How much can love save?
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Leila is torn between keeping away from her mate and saving her Pack. She believes staying away from him is best for the both of them. But the only way she stands a chance at protecting the people she loves is if she accept...
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~MAX
I could count a few moments in my life where I felt like crap. When my dad died, when Regina died and now this...when Reinah died. I thought about it for days and dreaded it for years. I hadn't believed Edward would keep her alive for long, but he did. Only to kill her right now.
I remembered I was running in the woods in search of Leila when Regina died on me. It had changed my course. Because at that time, I felt helpless...horrible. I wanted to do two things. Get help. And fulfil what she had told me to do. Which all involved Nick. I had laid on this same ground, curled up and broke down into a mess. And after that, nothing mattered anymore. Not even my defiance.
And right now, I felt helpless and tired. Nothing mattered. Until that scent.
"Max." And her small voice.
I didn't have the energy to get up, nor the energy to face her.
"Oh..." Small footsteps rushed to me and her scent engulfed me like a second skin. Warm and comforting. Soothing sparks flew on my skin when her hands touched me. I felt small, so shockingly small. "...I'm so sorry."
I gave a shaky exhale, my naked body still cramped up on itself.
I felt her warmth behind me as she curled up on the ground too and kissed the back of my neck. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't save her in time."
I switched to lay on my back, then my side, to face her. Her face was damp with tears, there were still bruises and cuts on it. I ran my thumb on the split lip and it quivered.
"You couldn't have." I looked into her eyes. "You know you couldn't."
"I wanted to try."
Something in my chest twisted. "Me too."
"I hadn't wanted it to be her. But I also hadn't wanted it to be you. But she...she hadn't wanted it to be me either." She sniffed, "She knew. She somehow knew it was her. When she told Edward only a few hours had remained, part of me knew she wasn't talking about him. And I'm sorry it was her." Tears streamed down the corners of her eyes and my thumbs went to smear them off.
"I'm not sorry she's gone." She opened her eyes, a concerned look in them. "She wouldn't have recovered from all those years of torment. She wouldn't have been back to us fully and the same. Maybe she also knew it too that's why she chose to go. I'm glad she went off with a fight, knowing her family was safe, knowing her sacrifice was worth it. She deserved some peace and maybe it was the only way she knew how.
"She held on long enough and now she let go because she wanted to. If Reinah wanted to die before, she would've. But she waited. Then let go at the right moment. I felt the silver in her. No one could survive that amount but she chose to adapt to it just to hold on. And I'm glad I got to see her one last time. But the only thing I wish was that I could've seen the normal her before she left. Not the broken one. And Edward took that from me. I'm only sorry that she had to suffer in his arms for six years."
