Chapter 35

The first thing my brain registers is the aches riddling my entire body, and then the muffled voices near by. Wiggling my toes and fingers as best as I can, I make sure that I've at least got all of my limbs. Last thing I remember is looking into Quentin's silver eyes, and I don't believe I have woke up since. At least not that I remember. Any and all concept of time has gone out the window. I could have slept for five hours or five weeks, but all I do know is that I really want to open my eyes. Unfortunately they feel as though they are glued shut, and my energy is running low, fast.

"Tessa?" His quiet whisper full of hope pushes me to keep attempting to open my eyes. Hearing Quentin's voice is relieving because when I last saw him he was fine, but I didn't know if anything happened after I passed out. Did more rogues show up? What did they do with Asher? Oh my god, are Della and Aidan okay?!

My breathing picks up recalling all of my unanswered questions, and a beeping noise from a machine near by goes off. Familiar and soothing sparks glide along my face brushing my hair back.

"It's okay Tessa. Please calm down." Quentin's voice comes out shaky, but has a slight twinge of command behind them. Breathing in and out slowly, I focus on opening my eyes while Quentin continues so squeeze my hand reassuringly.

It takes my eyes a moment to adjust, and not from how bright it is but due to the darkness blanketing the room. Speaking of the room, we aren't in a hospital room like I expected. The bedroom lights are shut off but thanks to the moon shining through the window I can make out most of it. I'm lying on a bed with Quentin sitting in a chair next to me, and across the room sleeping on a couch is Jasper curled up under a blanket.

"Where are we?" I squint examining the heart rate monitor and IV attached to my arm. Quentin takes my face in his hands just smiling down at me for a second. If I weren't so anxious for answers I would use the time to admire him as well, but I might go insane in a minute.

"I love you." He whispers planting a kiss on my forehead before taking both of my hands in his and sitting back down on the chair. "We are in Katherine's pack house." I frown feeling like I skipped a major chapter in a book. "She has giv..." I cut him of shaking my head vigorously. This can wait I need to know about Della and Aidan.

"Della and Aidan, are they okay?" The heart rate monitor starts beeping rapidly again causing me to glare at it as if that'll make it shut up. Quentin's frown has bile rising in my throat. No, no they can't be gone.

"They are down the hall, and they are going to be just fine." Taking my one hand out of his I smack him up side the head. "Ow!" He whisper yells with wide eyes.

"You could have led with the "they're fine" part." I lean my head back against my pillow letting out a sigh of relief. "I was so scared." I swallow the lump in my throat. I don't think I've ever been so scared than in that moment thinking I had lost two of my closet family members right after losing another. Carl. My heart tears in two all over again. The fear in his eyes, the anguished scream, and the helpless feeling. "Carl." I cry turning back to Quentin as he sits on the edge of the bed pulling me into his chest and rubbing my back.

"Im so sorry." Clutching his shirt, I don't try to stop the tears from falling, only keeping them quiet as to not wake Jasper. My heart feels as though it's being suffocated, and no matter how hard I rub my chest the pain remains. "What can I do?" Quentin pleads, his eyes showing just how much my pain is affecting him. There no doubt he can feel my pain over the mate bond, but I also know he is mourning Carl himself. They weren't as close as Carl and I were, but they were still friends who had a common goal, my safety and happiness.

"Hold me." He nods picking me up and setting me down on his lap before sliding over and laying back on the bed. Nuzzling my face into his neck, he wraps his arms around me whispering sweet nothings. His soothing touch helps calm me down slightly, but the pain doesn't dwindle for even a second. It takes a good half an hour before my constant stream of tears turn into sniffles and hiccups.

"I know there is nothing I can say to make him come back, but I'm trying to find a way to honor him within the pack. It could be whatever you want." Quentin's words get me thinking. I'm not going to let him die in vein, but I don't know how to properly honor his sacrifices. "You have time. Give yourself a few days to think it over." Quentin leans down pecking my lips.

"Why are we in Mystic Rivers Pack?" Out of all the places to end up this was at the bottom of my list of possibilities. Although heroic, Katherine's actions before the battle created a crack not only within her pack but also her relationship with her mate. Those wounds don't just fade away with a day or week, or however long I've been out

"Katherine offered to bring the injured here so we could have a more stable place to operate and treat injuries." He explains twirling one of my strands of hair before tucking it behind my ear. "This was the closest pack so no one had any opposition to it." I nod still confused about so much, but also still feeling like I barely got any sleep.

"How long have I been out?" It's dark out and it had to have taken them forever to get all the wounded transported, so I'm going to guess probably about a few days.

"We got you here last night and you slept all day today, so a day and a half." His cute little concentration face has me smiling. The way he scrunches up his face while thinking something over is adorable. "But it felt like weeks not hours." The mood falls dark again. I look down at my arms noticing some of the bruises have disappeared and a few cuts are closed up leaving pink scars in there wake. Unfortunately though I do feel the stitching on my leg under the blanket where Ivan stabbed me.

"What happened to Della and Aidan?" I don't want to dwell on what could have happened if Ivan had managed to damage an artery or stab me in a more vital area. I'm not the only person who got hurt out on that field, and sitting here moping won't change anything.

"A rogue managed to knock Aidan out, and I don't know if he thought that he killed him, but they left him for dead. Della panicked when she couldn't find him or link him, and assumed the worse. She did the one thing she told us not to do, and was distracted at the wrong time." He chuckles humorlessly causing my stomach to churn with unease. "One of the council members stabbed her in the stomach." I gasp covering my mouth with both of my hands. "He was going to finish her off but Emeric showed up, and let's say that man had a very slow painful death." Quentin chuckles darkly, clearly have had already heard a recount of Emeric's torture tactics.

"It was terrifyingly." I admit quietly eyeing Jasper, who stirs slightly in his sleep. Hearing Della in what she thought were her last moments isn't something I want to ever experience with anyone again. Although I would have done what she asked with without hesitation. I'm eager to see my family, but I know at this late hour everyone is asleep.

"You should get some more sleep. You lost a lot of blood." He bites back a smile as I yawn nodding my head in agreement. Snuggling into his side, I pull the blanket up higher so it covers both of us.

"If you wake up before me tell everyone I'm okay." I breathe out fighting the sleep long enough to kiss his cheek one more time.

* * *

"Stop doing that!" I hear Quentin growl lowly at someone right after I felt a something nudging my foot.

"I'm not doing anything." Jasper's irritated voice defends, but someone yet again nudges my foot.

"If you wake her up, I swear to the goddess.." Jasper cuts Quentin off before he can finish his threat.

"Says the person that got to talk to her all night. You could have woke me up asshole." My eyes are still shut but I can still feel the tension building up within the room.

"Maybe you shouldn't have fallen asleep dumbass!" I groan opening my eyes and rolling over to face the two. Quentin looks angry until his eyes connect with mine, and then his expression softens. Jasper looks excited that I'm awake but still sends Quentin one last glare. I have a feeling everyone being stuck together in such small rooms has taken a toll.

"Good morning." Quentin leans down kissing me before helping me sit up. My muscles are still sore, but I feel better than I did last night.

"Morning." I smile up at him. Jasper clears his throat bouncing on the balls of his feet. Rolling my eyes I open my arms for him, and he nearly squeezes me to death. Pulling away I gasp at his face having finally seen it up close in daylight. One of his eyes has major bruising around it along with a few scratches and bruises scattered across his face, but it's the stitches that shock me. The stitches start on the left side of his jaw and snake there way up his jawline, and nearly miss his eye before disappearing behind the top of his ear.

"I'm fine." He shrugs it off, but I shake my head.

"You shouldn't have been there. This is my fault." I grimace thinking about how the cut will leave a scar on his face. It's not the physical aspect of the scar that bothers me, but he's going to have a constant reminder of what happened on that field every time he looks in the mirror.

"No it's not. You can blame the rogue that did it, the council for instigating that, or even Ivan for being born." I smile at his attempt to make me feel better, but nothing he says will damper the guilt that I have for letting him be there.

A knock at the door catches all of our attention, and Quentin gets up to answer it. My dads rush in both pulling me into a hug at the same time.

"We love you so much." Ryder whispers his voice tight with emotions. Fletcher pulls back kneeling next to the bed taking my hand in his.

"And we are extremely proud of you." Fletcher's relaxed body language soothes my own worries about the rest of the family. If there were an issue that Quentin wasn't telling me about my dads wouldn't be this easygoing.

"How are Della and Aidan doing?" I really want to see and hug them, and also Emeric, Troy, and Victoria. After that I can focus on our pack, and work with the other packs to figure out our next steps.

"They are okay, sore but okay." Fletcher stands up kissing my crown before stepping back allowing Quentin to take his spot. "Do you want go see them?" I nod pushing myself to the edge of the bed, but throwing the blanket off of me is when I notice my mistake.

"I've got you." Quentin winks scooping me up into his arms being careful not to touch my leg where it's bandaged. I'm silently thanking whoever put me in cotton shorts as well as my t-shirt otherwise everyone in this room would have seen more than they bargained for.

When Quentin said they were just down the hall he wasn't kidding. It takes us less than a minute to get from my bed to their room. And just like mine theirs is a standard bedroom but with an extra two smaller beds for Victoria and Troy.

"Thank goodness." Della moves over on her bed patting the spot next to her. "Set her down right here." Although her energetic and happy attitude hasn't change I can see the physical toll that the battle took on her. The circles under her eyes are darker than usual, her movements slower and more careful, and an IV is still attached to her.

"You scared the shit out of me." I pull her into a hug once Quentin sets me down on the bed next to her. I kind of regret not finding her, but than goddess knows what would have happened to Ivan. Thankfully I don't need to dwell on it too much because Emeric was there.

"I'm sorry." She pulls back looking guilty. "I planned for the worst and hoped for the best." I nod understanding where she was coming from. Emeric stand up from the couch that is pushed into the corner of their room and plops down at the end of the bed.

"So you admit that I'm the best." His cheeky smile is infectious and soon the whole room is laughing.

"From day one you were the best." Della manages to get out between her chuckles. Emeric turns to Aidan with a smirk.

"Ha." Is all he gets out before Aidan reaches over and smacks him upside the head. "Ow! No wonder she likes me better." Emeric rubs the spot on the back of his head, and Della leans back onto Aidan chest getting comfortable.

"What happens now?" Victoria asks gaining all of our attention. It's a difficult reminder that the battles only halfway over. We still need to come up with a system to run the packs now that the council is gone, and that could be a very long and tedious process.

"Tomorrow we all go get our packs from Jasper's and bring them home. They need us just as much as we need them right now, and we need time to mourn those we lost." Della begins reaching over and giving my hand a reassuring squeeze when she sees me tearing up.

"I talked with some of the others and they think it's best if we all meet up here next week with a clear mind ready to discuss details." Fletcher injects. That gives us plenty of time to recover and think about our next steps, but what happens in a week is just as uncertain as it was a few days ago.

"Have you talked to Katherine since yesterday?" Aidan looks over at Ryder, who shakes his head in response.

"No, but word is she isn't changing her mind." I furrow my eyebrows confused on what they are talking about. Quentin and I didn't get to talk about everything last night, so I'm still a bit in the dark.

"Katherine has relinquished her pack." Quentin elaborates watching me waiting for a reaction. I don't understand why she would do that. Sure she and her pack need to work things out, but giving up isn't the best option.

"Why?" I don't think there is a thing in this world that would make me leave my pack. They are my family just like how the people in this room are my family. Every single one of them.

"Evan died in the battle." The room grows tense at Della's tentative tone. "The council killed him as revenge." I flinch my heart breaking for her. "A lot of her pack perished as well. She wants them to have a strong leader who can put their needs first, and says she just can't do that anymore." The mood now dampened by the depressing reality of consequences of the battle, we sit in silence for a moment.

"We can't let this happened again." I croak, the guilt eating away at me. Too many have lost and suffered for this, so I want to make sure whatever we put in place is going to last forever.

"All Alphas and Lunas need to sign a treaty." Jasper speaks up for the first time since we came in. Everyone in the room looks a bit shocked other than Della and Aidan who look impressed. "I mean you can still have yearly meetings or whatever, but than you have their signature sealing them to the deal." He start stammering over his words not making eye contact with anyone. With his cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment, I decide to take him out of his misery.

"I have no problem with that idea." I turn to Quentin to see what he has to say.

"It's the best idea I've heard so far." He leans forward holding a fist out for Jasper to bump.

"It's a great way to make sure everyone's voices are heard." Della adds.

"We can all meet back here in one week." Ryder says more to himself than to us. Hopefully the rest of the packs agree to the plan. For the next half an hour we all relax joking around and talking until Della yawns for the hundredth time.

"Okay I think it's time for some of us to get rest." Aidan leaves little room for arguments. Not that I'm complaining because I'm pretty hungry having skipped breakfast. Quentin once again picks me up walking me back to my room.

"Could you grab me something to eat?" I ask knowing if I tried to get up myself he would just plop me right back into bed before I reached the door.

"Of course." He kisses my cheek before taking Jasper with him out the door, which I'm thankful for because I really want to talk to my dads alone.

"What's going to happen with Asher?" Ultimately it's up to my dads since he is apart of their pack, but I really want to know. He betrayed us all and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Certain things make sense now like all random calls where he wanted to talk out of blue, and how someone managed to drug both of them when we were so close. He was against us the entire time.

"We can't kill him." Fletcher sighs sitting down on the bed next to me. "He was once basically apart of our family, but that doesn't exempt him from punishment." I nod my head solemnly.

"He will be banished, and it's going to be up to the other packs if they want to accept him." Ryder clears his throat with a saddened expression. "Brandon has asked to step down as Beta, but wants to remain in the pack." He answers my next question.

"I'm sorry." I apologize angry tears blurring my vision. "I should have noticed earlier. We were best friends for so long." I cover my face with my hands letting my hair form a curtain hiding them from my breakdown.

"You shouldn't have to look over your shoulder, and analyze every moment spent with someone you trust. He's the one who turned his back to you and broke that trust, and you shouldn't be the one that feels guilty about his actions." Ryder sits on my other side both of them hugging me tightly.

"This world can be a cruel, but we have each other to rely on during the darkest times. Don't let his foolishness tarnish your future friendships. You are an amazing young woman, Luna, and daughter, so don't let anyone make you forget that."

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Song: Cover Your Tracks by A Boy and His Kite

I know, it's a miracle that I'm posting on time! I wanted to get this chapter out quickly because the last chapter left off on a bit of a cliffhanger. There's only one more chapter and then an epilogue! I'm super excited for you all to read the rest of this book and the next one as well as the other book I'm working on (only if your are interested. Don't feel pressured to read it.). Don't quote me on this incase something pops up, but I'm really hoping to finish this book on this Thursday, and then start posting the next book in this series on August 1st. I feel bad making you all wait until August, but I like to have a few chapter built up in the beginning so you get to read three or so chapter right off the bat. If you can't tell I'm a little excited about it all. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and if you did don't forget to vote and comment! Stay home, safe, and healthy! Until next time.

~Stella Gordon