Already Taken

Unexpected emotions

I pace the room, my emotions flying here and there and everywhere. Nothing makes sense, nothing is in my understanding. All my emotions are jumbled. Anger at Luc for not letting me go to Jim, sadness for both my wanting to be in Luc's arms, as well as missing Jim's. Hurt from the look of hatred in Jim's eyes, not sure if it resides there for Luc or for myself. Pain due to Jim not even trying to come to me. Not one step in my direction did he take. Not a single one. I feel like I'm looking through a window on a man I thought I knew. The man I knew would have done anything to protect his family. This man looked absolutely cold. I'm so confused.

******

As I'm sparring with Luka, I feel the closeness of my family. I turn expecting to see Dawn but instead I see my dad standing at the edge of the treeline watching something intently. I follow his gaze to see his eyes are locked on Alpha Luc with mom in his arms. I freeze, unable to take my eyes off what's happening , expecting the worse to come from this. Luc runs to place my mom in Taylor's arms and sprints in the direction of my dad. As they both take to the forest, I make a polite excuse leaving Luka behind. I have to make sure my dad is ok. I slowly slink my way into the darkness of the trees and stop as I near where they stand face to face.

As I listen to the conversation between them, I feel Dawn approach, sneaking up as I did. I spin around a slip my hand across her mouth, letting her know to stay quiet. She nods in understanding.

As we continue to listen in, one thing catches my attention. And by the look in my sister's eyes, she caught it too. That voice. The harsh, cruel tone. That's not the dad we know. This man before us sounds heartless, cold. Not as if he is desperate to get us back but more like we are property that he purchased and intends to have in his possession.

My first instinct is to confront him. I mean, he is our dad. The man who loved and cared for us through our lives. But something in his tone has me frozen where I hide. To be honest, it scares me. I know Dawn feels it to, as she begins to shake beside me. I don't know what to do. I'm at a loss.

******

After he is gone, I take a minute to shake off the anger before turning around and calling out to them, "Come out kids."

Slowly, from a few yards away hiding behind a tree, Ben and Dawn slowing inch their way forward. They're scared. That much is obvious. But I'm not sure who they are more scared of at this point.

"What are you doing here?", I asked as gently as possible, considering the situation.

"We..I just..we wanted to make sure our dad was ok", Ben says, puffing his chest out a little in an attempt to appear strong and unshaken by the events taking place. For that, he gains my respect.

"If that's the case, why didn't you come out and join the conversation? "

I see him visibly start to shake. I can't help the need to protect these children as if they were mine. I step forward, placing my hand on his shoulder, adding my strength to his.

He straightens and with the release of breathe, he says, "Because Sir, that man wasn't the dad we know. He has never raised his voice, never had so much venom in his words. But most importantly, he acted like we were more of property than the family he loves. I don't know why it sounded like that but..it scared us." With those words, his shoulders slumped back down and before he could hide it, I caught the hint of a tear rolling down his cheek. I can't help but feel my heart break for him. His whole world imploded in on him in a matter of days leaving too much destruction in its path for him to walk away from. I just hope I can be the one to help them through this. I may have only known them a short time but i already love them as my own. This situation will be hard for all. Rogues are good at adapting to each situation, as they have been on their own for so long. And now that his story of pretend has fallen, his true colors are showing, his family being caught up in the end of the show.

"Let's go check on your mom, shall we? I'm sure she needs you as much as you need her right now."

With a gentle shake of heads, we head off to the house. I have a feeling this is not going to get any easier any time soon.