Chapter 98 All Ice Eventually Thaws


    December 27th


    Leo''s POV


    The day after Christmas I woke in my living room with three of my brothers dead to the world on my


    sofas and my mate on a bed of cushions on the floor.


    My mouth tasted of stale wine and my eyes were groggy with a hangover. As I pulled out my phone, I


    let out a low groan.


    Texts from Luciano informing me Connor had been found just about alive.


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    I knew it would tear E apart but some dark side of me was hoping the snowstorm thatsted most of


    yesterday would have gotten the best of him. I was relieved that E wouldn''t have to go through that


    grief but I still felt deprived the satisfaction of his life and his threat to the pack being stopped.


    "E," I said gently shaking her.


    She groaned before she opened her pretty blue eyes and squinted at the bright morning sunlight that


    reflected off the white snow and into the living room.


    "Luciano found Connor alive," I told her.


    She breathed a sigh of relief.


    "So I''m going to the Southern territory now to take him off the pack and begin his exile," I continued.


    "Can Ie?" she asked.


    "No," I said instantly, "You stay here with my brothers and Cato. Luciano is down there and my men are


    rounding up the rogues on the list. It''s not safe."


    She nodded before resting her head back down, "Tell Connor he''s an idiot but I love him."


    I then kissed her on the forehead, went upstairs to change Cato''s diaper and feed him the pumped milk


    before I settled him back down to sleep and left the house only half an hour after dawn.


    "I hope I didn''t frighten your Luna too much yesterday," Luciano said as we walked down the corridor of


    the Southern Territory prison to where Connor had been put behind iron bolts and bars.


    I gave him a sarcastic smile, "Bring her up one more time and I will fuck you up, Luciano."


    Heughed, "Can I bring your sisters up again now or..."


    I shot him a re.


    "Because I would still fuck Maria to the other end of the world," he continued, "She is gorgeous-"


    "Luciano," I snapped, "Give it a break."


    "You''re so damn protective over the people you ''love''," he said, "It''s no fun. ''Don''t use any unnecessary


    violence on Connor Jones''. What kind of fuckery is that? He was plotting to kill you and you want to


    take mercy on him just because he''s the brother of some girl?!"


    "Some girl?" I hissed, "What don''t you understand Luciano? We aren''t teenagers any more. She''s not


    just another fling. She''s my Luna, she''s the mother of my child and I care about her. Torturing Connor


    him just for our own amusement would do nothing but upset her. We got the names. That''s all we


    needed."


    Luciano let out a frustrated breath, "And what about the other rogues we captured? Can I do what I


    please with them?"


    "Yes," I said, "I don''t give a fuck about them."


    Luciano smiled, "So it really is just a show for your Luna."


    "Didn''t I warn you not to keep bringing her up?" I asked.


    At that point, we reached a cell and Luciano unlocked the door and pushed it open all with a sarcastic


    smile.


    Connor was chained to the wall looking weak, exhausted and above all freezing cold.


    "Guards," I said to the two men stood on duty outside the cell, "Get him a dry coat and a ss of water.


    When he''s got a bit of strength back, have him escorted far off the territory. He already knows the terms


    of his exile."


    I then left Connor''s cell and continued down the hall.


    "Where are you going?" Luciano asked, his footsteps following me.


    "Hestia''s cell," I said, "Wife of thete Achilles."


    "Hestia?"


    "I take it she is still here?" I asked, turning to look at him.


    He seemed reluctant to speak, something Luciano wasn''t ustomed too.


    "She''s innocent and we don''t need her anymore. So I''m freeing her," I continued.


    "Her husband is dead and her kids have disappeared, probably taken by human social services. She


    has nothing to go home to," Luciano argued.


    "So we just leave her in a cold, dark cell to rot because that''s much better," I replied.


    When I reached the cell, Luciano folded his arms and watched me carefully as I unbolted the door and


    entered.


    Iid my eyes on Hestia. She was sat hugging her knees with her hair covering her face. But I could


    see a rip across her shirt and her legs were bare, the pair of pyjama shorts she was wearing on the


    other side of the room.


    The light pouring into the darkroom from the hallway stimted no response. She just kept rocking


    back and forth over and over again.


    I clenched my jaw and turned to Luciano, "Why am I not fucking surprised?" I growled, "Why did I know


    you were going to disobey me again?"


    I didn''t give him time to exin himself before I seized him by the cor of his shirt and threw him


    against the wall.


    "I ordered you not toy a hand on her," I hissed in his ear, "And I am your Alpha."


    "Well, I may have bent that rule slightly. But she''s still alive right?" Luciano replied.


    "Did you rape her?" I hissed.


    He didn''t reply.


    "Did you fucking rape her?!" I growled. "Do not make me ask again."


    "Yes," he replied bluntly. "Why do you care?"


    With that, I punched him in the face. His head hit the wall with the force from my fist and his nose


    trickled with blood.


    "You are low, Luciano," I said, "And that is somethinging from me."


    "You are such a hypocrite, Leonardo," he said coughing on his blood, "You would have killed her if it


    suited your tactics."


    "If I needed to," I hissed, "If it was necessary for the protection of my pack. Why was this necessary,


    huh?"


    "She''s hot and I felt like it okay, Leonardo?! Do you need me to spell it out?!" he eximed scrunching


    his nose as his eyes still watered from my punch.


    I gripped his cor tighter and snarled in his ear, "That''s the difference between you and me. I do bad


    things because I have to. You do them because you want to."


    He scoffed, "Keep telling yourself that."


    "You want to know another difference between us, Luc?" I said before kneeing him hard in the ribs.


    He groaned and leant over in pain.


    "I am the Alpha and you will not disboey me. Do you hear me?"


    He didn''t reply, still grimacing and clutching his ribs.


    I clenched my jaw and shoved him back up into the wall and punched him again.


    "I said do you hear me?"


    "Yes," he mumbled.


    "Can I get a yes Alpha?"


    "Yes, Alpha," he said slowly opening his eyes to look at me.


    He was in a lot of pain and every little bit of it was deserved. I felt no remorse and hearing his


    submission was frankly very satisfying.


    "Good," I said dropping him to the floor.


    I then marched back into Hestia''s cell. She was in the exact same position as I entered.


    She must have heard my footsteps pounding towards her because she suddenly seized up and began


    shuffling back.


    But she had the wall behind her and nowhere to hide so I easily grabbed her and prized her off the


    ground. Her bare skin was cold as ice and she was certainly much bonier than when we first brought


    her here. She shivered and squirmed, desperately trying to escape and she didn''t stop until I reached


    my car and forced her into the back seat and wrapped her in a thick nket.


    "Don''t worry," I said to her as she pulling the nket around her and pressed herself against the


    opposite door, "I''m not going to hurt you."


    Having brought her here in the first ce and ordered the murder of her husband, I wasn''t shocked


    when my words had noforting effect.


    But I knew somebody who could ease her at least a little bit.


    I couldn''t quite put my finger on why I was so concerned about ending her distress.


    This week I''d tried to go back to my old life - how I was before E. Cold and heartless. Able to do


    anything without a second thought.


    But it didn''t feel right. Luciano and I used to be aligned but it was clear that somehow or another I had


    diverged from the path to hell we both used to walk.


    I felt remorse for what we did to Hestia. For dragging an innocent woman into our violent, messy lives.


    But it wasn''t just guilt. Maybe Luciano''s words were getting to me. I''d done some terrible things under


    the moral excuse of protecting my pack. But not all the suffering I''d caused was just a cost for the


    greater benefit of Ste.


    Until E, I hadn''t even thought about it. It never crossed my mind. I didn''t care.


    But now I did. It was like E was defrosting my heart with her warmth, slowly but surely she was


    changing me and now I realise the work I have cut out to make up for my actions.


    So maybe by trying to help Hestia I was proving myself to her. Or maybe even to myself?


    E had a pure heart and it''s safe to say I didn''t. I knew that she deserved more than me from the very


    day I met her but I was what she got. All I could do now was try to be better. To be the man she


    deserved.


    So I let Hestia cower in the back seat, unable to even look at me and got into the driver''s seat before


    heading back North in silence with the hope that somehow or another, I could fix this mess.


    By the time we arrived, we rolled into the drive of my house, it was already gettingte. Hestia had


    been asleep but the jerk of the handbrake jolted her awake and as I opened the back seat, she once


    again scuttled away from me. I had to grab her legs to haul her out of the car before carrying her


    kicking and screaming to the front door.


    "Leo?" E asked as she stared at the desperate human in my arms.


    Luca was beside her with confusion all over his face too, "Who the fuck is that?" He asked.


    "It''s a long story," I said, "But she''s been through some shit and I didn''t know what else to do.


    Comforting people isn''t my forte so I thought I''d bring her to the expert. Her name is Hestia."


    I then locked the front door before putting her onto the ground where she cowered into the corner.


    E looked up at me with a raised eyebrow.


    "You''ve just dragged a terrified, half naked woman into our home at quarter past ten at night and all you


    can tell me is it''s a ''long story''?" she questioned.


    I bit my lip, "I''ll exin everything," I promised, "But for now, I just need you to help me help her."


    E looked across to Hestia, her eyes already full of sorrow at another''s pain, before she instantly


    nodded.


    "Okay."