Rejection

Chapter 16 - Romeo, oh Romeo...

---Max' POV---

A dizzying knot twisted my stomach as it churned unpleasantly in response to the little bit of breakfast I had managed to eat. It was humiliating to sit here and be waited on, to have mom force to divide her attention between Gavin and I, while I knew my brother needed it more.

After all, he was the one who only recently woke up from his coma. Even with him being a were, there were still a lot of consequences of being immobile for so long.

His muscles had deteriorated quickly due to the loss of practice. Now that he was brought back home, I often heard him complaining of feeling like an old man, only being able to shuffle around the house while holding someone by the arm.

Gavin needed the support, otherwise his legs would crumble underneath him and sent him flailing on his ass. I huffed, shaking my head to myself. My own body was perfectly fine, it was simply my wolf who kept throwing fits.

The reason why made my stomach sour even more and it must've been visible as my mother paled and quickly grabbed the bucket and shoved it under my nose. My stomach heaved up the small bits and pieces of breakfast it was clinging onto, burning my throat painfully in the process.

"Enough already, I get your point!" I growled weakly to my wolf, who only snarled viciously and dug his claws in my mind. My head pulsed with the beginnings of a migraine as my stomach heaved once more, shame filling my body as my mother rubbed over my neck and shoulders in an attempt to soothe me.

"I. want. MY. MATE!" The wolf roared in anger as he attempted to take over, getting my body stuck mid-shift. Agony pulsed through me as the usually instantaneous shift now was stretched out. I could feel bones elongating, muscles stretching and snapping only to reattach to their new spot and do it all over again when my wolf forced me to shift back.

"Max..." Mother choked, dabbing at my sweat slicked brow as she eased me further up the bed. I panted harshly, disgusted with the fact that whatever I was going through paled in comparison to what Kyle had experienced.

I shivered again before slowly pushing my mother away. Shame and pain filled my being as I laid down, facing the wall. Movement sounded behind me before the tv was switched on and then I was left alone.

A sigh escaped me as tears wet my cheeks. I am such a fool.

Here I was, lying in bed sick and tired because of my own doing. And all I could do was wallow in self-pity. Even Gavin was working on getting better and he was coming from the brink of death. The door opened behind me before I heard a slight scoff.

"Really? You're just going to lay there and act all miserable? You think life is going to turn around because you act like a pup who's tail got stuck between the door?" Gavin grumbled, making me turn around in the bed with some effort.

I frowned at my sibling as he stood in the doorway with a cane, eyes squinted in slight pain. "You shouldn't be standing on your own Gavin." I mumbled, making him snort and take a limping step forwards, leaning heavily on his cane.

"And you shouldn't be acting like a pussy, but here we are." I rolled my eyes with a growl at his childish remark before pushing out of bed. Gavin walked slowly, snatching the remote and tossing it towards me before he dropped heavily on the space I made for him.

"Fucking hell, I feel like an old man." He grumbled as he manually lifted his legs, a true sign that he was feeling too weak to actually lift them himself. I shot a glance at the bared flesh under his shorts, swallowing at the unusually thin legs which were basically just drooping skin and bone, a vague reminder of how muscular it had once been.