Leonidas ✔️

Chapter 34 - Leonidas

Leo?

Yes, brother?

I'd like to see you my office in an hour, please.

I'll be there.

The house was nearing completion, and I couldn't be happier with the work I'd done. The workers had been sent home last week, as all that was left was finishing the flooring and painting the walls. I still didn't know what I wanted to do with the inside... maybe some simple couches, or a rug?

The flooring could be finished by the time I went to see Jackson, and even looking at it now made me excited to see the finished product. It was a simple, dark brown wood floor, that I had chosen specifically to let the rest of the house be decorated around that color.

Throughout the last few weeks, I've been listening to my wolf more—something I should have done in the first place. We are one. His needs are my needs, and I realized that part of my anger was from the war I had going on inside my own body.

I'd had dinner with Ana and Jackson almost once a week, and sometimes I would catch Jackson staring at me until I would look at him, in which he would look away.

"Leo?" He had asked one evening, sitting at the same table for a meal after Ana had left to use the restroom.

I looked up from my plate, noodles slipping out one side of my mouth. He smirked.

"Haven't had a decent meal in a while, have you?" I shook my head, swallowed the food, then took a long drink of the water.

"I have something to ask you," He said softly. I nodded for him to continue.

"Who you are now—" He closed his eyes, shook his head, then started again. "I have been trying to make you come to the realization that mom wasn't happy for years. When I finally did, everything changed." This was a sensitive subject, and I had to try to keep my anger in check.

"What about it?" I asked. He still hadn't gotten to his question.

"Was that the only thing holding you back?" His eyes were filled with concern, but instead of feeling sorry for myself I scoffed.

"What a stupid question," I muttered underneath my breath. Jackson tensed.

"Mother sent you away to be raised by some nice, loving family with a white picket fence and maybe a couple of dogs. I had to deal with him smacking her around every single day, and I thought that was how a mate was supposed to be treated despite how wrong it felt."

Jackson flinched at the mention of my mother's abuse, but I continued on.

"She would still smile, say she loved him, treat him well, so I was raised thinking that was how I was supposed to treat my mate. Despite learning that my father was a fucking moron that took his anger out on his soulmate instead of loving her, there was still this fear that even though I knew it was wrong, I would hurt my soulmate. I was raised that way, brother. It's inevitable."

"Is everything okay?" Ana had come back into the kitchen, rubbing a hand over her slight bump as she pattered to her seat. Jackson stood to pull her seat out for her, and she thanked him with a kiss on his cheek. I stood abruptly.

"Thank you for the meal, Jackson, but I think I will head home for the evening." Without another word I turned and almost sprinted out of the pack house. As soon as my foot stepped passed the threshold I let a snarl rip through me before shifting into my wolf and making a run to my unfinished house.