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Leo thought for a moment.
“So, I’m going to ask you again. What would signal to you that the worst part of your life is over?”
Leo lowered his head looking like he wanted to ignore what Dillon had said but was betrayed by a spark that briefly lit his eyes.
“What is it?” Dillon asked seeing it too.
“Nothin’,” Leo said refusing to show weakness.
Dillon stared at him and then closed his eyes. As I watched something about him subtly changed.
“You like animals,” Dillon said to Leo’s surprise.
“What?”
“You think there are a lot of strays around you. You dream about giving them a place to live. That’s what makes you sure you’re an alpha.”
“I am an alpha,” Leo said again.
Dillon opened his eyes.
“You might be. But that desire you have to take care of animals doesn’t mean that you have to risk your life leading a pack.”
“It doesn’t?” Leo asked confused.
“No. You genuinely care about animals. And I’m talking about the ones that always have four legs,” he added lightheartedly.
“If I had a place where they could live, then…” he said with softened eyes.
“Like an animal sanctuary?” Dillon clarified.
“Yeah, one of those. It would be cool, right?” he said with a smile.
“That would be. So, have you ever thought about becoming a veterinary? They have animal sanctuaries and they help them. They keep them healthy.”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“You have to go to school for that and I gotta take care of my family, ya know.”
Dillon allowed a moment for Leo’s words to sink in before responding.
“I like your idea. And it’s a beautiful dream, Leo,” he said sincerely. “I know right now it’s hard to see past the struggles you face day after day. How could you even begin to think about the future when every day presents a new challenge?
“But, here’s the thing, ignoring the future won’t stop it from coming. And when it arrives, you can be in the same place you are now – full of struggle and anger – or things could be easier, brighter. You just have to make the choice.”
Dillon took a step closer, his voice growing more determined.
“Remy has given you the option to make your future better. To make your dream of helping animals a reality. Maybe someone like him can’t truly understand how tough your life is, but I can, just like I know you can achieve your dream. I can see it.
“So believe me when I say that the last thing you want to do is look back on this moment and then have to look into your mother’s eyes knowing there was something you could have done to make her life easier, and you didn’t take it.”
As he finished speaking, Dillon’s expression took on a more direct quality. “Do you understand what I’m saying, Leo?”
The teen stared at him for a long moment, weighing Dillon’s words. Finally, after what felt like forever, he nodded slowly. “Yeah, I understand.”
The tension gradually dissipated as Leo walked off to process everything. Before disappearing into the storage room, he looked back at Dillon,
