“Sit there,” Francis told him, pointing at the seat opposite of me.

The kid did sit down, but I couldn’t tell if he even knew the two of us were there.

“Hey, kid?” I said softly as the car started moving, but he stared down at his hands, his body stiff like a corpse. “Hey, you’re safe now. We won’t hurt you.”

Nothing. He didn’t even blink. I turned to look at Francis, who shook his head and sighed.

“Completely shut down,” he muttered. “He’s running on pure instincts. He goes where I point at, but I don’t think he understands words.”

“His alpha is in charge. The human… I hope he’s still in there,” I said.

“What are you going to do?”

I shrugged. “Can’t leave him out here, can I?”

“No, he’ll die,” Francis agreed. “I’ll ask around if anyone knows him. He should be at home. With his family. They can take care of him.”

“He looks so young…” I muttered as I watched his face.

For an alpha, he had delicate features, though he was severely underweight. Quite tall, but really skinny. His short hair was dark, but missing large patches. His pale face had scars. It was hard to tell the color of his eyes since his pupils were dilated, but they were light. Blue or gray.

I watched him all the way back home. He didn’t move. He didn’t look up even once. He sat still, his hands in his lap, trying to be as small as his tall frame let him. My anger was still there, boiling under the surface. This kid had been through literal hell. Nothing less could shut someone down so completely.

I still had no idea what to do about him, but in this state, he was unable to take care of himself. I had to take him home with me and keep him there until we’d find his family.

“You need a hand, Boss?” Francis asked when the car passed by the gates to my yard, then stopped in front of my home.

“I’ll take it from here. You should head home as well,” I said. “Tell everyone they did a good job today.”

“Yes, Boss. If you need anything…”

“I’ll give you a call,” I promised.

I turned to the kid and leaned closer. He didn’t react, just like I’d expected.

“Hey. We should get inside. You look like you could use a long bath and a good meal,” I told him, but nothing.

“You need to point outside,” Francis told me.

I tried to make sure the kid saw me when I did as Francis said. I had my doubts, but lo and behold, the kid actually left the car. I was quick to follow him in case he’d run down to the street, but he only stood there, a few feet away from the car.

“You sure you can handle him?” Francis asked.

“I’m sure. Go get some sleep. Meet me here in the morning,” I told him.

“All right. Night, Boss.”

“Night,” I replied, and the driver continued driving.

I turned back to the kid, who stared at his feet. With a sigh, I placed my hand carefully on his arm and gestured for him to follow me. He did so without hesitation. It was sickening. He just followed, no matter what my intentions were. Even with his human side completely shut down, his alpha should’ve tried to protect them both. But no. They were both completely broken, tortured into complete submission.

“You’ll be fine now,” I said gently, stopping behind my front door. “I don’t know how to help you, but at least you’re safe now.”

I let him into my home, then stepped in as well and closed the door. As I took my coat off, the kid waited next to me, his eyes on the floor. The fear in his eyes had faded a little, but his expression was still tense, like he expected to get hurt any second.

But he would feel no pain anymore. I promised him that.

“Let’s get you something to eat first,” I told him, and nudged his arm to get him to follow me.

Through the large entrance hall and past its cozy seating area by the massive windows, the kid obediently walked one step behind me. He never took his eyes off the ground, even when we rounded a corner to enter my dining hall.

“I suppose you wouldn’t answer if I asked what you’d like to eat,” I said when I stopped behind my fridge in the kitchen and opened both doors to see what I had to offer him.

I had some leftover salmon, au gratin potatoes, and sauteed vegetables from last night, so I pulled them out and filled a plate for us both.

“You don’t mind if I microwave them for you?” I asked, keeping my voice light.

No response, but I figured I should keep trying. I hoped a friendly voice would give him reassurance, and maybe… Maybe there was a chance his human side could still hear me.

While we waited for the food, I again found myself watching him. If he weren’t so thin, pale, and scared, I would’ve called him nice to look at. It was hard to tell his age, but I assumed he was somewhere in his early twenties. Still just a kid… Thinking about Lonnie and how he’d treated him made my blood boil. I assumed this boy had not followed that roach willingly. How long had he been held as captive? How long did he have to suffer until his mind started breaking down? How long did it take until his sanity was completely gone?

Years. That was the answer.

I calmed myself and forced a smile onto my face. This boy didn’t need my anger right now. He needed safety.

“I wish I knew your name,” I told him. “I can’t keep calling you a kid. You’re a grown man. A young man, but still a man.”

How could someone be so utterly shut down…?

“I know you saw me doing bad things today, but only because they were bad people, okay? You can trust me. You are safe with me. I would never hurt an innocent person. We do have a code we follow, after all. The governor would be much more interested in throwing my ass in jail if we didn’t. We’re all getting old, you see. I’m soon turning forty-six, and yeah, it’s not that old, but she’s got an army full of all these buffed twenty- and thirty-year-olds… Like pit bulls on steroids… You know, I’m not going to outrun them for much longer, so we try not to piss her off too badly. So yeah… We don’t hurt innocent people. And people are buying less drugs these days. Not a lot of guns we can get our hands on, either. Kind of running out of business since we’re not selling to roaches. It’s all about bombs these days, anyway, and we don’t deal with that shit.”

I trailed off, scratching my beard. If I really wanted to see it, it looked like the kid’s expression had relaxed just a notch.

I let out a sigh. Wishful thinking, that’s all. The boy was just as afraid as he was with a gun down his throat.

“You’ll be all right, boy. I’ll figure out how to help you,” I said. “At least we can try to find your family. Francis is good at finding people. You’ll see. If they’re out there, he’ll find them.”

His food was ready, so I gestured for him to take a seat at the dining table. I put my plate into the microwave, then brought his food to him and put it under his nose, but he didn’t move a muscle.

“You have to eat,” I said, giving him a fork. He took it, but only stared at the food. I pushed the plate a little closer to him. “You can eat. It’s all for you. I have my own plate.”

He didn’t move. I pointed at the food, then at him, but no reaction. Now what?

“You know how to eat, right? Or do I need to feed you?” I asked, pulling a chair closer for myself.

When I still got no reaction, and I had no idea what else to do, I carefully reached for the hand he held his fork in, and helped him to pick a small piece of salmon. I did notice how easily he let me move his hand, with little to no resistance at all. I brought the fork to his mouth, which he opened as obediently as ever.

“Boy… That could be a pile of drugs. Poison, acid…”

He ate it, but it didn’t really cheer me up.

“Can you do it yourself now?” I asked and slowly let go of him.

I thought he wasn’t going to, but then, slowly, he moved his fork.

“Good boy,” I said quietly, watching him closely.

And I was glad I did. Because I did not imagine his head turning a little in my direction, his gaze quickly darting to me and back to his food. Oh, I saw it.

“You know I’m here,” I whispered, smiling. “That’s a really good boy.”

I didn’t get another reaction from him, but I was still busy celebrating the one I did, anyway. And he was able to eat on his own. Very slowly, but still.

As I watched him, his delicate features, high cheekbones, thick eyebrows, lush lips, I almost forgot my own food. I heard the microwave when it stopped, but my mind didn’t quite register it. I leaned a little closer to the boy. His pupils were smaller now.

“You have nice blue eyes,” I noted. “Now I can actually see the color. Does that mean you’re not so scared anymore?”

He continued chewing and staring at his plate, but he was less scared now. He was a little softer around the eyes, and he wasn’t covering as much. 

“You’ll be all right,” I said quietly. “I’ll take care of you.”