Book 1: Chapter 64

*** Silas POV *** 



I stared down at my desk, not reading the words on the page in front of me. Turning around, I looked out the window of my office. There was so much going on right now, it was hard to concentrate.

*‘You should call Aelia. See if you can talk to her.’*

I sighed. *‘Noah and Finn won’t let her. They blame me for her getting that bad. Which, partially, was my fault. I should have just taken her home knowing she used her power.’*

Eros quieted and I rubbed my face. It had been four days and still she wasn’t doing well. While Noah was beyond angry with me, Finn at least would text me with updates of her condition. Neither of them allowed me to speak to her but at least I had something.

Then there was Nate. He had holed himself in his room this entire time. I had Meredith refuse to give him food unless he came out. He stopped eating all together. I tried to coax him out of the room with some of his favorite things but he refused. Nate wouldn’t talk to anyone, look at anyone. It was getting bad and really I needed Aelia’s advice of what to do. I was at the end of my rope with him. I had heard he had seen her recently but when he came back, he started to hole himself up.

Sam also seemed a little more jumpy lately. I knew he hadn’t seen Charles and it was almost torture that I knew he was mated to my best friend now but we ended up getting too busy for a meet up. Plus, Charles had to go out to meet his parents for the weekend and then started working overtime immediately. Which meant the meeting with his parents didn’t go well but he didn’t go into it over the phone.

There was a light knock on my door.

“Come in.”

The door opened and Sam popped his head in. I flashed him a smile and looked at the paperwork in front of me.

“Sorry, I’ve been pretty distracted today. I’ll have everything done in the next couple hours.”

He chuckled. “Appreciated but not what I’m here for. Tomorrow, Solaris, Noah and Finn are going to pick you and Nate up. They are headed down to see some family and they are requiring your presence. So I’ll take over for a couple days.”

My brow furrowed. “Is Aelia okay?”

Sam shrugged. “In her words it was ‘I’m as good as I’m gonna get at this point’. But that’s something I guess.”

I smiled and nodded. “Sounds good. I don’t know how we are going to get Nate out of that room.”

Sam shrugged. “That’s a tomorrow problem I think.”

Laughing, shook my head. “I’ll get this paperwork done for you today.”

He nodded and headed out of the room. Suddenly, I was far motivated to work. Being able to take a break sounded good and I think we all needed it. It meant Sam was cooped up but when we came back I would take him out. He deserved it.

-

I leaned back from the kitchen counter, looking at the door. Sam was walking in with Noah, Finn and Aelia. Looking her over first, she looked tired. There was a slump and a slight limp but she still had a smile on her face. That was enough for me. Getting up, I shook Noah and Finn’s hand.

Noah pointed at me. “I’m still not happy with you but Sol said she would kick my ass if I continued to be mad. So, here is me not being mad.”

Chuckling, I nodded. “I appreciate it. I deserved it but thank you.”

He smiled and Aelia reached up, hugging me. “Sorry to worry you, Sil.”

“Just don’t do it again.”

She gave me one of her sad smiles. Looking around, she furrowed her brow. “Where is Nate?”

Sam sighed. “We haven’t been able to get him out of his room. We tried with food but he just stopped eating. We tried his favorite things but he just won’t budge.”

She growled. “Alright. Enough is enough.” Turning, she headed the stairs. I pushed past Finn but Noah was already at her heels.

“Aelia, don’t. Just forget it.” I called to her but she looked like she was on a war path.

Placing her hand on the wall, she kicked open Nate’s door with her robotic leg. It flew across the room and slammed into the windows on far side of the wall. The room was dark but a wide-eyed and stunned Nate was looking at us from his bed. Solaris reached in and turned on the lights. He closed his eyes and shied away from them.

“Noah, Silas, get him in the fucking shower. Now. I want him cleaned and dressed in ten minutes.”

Both Noah and I entered the room and Nate started to run. However, there wasn’t anywhere to go. While he avoided us as much as possible, I saw his reaction to Aelia. It was like he was an opposite end of a magnet.

“Come on, Nate. It’s going to be a lot easier if you don’t fight it.” I told him as Noah and I both took an arm.

We dragged him into his bathroom and Noah turned on the water. He waited until it was warm before we threw him in, clothes and all. I stepped up and nodded to Noah. Going up to him, I started to strip Nate down.

“Come on, Nate. I need you to come back to me. I need my best friend and my Beta.”

He started to shake his head as I helped scrub him down. Nate finally turned to me and snarled but I grabbed his head, forcing it back around. “Don’t fucking snap at me, Nate. You’ve been in this room with the lights off for days. You’ve missed precious time with Aelia and the fact that she was hurting. It’s time you step out. We, as in you, me, Aelia, Finn, and Noah are headed out for a couple days.”

“I don’t…”

“I don’t give a shit what you want, Nate. You’re coming. That’s it.”

He growled but I slapped him upside the head. I finished rinsing him when Noah came in with fresh clothes and a towel. Pulling Nate out, I handed him a towel and he dried himself off. I gave him clothes one by one until he finally was fully dressed save for his shoes which were at the front door.

“There, now we can go.” I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bathroom.

Aelia was leaning against the far wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She followed us down the stairs and I let him go for a second as I went to grab our shoes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nate start to bolt and as I reached out to stop him, Nate froze. I looked at him confused before looking at Aelia who was smirking. She had taken hold and laced her fingers in Nate’s right hand. He was staring at where there hands were touching.

“We headed out? We are going to have to stop for dinner if we take any longer.”

Aelia growled. “We aren’t stopping for dinner, Finn. You can keep your cravings at bay after lunch.”

He whined. “Sol, I’m eating for two now!”

Noah chuckled. “No, you eat for a family of five, Finn. Don’t sell yourself short.”

I laughed and shook my head. At first, I thought it might be awkward with all of us but now this kind of seemed like it was going to be fun. Despite Nate’s current mental health. We all piled into Noah’s Jeep. Noah drove with Finn in the passenger seat. He was the biggest and need the most leg room. Not to mention he was really starting to show and needed more room there too. I was in back with Nate and Aelia was squeezed between us.

She didn’t let Nate’s hand go and now his head was resting on her shoulder as we pulled out. We all chatted until pulling over for lunch after Finn asked at least fifty times when we were going to stop for food. It was a quick lunch but I thought Noah was joking when he said Finn was eating for a family of five. If anything, Noah was downplaying it. Finn ate more than all the rest of us combined and then some.

As we exited the restaurant, Nate pulled back on Aelia’s hand. It seemed like he finally couldn’t hold it in.

“Aelia?”

She smiled. “Sometimes. Especially where we are going.”

I raised an eyebrow but Noah just smiled as he walked past us. He put his hand on the lower back of Finn and lead him back to the Jeep.

“The other day…when we…you know…I just wanted you to know…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let it go that far.”

I looked confused between the two of them but apparently something had happened lately that I hadn’t been privy to.

Aelia took his face in her hands and she kissed his forehead. “Don’t worry about it now, Nate. You don’t have to beat yourself up like this. I told you I would always protect you. No matter what.”

“But I made you worse…”

She shook her head. “I did that all on my own. It wasn’t you. You didn’t make it worse.”

“You’re leaving me…us…soon though…..aren’t you? Everything is coming to an end…”

There was a sad smile on her face and she squeezed his hand. “Yes. I have to go soon. But I promise you, I’m going to be leaving you in good hands. You’re going to be taken care of, Nate, and by someone far better than I could ever be. Do you understand?”

“No…no I don’t…Aelia…”

“Nate, you have a second chance mate and I want you to fall hard and fall deep. I want you to love them more than you have ever loved me. I want to spend these next couple days with you and my family. I want to laugh and enjoy being by your side. But after this weekend, you need to let me go.” Aelia looked up at me. “You too. The both of you need to start to let me go.”

My throat caught and suddenly it became hard to breath. I just got my sister back and I didn’t want her to leave. Not yet. Reaching out, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders. As I kissed her head, my lips shook but I refused to cry.

“That’s going to be a little hard but we will try.” I smiled at her and she smiled brightly back. Mine was so forced it hurt my stomach.

Nate was shaking, both his body and his head. “You’re here. I’ve spent time with you. We can do something. Make this right. You and me, you always knew it was supposed to me Aelia. We were a team.”

She pulled him into a tight hug. “Nate, I always knew you were meant for someone else. Ever since I met you. You were my mate but I wasn’t yours. You made me the happiest wolf when we were kids. But now…now our time is over and it’s time for you real love adventure to being. I promised you didn’t I? I would always be here.” Aelia pressed her hand against his chest right over his heart.

“A…” He sniffled. “…what if I can’t let you go?”

“You have to silly. It’s what I was meant for. To make sure you were ready for each other. I know your mate. They are going to take care of you and be wonderful. Don’t worry. For now though…now we get to enjoy the weekend with our family.”