The mood in the room was extremely tense, even though Jesse had calmed down and soothed the Leshen pair to the best of his abilities.
Whatever they may be. It was unheard of that an outside force could sooth a Leshen. The only known way a Leshen relaxed, was after it brutally massacred its targets.
Everyone present besides Jesse, had seen the Leshen's handiwork. They knew exactly what these monstrous guardians were capable off.
And all of them had to acknowledge that the Leshens far outmatched them. These mythical beings were so powerful that they could wipe out the entire security team without breaking a sweat.
Even if their troops were tenfold of what they were now, none of them would live through a Leshen's Rage.
Plans were slowly being made, corrected and eventually presented to the Leshens for approval. Guard patrols pointed out, people of interest, possible forming mating bonds to look out for.
After all, nobody wanted to put neither of the Second Chance Mates through what Xavier and Jesse had gone through. The Leshens seemed to show at least some remorse when they learned of how their actions had affected Jesse.
"We will not be so...hasty next time." The female reassured while the male grunted out a huff, shaking his massive head as she finished, "We shall make sure to probe the mind of the Protected to make sure no force or untoward actions have happened."
Jesse blinked, reaching up to slightly scratch at the male Leshen's chin, who crooned and relaxed from its more aggressive stance.
Xavier on the other hand nodded respectfully, sighing softly. "I appreciate it. We should've warned you of our developing bond but to be fair, I didn't want to make any assumptions on Jesse's end. Nor did I want to treat him like property by asking someone else's permission first before I fed from him."
Both Leshens snorted in agreement, even if the male seemed more annoyed by the very thought of anyone's fangs getting near one of their charges.
Jesse's fingers easily found the right spot, gently scratching over its bone jawline. He didn't even realize it himself but the mere fact that he was capable of turning the more aggressive Leshen of the pair into putty with a mere touch, was quite intimidating to the rest of the crew.
To think that something as murderous, blood thirsty and calculated as a Leshen, could purr and behave like a content kitten...
Everyone knew the Leshens to be extremely calculative and vindictive. They held a grudge for lifetimes to the point where they could wait until their quarry forgot they were being hunted.
And then struck without remorse.
The entire room observed Jesse with an entirely new look, knowing that of all the Deprived, the Leshen would react the most to anything happening to him.
They were extremely lucky that Jesse was able to persuade and soothe the Leshens. Because all of them had seen the trees with their gruesome prize displayed for the world to see.
What would happen to those who unleashed the Leshen's Rage.
"A fair warning though." The female Leshen's voice pierced through the silence, drawing attention to her as her sharp, bone fingers tapped an eerie rhythm on the table. "If we find any evidence of ongoing abuse between one of our charges and one of this compound, we will not hesitate."
Her mate grunted in agreement, a fine string of saliva expanded before it snapped as he released a deep, unsettling sound. "And we will make an example out of whoever it is." A deep hum along with the unsettling groaning of wood filled the following silence.
A few of the men gulped and Jesse figured that the Leshen's promise had come across like intended. Because it wasn't an empty threat; this was a vow, a lifelong promise that gained power as it was spoken aloud.
They were magical creatures. And magical contracts bound the very soul of the being who made it. With the way both Leshens inhaled the growing scent of fear and snorted with delight, whatever had happened to the Improba was a mere appetizer compared what would happen to anyone who would dare harm the Deprived.
Those at the compound had been recognized by the Leshen, been taken in as their charges. What had happened to the Improba abusers would be incomparable next to what would happen to anyone assaulting one of the Leshen's charges.
Thankfully, Jesse could sense the changing mood in the room and reached out, soothing the Leshens back to a softer, calmer state.
One that didn't spell a painful death for anyone who encroached on the Deprived.
Jesse reached out, pressing delicate fingers against the oddly warm bone fingers of the female Leshen. She turned her empty gaze towards the young man, a curious sound to the hum she produced.
"M..Make sure th-that the Deprived a-aren't influenced by their PTSD." He murmured, knowing that the Leshen's could see through his thoughts and memories.
Jesse clearly remembered the haunting moments where he woke up, convinced he was still locked in that desolate room filled with agony and despair. The whispered voices of his abusers that randomly hissed at him when he least expected it.
How Xavier's gentle touch could sometimes set him off, his mind anticipating the abuse it had to endure and fighting back instinctively.
And how absolutely disgusted Jesse felt once he realized that he had lashed out, slapped and clawed at his Second Chance Mate. How Xavier had done nothing more than gently hold Jesse, not restraining the boy but preventing him of hurting himself.
Jesse could only assume that the other Deprived had their own psychotic episodes. Their mental states fragile as glass with their physical and mental trauma overeager to shatter their very existence.
"Of course, do not worry Little One." She purred, fingers gently sifting through Jesse's hair to scratch at his scalp. Magic swept through his mind and soothed the worst of his worries, gently forcing Jesse to relax.
"Good thing you pointed that out." Serena murmured before providing the Leshens with a crash course into psychology and the effects of the trauma the Deprived had experienced.
It was odd to see the pair listen patiently to an Improba, taking every bit of information and absorb it like a sponge. Jesse knew intuitively that the Leshens would do anything that benefited their charges.
Fingers gently squeezed his side, a soft sign of reassurance and offered comfort. For a small, near imperceptible moment, Jesse's heart tumbled and stuttered in fear, expecting the gesture to tighten painfully, to become a punishing, biting grip.
His magic flashed, a sudden rumble in the clouds above announcing the sharp bite of fear that had an iron clad grip on Jesse's common sense.
And just as quickly, the emotion disappeared as bone fingers flicked the tip of his nose, startling him to the present.
"Calm, Little One." The female Leshen murmured soothingly as her gaze settled on Jesse. "Breathe in...and out. You are Protected. You are Safe."
Swallowing convulsively, Jesse repeated "I- I'm p-p-protected. I'm s-s...sa...safe..." Stuttering, forcing his way through the painful lump in his throat, the tremble that rattled through his bones.
And then soft lips pressed against his temple, scrambling his thoughts and zapping his ever turbulent emotions to silence. "And you are loved. Never forget that." Xavier murmured softly against his ear.
Tears welled in the young Deprived's eyes as he couldn't swallow the ever growing lump down. Especially not when across the table, Lucca audibly agreed.
"You are more precious to us than you can ever imagine, Jesse. If you can't trust your own judgement due to the voices of your trauma...trust us." Lucca spoke softly, vibrant blue eyes kind, compassionate and loving.
It was hard, next to impossible to accept their words. To try and convince himself that they honestly believed what they were saying.
Because Jesse couldn't see himself in the same light. Couldn't fathom the very notion that, to these people, he wasn't seen as a used and discarded whore.
Instead, his old friends remembered him like he was. The cute pixie that played tricks on others, who was happy and outgoing.
But Jesse had slowly come to terms with the fact that whoever the old Jesse was...they were gone. The Jesse that lived in the memories of Lucca and his friends, was dead.
There was no way for him to ever become the same person again. Even if he believed in the countless of therapy sessions he underwent, the soft spoken advice that was given...
On an instinctual level, Jesse just knew he would never be the same again.
It was one of the things he had spat out during one of his therapy session with Serena. She had been slowly coaxing him to talk about what happened, not to relive the torment but to try and place it.
When Jesse had stated the same notion during the therapy session, that people shouldn't treat him as the same person, Serena had grown upset and slightly admonished Jesse.
"Jesse, while the events that happened to you have left you with a great deal of trauma, we still see you as Jesse. Our love and affection for you haven't changed. And yes, I'm not going to deny that the trauma has obviously marked you, but to us you still are the same Jesse worth of our love and adoration."
A soft spark of anger had shot to life at that, making Jesse's eyes narrow as he spat bitterly. "Jesse was a virgin."
The uncomfortable silence that abruptly filled the room had made Jesse stiffen. Realizing that he had just lashed out at someone else, at an improba.
Do you actually want to be tormented?!
Of course, Serena had simply given Jesse a gentle hug that had soothed the growing fear and worry in his body.
But after that session, she never brought up that Jesse was the same person again. Because neither of them could deny the truth of Jesse's statement.
His other, past version knew nothing about the heartbreak and torment one could experience without dying. How the loss of a single individual in their lives, someone they've only just met for a short time, could make all the colors in the world fade to black.
It was inexplainable. Incomprehensible. The old Jesse wouldn't have been able to wrap his brain around the mere concept of his future.
But now here he was. With a shattered mind, a broken body and an nonexistent will. Times like these, where his mind became muddles with dark thoughts, Jesse often wondered why he was still hanging on.
Why he hadn't died during those months of torment. Why he hadn't ignored Tristan's advice in the showers and slit his throat then and there.
The warmth of the hug that suddenly enveloped him forced Jesse to blink out of his thoughts. With his nose buried against Xavier's throat and sensing the tremors in both their bodies, Jesse swallowed thickly with realization.
Maybe, some part of him knew that there was someone waiting for him on the other side of this torment. Nothing could erase what any of the Deprived had been through, as it was ingrained into their very beings.
But perhaps in some cases, they'd find someone who was capable of guiding them out of the eternal darkness and let them be blinded by the colors of the world once more.