Shattering the Alpha (Book #1)

Tolerance

*NOT EDITED*

One month later...

"Calista," I heard someone softly say my name, waking me up from my nap. I felt the strain in my neck and back as I woke up from the uncomfortable position I was sleeping in, but willed myself to sit upright.

"Yeah?" I reply groggily as I stare at Mason's worried face.

"Why don't you try to sleep in your bed tonight? It might be better for you. You've been napping in this hunched over position on his hospital bed since Axel was admitted, and you're barely letting your body get any rest."

"It's okay, I want to stay, so that I'm here for Axel when he wakes up," I explained.

"Calista, it's been a month, and he barely seems to be getting better. There is a big chance that he won't wake up. You need to understand that. He wouldn't want you wasting your days in his hospital room," Mason counters.

"He is going to wake up, Mase. I can feel it. He's my mate, I would know if he wasn't going to make it. And I am not wasting my days. I have been performing all of Axel's duties and making sure that everything in the pack is running smoothly like it should. Why is everyone mourning him, when he isn't even dead yet?"

"Calista, you're hurt, and I don't know what you are going through because I haven't lost my mate. But, he is my best friend, who I spent every waking moment of my life with. Trust me that my heart is broken, but he wouldn't want us to just be sitting around just waiting for him to wake up. I know you have been doing a wonderful job with the pack, but you haven't been taking care of yourself at all. You have lost so much weight, you barely sleep, and you have all the added stress of running the pack. If Axel wakes up and sees how much you are hurting yourself because of him, it would knock him back into his coma again," Mason released a half-hearted chuckle.

"I just feel that if I left and something happened, then I am not there for him when he needs me most," I say as caress the smooth skin of his face that I shaved yesterday. 

"I'll stay with him for now, if you want to leave and take a shower and rest for a little bit. I will mind-link you if anything happens. I promise."

"I'll leave in a little bit. I just want to stay here for a little while longer," I conclude with a smile, letting him know that his efforts were appreciated, but I am not ready to walk out of this hospital room just yet.

"Did you finish the speech for the remaining Councilmen's executions tomorrow?" he asks me.

"Yeah, I did. It's done, but I don't know why we even need to do this," I say.

"Well, we need to address the pack as a whole when we kill a bunch of traitors. It sends a stronger message that we will not be messed with. And honestly, we need to make sure everyone understands what happened. It doesn't do us any good if there are rumors or if people get confused about why a well-respected Council member in some pack communities is being executed."

"We should have listened to Jace and killed them all way before now," I say.

"Are you okay with having to carry the weight of killing him on your conscience your whole life?"

"It's not a weight I'm carrying. It's a badge of honor. That man hurt my mate, and I avenged him."

"But, if you need to talk to someone, there is no shame in doing that. The first time I killed a rogue, I had an anxiety attack. So, I understand that it is very difficult."

"Are we letting them have funerals?"

"Well when Jace killed Darren, they let his family have a funeral. But, that was a different circumstance. Their families are still members of the pack, who will want to mourn. This will be a decision an Alpha would make. So, it's up to you."