Finding Forgiveness

Since Luca was in mine, I took Rosa's car up to the town and marched into the police station and straight to the front desk.

"My son has been kidnapped,” I announced to the bored looking police officer at the desk.

She suddenly sat up straight and alert.

"What is his name? Age? Description?" she asked typing something on the computer.

"Cato Loren. He's seven years old, blue eyes, blonde scruffy hair, he's wearing a red t-shirt and denim shorts..umm white, kinda muddy, trainers..." I replied frantically as she typed.

"And what makes you think he was kidnapped?”

"He was playing in the woods and I heard a scream and then the engine of a car drive fast away," I said. "I also had a phone call.” "Which direction did the car go?” she asked.

"South. Possibly to Mexico."

She looked up at me with a confused look.

"Cops are already being deployed but what makes you think they are going to Mexico? Do you know who has taken him, Miss? And who was the phone call from?"

"You are currently holding my husband because he's been accused of abducting me, involvement in drug trafficking and attempting to murder a man called, Andrea Martinez. I believe it is him or someone working for him."

"Okay..." she said typing some more. "We will alert Mexican border control and Canadian border control just in case. Do you have any more details? Did you see the car? Anyone in it?"

"No. Can I speak to my husband?" I asked tapping my fingers on the desk.

"Just hold one second," she said picking up the phone and dialling a number.

"Leonardo Loren's wife is here wanting to speak to him concerning a possible abduction of their son,” she said down the line before. "Yes, I've sent out officers."

She then put the phone down and pointed to a door.

"Go through there, third door on your right,” she said. "We wouldn't normally allow visitors considering the severity of his allegations but under these circumstances, the sheriff has been kind."

"Thank you so much.”

I entered the dingy, dark corridor and I counted four doors on my right.

There was a guard that unlocked the door for me and then just Leo, a table, some kind of recording device, a camera and a small, weak bulb. "Ella!" he exclaimed standing up and breaking the handcuffs holding his hands behind his back and pulling me into a tight hug. "Please tell me the kids are safe.”

I shook my head as a tear ran down my cheek.

"They have Cato," I whispered.

His jaw clenched as he looked at me.

"Cato," he repeated almost inaudibly. "Has Blair closed the borders? Sent out men? What about Luca? What is he doing? And my Dad?" "Blair is doing everything he can and last time I saw Luca, he was driving full speed after the car that took him. Antonio's helping too and the police are on it too.”

"This was their plan. Get me out the picture and then strike," he replied putting his head in his hands. "I need to get the fuck out of this place,” he hissed kicking the table so that it fell over and the recording thing smashed onto the floor.

At that point, my phone began to ring. It was the no caller ID again. Leo suddenly looked up and took my phone out of my hand.

"Is this Andrea?"

"Probably," I said as he moved his thumb to swipe across. "Wait. Let me answer it," I interjected.

Leo nodded and handed my phone back to me. He was practically shaking with fury so I took his hand and held it in mine as an attempt to calm him down.

"So by now, you should have somehow realised that my men have your precious son," Andrea's voice said. "The heir I believe?"

"Where are you taking him?" I growled.

"Oh relax, will you?" he said in a sadistic kind of tone. "If you do exactly as I say, I won't lay a finger on him.”

I exchanged nervous looks with Leo.

"I'l do anything. Just do not hurt him,” I begged. "Please."

"Brilliant. Pop down to Mexico alone and we'll deliver him straight back," he replied in a cheerful tone.

"How do I know you'll do it?"

"What choice do you have but to trust me? And if you try anything smart, Blanca. I'll kill him without hesitation. You know that I ain't fucking around here. I want you and only you. I'm not gonna settle for anything else."

He then hung up leaving me rushing with anger, desperation and fear. "I have to go," I said looking up to Leo who had heard every word.

"No fucking way," he replied grabbing my wrist.

"Then what do you suggest?" I asked looking down at his fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist. Not gonna lie, it kind of hurt. "They have our son, Leo. We are in no position to do anything but what he says."

"There has to be another way," he stated adamantly as he looked down at me with his big blue eyes. "I am not going to allow you to sacrifice yourself when I have an entire army at my disposal.”

"You heard what he said. Trying could risk Cato's life and that is not something I am willing to gamble with," I said trying to break out of his grip.

"And your life is not something I'm just going to let slip away either,” he replied in a deeper tone.

"Leo," I uttered. "Let me go or I will fight you."

"So I'm supposed to just sit and watch my mate go off to her death? What makes you think they'll give our son back anyway?" he asked. "Martinez cannot be trusted.”

"We don't have a choice, Leo. I'd rather die than let Cato get hurt," I hissed trying to break free again. "You can do everything you like to save me but only when Cato is safe.”

"There will be a better way," he repeated.

I shook my head.

"No," I whispered. "You have to let go of me."

"I'm sorry, Ella, but I won't do that," he said pulling me closer. "I can't.” "Can I remind you which one of us is currently in custody. You can't stop me."

He suddenly lurched forward and snatched my phone from my hand. “Leo!”

He dialled a number and it only rang once before someone picked up. "Dad, it's Leo. Come to the police station, pick up Ella and do not let her out of your sight no matter what she says. That is an order,” he said before hanging up and handing my phone back to me.

"You are not going to Mexico alone. Understand? We are not giving in to them that easily,” he said in his Alpha tone.

I narrowed my eyes, refusing to break the stare first.

When I thought he wouldn't be expecting it, I launched a kick towards his groin. He blocked it, grabbed my arms, twisted me around and pinned me to the table front down within milliseconds.

"You know that you can't beat me, Ella. We've been through this so many times," he said holding my wrists against my back. "And I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry that I couldn't be there to protect him but at least let me be here to protect you. We will find another way, I promise.”

"Leo," I growled. "I can't let him get hurt.”

"You can't trust Andrea. Throwing yourself in there too is only going to make things worse. I will get myself out of here and then we can get through this together."

I took a deep breath in before letting out the loudest scream I could Leo's hand smacked over my mouth but it was too late, the footsteps of a guard were already heading for the door.

Leo pulled me to my feet and held my hand instead of my wrist moments before an officer burst into the room.

"What is the problem?” he asked gun in hand. "Are you okay, Miss?" "He made me jump, sorry officer. It was all in good nature,” I said. "But I need to go now anyway," I added.

"No," Leo interrupted. "No, you don't. Not yet. Honey, yoga was cancelled tonight, remember?”

The guard narrowed his eyes and looked between us.

"Yes but I'm meeting your mother for coffee," I replied.

Leo squeezed my hand tightly and I could sense his rage rising again. "No, that's tomorrow. She doesn’t need to go yet. Could you leave us for a minute, please?”

"Miss, do you want me to go?” the guard asked.

"No, it's fine. I'm leaving," I replied trying to get out of Leo's grip. "Antonio's picking you up. He won't be here for another five minutes at least. You might as well stay here," Leo said quickly.

"I have an errand to run,” I said pulling at his grip again. He roughly pulled me closer to him with my arm which the guard immediately saw. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands up," he ordered Leo pointing his gun and pressing a red button on the wall.

Seconds later, another three officers appeared in the doorway, all armed with guns.

Leo slowly let go of my wrists and let me move away.

"Put your hands up!" another officer bellowed.

I looked up into Leo's dark, furious eyes and mouthed a “sorry’ before stepping towards the door.

The officers then began tackling him to the floor and recuffing his wrists. I took the opportunity to flee down the hallway and out onto the parking lot.

I could hear Leo fighting the officers as I raced to my car.

Keys. Keys. Fucking keys. Where did I put the fucking keys?!

And then it dawned on me, Leo must have taken them out of my pocket without me noticing.

Smart ass mother fucker. He was always one step ahead.

Guess I'll have to get the bus to Mexico then. I ran out of the parking lot and down the road towards the bus stop. The police station was weirdly a mile out of town but it was only a short run along the forest track to get there.

Minutes later, I could hear a car coming up behind me. I moved aside to let it past before realising exactly whose car it was and why it was slowing down as it neared me.

I quickly turned into the forest, where I knew a car couldn't follow me and sprinted as fast as I could.

I heard the door open and footsteps coming towards me before a pair of arms seized my waist and lifted my feet from the air.

"Stop fighting me," Antonio's voice growled as he hauled me to his car. Unfortunately, only a decade and a bit ago he had been Alpha and consequently had strength only marginally less than Leo.

"You don't understand,” I argued kicking and wriggling even more. "You have to let me go."

"I am just doing what Leo ordered," he replied gruffly. "So if you like to stop being difficult and let me get on with it, that'd be fucking great," he added throwing me in the backseat before slamming the door and getting in the front.

I noticed that he also put the child lock on so that in case I felt like throwing myself out of a fast moving vehicle, I couldn't open the door. "So what exactly is going on?" he asked. “Leo's phone call was rather brief."

"Andrea said that he'd let Cato go unharmed if I hand myself over to him. He also said that if we try anything else, he won't hesitate to kill him. Of course, I am willing to sacrifice myself for my son but Leo won't let me," I explained

A tear escaped my eye and raced down my cheek. I hastily wiped it off and took a deep breath in.

"Please Antonio, you have to let me do this. It is my choice.”

"No fucking way," he said as he drove in the direction of home. "And it is not your choice. It is Leo's choice. You just need to do as your told and let the Alpha deal with this.”

"The Alpha that is currently in jail!" I argued. "And you expect me to let him make that decision over our son?"

"You don't have a choice,” Antonio replied bluntly in a deeper tone. "Leo clearly wants you out of this for your own safety. He is the Alpha, he gives the orders and you follow them. I don't know why in seven years you haven't learnt that yet but the sooner you get that in your head the better."

"Antonio! My son! My fucking son!" I exclaimed a tear running down my cheek that I quickly wiped off. "Imagine if someone took Leo when he was a kid and told you to stay out of it."

"Ella, I can only imagine how you feel but he's just trying to protect his Luna and his pack," Antonio said in a much softer tone. "That's what Alphas do, yes?"

"Yes," I agreed. "But he's putting Cato’s life at risk.”

"You've been with him long enough to know that he always has a plan and that it is usually a good one. You will get Cato back, Ella. Telling you not to worry would be futile but at least try and have a little faith in your mate,” he replied.

I nodded and leant my head against the window. The tears were still streaming and only increased with every thought of Cato and how scared he must be.

We returned to Antonio and Rosa's house. Antonio didn't move much further than a metre away from me, as if he was concerned that I might disappear if he so much as blinked an eye. Rosa made me a cup of hot chocolate as I clung to my remaining children.

"Can we go and play with big Luca again, Mommy?" Lili asked.

She was too young to really understand what was going on. They all were.

"No, sweetie. None of us can leave the house, okay?" I replied stroking her hair.

At that point, the phone in the office began ringing.

"This could be important,” Antonio said before leaving to answer it. Meanwhile, Rosa was busy with bottles of milk for Stefano and Zach and I was unattended.

I quickly kissed my remaining seven children on the head, grabbed my phone and marched to the door.

I felt kinda guilty because none of this was Rosa and Antonio's fault and I was causing them more trouble than they deserved but on the other hand my maternal instincts were kicking me hard. Whether Leo has a plan or not, Cato's life could be in danger if I don't meet Andrea in Mexico and I'm not risking it.

I opened the front door and slammed it behind me. Before I could even begin sprinting down the drive towards the forest, I noticed Rosa's car in the drive. The one I had left at the police station. Seconds later, the door opened and my mate got out of it.

Oh shit.

"Ella, get the hell back in the house. I'm not fucking around,” he growled striding towards the front door.

"This is my choice,” I insisted. "And you don't you dare try to stop me. How are you even here?"

I saw his jaw clench as he continued to near me and his eyes flash black.

"Now is not the time to defy me," he replied in his Alpha tone.

He then grabbed my arm and pulled me over his shoulder before bursting into the house and up the stairs leaving Rosa and Antonio dumbstruck.

He carried me into one of the spare rooms, put me down, left and locked the door behind him. I stood motionless for a few seconds before going to investigate the windows. They were both locked but one of them looked pretty weak. There was still a huge drop to the floor but also a tree that if I jumped far enough, I could get to and climb down.

Usually, when Leo and I had disagreements these days we didn't fight. We sat down and talked about it. But I could just tell that there was 0% chance of him changing his mind here so drastic times called for drastic measures.

Just as I began rattling the already weakened lock, Leo marched back into the room with what looked like a pair of handcuffs in his hand. "No..n0o...no," I said stepping away from him. "No. I'm not a fucking animal."

"I am trying to focus on getting Cato back. To do that, I need you in a position where I know that I don't have to worry about you doing something stupid,” he replied grabbing my wrist and fastening it into the metal cuffs.

"And what about me worrying about you doing something stupid!? You heard what Andrea said!" I replied trying to get my hand out of his grip only making him hold me tighter.

"Do not raise your voice at me," he snapped dragging me roughly to the floor and attaching the handcuff to the other side to the bedpost. "I am Alpha and I will decide how to handle this.”

In that moment, I was probably the angriest with him as I had ever been. Even more so than when he murdered Connor. What we were “handling’ was the abduction of our son and he's just gonna cut me out of it?

"I'm sorry,” he said crouching down and placing his hand on my cheek. "Fuck you,” I spat swatting his hand away. "If Cato ends up getting hurt, I will never forgive you for taking this choice away from me."

He took a deep breath in and out before kissing my forehead, standing up and leaving the room.

I listened to his footsteps downstairs and this his conversation with Antonio.

"They just dropped the charges?" Antonio questioned as I listened to their conversation through the ceiling. "Just like that?"

"Martinez's bullet wound has obviously healed faster than any human doctor could ever imagine leaving no evidence that I actually shot him and they have concluded I didn't kidnap Ella. And surprise surprise he decided not to take the drug thing any further with the police. Especially as all he needed was me out of the way from an hour," he explained as I heard him open the front door.

"Is there anything I can do?" Antonio asked.

"Keep an eye on Ella. She's handcuffed to the bed and I need her to stay that way," he explained.

He's treating me like I am the enemy here? Like I'm one more thing he doesn't need to deal with.

"Of course,” Antonio replied before the front door closed and Leo's footsteps disappeared down the drive.

Antonio didn't sound like he was coming upstairs so I began searching the room for something to pick the lock with. I'd done it before, I could do again. If only I actually bothered to put a pin or something in my hair the morning...

A few moments later, the door opened a crack and a small blonde child slipped into the room.

"Mommy, why are you attached to the bed?" Lili asked with a confused expression. "And when is Cato getting back? I want him to play with me."

"Very soon, sweetheart," I said gesturing for her to come over. "And I'm attached to the bed because Daddy wants to make sure I stay here because here is always safe, yes?"

"Yeah!" she agreed, wrapping her arms around me. "But why are your eyes red, Mama? Have you been cwrying?”

"Because just like you, I want Cato to come back too," I replied stroking her hair as I held even more tears back.

She was only four. I didn't know what better way to phrase it.

"Did Daddy do your hair this morning, Lili," I asked noticing two tiny butterfly bobby pins.

"Yepp,” she said smiling turning her head to show off Leo's skill.

For a man that had had short hair his whole life, he was remarkably good at doing our daughters" hair in the morning.

"Very pretty,” I said. "Do you mind if I borrow one of those clips?"

"We can match, Mommy," she said excitedly taking one out and placing it in my palm.

"Grazie, Bambina,” I replied as my phone began to ring.

It was the no caller ID again. Andrea.

"Why don't you go and play with your other brothers and sisters? Cato will be back soon,” I said kissing her forehead.

She nodded, hugged me and then left the room.

"Are you on your way, Blanca? Time is ticking..." he taunted.

"I'm a little tied up right now," I replied. "I can't-"

"Let me guess...Mr Alpha won't let his Luna sacrifice herself?" he asked. I could almost see the smirk he was almost definitely wearing. “.drama.."

"He's handcuffed me to the bed. I can't get out of this room let alone the pack.”

"Oooh, kinky," he mused.

"Andrea, please. Give us another option,” I begged. "I can't stand the thought of you hurting him," I added in a sob as the tears began streaming again. "He's seven years old, how evil can you get?!"

"You found a way to slip out of my grasp, now slip out of his...or your son dies..." he replied before hanging up.

I let out a cry of exasperation and launched my phone across the room in anger before erupting into a mess of tears and sobs.

A few moments later, the door opened yet again this time with the arrival of Antonio.

"If you are here to rebuke me, I don't need it right now,” I snapped wiping my tears.

"I'm not," he said softly. "I heard you crying and I wanted to ask if there's anything I can do...obviously nothing that Leo wouldn't agree to."

"Can I ask you a question?” I said after a short pause.

He nodded.

"Do you think he's doing the right thing?" I asked.

"It's hard to imagine what he's going through, Ella," he said sitting down on the bed. "He cares about you. I don't think you should blame him for this."

"But what about Cato? Does he not care about our son too?"

"Of course he does. You know that. But Andrea Martinez can't be trusted and even if he could, what kind of Alpha would he be to allow his Luna to go to her death without a second thought? When all other options have been exhausted, then he may consider it but not before,” Antonio explained. "You haven't even given him a chance yet."

I suppose he was right. The only option I had considered was me handing myself over. What if Leo could find another way?

"What would you have done if someone took one of your kids?" I asked.

"Well firstly, I wouldn't have had this issue,” he replied gesturing to me. "Because Rosa isn't a disobedient little pain in the ass,” he joked.

I stifled a laugh and wiped another escaping tear.

"But apart from that, I'd be doing the exact same as Leo. Everything in my power. And Leo has far more power than I ever did so if I were you, I'd have faith in him to bring your son back before the end of the night. There's no way that car is getting off territory,” he replied. "But I do understand your desire to give yourself over.”

"You do?" I asked looking up at him.

"Although I do still think you could show the Alpha a little more respect and obedience, you're still a mother. How could you not want to do anything for your children?" he questioned. "But you have to remember that working against Leo isn't going to help.”

"He's not exactly allowing me to work with him," I replied lifting my handcuffed hand.

"Because you haven't given him a reason to trust you."

"So what am I supposed to do?" I questioned.

"Exactly what her orders,” Antonio answered.

I wrinkled up my nose and scowled.

"Fuck that," I mumbled.

He let out a short laugh.

"You're definitely a Jones," he stated. "Can never be told what to do.” "If he asked me to take the kids to school or pass him his shoes or make dinner then yes. I'd do it. Telling me to sit back and stay out of his way when our son has been kidnapped? That is another matter,” I replied. "The fact that he is Alpha is irrelevant when my kid is in danger.”

"Which is precisely why he has to resort to handcuffing you to a bed. I would have done the same.”

"It's like I'm the enemy or something. And I get that he is just trying to keep me safe but it's my choice. Who gave him the right to take it away from me?" I asked.

"His Alphaship. He can do what he likes,” Antonio replied standing up. "But just try to remember, neither of you is the other's enemy. You both want your son back and I will be greatly surprised if Leo doesn't succeed... and then you'll be glad that he handcuffed you to the bed,” he added before leaving the room

Maybe he was right...hopefully he was right.

But my son's life wasn't something I was willing to gamble with.