Alec’s

The little energy I had leaves me, and I sag against the tree. Alec catches me before I can fall down to the ground.

The hybrid's words keep playing in my head. Not about his cousin, but about the woman who was apparently coming for me.

"You are bleeding," Alec's voice cuts through my thoughts.

I give him a weary smile. "So are you," I tell him, pointing at his midriff.

His black V-neck shirt was torn, and you could clearly see where the hybrid had ripped into him.

"This is nothing. I've faced worse," he says so cockily that I feel like wiping his fucking smile with a slap.

So have I, especially at his hands, but I have a low tolerance for pain. I just hate it so much. Pain is pain. Whether it's a small cut or a huge one. None of them feel good.

"You don't look too good," Alec murmurs, leaning down beside me.

I scoff at his words, "Speak for yourself. I look amazing. Always have, always will."

My words were slurred, and I could barely hold up my head. I just wanted to sleep for maybe a few days.

When I decided I needed time alone, I never thought that my day would end this way. I was supposed to eat some ice cream, catch up with Mrs. Walter, and then go back to the pack. Now, Micah's car was totally ruined. I was hurt, and so was Alec, and we had two dead hybrids to deal with.

"What are you doing?" I snap as Alec's hand reaches for my shoulder.

He doesn't answer me; he just rips off the top part of my blouse, exposing my wound. I turn from him and look at my shoulder. It was bleeding at an alarming rate.

"Glass must have cut through an artery," he said while ripping off the bottom part of his own shirt.

Anatomy is a mandatory class to take as a werewolf. As you have guessed, we get into a lot of fights. Sure, we can't treat diseases, we are not doctors, but it comes in handy when identifying cases such as this.

Taking the piece of cloth, Alec presses it to my wound. I scream as excruciating pain slashes through me.

"Fuck, sorry!" He takes the cloth away and looks closely at my wound. "You have a piece of glass stuck inside. I'm just not sure if pulling it out will cause you to bleed faster."

I listen, taking in slow, shallow breaths because it hurts to breathe. I breathe through the pain, cursing myself for deciding to go to town today. I should have just stayed in the fucking pack. I wanted space, and see how that turned out.

"Don't pull it out," I finally tell him through ragged breaths.

It needed a doctor to do that. Ripping it out will only cut through again, causing more damage than before.

We are quiet for a while, with him holding the piece of cloth loosely on my shoulder. "How far is the calvary?"

"Five minutes away."

I nod my head before leaning it against the tree and closing my eyes.

"I want to apologize." Alec's voice interrupts my peace, making me snap my eyes open.

"It wasn't your fault. They were after me."

"I'm not talking about the hybrids, Sadie," he sighs. "I'm talking about what happened three years ago and how I treated you."

"This isn't the right time for this. We are both wounded, and all I can think about right now is cuddling next to Aspen and taking a really long nap."

He turns to face me fully. I don't want to look at him, so I just face ahead, staring past the dead bodies.

"You may not want to hear it, but I'll apologize nonetheless... I should have done it the moment I realized I was wrong."

"Alec," I warn, even though my voice comes out more of a whimper than authoritative.

"I was fucking wrong! I should have investigated the whole thing instead of jumping to conclusions just because you had a crush on me. should have dug deeper when you told

me you were pregnant instead of assuming you were just lying. I should have done a lot of things and for that I am fucking sorry."

Sighing, I glare at the bulky hybrid. I

didn't want to listen to his apology. If

I could, I'd run as far away from it as

I could. I was already too late forConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

him to apologize. The kind of

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damage he did isn't something that can be undone with a simple

apology.

"I'm sorry for the hell I put you through in the dungeons. The hell I let my pack unleash on you. I know words aren't enough to fix what I did, but it's all I have for now," he finishes.

I take a deep breath before slowly releasing it already agreed to help with your pack, Alec. This-" I say pointing to the space between us."-is pointless. I don't need your apology nor do I want it. I'm here to keep my end of the bargain. That's it

Dizziness consumes me, but I talk through it. I seriously need the convoy to get here quickly before I pass out. I need to make sure they deal with the dead hybrids properly.

"But that's the thing; I don't want you to lea-"

He gets interrupted when Micah and Jason break through the forest to where we were.

Thank the goddess.

"What happened?" Jason asks, looking from us to the two dead hybrids.

"I'll explain later. First, I need you to take care of the bodies. Then arrange for someone to go clear out the crash on the road. Get someone who can mess up the cams on the road if there are any," Alec commands, standing up.

I struggle to keep up with the conversation. I was feeling drowsy and my eyes were already closing on their own accord. The last thing I heard before passing out was Micah's word.

"Too late for that; last we heard, cops were already at the crash site."

Well, that just spells trouble for us.