ENDURING {Sequel to Everlasting}

Chapter 37 - Part A

They left before dawn, and the moment I couldn't see him through the trees, I felt the sense of dread settle in the pit of my stomach. The mansion felt bare of soul, empty of life, and I hated it. I hated the silence, the loneliness because I know this could be forever.

Hardin chose option B.

So now I sit alone by the window staring out into the woods, waiting for him to come back with the awful feeling that he won't.

"Do you want a hot chocolate?" My head snaps towards the voice, eyes growing wide in disbelief.

"Seb?" I whisper, jumping to my feet and sprinting towards my little-big brother.

Flinging my arms around him and hugging him so hard that my muscles ache. Sebastian chuckles and hugs me warmly, kissing the top of my head in that brotherly sense.

"Hardin called...I figured you could use some company right now." He says in that gentle, yet soothing voice that always makes me feel like crying.

"I'm glad you're here." I whisper, giving him one last squeeze before pulling away.

"So, hot chocolate?" He gives me a smile.

"Yes please." I nod, recalling the amount of times he would sneak me a hot chocolate as children, to make me feel better.

I guess some things don't change. I thought, my heart warming as I follow Seb to the kitchen, deciding it's unhealthy to sit at the window waiting.

"Have you thought about him?" Seb asks, his broad back facing me as he prepares the hot drinks.

I sit at the island and stare at him. Seb and I no longer talk as often as we once did, we haven't for a very long time, ever since I killed our mother. I suppose it started when I married Hardin.

"Not until today." I admit under my breath, hating the mere mention of such a monster.

He wasn't always like that, he was innocent, we all were. Somewhere along the path he'd been twisted, and corrupted.

"Are you frightened by the war? Hardin was...concerned for your mental stability when he called." Seb says in a partially curious, weary tone.

"He worries that I'm literally going to loose my mind again?" I rephrase the question with a small chuckle, of course Hardin worries about me at a time like this.

Seb doesn't respond, simply offering a comforting smile as he places a steaming hot mug of hot chocolate in front of me, he sits opposite. I grasp the hot mug in some attempt to ease my trembling hands, something I've acquired in the time Hardin has been gone. It doesn't help that three quarters of the pack are with him, leaving what's rest of them near unprotected.

"I'm good, really." I assure him.

"I believe you." Seb says with a smile. "Cami had a sleepover last week, she mentioned Ra-rora?"

The look of puzzlement on his face makes me grin slightly.

"Aurora, her pony." I muse.

Seb's eyebrows shoot up in brief surprise. "Pony?" He has no idea about my horses?

"Yeah-" My phone vibrates, cutting off my words.

"It's Jackson." I say, answering the video call.

The sound of wind blowing is loud through the speaker, and Jackson's hair is wild, eyes huge. "Guess what just happened?"

The fact that he sounds breathless, makes me a little worried. I'm already on edge and if something has gone wrong at home...I can't promise my sanity.