just a GPS bracelet.”
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