Jagged Embrace

Chapter 56 - Maeve

Maeve watched Will as he finished the bottle of vodka he had been working on. She debated whether to have the discussion with him. He might be calmer because of the amount he drank, but not focused. Or he could be more agitated.

She thought back to the last time she and Ander talked, well, that she could remember clearly. She recalled what he'd told her about Will's mother and also the way he held her. Her stomach fluttered at the memory. Taking a deep breath, she tried to prepare for whatever reaction Will was about to have.

Maeve moved to Ander's bed and sat across from Will. Needed to keep her distance, just in case. She slid her hand over the bed and thought about the night of Ander's birthday. How could she betray him like this? She ran her hand through her hair. It made no sense. She hadn't betrayed him - had she?

"How long has Ander been in the hospital?"

"A couple of days?" Will's jaw worked.

She doubted he didn't know, but held her tongue. "The last day I mostly remember was the first, and then I got... sick again. I feel fine now. I've felt fine since whenever you got back."

He nodded, but didn't look at her.

"It doesn't matter when you got back. The point is, you knew Ander was in the hospital and you didn't tell me."

"Nope." He balled his right hand into a fist and wrapped his left around it.

"Instead, you had sex with me, multiple times, ate with me, talked to me," she paused and took a breath. It was so hard to push the anger and hurt back so they could talk. She wanted to scream at him. Stupidly, she believed they finally connected, that she meant something to him. That what they had was real - only for all of it to be... a lie.

"Yeah," he answered, with no emotion in his voice.

It would have been better if he'd actually lashed out versus replying so coldly. He really didn't care.

"Why?" She'd intended to say more, but her voice broke and she refused to let him see her cry over him.

"I didn't tell you because we couldn't go there. You heard Mason. We still can't go." He still spoke in a flat tone.

Mason was not all powerful. She couldn't stop them from seeing Ander. Why did he listen to her? Why did they both always do what Mason said?

"If I told you, then you would've freaked out and it wouldn't have changed anything. This way... you didn't have to deal with it 'til now."

She sat up straighter and studied him. He stared at the floor like Ander did frequently. His shoulders were slumped over, also reminding her of Ander. He was defeated. The mission hadn't been perfect, but they'd destroyed the pack. Normally, Will would boast about killing the alpha. Was it because Mason pulled them from other missions? Was it because of Ander?

"How bad is Ander hurt?"

He rubbed the back of his head and pulled out a cell phone. He unlocked it and moved his fingers around before he held the phone out to her. She took the device and noticed he still didn't look her in the eye. When she cast her eyes down, she saw Ander asleep with wires and machines attached to him. His tattoos glowed on his chest and torso. It was hard to see on the small screen, but his shoulder and chest were bandaged.

"His shoulder was fucked, fleabag had its jaws in him. Mason fixed it, some." Will's voice was steady, but quieter than usual.

She peered at the screen and even in black and white, it was obvious that Ander was deathly white.

Will cleared his throat. "It opened his chest up. It was really bad, but the doctor got it back together. Mason messaged earlier. He's not critical anymore, just serious."