Greykin Valley

| 70 | A Few Hours' Rest

Damon pulled the curtains shut and slumped down on the bed with a deep sigh. He then looked at Jackson—who was still standing by the door—and frowned strangely. "What's wrong?" he asked.

He twiddled his fingers together and tried to fight his anxiety, but it was getting harder to breathe, and all he could say was, "I...need to tell you something."

The Alpha sat up. "Tell me what?" He sounded worried.

Jackson exhaled heavily and crossed his arms. "When I went to see Wilson, I...well...something happened."

Damon's frown thickened. "What happened?"

His heart raced so fast that he felt as if it might break free from his chest. He tried to pull the words together, but his fear that Damon was moments from charging out of this room with murder in his eyes urged him to either find the perfect words—words which would keep Damon from losing it—or just lie. No...not lie. Tell him something else. But he wasn't sure that Damon would believe him.

No, he didn't want to avoid it.

"Jackson?"

He tensed up and stared across the room at Damon. "I...well...." He sighed and made his way towards him. He sat beside his mate, and as he looked down at his lap, he let out another deep exhale. "Just promise me that you won't get mad—w-well...you're gonna get mad, so just...please don't go on a rampage."

Damon scoffed confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

Jackson looked at his confounded face. "Wilson...kissed me."

The confusion immediately faded from Damon's face, and a dangerous, infuriated look warped it—

He grabbed Damon's wrist. "Please don't—"

Damon snarled angrily and stood up, but Jackson tugged him back before he could try to head for the door.

"It meant nothing, okay? And I made sure that he knows that."

He pulled his arm free and stormed towards the door. "I'm going to kill that fucking—"

"Damon!" he insisted as he hurried after him and grabbed his arm again.

The Alpha stopped and looked at him with a furious huff.

"He's just...confused or something. We all went through a whole lot of shit when we were in Kane's arena—he thought that we were gonna die. And I guess it just...I don't know! Just please don't hurt him," he pleaded. He didn't know why he was trying to explain why Wilson did what he did because he didn't really understand.

But Damon wasn't convinced. "That piece of shit has been taunting me since day one," he snarled, glaring at Jackson. "And now he thinks that he can touch you?! I have every fucking right to rip his insides out and make him swallow them!"

Jackson grimaced at the thought of it and shook his head. "I'm mad at him too, okay?" he insisted, trying to pull Damon away from the door. "I don't know why he thought it was okay or what would happen, but you can't hurt him. He's still my friend, and—"

"He clearly wants more than that," he growled.

"Well, he's not going to get it," Jackson said firmly. "And I made sure that he gets that. Maybe...maybe it had something to do with all the meds he's on from his surgery or something—maybe he got confused."

Damon scoffed again, but he was calming down—at least Jackson hoped he was.

Jackson exhaled and slowly pulled the Alpha back towards the bed. "Maybe now that I've told him exactly how I feel, he won't be so weird and rude around you," he said as he sat down and pulled Damon with him.