THE HYBRID'S MATE, sterek [book 01] ✔

xxxiii. better left unspoken

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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄

𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘺-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦: 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵
𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘯

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     THE PACK IS WEAKENING due to Stiles' condition. From how things are looking, we have two days at most before Stiles dies before our very eyes. The death of a Pack member cannot be taken lightly. Physically, we will feel a pain like no other. Mentally, it will be a whole lot worse. The feeling of abandonment and emptiness will never fade.

     Cora told us so. She knows better than all of us, and so do Peter and Derek. They lost their Pack - their family - and they are still carrying that burden and the accompanying scars and bleeding wounds. Their family burned to death in a house fire. Cora barely made it out alive, and Peter was lucky to survive as much as he did. True, he went insane in the process, but he is regaining his sanity. They are all regaining their sanity after everything they have been through.

     My Mate slips her arms over my shoulders and rests her head on my shoulder blade. "I feel so weak. What are we supposed to do, Liam?"

     I grasp her hands lightly in mine and drop my head forward in defeat. "I don't know, Hayden. We have to do more than just search for Stiles' other Mate. We have to find him. There's no other option. The Pack's are barely making a difference in his quickly deteriorating health."

     "Everyone is here, Liam," Theo says, making me look over at the Chimera. "Everyone except Jackson, Cora, and Derek. Danny is going to Skype them instead. It's the best we've got."

     "Thanks, Theo. Go make sure Stiles is doing okay, will you? I don't want - or need - him dying on us tonight."

     "Of course. Also, there's something you should know. He told me not to tell you until now. So, I do apologise for hiding this from you, Alpha."

     "What is it?"

     "Stiles told me that he is going to go into a coma tonight. His body is going to almost fully shut down and force him into a coma. After tonight, we have a maximum of two days before he dies. I'm sorry." Theo gives me a sympathetic smile before walking back out into the main room, leaving Hayden and I alone.

     My eyes burn with tears and I can't help as they begin to fall. "Damn it, Stiles. You're just trying to protect us, and yet it is still hurting us. You are truly an idiot."

     'Can't help it, Alpha,' Stiles says cheekily. 'I have to maintain some part of my personality in death.'

     'You are not dying on us, Stiles. That's an order.'

     'I don't think Alpha orders are going to work this time, Liam. I am truly sorry, but there's only one way of stopping this - find him.'

     'We are trying. He is hiding physically, and it is getting harder to track his scent.'

     'Alexander. That's his name. It's all I know about him. You have two days, Liam.'

     'We will do everything that we can.'

     Stiles mentally groans in pain, but it is weaker than ever. 'My body is shutting down. You have to hurry.'

     I free myself from Hayden's hold and walk out into the main room, drawing all eyes to me and making silence descend over the Packs. I nod at Danny and he calls Cora. The screen on the laptop changes and our missing Pack members appear on the screen, Derek all but having a death grip on his sister to stay upright. It is not something I'd wish upon anyone.

     "We have two days after tonight," I announce, watching everyone's reactions carefully as they take in my words. "Stiles' body is shutting down as we speak, and soon, he will be in a coma. We have to find his other Mate by midday in two days time, or we will be too late."

     Isaac looks up at me with a broken expression. "He won't be able to be my best man, will he?"

     "Isaac, there is no certainty he will die, but there is a possibility. A rather large one at that. We will scour Beacon Hills tomorrow and find Stiles' Mate."

     "I wish we could help," Cora says, the regret and sadness evident in her usually calm voice. "We won't be there until next week. We're going to be on the plane on Monday, and we'll be there by Tuesday night at the latest."

• • •

     That Pack meeting was one of the most tense things I have ever had to deal with. Even explaining to Mason what I was - what I am - wasn't as tense or hard as that. It didn't help that Derek had this look on his face. He looked so broken, and it seemed almost unfair that he is feeling that way. It was like he had been through enough, and losing a Mate is something that he shouldn't have to go through.

     Then I remember that he was the one who left Stiles, and all my sympathy for the Alpha disappears. He does deserve something like this for leaving, but nothing this extreme. It is almost inhumane to be witnessing this without having anything to put him out of his misery with. Then again, he does deserve it.

     "You're doing a Stiles," Nick says, looking over at me with an amused expression. "Keep those thoughts inside your head."

     Peter nods in agreement. "Some things are better left unspoken, Alpha, and that is one of them. Although, I must admit that my nephew does deserve a little of this."

     I make a noncommittal noise and don't reply.

     "Liam?"

     "It hurts. So much pain. I can't even imagine what Stiles is feeling."

     "I hate to say it, but-"

     "Then don't say it."

     Peter stares after me with a dumbfounded expression as I walk away, catching up to Aiden and Lydia. She barely glances at me, but I know that Lydia knows what Peter was going to say. We all know that if we can't find his Mate, then there's only one way of relieving Stiles of this pain before it kills him - and that is killing him ourselves. 

     I don't want it to come to that. I don't think any of us would want it to come to that, let alone do it. It is inconceivable, and completely out of the question. Stiles is not going to die by any of our hands - he is going to be saved by us. We are going to find this Mate of his, and they are going to make him better.

     It has to work, because, if it doesn't, we are going to lose the one thing that is holding us all together; a Pack member; a brother; a lover; and a best friend.