Capturing My Mate *Rated R* (Book #1)

Chapter 56

*unedited*

Fourteen days later

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

I sat at the bedside of my best friend. He woke up from being unconscious, a result of what happened 14 days ago. The unplanned rouge attack that took my mate and landed Max in the hospital.

He was in the hospital for 2 weeks, awake for two days and only today could I get myself to visit him. I had been with the rest of the pack army chasing the trails of the rouges. We had come so close just to lose them at the end. Now a select few remained on their trail while the rest of us began a slow retreat back. I returned since yesterday morning and only today was I summoning up the courage to see him.

We sat in silence.Both of us staring at each other waiting to see who would speak first. We had been doing so for the past ten minutes.Realizing finally that I wouldn't/couldn't speak , he spoke first, "Reid where the hell have you been. You know how pissed I was when the first face I woke up to was fucking Matt." He laughed uneasily. He wasn't quite ready to forgive my absence at his bed side.

The corners of my mouth twitched into a hesitant smile. Even smiling in this moment felt like a betrayal to my mate. "I'm sorry ." My voice was raw and scratchy.

"It's fine. Where is Cara? I can't believe she didn't visit me either.That's so unlike her."

I inhaled deeply and felt as if I were stabbed in the heart repeatedly."I don't know- Max." My voice faltered at the end and I bent over trying not to let emotion get the best of me. Why didn't Matt brief him the day he visited him. It would have saved me the trouble of explaining."They took her Max."

"Wait what?" He sat up. "How did this even happen?"

Me, because of me! I wasn't careful enough, I gambled with her life and lost. I caused this.Why was he asking this? Couldn't he see the answer so plainly on my face.

He was staring into my face but he saw nothing and therefore asked again. I tried to keep my voice light but ended up failing. "Please don't ask me. Let's talk about you. How are you feeling?"

If I talked about my mate I would felt the constricting feeling of needing to cry. I hadn't shed a tear yet, and I wouldn't do so now in front of my best friend. But if he kept talking about her then it would be all over. I couldn't afford to cry over her because if I started, I'm not sure I would be able to stop for days.

I dug my hands into the chair and ground my teeth together. Max continued."Never better. The feeding tube was really bugging me, thank god it's gone now." He was joking, or at least I hoped he was joking.

He smiled, I imitated.

He saw through the forced smile and sent me a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry Reid, but she's really gone?"

"Do you know who did this to you?" I refused to answer him. I wouldn't say her name out loud.

"No man I don't. One minute I was brushing my teeth, and the next I was unconscious. I don't know how they got into the house or how they snuck up on me, but damn they were good."

"So he didn't know much about that afternoon," I thought grimly. Max beckoned me to come to him and when I did he grabbed me. "What are you doing about Cara? Don't shut me out. She's my friend too." His grip was surprisingly strong.

"But she's my mate. She's my mate and I couldn't protect her!" I groaned out in frustration and ripped my arm from his. . I couldn't protect the love of my life, I couldn't save her from the one thing that threatened to tear us apart. How do I explain to Max the searing pain I felt knowing she wasn't in the house, the guilty feeling of relief I felt when I realized it was not her lying nearly dead in the bathroom, but him.