Page 361 of Alpha Mates

“No,” Aiden says, shaking his head quickly as he clears his throat. “Can you give us a second, actually?”

Emitt nods before he leaves, offering Levi a kind smile as he closes the door behind him. With Emitt gone, Levi fixes those dark eyes back on us, and with startling clarity, I realise that we’re all Levi has.

“Come here, Levi,” I call while emotion clogs my chest.

Climbing down from his chair, Levi circles the table without any of the caution he used to have. He all but runs into my arms, letting me lift and hug him with everything I have. My heart hammers against his while I struggle to keep my tears from surfacing.

Whining, Levi squirms in my arms, and I force myself to get it together as I loosen my hold. He frowns up at me, but something in my face must give me away because his frown twists into concern.

“Are you sick again?” Levi asks, and this time, there’s nothing to stop my eyes from filling.

“No,” I promise quickly. “I’m fine.”

Levi doesn’t look convinced, so he looks to Aiden, and so do I.

In cases like this, if we didn’t keep him within our pack, Levi would most likely be put up for adoption to a pack that needed an alpha heir and couldn’t provide one for some reason. The Council would pair him with a caretaker of their own, who would ensure he adapted well, had a good life, and was brought up within a good family.

If hewereleft in our pack, a family looking for another addition would care for him, with the entire pack contributing to raise him together. Either way, there were options to guarantee that Levi was cared for and had a good life, which would hopefully eventually help him move on from everything he’d endured. But which would Levi want?

Did he even know what happened to his pack?

I watch Aiden struggle to find the right words with both of us looking to him, but the way he looks at Levi reminds me that this must be killing him in ways I can’t even imagine.

“Levi,” I whisper, being strong for all of us. He looks at me, and I hate the way he tenses. “You’re not in trouble, and nothing’s wrong. I just … we need to talk to you about where you come from.”

Levi’s gaze drops to his lap, where he clutches his fingers. I don’t miss the moment they begin to shake. Aiden reaches over to slide his hand over them, squeezing them until they stop.

“Levi,” I start gently, “do you know what happened to your pack?”

Despite the way he reacted with every mention of them, I’d been holding onto the meagre hope that Levi’s family might still be alive. That hope falls apart now as I watch Levi’s head jerk up and down.

I hope he didn’t see it. Goddess, I pray he didn’t.

“We’re sorry, Levi,” Aiden whispers, and though Levi’s head remains down, I see the way his lip trembles. Alex surges up, whining fretfully as I hug the pup in my arms.

“We’re so sorry.”

Levi bites down on his lip to stifle his cry, but the tears still escape. I wipe them away, fighting my own while Aiden squeezes his hands. “It’s okay to cry, Levi. It’s just us.”

Levi fights it, refusing to let a sound free as tears silently stream down his face.

Aiden glances at me, and I see the concerns he’d already voiced to me that Levi might be terrified of doing anything wrong. I hoped that wasn’t the case, but this certifies it.

“Because of what happened,” I continue as carefully as I can, “we will have to find you a home, Levi.”

Levi lifts his head so quickly that it almost knocks into my chin. His sorrow is replaced by fear as he blinks those tearful black eyes at us.

“Not immediately,” Aiden cushions as he caresses Levi’s hands. “Only when you’re ready. We can set you up with a nice family of your choice that you’re comfortable with, and—”

“No!” he wails, cutting Aiden off as his already short breaths worsen. “Please don’t. Please don’t send me away! I don’t want to leave! I—I’ll be good, and I won’t do anything wrong.”

“Hey—hey, it’s alright, Levi. Calm down,” Aiden coos as he leans closer so he’s all the boy can see. “Nothing is decided yet. If you don’t want to leave the pack, we can get you a family here.”

“I want to stay with you!” he shouts, and finally, Levi cries.

For the first time since we found him, the sobs he kept locked inside come pouring out. They flow out of him with abandon and refuse to stop. Aiden joins my embrace, wrapping his arms around Levi and me as we hold him through it.

Rocking him gently while we stay close, the way we wished others did before we found each other, and the way we have ever since. We become the protective shell around him that allows him to let it all out until he can’t anymore.