Boundaries

Chapter 27

Over the next few days, Orion manages to crack on with just about every task that had been cluttering his schedule. He leans back in Sam's desk chair feeling an accomplishment that he's unfamiliar with in his adult life.

The adjoining door to Dylan's office had remained firmly closed since their last...altercation. In fact, it had been awfully quiet on the other side of that door.

Orion pauses for a moment, wondering when he actually remembers last seeing Dylan.

He hadn't been present for the last few meals they had cooked in the kitchen, nor had he spotted him outside during training. Orion had been back and forth between Bluewood and Ironhill a lot over the last few days, and he hasn't spotted his mate once.

Panic surges over him, choking him as he stands quickly.

He takes a breath, shaking his head. Dylan is fine. There's no earthly reason to think otherwise.

Except that feeling in his gut. That awful, knowing throb. He grasps the door handle and twists, entering Dylan's office. Something is wrong.

The desk is exceptionally neat and Orion's stomach sinks. That's not normal. Not at all. He scents the air, biting the inside of his cheek when he realises that it is stale and dry. Dylan hasn't been in here for days.

So where is he?

Orion leaves his mate's office, wondering just how far he's willing to push his limits. Dylan will be furious, especially if he finds Orion snooping around. But he can't help it. With every second his blind panic grows.

He sets off upstairs, following the strongest smell of his mate.

He comes to the final floor of the pack house and looks around warily. It's eerily silent and that doesn't do anything to calm his racing heart. He doesn't care. Dylan needs him. He can sense that now. Can sense the terrible distress through their shared bond. It's weak, but it's there, and it's Dylan. The feeling drives him forwards.

He comes to a stop outside a door, knowing without knowing that it is the right one. He doesn't bother to knock, instead twisting the handle and softly pressing the door forwards.

Dylan is sat beside the bed and for the first time in the last twenty minutes, Orion can breathe freely. But as soon as that wonderful pleasure had been granted, it is just as suddenly stripped away.

The body of Ellie West lies thin and unmoving on Dylan's bed. Her eyes are closed, her hand encased in both of her sons'. Her chest rises and falls periodically, her skin pulled pale and tight across her cheekbones. She doesn't look like the remarkable, radiant woman he knew. She might as well be a stranger, but strangers don't break your heart like this.

The door creaks softly beneath Orion's pressure and Ellie's eyes open, her vacant gaze wandering the room before falling on Dylan by her side.

"Where?...Who...who are you?" She asks, her voice soft, like a whisper.

Dylan's features crumple, his hands squeezing his mother's tightly.

"It's Dylan, mum." He says softly.

It has to be the hundredth time he's said it in the last week, and with each reminder he feels his heart break just a fraction more. He can't believe how quickly this last part of her journey has happened, how quickly she'd faded before him, like sand slipping through his fingers.

"I don't..know..."

Ellie stops, watching the tears trickle down his face.

He is a handsome young man, she thinks, and it's an awful shame that he's crying. It makes her feel...sad. She doesn't know his name, his face only striking the smallest recognition in her crumbling mind. It's like a beacon of light and she clings to it. To her joy, it brightens.

Her chest fills with love, and it doesn't matter that she doesn't know who he is. She loves him. And that's enough.

She thinks, that perhaps, she ought to tell him so.

She smiles, her heart light and her mind totally free as she exhales deeply. She can feel every thought floating away, but this one, this last one, remains.

Her eyes close, her mouth opening.

Love.

She ought to tell him. And she will.

This thought, this amazing, inspiring, all encompassing thought wraps around her like a hug, the warmth so inviting, drawing her close.

Love

And as she thinks this; this lovely, wonderful, final thought, she dies.

Orion watches as Ellie West takes her final breath. He watches as her chest falls still, her eyes slipping closed. He watches as Dylan finally falls apart.

His mate's tears are silent at first. But as he grips his late mother's hand, as he feels her retreat to a place that he cannot follow one last time, his sobs break free.

Orion doesn't hesitate.

He hadn't been there once, he will be here now.

Dylan sinks into his embrace, his hands only agreeing to release his mother's thin fingers from their grasp when warm, comforting arms are offered in their place. Dylan's chest heaves against his soulmates, his wracking sobs echoing through the hollow room.

Orion doesn't do anything to silence him. He tucks Dylan's head against his neck, his fingers gliding through his hair as he holds him. And that's all Dylan really needs.

He doesn't need Orion to make this better. Nothing can.

He doesn't need his words or encouragement. There's nothing he can say.

He just needs him. His overwhelming presence, his comfort, his touch. And for the first time since he was fifteen, Orion is exactly where Dylan needs him to be.

_

A/N

I am SO sorry. I fell out of touch there for a hot minute. To make up for it, please enjoy 3 updates in one day.

-F