!!!WARNING!!!
The topic of suicide is brought up in this chapter, just a heads up.

-Juliette-

My days turned into weeks, I had lost all sense of myself alongside my sense of time.

I refused to eat.

I wouldn't dare leave this room.

And if it weren't for Eloise forcing me to continue living I wouldn't have the will to do even that.

"...Please Juliette I need you to try and eat something, you haven't had a decent meal in weeks, small nibbles here and there are what's barely keeping you going, I hate to see you like this."

I hated that she had to see me like this in the first place.

I'm the older sister, it should be me that's taking care of her.

"I'm not hungry." I croaked out, my voice hoarse from the lack of use.

She sighed, "I know you freak out when I leave you, but I have an important meeting I have to attend today, but don't worry there are always pack members downstairs to defend you if anything should happen while we're away...and I have a friend coming to keep you company."

I wanted to protest to having visitors, I didn't want to be out on display for others to see the unspoken side of mates...the rejection.

She got up and hovered over me, I closed my eyes as I readied for her hug...but it wasn't as tight as it use to be.

I watched her leave, her clothes looking a little baggier than I'm accustomed to seeing on her, I looked at her as she looked back at me, her face seemed thinner as well.

"Eloise." I called out.

She gave me a forced smile, her eyes remained sad. "Yes Jules?"

"You know I love you right?"

She nodded, "and I love you, please eat something Jules."

I looked on as she exited the room, then it suddenly dawned on me, when Eloise and I were little she would hate when I was sick or hurt, and her body would respond negatively.

We all knew it wasn't her seeking attention or anything of that sort, it's that she cared too much for me and would rather herself be sick or hurt than to see me miserable or in pain.

It wasn't long after Eloise had left before I heard a firm knock on the other side of the door, I hadn't even invited the person in when they walked through the door.

"I'm going to kill her." I replied angrily.

"Hey I volunteered to come and catch-up with you duchess."

I rolled my eyes, I was half expecting Clementine or even Alpha Wylde himself, but not Dylan.

He made me ultra aware of my deteriorating state, or the fact that if it weren't for Eloise I wouldn't have even brushed my hair in weeks.

"To be honest your sister actually tried to talk me out of coming over." He smiled sadly. "But I figured everyone else is walking on eggshells around you and your fragile state...but I'm the one person who will be straight up with you."

"What do you know Dylan, we aren't even friends."

"Juliette your mate rejected you...and you locking yourself away from everyone and refusing to eat isn't helping anyone, hell you're killing not only yourself but my Luna as well."

His words were sharp but had a certain level of concern in them as well.

"I overheard Alpha Roc talking to our beta about how Eloise refuses his touch, she hardly eats...says she can't go on being happy when you're so depressed."

I didn't want to believe him but I knew it was true.

"Look I know how you feel." He continued.

"YOU DON'T!" I shouted angrily before composing myself once more. "No one could know how I feel right now."

He sighed heavily before he pushed up this his long sleeves up and showed me his wrists.

There were faint pink lines, only really visible if you knew to look for them.

"The day I met my mate is the same day she rejected me..." he said softly, "and all that bullshit about unmarked mates feeling less than marked mates...they don't know what they're talking about."

He pulled his sleeves back down and pulled the chair over to the side of my bed.

"What happened?" I asked intrigued now, I felt horrible for him.

He pulled something out of his back pocket, it was a can.

"You drink this and I'll talk."

I looked at the meal replacement drink, it looked like a slim fast diet drink but as I read the back I saw it was the opposite, it was full of vitamins and nutrients that I had been keeping from my body.

He handed it to me and I popped the top open. I sniffed it first, it smelt fruity and as a test taste I found it wasn't completely horrible.

He took the seat and began.

"I was 17, my father and I had gone on a fishing trip in one of the neighboring towns my mom grew up in and I had gone back to the truck to get more bait...that's when I saw her, her tan skin glowed in the sunlight, her dark hair was pulled back into a neat long braid and she laughed carelessly with her group of friends."

"I knew instantly that she was my mate, I couldn't resist the urge to go over and just talk to her, so I went over immediately...not my finest move might I add, I got to them and grabbed her hand...the spark between us had indicated that I was completely right."

Then he sighed. "I told her 'you're my mine and I promise to always protect you.' But instead of accepting me as my wolf had already done toward her she simply smiled, how I remember her smile so perfectly."

"You don't have to talk about this Dylan." I said suddenly feeling horrible for him.

"She said with her perfect smile on full display: 'funny, my fiancée told me something similar.' Then she laughed, 'who do you think you are just assuming I would submit myself to you, a nobody.' I pleaded with her that I was her mate, and if she would just give me a chance she'd see that We were meant for one another...but without so much as a second thought she shook her head and flat out rejected me."

"The bond attempted to begin between us, but she severed the ties that would hold us together forever...I went home that night, I didn't speak to my parents about any of it, that night I got into the bathtub and used a loose razor to end my suffering." He chuckled darkly, I could tell he was trying to mask his hurt. "Funny thing about suicide though...it's not the same for Weres as it is for humans, so I would cut myself and almost immediately my body would begin healing itself...I did this for four hours straight and that alone is probably the only reason I have faint scars today."

I shook my head, "you can't have been so naive to think you could kill yourself."

He smirked, "that wasn't my only attempt, I tried taking pills, but my metabolism burned them before they hit my blood stream, and I even turned to drinking heavily, anything and everything to help me dull the pain of this new found emptiness in me...it was a dark time for me...but no matter what I did, nothing was filling this gaping void the rejection left on me."

He had hit the nail on the head, Diane was right, she had told us that mate's are our other halves, and that's why I felt like a piece of me had literally been torn away.

"Now, how about I convince you to get out of this room...it's a little small for my tastes."

As much as I didn't want to move I knew he was right, I needed to get out of the bed.

"J-just let me get dressed okay."

"I'll be just on the other side of this door." He sounded. "Shout if you need anything."

With him gone I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Before I would've mistaken my feelings for Dylan as a form of slight affection but now I couldn't help but admire him and all he's been through.

More...He was someone I could really talk to because he is the only person who knew exactly what I was going through and he's made it out alright...and it gave me a small hope that one day I'd be alright again.