Heart of a rogue

* Chapter 29 - scars tell stories

"So, this is officially registered as a pack?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I looked at Leo. He hummed proudly, almost smug in the way he held himself.

"Yes," he replied, almost as though I should be impressed.

"How the fuck did you do that?" I asked, leaning forward, my mind swirling with disbelief. "Didn't you murder your last one?"

Leo rolled his eyes, as if the question was beneath him. "Yes, but I used a fake name, obviously."

I narrowed my eyes, suspicious. "It says Leonardo. Are they that stupid?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Apparently, yes. There are a few more fake names I used. Plus, it's been a while. The elders don't care. They'd rather have us in one place than roaming around causing trouble."

I paused, mulling over that. "That's fair, I guess."

Leo looked at me, his gaze intense and silent. It was the kind of stare that made me feel like he was trying to read me, trying to figure me out. And as usual, I wasn't sure what he was thinking.

"Why are you staring at me?" I asked, breaking the silence.

He didn't immediately answer. Instead, he just watched me, his expression unreadable. Then, finally, he spoke again, his voice almost casual. "My father wasn't my father. He found out my mother fucked another, and that's when he killed my mother. I took the fucking blame for it, but that's not how it happened. Yeah, I killed him. I enjoyed it as I did. He deserved it. But if you had the chance, you probably would've killed yours, too."

I squinted my eyes at him, I would if I got the chance. "If I get the chance, I probably will," I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. There was something about Leo's words that made my thoughts race. "So he found out and killed your mother for it?"

Leo nodded, popping another berry into his mouth, his expression never wavering.

"Yeah. He wanted to kill me, of course. But my mother protected me. She died for it, and then I killed my own father. Everyone turned on me after that. Called me a monster. Sure, I've got issues, but everyone turned their backs on me."

His words felt heavy in the air, a strange mix of anger and resignation in his tone. I had heard snippets of Leo's past, but this... this was new. There was something raw about his admission. His father. His mother. The way the world had turned its back on him. I couldn't fully wrap my mind around it, but a small part of me understood. The way he spoke about being abandoned, about being labeled a monster, was familiar.

Leo was calm the past few days, crazy Leo was nowhere in sight and I'd hope it stayed this way. 

I didn't say anything for a moment. Instead, I just stared at him, trying to find the right words. But there was no perfect response. No comforting words. What was I supposed to say to that? I couldn't offer him any sympathy, not after everything that had happened between us. But, somehow, I couldn't just dismiss what he was saying either.

"You were just a kid," I muttered, more to myself than to him. "A kid forced to carry the weight of that..."

Leo didn't respond right away. Instead, he glanced away, his gaze flickering out the window, almost as if the past had caught up with him. It was rare to see him like this, vulnerable in a way. For a moment, I wondered if this was the real Leo—the man behind the madness. The one I wasn't supposed to understand.

"People don't care about the why," he finally said, his voice quieter than before. "They just see the monster." He casually popped his arms under his head, ''he did enough fucked up things during my childhood, he deserved pain.''