Friday, August 2nd
2am
(Cole’s POV)
It’s been twelve weeks since I ran into Deven. While my memory has not returned at least the dreams of the young boy being beaten finally subsided. It took a good two or three weeks but I managed to gain enough skills that Deven moved me out of the medical room into one that was a lot more comfortable. The more comfortable I became with his family the easier things got for me. While I still struggle with everyday things I don’t need them to be quite as strict. Sheila’s patience has made a world of difference when it comes to my ability to eat. My haunting suspicion of everything opened or prepared being poisoned has gone from an intolerable roar that must be followed to more of a whispered reminder of what was once my life.
It’s funny to say that considering I don’t know what my life once was. The only memories I have are the new ones formed by Deven and his family. Of course I can’t forget Alpha Cassius and his hospitality either.
Luna Arianna took my hand and let me feel the twins kick yesterday. It was one of the most beautiful moments that I’ve encountered, to feel new life growing within another. She will be a beautiful and loving mother to her daughter and son. I guess that’s why I’m stuck right now. I have been for weeks. I told myself the entire time I had that cast on that I would go as soon as it was gone yet I found myself unable to pull myself away. While I will not pretend to know the reasoning behind it I am willing to say I had a purpose here. I wasn’t the only one in need of help and as sickening as it was to find I’m proud of what I’ve done.
It’s a foreign feeling, to be proud but Clayton needed me. I just happened to be near when he needed me most. Truth be told, that’s the reason I’m still here. Standing in his room like I’ve done for nights and weeks on end. Just like me, he’s been whimpering in his sleep. Only his whimpers are from something completely different than me. He whimpers in grief for the family and pack he lost. A place where he was wanted, he was loved. I don’t need memories of my past to know that I left just the opposite yet I’m drawn to him, to a child in need of tenderness. I’ve gone out of my way to be here to calm his dreams. The more he has imprinted with the Leroux’s the less he seems to need my comfort. His whimpers have slowly faded into the peace that everyone deserves when they sleep.
I walk over to the desk and place my pack on it, careful not to make a sound. I open it cautiously and withdraw the letter I have rewritten multiple times trying to get my feelings right but it’s never right when you’re saying goodbye.
I place the neatly folded letter with Cassius’s name facing up on the nightstand by Clay’s bed. I lean over the child, petting his hair and rubbing his back one last time until he stirs lightly under my touch.
“I’m sorry to wake you but I’m terrible at goodbyes. It’s very important that you get this letter to Alpha Cassius when you wake. I am so very grateful to his and Dr. Leroux’s care. I would have never made it without them but I have a higher calling. There's a place I need to be and it’s no longer here. You don’t need me anymore.”
“Where are you going?” He asks sleepily.
“Something is calling me south. I can’t explain it but I need to find a girl. I keep hearing her in my dreams. Her name is Jessa and she’s in a pack south of here with Alpha Demetri. I remember those names from the hospital. From before I got here. I feel completely different when she talks to me. Even though it’s in my dreams I know she’s real. She says I’ve been to her pack. That it’s the only place that has ever been home and I must find it.”
“But Uncle Cassius can help you.” He yawns.
“Maybe if I knew the pack better. It’s name or location but it’s difficult to hear Jessa, to remember our conversations once I wake up. Instinct tells me it’s time, little man. If I don’t do it now I don’t think I will ever have the courage to do it at all. I’m sorry Clay. I promise, you are safe and so dearly loved. I will miss you.”
I wrap my conversation up and wait for him to fall back asleep. I am drawn briefly to the small stuffed wolf that Cody gave Clay that first night he was with the Lerouxs. Only its head is peaking out from under the covers. Without thinking I rub the inside of my wrist along the side of its head before stepping back to the desk. With silent precision I lift my pack from the desk and head on my way.
2pm
(Cassius’s POV)
Disappointment. Grief. They don’t begin to touch the emotions raging through my head. I knew that this would eventually happen. I’m surprised it didn’t happen the day after his cast came off. I was making progress in my research but kept it to myself. I reached out to Marcy Sanchez in the days following our visit to University. She was grateful to help me and easily supplied her mother’s contact information. I started with an email as she is indeed a very important person within the council. It surprised me to receive a call from her the next week. After a week-long conversion I sent her the results of two of his blood tests. The results of both were unexpected.
A soft knock alerts me to the presence of my new partner in the doorway, Deven. I must say it was a relief for the council to approve of a dual alpha leadership considering the trouble I’ve had finding a proper beta for the job. I watch, silently spinning the gps tracker around the palm of my hand as he walks in, carrying a very sad looking Clayton.
“Looks like you’re having a rough day.” I speak to the pup softly as I had no idea the attachment he had to Colton.
“He left. He said I didn’t need him anymore.” He whines through what Deven told me was his last conversation.
“He gave me a letter to give to you.”
Deven puts the pup on the ground halfway between the door and my desk. He walks to me easily, allowing me to pick him up and place him in my lap. Deven takes the seat on the other side. I take the neatly folded paper from Clayton’s hand and unfold it in front of me. On a piece of lined notebook paper there’s a short letter.
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