Chapter 372: 2-1

Chapter 44.2 – Gabriel POV Outside of this Kieran issue, the parents on this island were going to parent their own damn children. Yet Kieran as different because they had already failed him, in a way I saw so much of Chelsea in him, that insecurity and mindset to please while still unable to do so because of some built in by others internal hindrance. I left Oakley and Kieran in his room, going to my office where I sent Marlon, Leland, Grant and the Ryans, wanting to get the drama out of his room before Kieran woke up. To see them fighting that way, poor kid would probably have taken the blame for everything, internalizing mistakes that weren’t really his. I wasn’t claiming to be the best parent out in the world, an expert to these people but I did know where Kieran’s thoughts were. I did have access to Grants mind, one that was evaluating Kieran, without really even having to try, he saw below the layers. Entering my office I wanted to get straight to the point, “What the hell were you two doing?” I asked the Ryans, sitting eyeing them. “He is our son, you’ve come in and have taken over-” I checked out on the replay of where her mind was, noting that Grant was just appalled with these people. And he can’t read their minds, Max added. “Have you two ever asked Kieran how it feels when he is touched?” “No, he just said not to touch him…” Mr. Ryan said sadly. I nodded, “Kieran accidently bumped into my mate last night and I think it’s more than just him not wanting to be touched. He behaved more like someone who was shocked and expecting punishment than an accident.” “He let Oakley touch him,” Mrs. Ryan said, “We never thought that approach would work, just being abrupt and doing as we wanted. We are his parents but we just… do you know – did you see how he reacted when your mate and he touched. The first time I saw him and those other escapees my mind was – I thought surely it was playing a trick on me, we hadn’t seen him since the day he was taken. No sign. Then I run to him and it was like he had a seizure in my arms, threw himself on the ground, vomited, and rocking back and forth. I – I didn’t know what to do…” She wiped at her face, “Then I make another move to touch him and Mack tells me not to do that, it’s best to let him come out of that mindset he was in on his own, touching him was out of the question-” her head shaking back and forth trying to get rid of that image but I’m not sure it was working, that anything would make it disappear for her. Swallowing, she rubbed her hands on her legs, “we had no idea what to do, because when the boys got home and saw him before we could tell them to back off, Kieran attacked them, and we just – we knew to leave him be. Mack – Mack couldn’t tell us just what happened to Kieran, only that when they brought Kieran in, they “broke him” and his memories were gone, but he remembered some of what Kieran told him, so they found us but we weren’t safe.” We love him, we want to help him, but we can’t – why won’t you help us – give us our boy back, she thought. Gabriel can I say something? Grant asked me not looking at me but at the Ryans, yes. I replied happy he asked for permission and I was starting to see just why Chelsea wanted him to be there for the absorption. The respect for what he didn’t know was astounding, and he was really making an effort to make himself useful, not just to Chelsea, Oakley and Ben, but the other young children we brought on the island. “Mrs. Ryan, you said that you never thought ‘that approach’ would work, but I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean?” She inhaled, letting that breath go deeply, “Interfering, not giving Kieran the option to be alone-” “That isn’t what Oakley has been doing, she’s doing things at his pace, offering him nothing to be quite frank with you all. She isn’t forcing him to do a single thing, she’s being herself… things she would do back in Middleburg, and she is doing them here. Reading out loud, Kieran is the one that decides whether he stays or not. Oakley – well in my presence has never forced him to stay, she doesn’t have that kind of power. She doesn’t force him to speak, in fact she asks and answers some of her own questions at time, it’s only when Kieran feels like speaking to her does he enter the conversation-” “She went to his home on the mountain-” Mr. Ryan pointed out. I nodded, as did Grant, “yes, but as far as I know from what Oakley has told us, she went up there, didn’t touch him, didn’t ask him to change into his human form, and read to him and talk to him about herself,” I nodded again knowing that same story. “What you just wanted to do is the opposite of what Oakley has been doing. Touching him while he doesn’t have the option to push you away is very selfish, you are taking away his right to choose-” “And he has had that done to him more than enough…” I mumble shaking my head. Knowing his thoughts and not wanting to give away my newfound ability because of Chelsea and I mating fully, I change the details a bit. “From research done by Jason, did you know that – that Kieran was not only a test subject of sorts but that from the minute he was taken from your home he was systematically abused physically as well as sexually?” their eyes widen and they both turn a bit green, pale and I can hear their hearts racing, Mr. Ryan gasps, his hand shaking. “That – he was just – he wasn’t – No,” Mrs. Ryan whispered, shaking her head and a new round of tears began. People have no idea the type of damage that was done to that poor boy, Grant thought not surprised by the information I revealed. R-43 – that tattoo? Mr. Ryan thinks of the permanent reminder on his sons’ skin, the anger boiling inside him, his wolf ready for vengeance. “And – and he revealed to this to Oakley?” Mrs. Ryan finally asked, “She – my son needs a professional not some child!” again. Just when I thought that they would see the larger picture they drop the ball. Once again. I laugh humorlessly, “Kieran isn’t revealing anything to Oakley, but you’re missing the larger picture… if he is thinking of doing so, that’s one step further that you have never been able to get him. He’s thinking of talking about it, wanting to face his past, he might not want to tell Oakley, but if she is that push that makes him realize that all the abuse he suffered wasn’t his fault-” “Of course it wasn’t his fault!” Mr. Ryan jumped to his feet, outraged, only to duck his head in submission as this tone directed at me. “Well… you know that, I know that, but Kieran I don’t believe he knows that or even believes it,” Grant muttered shaking his head in disgust. “I haven’t even spoken to Kieran on a professional level, just witnessed his behavior around Oakley and his reactions and I can say without a doubt that he has the symptoms of avoidant personality disorder, granted he still is fifteen – its fairly noticeable. The damage… and his mind – I could only guess to what type of landmines are lurking in his head.” I rested back not knowing much about what Grant was saying but listening, learning, “What is avoidance – what you said?” Mr. Ryan asked his voice tight, body stiff. “Well… you – you aren’t to blame here, but it’s everything you witness in Kieran, him pushing people away, going off on his own, taking blame where he isn’t the one to blame, getting anxious, not letting his guard down so to speak. Feeling unwanted and hiding, low self-esteem, high self loathing and very untrusting…” he paused letting them digest all of this.