Free Me From the Wolves

[7] Sorry Not Sorry

I had made it to the mansion before Zander did. I waited in Ryder's room after using the set of keys he hadn't picked up that belonged to his Porsche, but as soon as I saw the lights shine against the window from the red truck that I had never seen anyone drive, I got up and went downstairs. Zander nearly kicked open the door and struggled to keep his staggering brother in his grasp.

"Get off of me!" Ryder yelled in a slurred speech. "I don't need you!"

"I'm trying to help you!" Zander nearly growled while constantly trying to keep a hold on Ryder. Eventually the two of them fell to the ground in the foyer. Then, Ryder tried to wrestle with him but was quickly pushed back and his head lay flat on the floor in embarrassment or drunken fatigue. But then he started laughing hysterically. Zander and I shared a look, but then he grabbed Ryder's hand to pull him up while I supported his back. Ryder glanced at me and then looked at Zander.

"Why is she here?" he asked in an intoxicated rage. "I don't want her here. I don't want her to know about me!"

"Well she's your mate, so whatever it is will get to her eventually," Zander reminded and Ryder spun around to me.

"Mates don't do what you do to me," he garbled unintelligently, swaying slightly. "You don't even know how pathetic it is for me, but that's fake as hell for you to treat me like that and I don't want it. Not again, okay? Promise me."

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it was hurting my heart. I hadn't ever seen Ryder wasted, but I knew the time had to come. I just wish I knew how to handle it. But instead of calling Stella, I trusted my instincts.

"How about I promise you upstairs?" I asked him and though his eyes were on me, he looked far into the distance as if he heard nothing. "I can bring you water and I'll promise you in your room so you don't wake up your mom."

That's not all you need to bring to the bedroom, babe, he tried to joke through thought while winking at me and that's when I officially blocked our telepathy because it was painfully loud and it needed to be done before he'd think a mistake. Zander put a hand on his shoulder to usher him towards the stairs and to his room while I had grown to glare at Ryder. He stumbled over the first few steps, but with Zander's help, he continued to ascend and instead of returning Zander's words of encouragement with gratitude, Ryder repeated "I hate you" at him. The only thing more heartbreaking to hear was Zander's constant reply of "I know, brother; I know" before pulling Ryder up from his falling.

I watched them reach the top floor before I went to the kitchen and poured a glass of water. I opened several cabinets to find Tylenol, but then Zander had walked into the bathroom across the small hall to reveal the bottle. He handed it to me and gave a weak leer.

"I'm sorry you had to come over," he muttered. "He just kept asking where you were when I got to the party and then in the car he was mad at himself for something and said he needed to talk to you."

"It's fine," I told him.

"It's not," his eyes flashed up to mine. "If you're not comfortable going up there then I can—"

"He's my mate," I reminded confidently. "I think I'll be fine once he is."

I knew he didn't believe me because he wasn't exposed to how our bond dictated our gravitation and comprehension of each other. But when he walked me upstairs and entered the room across from Ryder's—the one I had once thought was for a guest—he sent me another good luck nod before.

When I entered the room, Ryder's shirt was off and he was pacing. When I shut the door, he approached me in the recognizable way he did when he would crush his lips onto mine, but I held out the water and two pills for him to take instead. He looked at them in confusion at first, but took them anyways. However, he only transported them to his desk.