The Werewolf's Mate (Book 1) (REWRITING)

Aftermath

This is the long over due chapter...

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Jace's POV-

The smell of morphine and the soft beeping of a monitor was the first thing my senses focused on. Cracking my eyes open, the bright fluorescent light in the room shot my eyes making me squint from the minor pain it caused. I moved to shield my eyes with my arm but noticed that there were tubes and needles stuck to my arm and the slightest movement caused me pain.

Grimacing, I looked over to my side to find Sky sitting at the bedside on a chair. He was dressed in his usual attire consisting of a gray suit jacket, a black t-shirt and no doubt, jeans. Even though he led my hand and was looking at me, he seemed to be in a daze.

"How long was out?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Two days." He answered and my eyes nearly bulged out of my sockets. Shit! My parents must be so worried. First I go missing for good know how many days and now I'm in the hospital with tubes running from machines hooked up to me.

My face hurt as well as the rest of me but I was glad to be out of that hell hole where I'd been kept. They barely fed me anything; just scraps of dry dread and pieces of chicken. The water they gave me wasn't even fresh and tasted like someone pissed in it. Given how badly they treated me, I wouldn't be surprised if that fucker had someone pee in my water.

They beat me incessantly until I blacked out. Sometimes, they would revive me just to be beat me into oblivion again. At first, I thought I'd been kidnapped by someone else but when I saw Jessop, then it all started making sense. He wanted Sky to find me because he wanted him watch while Jessop killed me.

I was just glad Sky got to me before that could happen. I remember him being there, briefly. I remember hearing his voice as he swore at them for hurting me.

My eyes trailed to Sky's face again. He had a cut on his left brow but other than that, he seemed fine...physically anyway. He still seemed dazed. At first I thought he was dazed because he was worried about me but I was awake.

"Sky...?" I called and he looked to be again. "Are you alright?" I asked and he just gave me small smile. It was a sad one though.

"Yeah. Why don't you get some more rest? You're still weak." He said kissing the back of my hand. I frowned as he resumed that dazed look while staring out the window of the room and his hand tightly held onto mine.

Just then, the door opened and in walked my father. He came up to the bed and placed his hand on Sky's shoulder. "Hey, you should go home. You've been here all night. I'll stay with him." my father said giving Sky a sympathetic look.

Sky nodded before rising from his seat. Leaning over the bed, he pressed his lips to my forehead for a second or two before pulling away. "I'll be back a little later." He said before nodding at my father and leaving the room altogether. I watched through the window, as Sky wiped his face and disappeared from sight.

There was something wrong with him, not to mention my father's actions toward him.

"Dad, is everything alright with Sky?" I asked hoping he would give me something. He just gave me a smile similar to what Sky did.

"When Sky is ready, he'll tell you. You need to get some rest." I rolled my eyes in annoyance at being completely in the dark but said nothing as my father injected another dose of morphine into the tube.

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Sky's POV-

The rain poured heavily as we stood in the cemetery gathered around the coffin in which my father lay. This would be his final resting place.

I found it so funny how nature reflected my mourning. Dressed in all black, with umbrellas to shield us from the rain, the atmosphere around us seemed all the more depressing. I hadn't said a word all day. How could I? I left him. I knew he wouldn't be strong enough to defend himself when injected with wolf's bane...and yet I left him.

Tears trickled down my face as the minister ended his speech and called upon me to say a few words. Wiping my face to clear away some of the tears, I stepped forward after looking over to Isaiah who gave me a slight nod of his head as if reassuring me it would be fine.

But it wasn't. Nothing was.

My father is dead. Jace is in the hospital and Jessop is nowhere to be found. Ezra has been searching relentlessly and today was the first time since the incident that I saw him. They'd been searching endlessly for Jessop even losing sleep over it but so far, they'd found nothing.

Not to mention, Isaiah had some of the men from the pack guarding Jace at the hospital in my absence. Ezra had volunteered to have to some his men keep tabs on Jace's mother while my own pack mates kept tabs on Jace and his father at the hospital. This was to ensure that Jace and his family were kept safe and should he ever strike again, they'd be able to catch him before he could do anymore damage.

Looking down to the coffin in which my father lay, the top of it was covered in flowers and whatever little mementos that was put there by pack mates, family and friends. As I looked at the colourful display that decorated his coffin, my eyes landed on the framed photo I'd put there earlier. It was a picture of three us, me, him and my mother.

It was my fifth birthday. In the background, you could see the party balloons hanging from the ceiling and the big banner they had made that year which read 'Happy 5th Birthday, Sky.' In the foreground, there was the three of us with me in the middle, my mother on my left and my father on my right. The three of us were smiling and me even wider with my guilt after having eaten piece of the cake before it was time. My face was smeared with white and blue icing and the party hat crooked on my head.

Covering my mouth, I choked back a sob as the full weight of my loss slammed into me. We were happy. We were a family. And they would still be here if it wasn't for Jessop.

"I can't do this right now." I said before turning and moving back as the tears fell again. I missed them so much. How was it possible for one heart to hurt so much and not render the person dead? Isaiah patted my shoulder before walking forward and saying a few words of his own.

I didn't listen to anything he had to say mostly because it would just remind me of what I no longer had. But also, I was mad as hell. This wasn't the end. I knew that. Jessop would return and when he did, he'd come after Jace. He wanted me to feel the pain he felt at losing everything he treasured. The way to do that was ripping away from me everything I loved. He started with my mother twelve years ago. Then he came after my father. Now, there was only person left he had to take away from me.

However, I wouldn't let him get that chance. My father sacrificed himself so that I would never know the pain of losing my mate. He sacrificed himself to give me the life he never had...one with a whole family. I promised him I would mate with Jace and that is what I was going to.

In a few days, Jace would be discharged and then I'd put my mark on him. I'll make him mine for good and I'll kill anyone who tries to take him away.

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Two days later...

"Anything?" I asked as Ezra walked into conference hall of the community building. The Lativa alpha shook his head as he came to sit next to Dale. Propping his feet up on the table, he rolled his eyes ignoring the glare he received from Dale. As he so nice put it, he liked annoying the hell out of Dale.

"I'm at my last resort. I didn't think he would actually do it but given everything that's happened, it's the only place he has left to go." Ezra said. Dale turned to at him.

"Which is?" he asked while I sat in my silently fuming. To say I was ticking time bomb would be more than accurate. I'm not sure how long I could take living like this. The bastard needed to pay for all that he's done to me...for what he did to my family and for what he did to Jace.

"The woods. Going into wolf form will make it slightly harder to find him."

"Slightly harder." I said snorting in derision. "It's been five fucking days!"

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I'll screw up my sleeping schedule for you guys...again. You deserve another chapter.