Innocence

18

Alpha Edmund's POV

"You two shouldn't follow him." Alpha Raymond says and his Beta and I stop.

"I'm going after my boy Ray." Beta Zane growls.

"You know that won't help Zane. You know Cedric. He's to far gone to listen. Too angry... we can talk to him later once he has calmed down." Raymond tells him. I sigh... he knows my son better than me. I should probably listen to him. I know that kind of anger comes from my side of the family. Me, my father, my grandfather... I'll let him go for now.

"You called the boy nipote?" I mention trying to move on the conversation. I'll admit I know nothing about him. I was too nervous about getting here and seeing him to look into his background.

"He is my nephew." Raymond responds.

"So his mother..." I trail off this just got even more awkward.

"Was my sister." He finishes for me.

"And my mate." The Beta adds.

"I'm so sorry Zane... I wish I would have known... I could have helped... I'm sorry." I tell him.

"We will never be friends Edmund. Don't even try. If Cedric wants you around I won't come in the way... it's just when I look at you all I can think about is how you screwed my mate... just leave me alone yea? Cuz a big part of me still wants to watch the life drain from your eyes." We'll at least he's honest.

"Cedric will come around to being your packs Alpha. We raised him well. He won't let innocent people suffer because of his feelings towards you." Raymond says and I nod. At least my pack will have its Alpha.

"If only I had known about him... I missed so much. Where do I even start? He's a grown wolf. It's not like I can force him to listen to me." I lament.

"I wish you would have figured it out. We couldn't find them. You could have saved them..." Raymond says. He looks angry before he takes a deep breath and sighs. "But you were young and didn't know any better... Just treat my nephew well. I know he will need guidance as he leads. We've been friends for a while now. I know the kind of man you are... just help him when he is in your pack where I can't be with him. Even if he denies it he will need you."

"I'll do my best Ray... and I'm really sorry about your sister." I apologize again. I don't think I'll ever be done apologizing to these men. He shakes his head

"It's alright Ed... you didn't know." He says before looking away. He just looks so sad when ever he thinks about her.

"What did we miss?" Samuel asks as he enters the room. I see the other two look around but I knew he followed the boy. I'm happily surprised when I see him follow my Beta into the room. I grab Sam's hand and pull him into a half hug.

"Thank you." I whisper before letting him go.

"Hello, I'm Cedric." My son says stiffly as he holds out his hand to me. I see Ray and Zane's jaws drop. Sam is good. Always has been.

"Edmund." I respond shaking his hand. "I really am sorr..."

"Stop." He cuts me off. "I know you are sorry. I know you didn't know what was going on. I know you didn't know I even existed." He takes a deep breath obviously trying to stay calm. "But you should have and it's not okay. You were an Alpha. You should have made sure that the women you slept with didn't have kids... seriously would it have killed you to make a call a month later to make sure? How many siblings do I really have? If you would have bothered to check up on us you would have known something was wrong. You could have saved us!... I'm trying really hard not to be mad at you. I'm trying so hard it physically hurts... and when you keep apologizing it doesn't make things better it just makes me want to dig my claws into you so stop. You know you were my chief torment? When ever I challenged them they would ask who my father is then call me a worthless bastard of a whore. I am a bastard. I know that but that honestly says more about you than me... everyone keeps saying you are a good man... I have a hard time with that but I would be a fool to write you off. I will be the Alpha of your pack. You will be an advisor. Nothing more. We will meet twice a week and outside of that you will not bother me. I will be civil. This is a business relationship, Edmund. This is all I can offer right now. Maybe some day I will be at a place where I can have a closer relationship with you but I make no promises. Zane is my dad and I won't disrespect him by giving you that name so don't expect it... an annoying Beta said I should forgive. I'm trying to do that but just stop apologizing it may help you feel better but it makes me feel worse... do you accept this arrangement?"

My jaw drops. This is honestly more than I expected when he stormed out of here. It's not what I want. I want him to be a part of my family but I guess it's progress and much more quickly than I thought it'd be.

"Yes, I understand... I'm... I wish I was a better man when I was younger and I wish I hadn't hurt you." I say fighting the words 'I'm sorry'.

"You are apologizing again." He grumbles. Then takes another deep breath. "Most of the guys I know sleep around... many of them have gone to places like where you met Ma... it seems the only difference is you fathered a child... man I wish you would have checked that place out... you could have..." he pauses again and gives a little sad smile. "Could have never did do nothing." He whispers to himself. "I can't hold could have been's against you." He sighs and looks at his uncle. "Are their rooms prepared?"

"Guest hall rooms 3 through 5." Ray nods.

"Guards in place?" Cedric questions.

"From the time they entered the territory." Hu? I was way out of it. I didn't even notice we were being followed. I look at Sam quizzically and he nods. Well at least one of us was paying attention.

"Now that we have an understanding I'll leave you to settle in. See you at dinner Edmund, Beta." He nods to me and then Sam before leaving. I see Zane give Raymond a pleading look. The Alpha nods and he runs after the boy.

"What did you drug him with?" Ray asks Sam.

"Nothing... I just talked to him... it's proof he is a Lester though." Sam laughs and I nod. There's a reason Sam is my Beta.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ray asks.

"You know how most Alpha's pick who they want as there Beta? It's usually the Alpha's best friend. We'll from the start of my pack the Beta family has never changed. The men in my family tend to be rash hot heads. We are decently intelligent and we are strong but we lack in emotional and social stability... we act before we think and can cause a lot of damage in the process. For some reason every Beta has had this calm logic that keeps us grounded. Like a living breathing chill pill. It's why where you would leave your Beta to watch your pack in your absence I leave my Gamma. I keep Sam close to help me make good decisions... it seems he has the same effect on young Cedric." I try to explain.

"So you all have ADHD and your Beta is Ritalin?" Ray says and I shrug.

"I suppose you could put it like that... I guess Sam is really Cedric's Beta now anyway. I'm glad you were able to get through to him." I say and Sam smiles.

"He's a good kid. He'll be a good Alpha." He says.

"Just take care of him. He's handling this better than I expected but I'm afraid it's all posturing and he will crack as soon as he leaves home. I don't want to see him hurt." Ray says and we both nod.

"We'll take care of him Ray."