Chapter 98

Justin POV

I hated sleeping in bed after losing my mate to my father. After having her stab me, it only made things significantly worse, and my nightmares controlled a lot of how I slept at night.

The nightmares crept back into my mind, jolting me alive while I shot up off the couch in a damp, cold sweat. I fell asleep by the dim fireplace, on the couch, somewhere her scent hadn’t touched thankfully.

Wiping my tired eyes, I caught a glimpse of Randy in the kitchen, making something in a plastic cup and scurrying off to take it to the barracks. It’s nearly midnight by now. Why is Randy going down there to pester with my mate?

I finally had enough of my guessing, stalking down the creaking steps to see my beta bent over the bedside, feeding my mate a cup of pink liquid.

Her eyes hardly even opened and when he was sure she swallowed it all, he laid her back comfortably in bed.

I grew somewhat jealous to see another male dote over my mate, his movements gentle and kind and loving… unlike mine had been earlier. He made sure she was covered up and comfortable before leaving her side.

The cell door locked and he stopped at the end of the stairs, eyes wide as he met mine.

“What was that?” I growled, looking over his cup.

Instead of explaining, he threw it up towards me. One quick sniff led me to the answers I needed, smelling a fruity juice and some kind of pain medication syrup still rimmed around the edge of the cup.

I tossed it over the railing and sat down, rubbing my temples methodically.

“Explain,” I commanded.

Randy leaned on the wall and simply shrugged. “She’s not doing well, Justin. You saw her at her father’s pack, how horribly she was beaten in that basement. When she showered, her body was littered in broken bones and scars.”

“I fixed most of them,” I pointed out, recalling how clean and better she looked after our impromptu sex. I was going to withstand the urge but I simply couldn’t. We are mates. We call to one another’s bodies. “She healed just fine.”

Randy cracked a sarcastic, exhausted smile. “You have done nothing but make things worse, Justin. She healed her bruises and the scars because you needed to fuck her and she wanted to calm you down. Have you even noticed how hard she is struggling?”

I glanced over my shoulder, seeing her in a deep, methodical sleep. “She’s fine, beta. Watch your tongue. I will not be persecuted for how I treat my prisoner.”

“She is your mate, not your prisoner,” Randy growled.

“She tried to have me killed. That makes her my prisoner, beta. You better learn your place or—”

“Or what?” he griped. “You going to throw me in the cell next to hers?”

“I just might!” I sneered.

We both let our heads fall. We’re being childish and furious at one another. This situation is hard for us both. I loved Helen but my Lycan was having a hard time seeing her after the attack we had to get her back from my father.

Randy cares over her like his own sibling, like his little sister who is in need of protecting from her evil mate, and I felt torn between how I want to feel and how I do feel.

I’d love to forgive her, but I don’t know if I can right now.

I would also appreciate if Randy would back out of my business, but he’s my beta. He has a right to be in my business all he would like to. Even if it pissed me off.

“I don’t like this either,” I growled, looking over her petite frame in that tiny bed. “But she chose her side, Randy. She betrayed me and hurt our pack. I can’t let that go unpunished.”

My beta shook his head in dismissal. “There’s an explanation, I know there is, but you just don’t want to listen to her, Justin. Has she not suffered enough for your liking?”

“I have shown her plenty mercy,” I snapped. “She is better off with me, in my jail, then she would be with my father, or her own.”

Randy waved that claim aside like swatting a bug in the air. “Whatever, Justin. You’re just punishing her instead of listening to her and you can tell yourself you are being nice to her but keeping her down here, but you’re only punishing your Lycan.”

I sneered at that claim. Fuck my Lycan.

And fuck Randy, too.

“She betrayed her Alpha,” I said again, firm. “I can’t just let her walk around this house until I have that explained. Now, why are you giving my mate cups of juice with pain medication?”

He let his head fall in defeat. “She was whimpering and crying in her sleep, Justin. I couldn’t let it continue. Her bruises are better but her bones are broken still. She has a snapped rib. Her leg is crooked and sore and swollen. I just wanted to help.”

I swallowed, brushing my hair back with my fingernails. My spine shuttered in ache from healing over the stab wound and I managed to swallow the utter agony of the memory altogether.

“Let me know next time,” I hummed. “I will handle the care of her from now on, beta.”

“You’ll take care of her and not focus on punishing her, right?”

I didn’t want to explain myself, but the concern on his face was apparent.

“I would never hurt her, Randy. Not even if she stabbed me a million times in the back. Feel better?”

Randy nodded solemnly. “Yes, Alpha.”

He brushed past me on his way upstairs and I hung back, looking over my mate’s shoulders as she shivered from the blankets on her back. She was indeed whimpering like he said but she started to quiet down as the medication kicked in.

I wanted nothing more than to pull her from bed, to carry her upstairs and forget everything that happened. I wished it was that easier but my back ached terribly in soreness still.

She wounded me and I can’t for the life of me understand why.

My Lycan was less likely to listen, but I fought him back, trying to remember the mate I have come to love.

Although my Lycan’s discomfort, I still carried myself down the stairs and opened the cell door, making an effort to cover Helen’s shoulders with the blanket.

She whimpered, whining as she tried to get comfortable, but seeing her pain was nothing I hadn’t anticipated when I got her back from Fiery Cross.

I’ve never seen a stronger Luna than her. She was so beat that I thought she would die for sure. She may be uncomfortable now, but she’s alive. I’m afraid that’s all I can fix.

I kiss my mate on her wounded cheek and storm out of her cell at once, fearing my Lycan may come back out and need to take out his frustrations on her.

Again.

Leaving her in this cold cell seems harsh, but she should appreciate the mercy I’ve given her so far. She’s alive and my beta made sure she is pain free for now.

I linger in the hall, considering returning to our bed saturated in her scent, or retreating to the couch and dealing with the new reality of my life with a mate steeped in somberness.

I lie on the couch and pretend to sleep until morning.