Women And the Demons Who Love Them

The Pride-3

Alessia Cara- Here 

    There are two windows in my room. Two massive windows that look in two different directions of this city. The one to the right overlooks what I've considered my home my entire life. The one to the left overlooks the pack lands where they keep the wolves that come from the higher up Bloodlines. Purebreds.

    I like to watch them. How they function, how they live when they turn into beasts. It looks painful. What is more painful is how united they are. How they all love one another. I have yet to see who they consider their leader to share in the romance with the others. However, once in a while I'll see him fluster a girl or two. 

    "You shouldn't watch them as you do. It might give you ideas," the glass animated into an ocean view. I sighed stepping away from the window only to go to the one that really holds no interest to me. 

    "What do you want?" I asked mother, as she walked around the room. I finally looked at her when she pulled out a suitcase from my closet. 

    "You know you're quite the uproar in the community. People are talking. They want to meet you and have invited us to The Den," 

    "You're going to trust me to walk out of Sanctuary?" I laughed. She sighed as she began to put things into the luggage. 

    "Leon, I don't want you out there. You are a symbol now. Something that the other bloodlines want dead so that they can take control of us again," 

    "Okay, then why are you risking it?" 

    "The order came from the Jaguars. No one defies them," she zipped up the luggage and pulled out a dress. "Here put this on," 

    "We're leaving now?" 

    "Yes," 

    I put the dress on. She came over to me and began to brush out my hair. Once she was done she let the glamor team in. The camera is probably going to be on me the entire time. This is one of my least favorite parts of this life. 

    I met everyone downstairs and began to walk out towards the Mercedes that is probably bulletproof. Everyone is waving and as expected I waved back. That's when my eyes met hers. My mother, at least the woman who I had once considered my mother. She smiled the weakest kind of smile someone can give and held up the tiny humanitarian flag while she slowly waved it back and forth. 

    Without a second glance, I stepped into the car and shut the door wanting nothing more than to be away from her. Away from all of this. This might not be the getaway I want but it is better than nothing. 

    There is anger burning in my chest along with guilt. I have been angry at these people for giving me up for so long now that anything else feels like a waste of energy. All I want to do now is make sure I survive. No one has ever cared enough to stay with me. Why should I? It all started with the woman that birthed me, whoever she may be. Why am I alone? Why does fate keep me this way? 

    "Leon, we need to go over what you're going to say," mother said handing me a chart of topics that will most likely be brought up. 

    They give me an idea of what I'm supposed to say and I have to word it myself when I have to actually talk to people who are going to really listen. Like the Jaguars for example. They have this thing, they know when something is rehearsed. When it's a lie or when the truth is lost inside of the lies. 

    I had spoken to Jaguars before. More than once actually. It's how I know what they're like. I like to watch the way people move. I like to think I can read their tells. A slight lift of the eyebrow, a shift in weight, the way they breathe in are all ways to tell what the person in front of you might be thinking. 

    Jaguars, they are the most dramatic tellers I have ever encountered. They don't care if you know what they're thinking. They care less about the opinion of those who they think are beneath them which is anyone who isn't a Jaguar. Anyone who has no higher status in the shifting world. 

    As a human, I can only imagine what they think of me. How I must look to them. So utterly ordinarily plain and transparent. Not to mention the fact that they can just reach out and kill me with a swipe of their claws. One scratch to the neck, deep enough and I am a goner. All there will ever be left of me in this world is the lies of what my life is now. 

    "You got it?" mother asked when I finished going through the planned out lists. 

    "Yes," I said handing it back to her. She sighed putting the paper aside. 

    "Leona, I know what you think of all of this. I know you think that what we do isn't important. I know you rather push back than do what you do," 

    "Mother, I don't think this isn't important. On the contrary, I believe it is a necessity to keep the crowd controlled," she said letting out a sigh of relief. "I just... I could be doing more. All of this. It's nothing to me. I can do it in my sleep. I want to be more than just the pretty face on the flyer you know. I don't think I was meant for just this. I can be more," 

    "I know," she smiled nodding. "And you're right. You can be more. You will be more. You've come a long way already and you still have a long way to go. This isn't all you will ever be doing. This is the start. This is how we speak to them. Soon, soon we will be guiding them. Getting back more than what we are settling for. I promise you that. We will mean more to the world than just the pretty face on the poster," 

    In that moment, her words gave me hope. The determination in her eyes sparked something good in me for once and for a moment I wanted to do what was being asked of me. The car stopped in front of the Jaguar mansion. My door is opened and I stepped out. I turned back to look at mother and smiled at her just like we always practiced except this time I think it's genuine. She smiled back, pleased that for once I am with the program and just like that my life took another turn. 

    The sound echoed over the cheers and shouts of the people waiting for our arrival. On instinct, I moved my head to left. The swish sound followed before the piercing splat echoed in my ears leaving nothing but the memory of her. Mother's head whipped back. Her arms flawed in the air just as her knees gave out. I reached for her pulling her into me shocked. There's a gaping hole in the center of her forehead.

    "Get down," someone shouted as guards began to swarm around me. 

    I am pulled away from her. Her body hit the ground as I was pulled away from the car and into the panicking crowd. One second I was staring at my mother in the eyes and the next I was looking up at the blue sky with someone on top of me shielding me with their body as if I were more important than them. 

    "Miss Caldwell are you alright?" he asked. 

    "What?" I asked. My mind is completely void of anything. What is happening?

    "Are you hit? Are you hurt anywhere?" he demanded urgently.

    "No," I stated calmly. "I don't think so," 

    The man looked my body over making sure that I wasn't injured and then his eyes met mine. They're a dark shade of blue, a little darker than the sky is. Why is he so familiar? This face, I have seen it before. Somewhere but in this very moment, I can't think of where. I jumped when he growled at someone approaching us and it hit me. 

    "You're him," I said. He looked down at me confused. 

    "You know me?" he asked raising his eyebrow. A cocky tell. 

    "You're the alpha to the wolves. The pureblood," he smirked. 

    "Yes, I am. What are you? You're not human," that completely threw me off. 

    "You're mistaken. I am human. What else would I be?" 

He looked around for an instant. "I smell you, Leona Caldwell. You're in transition. That, or you're with child. Which is highly unlikely. I can smell your innocence," 

    "I don't know what you're talking about," I insisted. 

    "Get up. Stay low," he grabbed my arm and began to push me towards the building. There's a strange tingling sensation where the palm of his hand and my bare arm meet. 

    "Leon" someone called out my name as soon as we were inside. I am surrounded by my makeup crew and some of the people that write what they want me to say. 

    "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" one asked. 

    "She's in shock," the alpha pushed them away. He snapped his fingers in my face. "Are you alright?" 

    "Someone tried to kill me. No, I'm not," I looked down at my hands to see blood. Her blood. It's staining the dress she picked for me. 

    "Oh, my," Callie, my dress designer came over to me with wipes. She began to wipe my hands and then my face. "I have a backup dress in your dressing room," 

    "She's not going up there until we've cleared the building. You're staying with me," the alpha proclaimed. You can come. Get her a change of clothes," 

    My makeup team scattered as this man hauled me away from everyone and into a room. I stumbled when he sat me down a couch. I didn't dare look up at him. His aggressive display is frightening. I've watched this man for a long time now. Enough to know that he's mean and has the power to be bad. 

    "Leo," I looked over at Callie who's holding the backup dress in her hands. 

    "Don't you have something more comfortable? She's not going into the council room right now. The Jaguars are on lockdown until we find the shooter," 

    "Yes, we brought her essentials," Callie answered. He snatched my luggage from her and pushed her out. Only the two of us are in here. 

    "Your name is Leo?" he asked. 

    "Yeah, well. It's Leona. People just call me Leo or Leon," I shrugged. 

    "Where did you come from Leona?" the way he said my name made shiver. 

    "Gate Fifteen," 

    "Before that?" 

    "There is no before that. I was born there," 

    "Not possible. I don't like being lied to," 

    "I know," I whispered. 

    "What?" he growled. the sound trigged something in me. I don't like being spoken to like this especially when I've done nothing wrong. 

    "I said I know. I'm not lying. I was born in Gate Fifteen. August third twenty-thirteen. Why are you interrogating me as if I were the one who shot her?" I cried out with rage. "She was the only person that ever liked me. Even if it was just for interest. She tried," 

    "s**t," he sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. It's just that you're telling me you're human but it's clear that you're not. Leona, a pureblood transitions at the age of eighteen. The more power we have the louder the power screams and you. I felt you from in here before the cars stopped in front of the building. You're not human," 

    "I don't know what to tell you," I whispered. There are tears streaming down my face. 

    "Okay," he nodded kneeling in front of me. I don't think he should be on his knees. He's an alpha. 

    "I'm twenty," I corrected him. He shook his head. 

    "No, you're not. If you were twenty, you would have shifted by now. Only Lions shift when they're twenty-one and they're all dead. Killed before you were born. Don't worry about it. I'm going to keep you safe," 

    "Why?" I asked. 

    "Because you're one of us," his eye slightly twitched. 

    "You're lying," he stood up looking me over. "I can tell you're lying. Your eye twitched. It always does when you lie," 

    "You've met me before? How do you know that?" 

    "You live in Gate Twelve. I live in the tower that overlooks your packhouse. I can see everything from up there," 

    "The tower? That's not a- The tower is a prison," he stated. 

    "Yeah," I nodded. "That's where they keep me so that what happened today doesn't happen for real," 

    "f**k," he shook his head. 

    "You can't tell people. You can't tell them I'm not human. They'll kill them or turn them. They should have the right to decide," 

    "Look, kid. I'm all for free will and s**t but that's a battle you're never going to win. You'd have to have the power and the numbers to pull something like that off. I'll keep you secret because I need you alive but once it's out. It's out. There's no going back," 

    "Why? Please, don't lie to me again," 

He pressed his knuckles to my cheek gently. 

    "Because you belong to me. You're mine. Whatever you are, whoever you are. You're mine now and if you die I die. My pack dies. So, please. Do what I'm asking of you, princess. Humans aren't the only ones depending on you anymore," 

    "What's your name?" I asked. That's a hell of a statement. 

    "My name is Marcus,"