Everyone's Mate (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 23

I sat, curled up in a corner. It had been a weak since being here, and already I was feeling the absence of Alex dearly. Being this far away from him, and being the submissive in the bond didn't help me any. In fact, it made everything worse. It had been too long, far too long for a freshly minted bond, and now I could barely walk.

I felt the coolness of the wall against my feverish back, felt the sweat forming on my face, felt the chill down my spine and miserably whimpered. It was all happening again. Like a rerun of an old movie played too much, or a reoccurring nightmare, this just wouldn't stop. I didn't even have time to consider offing myself before the door burst open, a furious Eric storming through.

"I can't believe this," He hissed, a hand fisted at his side as he slammed the door shut. What he thought that door would protect us from, I would never know. "They can't just...Keep you here, like this!"

I looked at him with a small smile. He had been fighting tooth and nail to get me out of this place, standing up to the Alpha himself although it did him no good.

Furious charcoal eyes turned to me wildly, before he noticed my position and visibly calmed. "Is it that bad?" He asked tentatively, coming closer to kneel before me.

"It feels like my soul is splitting," I grit my teeth against another shiver, eyelids heavy. I swallowed hard and held the angry red wound on my hip before continuing. "Gabriel had to have known this would happen. I think he's punishing me."

"Gabriel knew. He knew, but he also knew he had to get you out of there." Eric ground out. "It's just not fair. And you won't let me help you."

I snorted, grimacing through the pain. "Like I would ever let you do that."

"It would stop it," He looked desperate. "It would take your pain away."

"It would make a shit ton of problems that we don't need here right now, Eric."

His jaw clenched. "Look around, Aaron. Everything is a problem. What I'm offering here is to take one more off of you. You and Alex both."

"And what? Suffer you to the same pain that I've put Alex through? No thanks," I grabbed the wall and the bedside, hoisting myself up. With the fever went what little strength I had left, and so standing wasn't pleasant. Eric quickly went to help me, arm wrapping around my waist. I thankfully leant into him, allowing him to walk me to the other side of the bed, sitting me down on it.

"You stubborn fool," He ground out, glaring at me.

I replied breathlessly, "You idiot wolf."

"If I don't do it, someone here will. You know it. Wouldn't you rather it be me than Riordan? You don't even know him."

"You and I both know that allowing anyone to replace this fucking mark will send Alex here, an enraged and uncontrollable werewolf, ready to fight anyone and everyone. I don't think I can stop him this time. I'm too weak. You saw Gabriel before we left, yes? The old mark behind this one was once his. Even he could barely control the urge to rip his own son's throat out for breaking it. Alex has far less control and I would hate to see what would happen to him."

"You're protecting him," Eric realized, his face going blank. "You know Alex would die and you're willing to suffer this pain for him."

"The pain of a newly created mark being stretched this far is immeasurable, but at the very least I can handle it. I've had to do it once before. It's why I never strayed too far from the Renzi territory. It hurt too much."