Innocence

04 Home

Cedric's POV

I wake up in a big bed. A real bed not like the thin blanket Ace and I shared. Where am I? Who was the man who took me? Where did he take Ace?!

As I begin to panic a nice lady comes in.

"Hey pup, you're okay." She says as she wraps her arms around me. She feels like Ma. Not physically cuz Ma was all skinny from not eating but this lady makes my feel good like Ma did.

"Where am I?" I ask her once I calm a bit.

"You're in your new home. We're called the central pack." She tells me then begins stroking my hair. "Can you tell me your name?"

"Cedric." I whisper.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Cedric." She says and I smile.

"Who are you?" I ask.

"I'm Luna Milly. You can just call me Milly tho... unless you want to call me Luna. It's up to you." She stammers.

"Thank you Milly... you seem nice." I tell her and she smiles down at me.

"Thanks. So do you Cedric." She hugs me then pulls away to look at me. "We didn't want to wake you when you got here but you really do need a bath." She says and I panic again.

No! I don't want to do that! They did it last week! I don't want another one yet!

I thrash around punching at the lady I thought was nice. I feel my hands hit her face and she cries out falling to the floor.

"Milly!" The big man who brought me here yells as he pulls her to him. "STOP!" He yells at me. My heart is still racing but my movement stills from his command.

When I look at the lady I see bloody scratches down her face. Did I do that? How? I didn't mean to! I begin to panic again and run to the other side of the room falling face first off the bed in my haste.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I chant as I rock back and forth. I feel a hand on the top of my head and I stop moving. My panic spikes as I stare at the floor in front of me.

"Look up pup." He orders and I obey. "It was an accident. Milly will be fine. She is with the doc now. She will be okay."

"Don't hurt me please! I didn't mean to." I beg and he pulls me into his lap and holds me close to his chest.

"I won't hurt you. You are safe here." He  tells me. He inhales close to my head and let's out a cough. "You do stink tho. Let's get you a bath."

"Please no! Don't!" I beg him as I begin shaking and jump away from him.

"What's the matter, pup? It's okay I promise. Trust me please. Have I ever hurt you?" He asks and I look into his eyes. They look like Ma's, like mine. I don't know why but I do trust him.

"Okay." I croak. He nods and picks me up.

"If you feel scared let me know. Nothing here will hurt you." He tells me and I nod as he sets me down on the toilet. This one has a lid, cover, thing tho so I don't fall in unlike in my cell.

I watch as the man twists some knobs. I hear the water and shut my eyes tight... nothing happens. I slowly open my eyes to see the man watching me. When I look past him I see water flowing into a big human sized bowl and my jaw drops.

"You've never seen a bathtub before." It is a statement but I still nod in reply. "What did you think when I said bath?" I gulp looking away.

"Th...the warden would call bath time.... they used c... cold water... the spray  hurt so bad when it hit my skin." I explain. When I glance up he looks angry. I look away quick and wait for the hit.

Alpha Raymond's POV

A firehose! They sprayed the pup down with a firehose! Why would they do that!? I begin to feel the boy's unease and look down at him.

"Don't!" He begs when I reach for him. I stop in my tracks.

"What's wrong pup?" I ask.

"I didn't mean to make you mad, honest! You asked! Please don't hit me!" The boy is trembling.

"I'm not angry at you pup... I'm angry that people hurt you... come on let's get you cleaned up." I say as I pull him to his feet. The boy is so small.

When I remove his shirt I have to hold back a growl. His entire torso is covered in bruises. Scars coat his back like a shirt. Some wounds are still open and look infected. Why didn't I check on him hours ago! He seemed fine!

"Okay so I'm going to have a friend of mine come and look at you to make sure you are okay." I tell the boy as I set him on the edge of the tub. He needs cleaned but I don't want to submerge open and infected wounds.

I slowly rid the boy of dirt and grime careful of his wounds. He doesn't even flinch as I clean his back. He seems distracted by the warm water.

"Can you feel that?" I ask as I clean out a particularly nasty gash. The boy shrugs.

"I don't feel much on my back." He says like it's nothing. They whipped him enough to kill the nerves across his back!

"Alpha you called?" Doctor Benjamin asks as he walks in. I feel the boy hold onto my arm as he hides behind me.

"Its okay, pup. He's here to help." I tell the boy as I place my hand over his where it rests on my bicep. "Come on."

I pick the little guy up and wrap him in a towel. I put some clean shorts on him and set him on the bed.

"Alright pup. This will hurt but I need to examine your wounds." Ben tells him and he jumps on my lap. The pup clings to me for dear life his arms and legs wrap around me with his head on my shoulder.

I nod to Ben and he starts looking at the boy's back. He puts something in the wound that makes most flinch as it cleans the wound. My boy just sits there. He looks scared but holds still.

My boy... did I just claim him? He might be my family. How will Zane react if I'm right? Can we claim this boy?

"All done." Ben says and the boy lifts his head from my shoulder.

"That's it?" He asks me then turns to look at Ben. "You said it would hurt." He challenges and I chuckle.

"For most people it does... do you hurt anywhere?" Ben asks him.

"Not in a little over a month... that's why they beat Ace... to hurt me. He was good! Why didn't I listen to him!?" I hold him tightly to my chest until he calmed down and link Ben to leave.

"It's not your fault pup. You are not to blame for anything." I tell him. It may be too soon to question him but I need to know if I'm right. "We need to talk pup."