Chapter 32

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*Corey*

Bang.

Bang.

Was that coming from my head? The noise hurt. Oh God no. Another hangover?! I could not even remember drinking!

Bang.

I groaned, clutching my head. Why was it making that sound?! How could I make it stop?

"Are you two doing some shit that we can't know about in there?! Because the rest of us still have to use those beds and Jay's underage!"

My eyes shot open when I heard Trent's shout. It was followed by laughter. What the hell?

I tried to get up to see what he was yelling about but a light weight on my chest made me pause.

I looked down and was surprised to see Jayden's leg on top of me. How...? Oh, right. We had sat there without saying a word to each other until he fell asleep. Then I laid him down and sat beside him, eventually falling asleep as well.

I should have moved to the top bunk; he wouldn't have wanted me near him.

The thought made me inhale as a sharp ache returned to my chest.

Realising the noise was still ongoing, I gently pushed his leg to the side before getting off the bed. I then stumbled over to the door to unlock it while ruffling my hair to fix it. The door was pulled open before I could reach for the handle.

"What the hell took you so long and where is Jayden?" Kaden frowned up at me.

"Sleeping, so you all should shut the hell up," I replied, hopping out of the trailer into the sunlight.

It made my eyes burn for a second before they adjusted to the change.

"'Sleeping' huh?" Trent smirked.

I stared at him confused.

"What?" I asked, acting like I didn't know what he was hinting towards.

I was happy to play along with his teasing because I felt like shit after that ride. He rolled his eyes.

"Forget it."

I smiled at the fact that he thought it would be too much work to explain.

"We're at a station. We were wondering if you guys wanted food or something. Do you?"

"Yeah, I want some stuff, but I can't just leave him here," I said.

"I'll stay, I want to take a nap. I'll eat later," Izabella said.

"You sure? I can stay," Kaden's voice drew my attention.

"You stay, Izzy."

She seemed confused as I turned to Jayden's best friend.

"I need to talk to you. We'll catch up, someone stay with Jay."

I grabbed Kaden's arm and dragged him off before anyone could add anything. He stumbled along, confused while glancing back at the others.

"What are you –? Let me go –"

The gas station was huge. There were a few restaurants and a lot of travellers and families around us, so I figured our voices would get lost in the many sounds surrounding us and prevent our friends from questioning what I was about to ask Kaden. I knew no one would hone in on us to hear exactly what was being said.

I let him go when I figured we were far enough, and he frowned at me.

"You could have just asked me to follow, jeez. Talk to me?" He furrowed his brows as we stopped walking. "About what?"

"Has Jayden ever acted... weird in his sleep?" I asked, glancing towards the car. Izabella had gone inside and everyone else seemed to have headed to the shops.

"Seriously? That's why you dragged..." I gave Kaden a flat stare and he shook his head. "You mean sleepwalking? No. He doesn't. I mean, he mumbled in his sleep when we were in first grade, but his mom said that was because of the 'trauma' of starting school," Kaden chuckled. "Jayden was a wimp back then and –" he continued babbling.

"No, Kaden. Focus." I lifted my hands to his shoulder, and he immediately swatted them away. "I mean, when we were in the trailer, he fell asleep and then he began... fighting... in his sleep." I swallowed, remembering the moment. "He looked terrified, but he was still sleeping and just-just completely freaking out."

Kaden's face morphing into concern caused my brows to raise. It had happened before.

"Again? I thought he got over that phase..." Kaden mumbled. "He used to have nightmares. He never told us what it was about, but it wore him out badly. He never really slept. Joe actually had to take him to hospital for exhaustion when we were twelve... He just fainted in class one day. Come to think of it, it must have been his father."

"Probably," I said, balling my fists.

"Yeah. If he has started again, we have to do something about it. He usually isolates himself when he's having a hard time, though. He doesn't like it when people notice that he needs help," he said. "I think we should call Joe."

"Yeah, I do too." I pulled out my phone and dialled their Alpha's number. "Will you check if he'll tell you what it was about, though?" I asked.

"I doubt he will, but I'll try."

I thanked him and he left as Joe picked up.

"Corey? It's about time you called," he didn't sound happy.

"Sorry, Joe. I forgot and I think everyone else did too... Oh, we might have used some money we got from the Inferno savings to buy a trailer," I said.

Trent had the card because he was one of their young Deltas. I would have paid for it, but there was a limit on my card, so I agreed to pay him back once we got home.

"What? Why?! That is for emergencies," he said.

"Well, we found a new wolf and then with Adan and –" I was saying.

"Adan?" he cut me off. "Ian's son... Adan?"

"Oh... Uh... We might have made Bianca – the witch we came to see – bring him back from the dead... as well as Rita," I mumbled, assuming he was going to lash out about our 'meddling with the natural order' of things.

No one in Galaxy was even allowed to attempt to use their magic to bring anything back from the dead, it was much too dangerous for any person doing the spell because of how much power and control it required. Additionally, the spell caused immense strain between life and the afterlife. It would have resulted in a lot of problems if Bianca was not as ridiculously strong as she was.

"Are you serious?" he mumbled in utter disbelief.

"Yeah," I said.

"But you're only ever entitled to one wish that big."

I looked at the trailer, feeling relieved and then guilty. I was comforted by the fact that we could not make another wish that had that amount of weight. The feeling made me disgusted because if it was what Jayden wanted, he should have been able to wish for another mate.

"You couldn't have asked for new mates as well," Joe said thoughtfully.

"We didn't..." the words left my mouth slowly, carefully because of who I was speaking to.

"So, you're still mated to Jayden?" he didn't sound happy, but he also didn't sound unhappy. The tone was unsettling.

"Uh... yes," I replied. "We decided against that..." Maybe not out loud, but when it had come down to making the wish, neither of us could. That had to mean that even though Jayden was struggling to trust me, he still had hope.

"You better not be messing with him, Corey," Joe warned.

"How can I be messing with him? I can't reject him; I'll always feel the pull and he'll feel nothing if I do! You should probably have this talk with him because he –" breathlessness caused by a sudden panic cut me off as I remembered how he responded to me earlier.

What if I couldn't change his mind? What if he insisted on finding a way to end our mating? Would one of our friends agree to make the wish for us? Kaden would do it for him without a doubt.

I tried to push the thoughts away as doubt and worry rapidly began to rise in my chest, creating a suffocating feeling and looked over at the trailer wondering if Jayden had felt it. Just looking towards him when I could not even see him seemed to calm me down.

"In all honestly... He's more likely to want to end this now... I'm not sure he'll stay with me..."

How was it that I felt both calm and panicked as I stared at the car?

"He won't leave you. He wanted to know you. He's not the type to give up on people... but in case he is, you should probably write off your Audi to him in your will before you off yourself."

I snickered at his dumb joke, and he chuckled.

"Whatever. There's a reason I called –" I began.

"Really? I thought it was because you missed me," Joe said. I chuckled.

"Daddy! Who's that?!" I smiled hearing Clara speak.

"It's Corey, Princess, say hi," Joe's light tone was a stark contrast to the one he had been using with me.

"Hi, Corey!" She called.

"Hey, Clara," I replied. I heard a little giggle and smiled at how adorable she sounded.

"She just ran away. So why is it that you're calling?" Joe asked.

"Well... Jay recently had this weird nightmare in his sleep, and Kaden's worried about it –"

"Nightmare? But he stopped having those." I could hear the frown in Joe's voice. "Was it... was it bad?"

"Yes! Very. He was literally fighting in his sleep, and he sounded terrified. I almost couldn't wake him up." Just talking about it was horrible.

Joe was silent for a moment before he sighed. "It started again...? It took us months to get him to sleep for more than an hour without medication. It had been so rough since..."

I bit my lip. Kaden and Joe sounded so concerned. It sounded like it had been a big problem.

"And... uh... There's something else you should know," I said. "This wolf we picked up, Zeke, had told us Jayden's father's been following us. I haven't seen him... but Jayden ran into him –" I said.

"What?! Why didn't you tell me about this earlier?!" Joe pretty much yelled into my ear.

"It was one time. Jayden's almost never alone, and I think we can handle one man, Joe."

"'Almost'. And yes, you can, but Jayden cannot handle him. What happens that one time no one is with him?" Joe sounded distressed. "No wonder he's – You need to get back. Corey, I don't think you understand what that Bastard does to him!"

"I think I can see –" I began.

"No, you don't understand. You've never seen Jayden when that man is around him. He turns into a... a... potato."

I raised my brows. "Potato?" I asked to confirm whether I had heard properly.

"I couldn't think of a better word. He just... stops functioning. Corey, just come home and please don't leave Jayden alone. I'll talk to him about the nightmares when he's back here," he said.

"Alrig –"

I jumped when a loud boom went off that made me drop my phone as I covered my ears. The ground shook beneath my feet as I grabbed the device, barely hearing Joe's shouting through the ringing in my ears. What the hell was that?!

The smell of smoke made me set off sprinting. My feet moved on their own and what the surrounding people would think of my inhumane speed had completely slipped my mind. I just needed to make sure that Jayden was alright.

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