Rejected

Chapter 13

Kole's POV

It had been a while since Alex doubled over in pain from her mate taking another woman. I hadn't heard anything come from her room in about an hour, but I figured she was sleeping. I didn't know what it felt like when one mate cheated on another, but I did know the pain of losing a mate. No one deserved that. I knew from experience that once a couple knew each other in that sense, that night was not one spent sleeping, but rather getting to know each and every curve of their partner's body in seven different ways. And if Alex's reaction just an hour ago was any indication of what was going to happen, none of us would be getting much sleep tonight. Knowing that tonight was going to be a long night I laid down for a quick nap.

I felt like I had just laid down when I was startled awake by a blood curdling scream. I knew it was coming from Alex, and I knew why she was screaming, but that didn't keep my heart from pounding. I'm a protector, that's one of the things Katherine loved about me, I was always thinking about her safety before my own. I threw the covers off my body and ran to the door, throwing it open without a care other than making sure Alex was okay. When I entered her room I searched the corners of the bedroom out of habit, but I knew that there was no one in her room other than us. When my body was convinced that everything was clear I rushed over to Alex. She was curled up in the fetal position on her right side with tears streaming down her face. When I gently placed my hand on her shoulder I noticed her temperature had skyrocketed. She was running a fever again, and the longer I had my hand on her skin the warmer she got.

"Something's wrong." I said, more to myself than to her.

"MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!" her screams were desperate and I didn't know how to help her. I was not the kind of person to talk out feelings with. That's what Myles was for, he was the sensitive guy who understood how to deal with emotions. I just bottled them up and let them out in training, or a tree in the woods.

"I have to get you to the infirmary. You're burning up." I tried to tell her. She shook her head and grabbed at the blanket on top of her. She held the blanket so tight her knuckles started turning white and her hands were shaking. She screamed and convulsed, the veins on her neck popped up and her face turned red. My attention was drawn to the scar on her neck, the one her mate gave to her to replace the mating mark. The scar was angry, and unlike the light pink coloring it had before, it was red and looked as if it had become infected. Her body was having a physical reaction to whatever her mate was doing to the woman in his bed. She was experiencing the opposite of what the other woman was feeling. Pain instead of pleasure, torture instead of bliss, betrayal instead of acceptance. My heart broke for her, she didn't deserve this. She was beautiful and strong. Her smile didn't quite reach her eyes yet, but it was the best smile I had seen in a year. She deserved a happy life filled with nothing but smiles and laughter, she didn't deserve the pain that was being handed to her by a jackass that didn't know how good he had it.

"IT HURTS! MAKE IT STOP! PLEASE!" my heart shattered from the pain in her voice. I could do nothing to stop the pain she was feeling, I could only wait it out with her. I quickly pulled her up to a sitting position and put her head on my shoulder, her face went into my neck and I felt the tears falling from her eyes. I held her tightly and rocked back and forth while I rubbed circles on her back. Her hand went to my shirt and she gripped it tight. Her screams turned into sobs as the rocking and hugging continued.

"You're going to be okay. You'll make it through this and come out stronger than ever." I whispered.

"Kole... I can't... it hurts too much... I can't..." her words were muffled by sobs and my shoulder, but the plea in her voice was as clear as a bell. "Please... please... just end it..." her voice was hardly there and the little that was left was so broken down I didn't recognize it.

"Don't talk like that." I pulled her face away from my neck and looked her in the eyes. She had black circles under her bright red eyes, her face was blotchy and tear stricken, and she even had a little snot under her nose. She didn't look like the young strong woman I knew she could be, instead she looked just as she felt, broken.

"Please... I can't... live like this. I'm better off... no one wants me..." the fact that she believed these words hurt me and made me angry. Why would anyone convince her that she was unwanted? How could people be so cruel as to make her think that she's better off dead?

"NO! What about Tab... Myles... Tyler and Zack? Do you think they would be okay with losing you?" she hiccupped and closed her eyes, "Do you think that they don't want you in their life? They brought you into the pack house to take care of you after you were injured. They helped you get better, they want you to be happy here, and they want you to feel at home here. They want you! If you end your life you will be leaving more pain behind. You will be hurting Tab, Myles and the twins. You'll be hurting the Alpha." You'll be hurting me.

"I... I don't want to... hurt anyone..." her head shook as she struggled to get her breathing under control.

"Then push through this. I know it hurts now, but you have the scars to prove that you are stronger than people think. You are so much stronger than you think, you just have to push through this. Don't think about how much it hurts, but rather how much better you'll feel when you can look the bastard in the eye and show him how strong you are. Think about how much easier it will be to deal with a small, insignificant break up if this is how you handle a heartbreaking experience." I thought about that last comment, "Okay that was a bad example, but if you get through this, you'll be so badass that no guy would even think about breaking your heart. Not that the twins would let him, but he will think twice before disappointing you." She winced and I wasn't sure if it was from the pain or my attempt to be supportive. "I know I'm no good at this, in fact, I will be the first to say I suck! But I believe that you can make it through this, and when you do you're going to look back at this and realize that this experience made you so much stronger."

"You know..... for someone who is supposed to be..... terrible with emotions..... you do pretty well..... with them." she looked up at me with a new light in her eyes. There was something there that wasn't there before and I didn't know what it was. Her body was still shaking with pain, and every once in a while she would cry out because of the bastard that was clear across the country, but she was no longer asking me to take away the pain, in fact she really didn't say a word the rest of the night. She would not let me put her back on the bed, she held onto my shirt like her life depended on it, but I didn't mind that. I was there to make sure she was safe so I held her through the night. I did however shift us around so I could lay down next to her on the bed. I didn't mind holding her through the night, but I wanted to get some sleep myself. I could feel every move she made when she was convulsing, but after a while she slept through these episodes. She would occasionally talk in her sleep, and that's how I confirmed her mate's name was Farris and the woman he was with was named Ally. I don't know how she knew the woman's name, but I doubt she wanted to talk about it. I just held her and let her know I was there for her.

The next morning I woke up to a soft knocking on the door. When I looked down to Alex she was still sound asleep. She looked so comfortable I couldn't bring myself to wake her, or move. I ran my fingers through her hair and moved it from her face. Her head was resting on my chest and her arm was laying across my waist. Her face was pale and she had dark circles under her eyes. Whoever was at the door must have realized that no one was going to answer because they turned the door knob and pushed the door open just enough for me to see Tab's head pop in. He smiled at me and then walked in the rest of the way, then Myles followed him and the twins came in after them. Tyler looked like he was about to yell something, but Zack smacked his hand over his brother's mouth and pointed to Alex's sleeping form. Tyler's eyes then went wide and a smile formed on his face. I looked at Tab, wondering why he was here with everyone else, but when he didn't say anything I figured he was here to check on Alex. Myles looked at her with sadness in his eyes, but covered it when he looked at me. I knew he was hurting because Alex didn't confide in him like everyone else does, but I also knew that he just wanted what was best for her. And right now what was best for her was to work through this. I felt more than saw Alex stir in her sleep, trying to find a more comfortable position, but before she found a new position she opened her eyes and looked up at everyone. Her eyes traveled from Tab, Myles and the twins, then finally to me.