“Don’t ever say anything like that again. If you want a rejection you will need to do it. I will not. You are perfect and will make a perfect mate and queen.” He says cupping my face. I only nod my head, not knowing what to say. This is different.
Alarick’s POV
I am beyond elated to know that Leeaca and Fen, whom I just learned is the name of her wolf, would give me a chance. But she didn’t seem too happy. After She told me her story I couldn’t think, my brain was on overload. She went through so much and I can’t blame her for not trusting me and not wanting a mate bond. After the kiss, I felt different. This was our first kiss and it was like everything exploded inside my body. I even felt closer to her somehow, like I could feel some of her emotions, which normally doesn’t happen until you are marked. But I am not going to question it. I am just going to roll with the punches. As we sit there in silence for a little while a thought comes to me and I start to panic. I told Marcus to go through what we found at the cabin, which includes the videos. I pale, we have been gone for over a full day. Sh*t.
“What’s wrong?” LeeAca asks me. I stand up and reach out my hand for her. She takes it and the sparks coming from it calm me a little, but not enough. “Alarick, what is it?” She asks again.
“I.. I may have ordered Markus to go through everything we found at the cabin.” I struggle to get out. Her eyes widen and she takes off running towards the castle. I am right behind her, but losing some ground, as she had a head start and she is somehow faster than me. I huff in annoyance at that, but Onin is loving it. He loves how strong, intelligent and beautiful our mate is. Don’t get me wrong I do too, but sometimes I wish she was more docile so I could take care of her. I hear Onin snort at this thought.
LeeAca’s POV
Aalrick is an idiot. As soon as I reach the castle doors I slow down and sniff. I need to find him. I start running towards his office. That is where his scent is strongest. I go to open the door, but it is locked. I bust through the door and see Marcus sitting on the floor, surrounded by tapes, watching the TV screen. I walk up and see that he is at the time when I am delivering my second child. I turn off the TV and he is just staring right through me like he is still watching it.
“Markus…. Markus honey, how long have you been watching those tapes?” I ask and after staring through me for what seemed like 5 minutes he looks up. He has so many emotions going on I can barely pinpoint the strongest one. His face looks like he hasn’t slept in days. By this time Alarick has come in, but not said anything,
“LeeAca?” Marcus asks and finally looks up at me.
“Yes Markus, it’s me. Now how about we go and get you a shower and some food?” I ask him and he just looks at me. I gently grab his arm and he follows my movements not saying anything, likely replaying everything he has seen so far. Alarick helps me take him to his room and we put him in the shower.
“I can do it. You get the food for him.” Alarick says, looking at me. I nod and go down to the kitchen. I fix Marcus some grilled cheese and tomato soup. I make my way up stairs with the soups and sandwiches when I see Amara outside of Marcus’s door crying.
“Everything ok?” I ask as I get closer to the door.
“No, my mate won’t let me help him. He has been screaming at me for the past 2 days to leave him alone. He hasn’t showered, slept or ate this whole time.” She says crying.
“I’ll talk to him, Amara just try to get some rest. And congrats on finding your second chance. I want to know what happened when this is over.” I say to her and she sniffles and smiles a little.
I walk in just as Alarick is done getting Marcus into some clean clothes.
“Markus. I made you some food. Grilled cheese and tomato soup.” I say in a soft voice. He is just staring at a spot on the wall, still not here. “Markus.” I say, reaching out and touching his shoulder, sending him some calm energy hoping this will help. He looks up at me.
“LeeAca?” He asks and I smile slightly towards him and nod my head.
“Yes Markus. It’s me.” I say. After he stares at me for 30 seconds he breaks down and falls on me. Holding me tight and crying. I lead him towards the couch in his room and sit down with him. He is still crying. “
Shhhhh it’s okay. It’s okay Markus I am right here.” I say as I rub his back, sending him calm energy. I look over to see Alarick standing there awkwardly staring at us. “Leave, I got this.” I mindlink him. He shakes his head and sits down in one of the chairs across from the couch.
“Markus you need to eat. I made you some food.” I say as I grab the grilled cheese. He shakes his head.
“I can’t eat LeeAca. What they did makes me sick. I can’t eat when all I see is what they did to you.” He says as tears start to form in his eyes. I sigh and rub his back some more, still sending him some positive energy. After he calms down I try again.
“Markus you need to eat. I know how you feel, but I will answer any questions you have as long as you are eating.” I say and he looks up towards me and back at the food. He grabs the plate and bowl and then looks at me.
“Tell me about the kids.” He says I look over to ALarick and feel his worry for me. I just smile and mindlink him.
“I am fine.” I tell him then look toward Markus.
“Well I am assuming you mean my two am I correct?” I ask to make sure. He nods his head and takes a bite of the sandwich. “The firstborn was Thadius. He was a quiet child, but loved to draw. He had blond hair and my green eyes. He would have been a little heart breaker. The second born was Marcelina, she had dark brown hair and blue eyes like her father. She was loud and rowdy. She loved to climb and would even make me stand up and climb me like a jungle jim. Her and her brother would run around and play with each other all day if they were allowed. They both loved carrots and while Thad loved green beans, Celi hated them. Celi would always end up throwing the green beans at her brother and he would try to catch them in his mouth.” I say and have a sad smile on my face. I have never talked about them to anybody.
“What happened to them?” Markus asked, and I sighed.
“When Thadius was three and Marcelina was 2 they were taken to the experimentation room. I was taken to the overhead observation area and was forced to watch as they injected something into my children. They were trying to force them to shift. When I felt the bonds snap, I lost all control and tore the whole place apart. I remember blacking out and waking up in the forest with a few of the others in the lab with me. They were taking care of wounds the best they could and Keenan was using his magic to help calm me since we are connected somehow.” I said and looked up to see Markus’s eyes shining with unshed tears. At least he isn’t balling like before.
“LeeAca. I am so sorry that those things happened to you. You should have never gone through all of that. It is horrible. I wish I could go back and protect you. I wish I would have helped. I wish..”
“Stop Marcus.” I cut him off. “You couldn’t have known. If you would have stopped me from getting captured it would have been somebody else. I have turned what they did to me into something worth fighting for. I fight for those who can’t, I rescue those who need rescuing. I help people because I don’t EVER want somebody going through an ounce of what I went through.” I say and he smiles slightly. I feel his emotions coming around and I know that he is calm now.
“You are an incredible person to be able to turn that around and have a positive outlook.” He says and it hits me. I have never thought about what had happened to me being a positive thing. I just knew that I had to make sure that people never felt the way I did. I nod at him and pat his shoulder, while standing up and grabbing the now empty plate and bowl.
“I will let your mate come in. You really hurt her feelings and you need to apologize and talk to her.” I say and he looks down with a guilty face. I walk towards the door with Alarick following me. Once I open the door and step out I see Amara still sitting there sniffling.
“He is better now. You can go and see him.” I say and she looks up towards me with bright eyes. She hugs me real quick then pushes past her brother into Marcus’s room. We hear Marcus start to apologize when we close the door to give them privacy. I walk to the kitchen and clean the dishes and put them away. Alarick is sitting at the island watching.
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