Friday, August 2nd Pt. 2
*Alpha Cassius, I am sincerely sorry for the rudeness of my sudden departure but I knew deep down I could never tell you where I was going or why. Unlike the hospital, I’m not afraid. Quite the opposite. I am comfortable and cared for. Two of the most foreign feelings I’ve ever known. Despite how weird that sounds I know this is even harder to believe. I have a calling, a greater purpose that I must fulfill. There was no way to know my purpose at Shadowlands until it happened but I do believe bringing to light the abuses your beta indulged in has made your pack a safer place for everyone. I overheard Deven’s conversation with Sheila and how multiple charges were coming against him. My sincerest hope is that he’s removed from your pack and re-educated. It doesn’t matter if spankings are approved and controlled by the council, no one deserves to be beaten. I may not be able to explain why but it is the truth of how I feel. No adult, no child ever deserves to be beaten. Again, I apologize. This letter is not at all how I want it to sound. I have written and rewritten it so many times I should have it memorized but it always changes with every week that I delay the inevitable. I have a girl that has come to me every night for the last two months. The feeling of joy she had in finding me alive was immeasurable. She cried when I told her that I didn’t remember her. The only consolation I could give her is that she felt familiar and I didn’t want her to leave. Jessa is real. I know she is. She’s not simply a name given to me in the hospital but a living, breathing person who wants me. I must find her. I will help as many as I can along the way but she is where I belong. I will not stop until I find her.*
I look up as I finish reading the letter.
“What did he take with him?” I ask as I lean back in my chair giving Clayton a better position to snuggle with me.
“I combed through his room as you asked when I found him gone this morning. The bigger, camping backpack is gone. Everything that was in his small, tattered one is gone as well. He left the old one in the garbage. He took all his prescriptions except for the nebulizer machine and the albuterol that went with it. While not all the clothes we gave would fit in the pack I can tell that he did take some clothes. I hid a large envelope of money at the bottom of the pack. I don’t think he’s found it as he didn’t leave it behind.”
“You expected him too?” I’m shocked as I question him.
“With what little I know about him and the amount I left, yes. Five grand in twenty dollar bills is no small amount.”
“You gave him all that in twenties and he didn’t find it?” I chuckle at the thought of such a large sum of money in the bottom of the backpack.
“Honestly, I think I split it but it still ended up being a stack. I was surprised when he didn’t go through the pack when I gave it to him last month. I told him that we were working on getting him back on track with operation underground but finding out who he is was taking longer than we expected.”
“You expected him to run then, didn’t you?”
“I did. That’s why I hid the money under a soft fleece blanket at the bottom. Hopefully he finds it before he tries to sleep on the street.”
All I can do is nod. I rub Clayton’s back slowly but I can feel the young pup’s need to leave me.
“It’s okay to go play.” I place him on the ground as I speak. He whispers a polite ‘thank you’ before walking over to Deven.
“Are you doing okay? I know he meant a lot to you.” He shakes his head.
“Why does everyone disappear?” He whispers with a quiver in his voice.
“I’m sorry little bud. I know it feels that way but I promise mama Sheila and I aren’t going anywhere.” He picks Clay up next, holding him close. “We are a sanctuary pack but we don’t require anyone to stay. It happens quite often that an injured wolf will wander our way. We help them get healthy and when they feel the need, they go.”
“Is what he said true?”
“What did he tell you?”
“That I was safe. I don’t need him anymore.”
I turn away as the young pup cries shedding my own silent tears in private. It’s been a long time since a stray has made such an impact. His discovery of Braysen abusing Clayton was just the tip of the iceberg. The council’s six week investigation into his activities has found two dozen kids ten and under that were being taken to either mine or his office regularly for spankings that I wasn’t aware of. While he was, as my beta, allowed to implement physical punishment, the laws I have in place do not allow for any child under twelve to receive it. The council’s laws are a little more relaxed allowing pups as young as eight to receive such punishment but it’s only when a specific criteria has been met. Neither law allows for a pup twelve and under to receive the belt bottomless yet that’s what they all were.
The oldest child was ten, Clay was the youngest at six. Every child was forced to the office without their parents. He then forced them to disrobe from the waist down before tying them to the desk. The worst part of the videos the council showed me was how hard and how many times he hit them. There were two more that, like Clayton described, would be left tied to the desk as he leaves the room for several minutes before returning and spanking them again. I can now accurately describe Clayton’s punishment of six times six as him receiving six to ten very hard hits before being left tied up for five minutes before Braysen returned and spanked him again. This happened on repeat a total of six times before he was let loose of the restraints. He was the only one who received this style of punishment twice a week, every week for the last twelve weeks in addition to his nightly spankings. Council evidence corroborated what Clayton said. Deven showed me the pictures they took of his bruised and battered backside making it easy for me to turn Braysen over to the council. The Novas were a bit harder. They showed remorse for the way they treated Clayton and confessed that they were ill prepared to care for him. Their own relationship was in a crisis and they blindly thought adding a child would help bring them together. Sadly it was Clay who suffered. They accepted and reported to council headquarters for their punishments and returned to the pack. They are now receiving therapy but bonds created outside of the fated mate’s tend to have the same rate of divorce as the human population. Clayton has been in therapy and overall has been doing well. This is the first major upset he’s had since everything happened three months ago.
“I’m going to take Clay out to Sheila. I’ll be right back since you said there was a lot of new information that you found on Colton.”
I take several deep breaths before trying to answer him.
“Yes sir. Thank you.” I keep it simple as I know my voice is a dead giveaway to my emotions right now.
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