Jayden (POV):
All night my mind was terrorized by nightmares, causing me to wake up trembling. Aurora's words echoed inside my head as I tossed and turned between the two women who were snuggled up against me. At one point I had woken up drenched in sweat, Aurora had spent an hour trying to calm me down enough that I could fall back asleep. Luckily I managed not to disturb either Violet or Jasmine. The anger and hurt that filled me felt as though it was suffocating me even with my mates surrounding me. I knew sooner or later I was going to have to let go of the anger I was feeling towards them and the situation. The pain however was all encompassing and the more I tried to pull myself out of the darkness the more I felt like I was falling.
My fingertips mindlessly drifted up and down the length of Aurora's arm. Her muscular arm was wrapped tightly around my midsection trapping me against the mattress. Thoughts of my mum bounced around in my mind and I could feel the rage starting to burn just beneath my skin. The feeling of Aurora's arm holding me against the mattress began to feel suffocating as my mind spun endlessly. I knew if I didn't get out of the bed soon I was bound to spiral into a panic attack. Slowly I slid out from beneath Aurora's arm, careful not to disturb Violet or Jasmine. When my feet hit the cool wooden floorboards I could feel the tension in my chest start to loosen.
I looked over my shoulder taking in the sight of the three women peacefully sleeping. Aurora had moved over to the spot I had been laying in. Her arm now draped across both Jasmine and Violet. A small smile tugged at my lips as I took in the scene. As much as I wanted to forgive them and forget about everything that was brought to light I just couldn't. I needed time to think, to decompress. So without a second thought I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and made my way out of the room.
The house was dead silent as I walked up the staircase that led to the main floor of the house. When I got to the top of the stairs I opened the door quietly. I wasn't sure just how sound proof each of the rooms were which meant I had absolutely no idea if anyone in the house was awake. When I poked my head through the door I was happy to see that no one seemed to be awake yet. I quickly made my way towards the sliding doors that led out to the backyard. When I stepped into the cool morning air I could feel the tension start to leave my body. Something about being outside always seemed to calm me. I figured it was the wolf side of me that craved the outdoors.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, my face tilted towards the sky letting the warm morning rays caress my skin. As I stood there enjoying the peace of the morning I felt my phone gently buzz in my hand. The sudden vibrations made me jump slightly before I looked down to see who was contacting me this early in the morning. When my lock screen jumped to life I saw that I had a text message from a number I didn't recognize.
Unknown 11:30pm: Hi Jayden sorry for bothering you but Violet forgot her phone here and I've been trying to get a hold of her. I was hoping you could get her to call me at some point. Anyway I hope you are having a good time and I'll see you when you return home.
Unknown 11:31pm: This is Alice by the way.
I stared down at Alice's text message, it was sweet how protective Alice was over Violet. My thumbs hovered over my phone screen as I thought about what to say. I knew I could just type back a simple okay but for some reason that didn't feel like the right thing to say. As I thought about what to type, a quiet voice broke the silence.
"Jayden?" The voice called out. I spun around to see where the voice was coming from. To my surprise no one was there. "Jayden?" The voice called out again. That's when I realized I must have hit the call button because the voice that I had been hearing was coming out of my phone.
"Uh Alice?" I said hesitantly.
"Did you need something?" Alice chuckled.
"Sorry I was just going to respond to your messages. I didn't mean to click the call button."
