Alpha Dylan

Chapter 28 | I Want It

I gazed down at my brother, smiling sadly at his peaceful face as he lay in his bed, his body hooked up to all kind of mobile machines. I held his hand in mine, stroking his blistered skin softly, relieved that he was no longer feeling any pain.

"How are you holding up?" Dylan asked from behind me, entering Jared's room, his face solemn.

"He isn't healing; his wolf is weak. Every time he wakes up, he forces himself to go back to sleep because he can't take the pain," I replied, my eyes welling up with tears, causing Dylan to sigh, coming up behind me and stroking my shoulder comfortingly, squeezing it gently.

"He'll be fine, he's stable. It'll just take him a little longer to heal than normal, he went through a lot. You both did."

I turned to look at Dylan's pained face, his ocean blue eyes holding sorrow and sadness as he studied my skin, which was now pretty much completely healed.

"I'm sorry about leaving, I just didn't know what else to do. Sawyer told me on the phone we could strike a deal, and I stupidly agreed. I just didn't want anyone to die at my hands," I mumbled, tears dribbling down my cheeks, causing Dylan to cup them, shaking his head.

"Shh, what's happened has happened, and we can't change it, I'm just so glad that you and Jared are alive," replied Dylan, pulling me to his chest, rubbing my back.

"She killed Sawyer, Dylan; her own mate," I stated, running my hands through my dark hair.

"I know."

"I shouldn't care about her, but I do. A tiny part of me will never be able to let her go fully," I said, shaking my head.

"She's your Mother, Clara. You don't have to let her go, but the Marie that you knew when you were little is gone."

I nodded, sighing. "I know. Sawyer made her heartless, but I still think there's a part of her that cares, just like I do."

"I think you're right," said Dylan, pulling me up from the side of Jared's bed. "But you don't need her. You've survived this long without her."

"I'm worried about Jared, he refuses to speak about it when he's awake, and it's been two days. I just thought he would want to get it all off his chest by now."

"Did you tell him about how Sawyer died?" asked my mate, a frown making its way up onto his face.

I nodded, sighing. "Yes, and he didn't respond much, I think he just wants to forget about everything that happened. I think he was slightly hoping that our Mother would be happy to see us, and would come home."

"I'm sure he understands why that can't happen."

"He's just young, none of this is fair," I mumbled, running my hands down my face in frustration. "When is that Alpha meeting you're going to?"

Dylan's eyes widened for a second, and he shook his head, shrugging. "Don't worry about it, I'm not going."

"What? Why? You said it was a good way to form alliances with other packs," I asked, shaking my head. "You have to go."

"My pack is strong, it'll be fine," replied my mate, causing me to squint my eyes at him, crossing my arms across my chest.

"You not going doesn't have anything to do with not wanting to leave me alone, does it?"

"Yes, actually, it has everything to do with that," said Dylan, smiling sarcastically at me.

"Dylan, I'll be fine here." I laughed, raising my eyebrows. "Sawyer's dead, there are no more threats. You'll only be gone a couple of days, I'll just stay here and look after Jared."