Chapter 48

Logan's P.O.V.

My paws thundered against the ground as I ran after Jackson, the sight of my mate bloody and injured on the ground on full display in my mind. As I saw it again, my vision filled with red. Damn you Jackson! I growled, following his scent to a pair of doors that had been thrown open in his haste to escape.

They led out into the forest, my father's brown wolf visible in the distance, maintaining a decent pace despite the injuries I'd inflicted on him. I caught up to him without a problem,  launching myself onto his back.

We both crashed onto the ground, his body below mine. He growled at me, but I didn't even hear it over my anger, letting my wolf's animalistic side take over as I bent down and bit into one of his front paws. He fought against me, trying to shove me off as he yanked at his paw.

With a growl, I ripped it from his body, throwing the limb behind me. His howl of pain resonated thought the night, contentment filling me as I watched him suffer. He deserves to. My claws easily tore through his flesh, raking across any part of him that wasn't bleeding.

I ripped open his stomach, his intestines spilling out with the gush of blood, his body weakening until it was back in human form once again. He looked up at me with pleading eyes, his hands trying to keep his innards from falling out completely.

Blood bubbled past his lips as he struggled to breathe. "Please, don't do this son." I recoiled in disgust at the fact that he thought that he had the right to use that word with me. "I realise how wrong I was now. I give you my word, I won't bother you again." He continued to beg.

You're word doesn't mean jack to me, you lying fucker. I snapped at him, my wolf eyes narrowing as I began to ravage his flesh, tearing him into bits. His blood coated the fur of my snout as I unleashed the full force of my fury onto him, doing it not just for what he had done to me, but to my mate as well. My wolf grew more and more contented with every crack or squelch that filled the air.

***

Once I finally stopped, he had not been moving for a while, the splinters of bone and shreds of flesh and skin all that was left of the disgusting man that used to be my father. There was still anger within me, urging me to just spend it on whatever remained of his corpse.

The only thing that stopped me was the pain that flashed in my chest, the pain that could have only come from Chelsea. Mate! My wolf wailed. Before I knew it, he had me up on my feet, forcing my legs to run to her faster than I'd ever run for anything. Please, don't do this Chels! I thought to myself, seeing her still spread out on the ground, her body covered by a cloth, blood seeping into it where it lay over her chest.

No, no, no! I kept repeating that in my head, wishing that my ultimate nightmare wouldn't ever come true. Please no. I shifted back, throwing my shorts on as I sprinted the rest of the way to her side in human form.

The sight of her injuries up close brought me to my knees as I came up to her, my arms encircling her as I pulled her onto my lap. Chelsea, what have I done? I asked myself, the guilt crushing me.

“I’m so sorry baby. I’m so sorry. This is my fault, all of this.” I admitted, slowly rocking us to try to give myself a distraction from pulling out my hair with the helplessness of my situation. She's dying, and there's nothing I can do. I confessed to myself, the thought of a life without her crushing my heart. "He made me-" I began, just as she placed a hand over my cheek, before pressing her index finger to my lips, evidently causing her pain as she winced slightly.

"Shh..." She cooed, her trembling lips turning up in a pained smile, still thinking about me over herself as she tried to calm some of my inner turmoil. "I know, I know. Its okay, Logan. This wasn't your fault, he did this." She continued, her breath laboured.

"But, I let him. I wasn't there to protect you when you needed me. I let him get to you. I shouldn't have listened- shouldn't have-" She shook her head defiantly, stopping me mid sentence as she reached up and cupped the sides of my face, the blood that stained her fingers mingling with the blood already on my cheeks.

"Listen to me, stop blaming yourself. Yes, it hurt but now I know why you did it, and I'm proud of you baby, so proud." She gasped out, her lips upturned in a smile. "You protected me...thank you for that." Her words made my heart hammer in my chest as I felt the pride she felt towards me. Nonetheless, I couldn't bring myself to forget about how I had failed to protect her. "Logan, stop doing that. Please don't blame yourself. For me."

The pleading tone in her voice had me forcing my expression to lighten. "Okay Chels, I won't, eventually." I finally said, her smile becoming sincere, tugging at my heart.

“Did you get him?” She asked quietly, her eyes watching me.

I pushed down the anger I felt at the reminder of that bastard, nodding my head as I ran my blood stained fingers along one side of her face; meeting her gaze. “I did, he’s gone. He’ll never hurt you again.” I told her, regretting the way my fingers had smudged blood over her beautiful face.

“He’ll never hurt us again.” She corrected me.

I couldn't help but agree again. “That’s right baby, he’ll never hurt us again.”

“Logan.” She mumbled. I could see the strain it put on her just to speak so I leaned in until my forehead was touching hers, enjoying this little world where all that existed was my mate; her scent, the feeling of her skin against mine and the sound of the beating of her heart.

“What is it Chelsea?” I asked slowly.

“Promise me that no matter what happens you won’t go back to the way you were. Can you do that for me?”

Why would she think that way?! I thought to myself, panic rising within me. “It won’t come to that, it can’t.”

“Please, just promise me this.” She begged.

I closed my eyes as the possibility of what she was implying crashed down onto me. For her, we must promise. My wolf whispered. I know. I told him, my eyes meeting hers once again as I spoke. “I-I promise.”

“I’m so sorry Logan.” She suddenly said, the look of anguish in her eyes making my wolf howl in pain.

I desperately cupped the side of her face, trying to keep her looking at me. “You promised me you’d be fine. Chelsea, please don’t leave me. You promised you never would.” I cried; unadulterated fear creeping up my spine as for a first time in a very long time, tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

“I wouldn’t if I could baby.” Came her response, my wolf and I knowing that that was nothing but the truth.  I pressed a kiss to her lips as the a tear managed to escape, the pain I felt at the thought of losing her coercing it out, the drop falling to her cheek. I pulled back, watching her with slightly blurry vision. “I love you, Logan." She admitted; our bond telling me that she meant that with the purest of conviction. "Through everything, I've loved you."

“I love you too, Chelsea.” As those words left my lips, I was absolutely sure that I meant them with all of my heart. I kissed her forehead once. “I love you so much.” She nodded, a tear trickling down her cheek. The smile that illuminated her face filled me with hope that faded the moment I heard the beat of her heart halt.

I grasped her harder as her eyelids fluttered close. "Chelsea! Please no! Chelsea, baby, please don't leave me!" I begged, shaking her body lightly. "I love you, please d-don't go." I begged, feeling myself on the edge of hysterics as I held the body of my mate to my chest, stroking her hair.

"We can finally have a life together now, baby, come back to me. Come back." I continued to say; the tears falling freely then as my heart wretched with pain that left me trembling. The next thing I knew, Ethan was prying me away from her, having a hard time as I gripped her body tighter.

"Chelsea!" I called out when he finally managed it, holding me back as some of the pack members took her body away. I didn't know what I expected but at the lack of her response, it made me fight against Ethan even harder, the reality of the situation hitting me as the shock wore off. Chelsea is gone. She's gone.

My best friend stood by my side amongst the mounds of dead Seekers around us; his words of support not reaching my ears as all I saw was my mate's unmoving body being taken away from me, the tears silently trailing down my face as my heart seemed to have stopped with hers.

***

I never realised how irritating the word 'condolences' was until the day of the funeral, especially when you didn't want to hear it. I stood in my black suit by myself as I watched the coffin being lowered into the ground, the faces of the shifters around me grim under all of their black umbrellas, the cold rain pelting the tops with enough force to cause them to shake.

My own did as well, though I ignored it as my eyes remained glued forward, open but unseeing. I met Ethan's gaze a few feet away, his mate grasping his arm tightly as her eyes remained impassively on the proceedings before her; her fractured arm already fully healed since the battle, a little more than a week ago.

I couldn't decide what to feel as I allowed myself to be swept up by the crowd, going through the ceremony in a blur, my emotions nothing but numb. At one point, I was called up to say a few words but I just politely declined as I struggled with something to say. My beta gave me an understanding look, volunteering himself up instead, earning my gratitude.

I couldn't even bring myself to listen to his speech though as my mind drifted off to thoughts of my mate.

***

I had been consumed in a memory of her when a pair of ballet flats came into view in front of me. When I looked up, my gaze met light blue eyes; the area around me scarce of any other presence for a while now. Jackie studied my ensemble. "You look handsome." She said with a kind smile, moving to stand beside me, her eyes looking forward at the freshly filled grave.

"Thanks J." I muttered, knowing I didn't exactly sound ecstatic. "What are you doing here though? Won't Dylan be worried?"

"You know as well as I do that I needed to come for this funeral. You know, to say goodbye, for the last time." She explained; her eyes void of any emotion as mine probably were.

"I thought you would be more choked up about it." I mumbled with a dark chuckle.

"After what happened to you, all I feel is disappointment." She growled, her eyes flaring with anger. "He disgusts me."

My eyes trailed to the inscription on the gravestone. Below my father's name it read: father, leader and warrior. "Is it bad that I don't believe a word that thing says."

She shook her head as she stepped forward, her caramel hair whipping in the strong winds as she tugged me along with her. "Not at all, I don't think anybody really does." She said simply, the both of us walking away, leaving our father where he belonged; behind us.

***

When I got back to the Alpha house, I loosened the grey tie around my neck, unbuttoning the first few buttons of the white shirt I'd had on underneath my suit. I threw my jacket over the back of the couch, the silence of the house deafening as I rubbed the back of my neck, sighing as the stress of the past week weighed down on me.

I blocked out the voices of the pack members vibrating through my head as I threw myself onto one of the chairs in the living room, gripping the top of my head tightly in both of my hands as it began to pound. We need rest. My wolf repeated for the thirtieth time today. I began to argue, to which he responded with a growl. I agreed as my headache began to worsen. That’s what you get for skipping sleep for the past few days. He chastised.

I had to admit that I knew it wasn’t healthy not to sleep for that long, but I just couldn’t bear sleeping without her, the thought of my bed scarce of her presence making me flinch, sending a ripple of pain through me at the reminder of my mate. The last time I’d gotten any sleep, it had been two nights ago, though I might as well have not slept at all. I had spent that night with everything but rest, the nightmares I’d suffered of my father’s abuse coming back with a vengeance now that I no longer had Chelsea by my side, awaking me every few minutes.

I pulled my shirt off, not at all bothered with it as I dropped it by the edge of my bed. A sigh left my lips as my back hit the mattress, the cold sheets another reminder of how alone I now was. I reached over to my bedside table, grabbing the syringe the pack doctor had given me, sitting up the moment my fingers brushed against Chelsea’s necklace, the one she’d left with me after she’d caught me ‘cheating’, the memory feeling like it belonged in a completely different lifetime as I reflected on how fucked up things had become.

My beautiful Luna. I thought to myself, my thumb brushing over the largest diamond of her pendant, the memory of her smile when I’d first returned it to her easing some of my pain, though not by much as I realised how much I missed it. I gripped it in my hand as I took the cover off of the syringe, the colourless sedative in the chamber given to me by the pack doctor when I had approached him about my sleeping problem.

He had told me that it was normal considering what I had been through. In my opinion it was never normal when you had to be sedated to get to sleep, but I was definitely in no position to question the pack doctor so I had just nodded along, though we, hell, the whole pack knew I was taking everything pretty hard. For the sake of my health, he had given it to me.

I didn’t flinch as I injected myself, placing the empty syringe back on my bedside table as the world began to blur. My head hit the pillow as I began to drift off.

***

As usual, my nightmares were all blood and pain and screams, my mind once again trapped in my younger self, being attacked by the one person I had left at the time, to protect me. The nightmares had been going on for a loop now, one after another, recounting my years of torment at the hands of the man I’d killed.

That though alone made me feel just a little bit better. As I braced myself for the next gory nightmare, I was met with an image I didn’t usually see in my head, aside from when I had Chelsea around. The first thing that came to mind was that everything was warm. That’s not normal. My wolf noted, my eyes adjusting to the brightness of the new dream.

We were in a meadow which I recognised immediately as the place where Chelsea and I had first met. Back before all the shit I did, before I let my fear get in the way of us, before I realised how much I was holding myself back from seeing that she was healing me. Before we realised how much we loved her. My wolf summarised.

My eyes wondered over everything, the memory unfolding around me as one by one, the shifters began to appear, both from my pack and from Chelsea’s old one. They all stood frozen, like perfectly sculpted statues of the original people who’d been present on the day my whole world shifted for the better.

My eyes froze as they met a vibrant jade green gaze, the moment from such a long time ago replaying as Chelsea approached me, her eyes studying my face that was probably stuck in a look of poor awe. It’s her. My wolf muttered, my heart hammering in my chest, having missed the sight of her this way. She’s so beautiful.

She stopped barely an inch from me, the both of us just watching each other for a moment before she reached out to stroke my cheek as she’d done the last time. I pulled her to me by her waist, breathing in her scent as I buried my face in the crook of her neck, the familiar, intoxicating smell making me hold her tighter. “I wish this was real.” I whispered, my fingers gripping her desperately; trying to force us to stay this way forever.

“I’m here, see? I’m fine.” I heard her say; her tone soothing, a perfect replica of the way she’d said it when we’d first met.

The sound of her voice sent my heart into frenzy, beating erratically as my fingers revelled at the feeling of her body again. “I missed you so much.” I admitted, pulling away.

She grabbed my face in both her hands. “I missed you.” She whispered.

“I love you, Chelsea.”

She leaned up to kiss me. It was brief, but it took my breath away nonetheless. “I love you too.” She flashed me a smile, one that only appeared when she was truly happy. “But we can’t stay here forever.” She said, sounding disappointed. I was about to ask her what she meant when the dream began to crumble around us.

“No! Please don’t go. Not again!” I begged.

That smile of hers stayed on her face as she began to fade. “It’s okay Logan, I’m here. I’m right here.” She said reassuringly, her voice calm. I couldn’t argue as the dream disappeared.

***

My eyes flew open, my heart sinking as I was met with the ceiling of my bedroom; my senses still a little hazy due to the sedative. I reacted the moment the back of someone’s fingers brushed against my jaw; my hands encircling a small wrist as I pinned it down to the mattress, launching my body up above the person it was attached to.

Chelsea lay beneath me with a small smile on her face, her long, brown hair spread out around her head as her eyes welled up with tears. “I told you I was right here.” She muttered, right before she was in my arms; my fingers refusing to ever let her go again.

I felt way evil keeping you guys in the dark for so long, so there it is :) Everything shall be explained, but for now hope you all enjoyed that chappie :3 And thanks so much for putting up with me and all my cliffhangers <3