Page 63 of Impossible

“I don’t think they like me very much,” I sigh.

Leon throws his head back and laughs. His true laugh is so different from the tight chuckles I’ve seen from him so far, my heart skips a beat. He is beautiful with his eyes closed and his neck exposed, hand on his stomach as he lets the laugh roll through him. I see an edge of black ink peeking out the collar of his white thermal shirt and look away, embarrassed.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

“Oh, little bird, you couldn’t be further from the truth. They both liked youverymuch.”

“Really? But Joshua stormed out, and Hollis…”

I replay my conversation with Hollis in my mind. He’s a giant, almost as big as Leon, but unlike Leon’s military-esque appearance, he looks like he just walked out of an Armani catalogue. His words were measured and academic. The way he asked a question made it seem like there was always a ‘right’ answer. He asked a lot of questions. I don’t know if I gave any right answers.

“Hollis was hoping you would like him too. Don’t tell him I told you that,” Leon smiles. “He can get a little uptight when he’s nervous.”

“Nervous?” I guffaw. Perfect Hollis,nervous?

“Yes,” Leon chuckles. “And Joshua just needed a moment to clear his head. That wasn’t about you at all.”

“Is he going to be ok?” I ask. “It looked like he was in trouble.”

“He’ll be fine. He just hasn’t given his statement since the incident, and the Coalition has been getting a little antsy.”

“It wasn’t just an incident, was it?” I push my luck.

Leon’s lips tighten into a flat line. He shakes his head.

“Will you tell me about it, someday?” I ask.

“It’s not a happy story, blue jay.”

“That’s ok. Most stories aren’t.”

I wait for him to dismiss me. To put me in a box, the simplified life of a teenager. Not real. Incapable of understanding.

But he doesn’t. He nods solemnly instead. “I’ll tell you when you’re healthy enough to come over, ok?”

“When will that be?”

Leon sighs. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want you to come over. I do.”

“Even if I were healthy, is it allowed? You never said.”

“It’s murky waters. For an unbonded omega to fraternize with us, we’d need to be on the Coalition’s list of approved packs for bonding. Which we currently aren’t.”

“Whoa whoa whoa whoa, what? Bonding? I thought Risk meant—” I break off, my cheeks flushing. I yank my hand out from under Leon’s and bury it in my lap.

“What? No! No, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean, we wouldn’t, I mean, we would never,” Leon is spluttering, and if I weren’t so panicked I would find it funny. He stops himself, takes a deep breath, and then speaks with a gravelly voice, “I was just trying to explain the rules. And unfortunately, since you’re an unbonded ward of the Complex and we are an unbonded pack employed by the Coalition, we have to play by the rules. And all the rules for people like us center around the possibility of bonding. To prevent us from taking advantage of you. We would never... Look, we don’t have to talk about this if you’re uncomfortable. I’m sure Risk’s invitation was to play videogames or show you his knife collection or something.”

“And what would you want to do if I came over?” I don’t know why I ask. My heart beats a tattoo of anxiety in my chest.

“I was building a treehouse in our woods, before the incident. You could come help. I could use an extra set of hands.”

He holds his stump up good-naturedly and I have to smile. The awkwardness is gone.

“A treehouse?” I ask. “Why?”

He shrugs. “I always wanted one as a kid. My birthpack lived out in the country, so I grew up with flatlands for miles, no trees in sight. We live in the forest now, and I think I realized there was nothing stopping me from living out my childhood dream. So, why not?”

That makes me smile. A treehouse. Big powerful Leon. Building a treehouse not for any sort of child but the one within him. It’s a wistful thought. I wonder if he was scrawny, once upon a time. It’s hard to imagine him as anything other than the mountain of muscle he is now.

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