The Story of the Exile (The Belesone Pack #2)

Chapter 20

Milo opened the study door, about to wake Katarina, when he noticed Leo pacing outside. He glanced back at Bricia, who was talking quietly with her father, and decided that it was best his Beta had some warning before he saw her.

"I know she's here. But that's not the problem," Leo confessed, with a sigh.

Milo frowned as he closed the study door behind him. He walked with Leo, not into the living room, but away from both doors and across to the stairs. His Beta sat on the steps and Milo joined him, not sure what was going on.

"What's wrong?" he asked, watching as Leo raked a hand through his hair.

"It's getting worse. The grief. I...I thought he was going to help me," he blurted the words out, angrily.

Milo just smiled as he placed a hand on his shoulder and a strange buzz went through him, as if strengthening him. He nearly jumped. "Did you feel that?" He sat there, staring at his own hand, confused and a little worried about the tingle that he still felt there. He wasn't sure what it was, but they were both gob-smacked.

"Yeah, I did. Maybe it's Katie's connection?" he suggested hopefully.

"I think perhaps it has more to do with your new feelings, Milo." Carlton's voice broke into the conversation. "Sorry to eavesdrop, but I also sensed Leo's distress. Come with me into the kitchen, Beta, and we'll cure this confusion," he apologised, while offering hope.

Since there was nothing else to do, Leo got up and followed Carlton, with Milo close behind.

They both wanted answers as to this new development between them. They waited patiently, as Carlton pulled out a strengthening shake from the freezer and laid it on the counter, lid off.

Leo looked at Milo with a raised eyebrow and the Alpha could only shrug. He had no idea how Carlton knew the drink was there or even where the kitchen was in his house.

The older man removed a small pouch from the inside pocket of his jacket and tipped its contents into the strengthening shake. He also picked a lemon from the center bowl on the counter and extracted a knife from the drawer behind him. He sliced the lemon in half and drained as much juice from it as possible into the shake.

"To give it a sweeter taste," he explained briefly, handing the drink to Leo, who stood on the other side of the counter.

"Bottoms up?" he guessed, waiting for Carlton's nod of agreement before directing the drink to his mouth. He had taken his first, tentative sip, when the door opened and Katarina burst in.

"Stop!" she protested, halting any further progress.

Milo wasn't surprised that Leo put the shake onto the counter and took a step away. He wouldn't want to disrespect Carlton, but they had learned never to take anything Katarina said or did for granted.

"I'm sorry dad, but you didn't tell him," she claimed, turning her eyes onto her father.

"Tell him what, my dear?" Carlton wondered, in confusion.

"What it will do," Katarina answered simply. She walked over to Leo, ignoring everyone else and she stood before him, with a determined look in her eyes. "Leo, if you drink this, it will end your confusion over Josanna and Janet. It will leave your head and heart open to your mate," she said, which was exactly what they wanted. So why did she sound so against it? "But you have to understand that the grief of her rejection is already too much for you to cope with. If you drink this...it will only get worse," she explained with obvious pain in her voice.

***

Leo turned his eyes on the shake and thought about it, seriously, for a moment.

"Worse? I thought this was supposed to make him better?" Milo's voice was clearly angry, but Leo wasn't paying that much attention. He was watching the bottle with curiosity.

"It will. Unfortunately, the solution will end his confusion, but it cannot make Bricia accept him," Carlton cleared up the misunderstanding that everyone seemed to have read into his previous words.

Leo nodded and looked across at Milo. He was frowning and, when their eyes met, he could only shrug. Katarina's feelings were obvious; Leo didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she didn't want him to take it.

He sighed and lifted the bottle, his decision made. "It's okay Katarina. I want it to end. I can't take much more," He wanted her to know why he was doing it and that he had at least thought it over.

If there were consequences he would accept them. If there were side effects, then so be it. He really didn't care anymore. The pain was too much.

"And I've made my decision. I won't take any mate. Ever. I can't still grieve if it's my choice, can I?" he joked.

"Of course you can. What do you think I've been doing for the last few years?" Katarina asked, heartbreakingly sad.

Leo was surprised to hear that she had suffered what he was suffering, because she had never once shown it on the outside.

"The only reason I've been so weak and tired was because I chose not to be with Milo, even though I knew he was my true mate," she revealed, sounding devastated. "I made that decision and I grieved every day for four years, until I thought I would truly go crazy," she confessed, only to sigh when Milo stepped up behind her and kissed the back of her head. "The only reason Milo didn't feel that grief was because, although I had refused to take him as my mate, I still loved him."

Leo smiled and almost wanted to laugh at how much better he felt by making that decision. He would be the best Beta he could be, and he would do it without distraction and without a mate. "Exactly. Kat, I don't even know Bricia. How can I love her?" he asked, trying to be reasonable. "If I drink this and choose not to take a mate, then it's my choice. I want control of my life again," He made sure to let her know that whether the grief got worse didn't matter. What mattered was that he was finally going to get to make a choice of his own, after being manipulated by other people.

"Are you sure?" Milo asked.

Leo raised the bottle in a mock salute and promised that he had his mind made up. "I'm sure, Alpha. I can handle it," He swore that it wouldn't be a problem any more. He would be better for his choice and he would stop being a threat to Katarina's sanity.

Only he didn't voice that opinion out loud; no one wanted to remember the very obvious threat he had been to her. But before he got the bottle to his mouth, he noticed that Katarina was crying.

"Why are you crying? It's my decision," he smiled at her to lessen the blow, but she just shook her head.

"That's the first time you've never called me Katarina," she confessed, with a light shrug.

Leo and Milo shared a laugh of amusement about how such a small thing had made her cry.

"Yeah, well, I'm getting used to you," he claimed offhandedly, before raising the bottle to his lips and drinking down the whole mixture as fast as he could. The sooner it was over with, the less chance he had of anyone changing his mind.

When it was done, Leo found himself feeling a little dizzy. Thankfully, his Alpha was standing in front of him, pulling him into a brotherly hug. And when he looked, Katarina was off to the side, crying into her first hug with her real father.