You could barely keep your eyes open. Just like you could barely force your chest to move up and down. Just like you could barely order your heart to keep on beating.
"No!" Theo kneeled down next to you. His golden eyes widened and for the first time he seemed afraid, maybe even terrified. "Don't you dare die on me!" He shook his head and carefully he lifted you up so he could place your head in his lep. "You can't die on me! I need you!" His voice was barely a whisper, but you curled your lips up into a smile. Theo Raeken, the boy who had come to Beacon Hills to kill Scott and steal his pack seemed to be more human than monster after all.
"It's okay, Theo." You couldn't nodd and with every word that escaped your lips it felt like a small part of you was dying already. "It's okay."
"No, it's not!" He shook his head again and he tightened his grip on your body. "I can't live without you. Without you I'm a monster. Without you I do horrible things." He still spoke softly.
"We all do horrible things sometimes, Theo." You took another deep breath, groaning softly because of one of the many wounds covering your entire body. "That doesn't make you a monster."
Theo stroke your hair and salted tears rolled down his cheeks while he swallowed a few times. "You weren't a monster and you never did anything horrible." He was wrong. He just didn't know it.
You had done many horrible things in your life. You had stolen. You had lied and you had even killed. And you regretted it all. "I have to tell you something, Theo..." Maybe you should have told him sooner how you had become the Alpha of your pack. Maybe you should have said him sooner that you had not always been the nice perfect angel he had thought you were.
"You're not going to tell your entire life story now because you think you're going to die, are you?" Theo swallowed. "You're not going to die. You will heal. You will get through this. Everything will get better again. You will get better again."
You didn't know if he was trying to convince you or himself. "No..." You knew that your body wasn't healing. You knew that you wouldn't get through this. You knew that you wouldn't get better again. "I want you to know this..." You didn't have much breath left. "I've killed to become an Alpha, Theo." You spoke the words slowly, to make sure they would sink in. "And I regret doing it." You paused for a moment. "I just..." Your heart was slowing down. "I didn't want you to make the same mistake." You closed your eyes and the world around you faded.
"I won't..." Theo's voice sounded far away, too far away, but you gathered your strength to open your eyes once more.
"I wouldn't want to die in anyone else's arms. I'm proud of you, Theo." You wanted to lift your arm up, but you just couldn't. Just like you couldn't keep your eyes open any longer. Just like you couldn't fight the darkness screaming for your attention.
"Good, because you don't get to pick and choose, you're stuck with me." Theo almost choked on his own tears and his lips kissed your forehead. "I won't let you down. I won't disappoint you. I'll make sure that wherever you go, you won't have any reason to not be proud of me."