onyx

Three days.

It's been three days since we returned from the lab. Three days since Michael and Dexter were taken by the council. Three days since Gaius was brought home.

Three days and he hasn't returned to normal.

"Gaius, calm down!" I plea as he tries to break away from the doctor's grasp.

We were hoping the effects were temporary but as each day goes on, I'm starting to lose hope of him returning to normal.

I want to be able to help him but I'm not sure how.

Gaius thrashes against the doctors and snarls escape him as he tries to get away. I try to move closer but the doctors push me back.

"You should wait outside," one of them suggests, but my attention is solely focused on Gaius.

A hand grips my shoulder and I turn around to see Foster. He offers me a sympathetic smile and gestures to the outside of the room. With a frown, I follow him out before turning to stare at my struggling mate through the window.

It hurts to watch him like this.

"No improvement?" Foster questions and I shake my head.

"Is he ever going to get better?" I ask.

My voice betrays me and cracks. I try to blink back the tears but it's no use and they begin to fall freely.

I want my mate to be okay.

Foster pulls me closer to him, to my surprise.

"You need to have faith," he tells me. "The Moon Goddess wouldn't have kept him alive just for the two of you to suffer."

I want to believe his words, but it's hard when I can still hear the angry growls coming from the room. The change in him is so clear.

"Be strong," Foster says. "If not for yourself, then for for him. He's going to need you."

Foster pulls away and I see his mate being helped into a room. He smiles at him before turning back to me.

"I need to go, but remember what I said," his eyes meet mine. "You're stronger than you think, Onyx."

With that, Foster leaves. I stare at him for a few minutes before he disappears into the room with his mate and sigh. I glance back into Gaius' room and see the doctors sedating him. Red eyes find mine and I place my hand against the window and offer him a smile. Anger flashes through his eyes before he bares his teeth and growls at me.

Pulling away, I slowly make my way down the hall and blink repeatedly in an attempt not break down on the spot.

Be strong, Onyx.

He needs you.

When I'm outside, I close my eyes and take a deep breath before exhaling and walking away. I have no particular plans on where I want to go, but I just let my feet lead the way.

As I walk, I glance around the pack. Kids are playing and mates are out together. Everyone's happy.

Will we ever be happy?

Shaking the thought away, I stop when I notice where I am. I'm standing on the doorway of Novak and Everest's house. I begin to turn around to walk away but before I can do so, the door is thrown open by a very angry looking Everest.

"So now you show up?" He growls out and I wince slightly.

I may or may not have been avoiding him for the past three days.

"Who is it?" I hear a voice call from inside.

"My supposed friend who can't be bothered to show up anymore!" Everest yells back, his glare never wavering.

"Ev..." I start.

"Don't," he scoffs before walking inside. "Don't unless you have an actual good reason for going MIA."

"I just..." I trail off as I follow him in. "I felt bad."

Everest stares at me like I'm crazy. I know Novak had already told me that neither of them held a grudge against me, but I still can't help but feel guilty. He was only there because of me.

Staring at him, I notice that he's completely healed which isn't surprising seeing as he's a werewolf. Even though he's healed, I can still remember him hitting the floor though.

I can still remember Novak pacing around the hospital.

"You are so stupid," he shakes his head.

"You were only there because of me and because of that, you were injured!"

"I was the one that agreed to go with you, Onyx! I was the one who decided to move in the way!" He yells.

"Still-"

"No!" Everest growls. "Quit blaming yourself for things you can't control, Onyx!"

I stare at him and Everest moves closer to me. "I don't blame you for me getting injured. I'm not mad about it either, but you know what I am mad about?" His hands cross over his chest. "I'm mad that you've been hiding from me rather than just come and tell me how you feel."

"Everest..." I say just as he pulls me into a hug.

"You've been having a hard time recently. Let me be there for you! We're friends aren't we?"

I nod against his hold. "Yeah, we are."

Everest pulls away and stares at me. "Good. So tell me about how you've been feeling recently."

"I...I don't know," I sigh. "Useless? Gaius is still suffering and I don't know what to do. Hell, the doctors don't know what to do!"

I stand up and Everest's eyes follow my movements.

"I just- I just wish that there was something more I could do to help him. I know everyone says that being there for him is enough but it's not, Everest! What's the point of me being there when he only growls when he sees me or tries to attack me?" I run my hands through my hair. "What's the point of me being there if all I can do is watch him suffer?" My voice cracks.

Everest stands and pulls me close to him. His eyes move towards the back room and the two of us take a seat on the couch.

"I'm going to tell you a story," he says and my brows furrow.

"About what?"

He smiles sadly. "Do you remember when I told you about Novak being kidnapped?"

I nod.

"I thought the hard part was him not being there, knowing that he was suffering somewhere else and there was nothing I could to help," he laughs dryly and shakes his head. "No, the hard part came when he was brought back to me. Seeing him laying in that hospital room- his eyes looked dead and dry- like there were no more tears, or any emotion for that matter, left inside of him."

He leans back against the couch and stares at the ceiling.

"Then when it came time to take him home, he screamed every night for months. I couldn't touch him for even longer than that; not even a simple high five or hug- he'd break out into screams," he turns to me. "That was the hardest part. Knowing that he was back with me and safe but still struggling. In his mind, he was still in danger and I didn't know how to fix that."

He lays his hand on top of mine.

"But you know what? With time, he began to get better. I had to stick with him through the painful parts. Even if I was hurting, I had to be strong because at the end of the day, it was probably just as bad, if not worse, for him. I know it's hard right now, but you're going to get through this, Onyx. The both of you are."

Staring at him, I blink a few times before I feel the tears running down my cheeks. Everest smiles sympathetically at me and the two of us sit there as I break down.

...

"...Onyx?"

"...Onyx!"

I groan as someone shakes me and look up with a glare on my face. Novak stands above me with an unamused expression.

"What?" I practically whine.

Novak's eyes roll. "The alpha wants to see you in his office."

My brows furrow and I sit up. "Gray? Why?"

Novak shrugs his shoulders as he grabs a blanket that had been laying in the corner of the room and lays it over his sleeping mate.

"Tell hell should I know? He just wanted me to tell you to hurry the hell up."

Shaking my head, I stand up and stretch before moving towards the door.

What could he want?

My hand reaches for the doorknob just as Novak calls out to me.

"Onyx?" I turn around. "You're going to be okay."

I stare at him for a few minutes. Looking at him, I couldn't imagine Novak being as broken as Everest described him.

"Yeah," I agreed. "You're right."

I smile at him before I open the door and leave. As I walk through the pack, some of the people out stop and say hi to me. Some smile and wave, while others nod in greeting.

It felt nice.

When I reach Gray's office, I walk inside and instantly I pick up on not only Gray's scent, but Vernon's too.

Vernon sits across from Gray when I enter. My eyebrows furrow as I stare at two in confusion.

"Onyx, take a seat," Gray gestures to the empty seat beside Vernon.

"What's this about?" I question as I sit.

Gray looks at Vernon and nods. I turn my head to the side and stare at him curiously.

"Don't get your hopes up too much, but," he leans closer. "There might be a way to fix your mate."