Hunted [Second Half]

01

Chapter One

How do one wolf even measure human strength?

Ragged breathings engulf the room.

    Hani, who had her back facing the man, had only swipes her thumb to the end of her lips, already feeling the thick substance of paint before she could even taste it. To how they think that this would help her in any way, shape or form is getting the point where she see it nothing but crazy.

    Paint could get anywhere and she had ruined a lot of her clothes because of this. 

    She could not f*****g believe that he needed to show that she will bleed with the error that she had made by simply whisking a smear of paint in her chin and had covered her face in an amount that was enough that she could f*****g taste it. Whipping her head back to the man, a small chuckle escaped from Mason upon seeing the damage that he had done — but as like what she had told him, she did not want a training that is all play.

    She wanted to see how her strength does pose to a wolf as it was important. 

    Even if that means that she needed to get whisk by the paint by this annoying version of man, it seemed like she does not have a much of choice by the situation given to her. As annoying as that sounds.

    However, as much as she did needed for this to happen... Hani did not know that it will become this messy as it was. Her clothes are all tainted in nothing but paint reasoning out that if this was a real brawl, she would have already died a couple of times before. Even then, Mason was just using a small ounce of his strength and she was nothing but losing.

    He clothes was all f*****g branded if her husband is someone who was domestically abusive, she would have already angered the man with the clothes that she had ruined. 

    How did it come to this? 

    Even if she knew that Mason was just using a quarter of his strength, she was pleased to be against someone who had to feel the blow of her attacks and be able to correct her wrongs. While she always been good at training in her old organization, her judgement are nothing but different by now. Instead of facing the wolves that were nothing but marked red... there is a chance that she might fight a warrior from an opposing pack that might attack them.

    She needed to be equip with nothing but her strength. 

    “I’m disappointed in you, kiddo. You are losing the strength that was known from you. Have you been babied enough in this pack?” His voice echoed through the gym, speaking nonsense for her to adhere to her emotions — however, she knew better than to get attached to her emotions.

    He was clearly using a leverage that she will not give him. 

    Acting quickly, she had lunged to Mason in attempt to throw the spatter of paint in his chest and indicate an attack. What she didn't count on was that the man she was against knew how to handle his speed quite well. Mason was quick to handle his reflex as he ducked to where he was, planning to sever her balance and effectively let her aware that she had made the wrong choice. She had noticed his plan way too late, backing away from him with a splatter of paint in her legs. 

    Damn it. 

    What the f**k is wrong with her for not seeing that ensue?

    In a real life fight, she would be in a huge disadvantage to her fatal mistake. To her actions, she had given a wolf to practically damage what she needed most. Her speed and need to move around. She had severed her leg and would be having a hard time beating anyone into a combat — let alone a werewolf who had a strength of a three human men combined.

    Hani, focus on the game. 

    That words are nothing but her mantra, not wanting to lose her balance and her focus to the training around her. She had been training for the last couple of months and while the difficulty is gaining by the second, she knew that if this had continued to fail in this type of difficulty she would bear a big consequence to what she was doing when she is already in a real brawl.

    Hani did not need that pressure on her shoulder, thank you very much. 

    “Try that again for me, Luna but make sure that your points are calculated. You needed to make sure that your actions do not live a single glimpse of your vulnerability. If you focus solely on the upper strength, the other half would be your weakness.” he muttered, eyes calculated. Mason has this easy to follow instructions but was always hard to deliver. “You need to know whom you are against in every fight. While you are not playing with me in a real battlefield, you are a Luna. Someone who is very important to the pack. A lot of people will fight to kill you. Not only that, but there are great odds that if you wanted to fight with the warriors you would be dealing with the best warrior of the opposing pack.”

    She nodded, understanding the situation. “Okay. Thanks, Mase. I will focus more.”

    “Good. Try that again, kiddo.” He says, stretching his neck as he assess the situation.

    Wanting to try her technique again with a different kind of approach, Hani had dashed past him in a speed that she has not tested before and just as he had followed where she was going, she had jumped up to grab his head and slammed her knee into his face. Before Mason could even do any harm, she had to whisk a white paint and splatter it all over his chest.

    Mason backed away in nothing but surprise.

    He had not expected that. 

    Due to the situation of his body, it indicated that blood had spattered everywhere as she had shot him right in his chest. While he really did underestimate her speed — he was not expecting her strength to physically kneel him in the face. To have this little kid whom he had seen growing up to personally give him a smack in the face was not really going straight at him. 

    “What the f**k, kid.” He could not help but chuckled as he hold his nose, checking if his nose was alright and at all sporting a bruise or two. “A human would have bleed through their nose on that, Hani.”

    Hani grinned, leaning in as she heard that. “Really? How does that work on wolves, though?”

    “It will be good enough to knock them immobile for a few seconds, but I doubt it would matter if you have those bullets to finish them off.” He nodded his head, given her a thumbs up. “That works, kid. Good job on thinking that one through. Even I did not see that one coming.”

    “Yes!” she cheered, smiling at the hours of exhaustion.

    After some days of her taking the role of Maddox’s wife, she had participated in some training session with Mason while on some days, her husband does the training himself. He has his own perspective to what he does throw at her for her training as Mason does but she does enjoy seeing the difference of their strength whenever she does train.

    She knew that both men were keeping their distance on what they should tell her to learn, which is why she always learn new things from both of them. Not once did any of them had a very common thing for her to show. Both have different sets given on the table and she appreciated that. 

    Throwing a towel in her direction, he smiled at her in appreciation to her focus with the program. She really had grown up from the small and immature Hani that he had known. “You are getting good at detecting weakness than normal, I am impressed by your progress. Not even the warriors from the pack had reached that level of my impressiveness.”

    “Thank you, Mase. I am sure you are only feeding my ego but I needed to thank you nevertheless as someone who needed to be humble.” She smiled before patting herself dry.

    Mason laughed as he shakes his head. “And you are getting good at handling your emotions. It is something that you needed to master as people would always use that when they see that you are above them in brawl. So be very careful.”

    Emotions are one thing that corrupted her during attacks. Almost everyone in the pack had known that and used that against her during some one on one training. While angering her was not good for their strength, it is not good for her when she fights with that kind of attitude.

    Even when she was a hunter, it was what she was lacked at. 

    Back then, Mason never really corrected her as he never knew that she would be able to graduate from killing marked red wolves to warrior wolves who could attack the pack. It was the main reason why she would always get trapped through someone’s cell and Nvae have to get in between danger to make sure that Hani was doing well. Now that she knew the importance of her emotions in battles, she was getting a hang of it.

    “However.” Mason butted.

    Hani had stopped drinking from her water as her eyes passed him, wondering what had gone through his mind. She knew criticism would be good as she could do everything to change them but Mason seemed different, he seemed like he had found something that was bugging him.

    “Is everything okay? You look conflicted.” She could not help but ask.

    Mason hesitated. “Your strength really does make me wonder sometimes.”

    “Whatever do you mean?” She frowned. 

    “You were able to hurt me and while my offense were controlled at that specific time, I was sure that my defense was never lacking. Especially when I am at a surprise.”

    Hani laughed loudly as the confused state of Mason. Hearing him confused as to how she was able to hurt him when he was not paying attention was a comedic thing for her. “It is the art of getting someone by surprise, Mason. You taught me that, remember?”

    Yes.

    He did.

    However, Mason knew the consequences of that advice. While people do not get him by surprise — he should not have felt that pain that he did when Hani did give her damage to his face. Not only that, but her action was way too fast for him to even do any offense or defense. He knew that he was training a human so he had lowered his expectation. 

    Was he only understanding her?

    Or something... was actually wrong? 

    It was not like he is repressing her strength for her to get a upper hand, but Hani is a human and he take that into consideration. Once in a while, he would surprise her into giving a normal strength that a werewolf does but it seemed to be nothing for her. 

    While she does grew up training to be someone who is trained to killed to a wolf, it was making him confused as to why she had been able to do that kind of damage to him.

    Even from before, she had always been known as someone who could easily sever a marked red. He had seen this in action as her anger is really something she could not control and the organization made her this way. They had welcomed her destructive side with a smile, knowing it would be their biggest weapon yet. She has some livid anger that make her too powerful for them that she could kill them in her bare hands. Everyone says that just because a marked red killed her family, she was acting in this way. That is why Mason never really cared.

    ...but, is that really what happened? 

    He does wonder, sometimes.

    Their two little sisters are nothing but giving him confusion as the years had gone by. Maybe he was really getting to the point of he is old and was nothing but surprised about normally thing. However, he could simply not wash the idea off of him. 

    Seeing the worry slipping through his mind, she offered him a small smile. “Mason, you are stressed enough as it is. You are only caught off guard since you are tired.”

    “What?” He sputtered, affronted by her words.

    “You did not sleep through the night to make sure that V was safe.” She sighed. "You are exhausted." 

    Mason nodded, as if he just remembered what had happened last night. Carefully holding his temple, the man had sat to one of the chairs, remembering the horror that he had to face last night. While the pack was thriving as they have for the past years—there was only one problem that was holding the pack.

    The Beta Female was still unresponsive, never showing signs of anything good.

    It has been almost a year that she was strapped in the damn hospital who was doing nothing but everything that should be helping her but she was still showing no signs of getting better. Last night was the most terrible condition that she was in and everyone was fully aware of it. Her poor mate, Jax, had to be in a neighboring pack for some meeting and the man had to suffer the late night feeling his link slowly deteriorating.

    Nvae almost died last night, and it shook the whole pack into half.

    Mason had seen all the blood that was drain to her and the way she had turned pale — the man had to watch the little kid that he had counted as his little sister — to how her heart rate slowly going down and trying his best to assure her that everything is fine when she wakes up.

    He had not sleep a wink when she had become stable, fearing that if he did not watch her heart rate — she could die. Nothing had ever terrified the man more than this day, it was something he could compare into seeing the death of their Princesses. 

    For twelve hours, they have to do everything they could to make her heart stable. As for now, everyone was scared to ask if the machine was the only thing that was keeping her from going. Nobody has the courage in asking that and everyone understood why. 

    Nvae is needed in a lot of things in the pack and is connected to both the Luna and the beta. She would break a lot of mind if she had died. 

    “That felt too f*****g real, f**k. Remembering the horror is f*****g me up real good and it is something that I had not felt for years.” He chuckled through the pain as he leaned to the chair, not even bothering to close his eyes as he knew that he will se right through that scene again. “I might have been affected by that night and really got distracted even if I was not aware.”

    Hani nodded. She was all aware that Mason has always been this kind of brother for them. Since he was a lot older, he always see it as his job to make sure that they were fine. Knowing his bad history of what had happened to the Princess, he fully understand why he became like that kind of man. 

    “I kind of noticed, Mase. However, you really did good at making me see that I physically improved.”

    “You are doing well, kiddo. You should have the right to know that.” He smiled.

    “Thanks.”

    Mason served almost as if an advisor to the pack, training people who needed some private lessons and protecting the pack from any sort of attack. It is like the pack had gained three royal guards with the arrival of their Luna and Beta Female. Everything was like a win-win situation for them.

    Hani had been doing her fair share of being a Luna. 

    Instead of fearing everyone and thinking they would do nothing but attack or judge her, she had taken the courage to talk to everyone and noticed the very reason why most of them would look at her. Not one person were thinking that she was bad and she should not be with someone like Maddox. Instead, they helped her more on making sure she understood what she was doing. 

    They were happy.

    Nobody was against her being the Luna of the pack, instead — everyone was happy that they have a Luna who could defend for her own safety. Everything in the pack was a breath of fresh air. 

    She had to figure out the hard way that everyone inside that land sees her as their family, and it took a lot of courage — and crying — from her part to see the situation as it was today.

    “Are you not going to visit her at least, Hani?” Mason asked as he looked at Hani.

    Despite her courage and the way she saw her strength to people, it was only a faint people who knew her struggles inside. For what seemed like weeks now, she does not have the courage to face Nvae. Mason is one of the few people who knows just how much she is struggle from thinking all the things that were happening to the man she claimed she would protect. 

    When she had heard the disaster that happened last night, she had to physically call Maddox and asked for his comfort. While she saw herself not being someone who would do something like that, she had beckoned on her own fear.

    She knew that only Maddox has the power to calm her down.

    The man, despite being in a neighboring pack, had soothed her emotions to calm her down. Hani was scared to face the fact that she could lose the very foundation of family that she had.

    While Nvae was not the only family that she has now… she was like a little sister to her, one she always vowed to protect. Despite everyone’s knowledge… Nvae was also her rock.

    She was the person who makes her feel that she did not fail in protecting the people that she loved.

    Making her think that she had failed to fight for her family before because she was just a kid. However, now that Nvae was in danger and she was already grown — it was safe to say that she was scared.

    People are now counting on her and to know that she could very well fail them scared her to the bones. Seeing every kid inside this place, or the teenagers who are all risking their lives for her… she was relentless.

    This is why, despite her knowledge in brawl, she needed to train at her very best for no other people inside this pack will have to suffer in the same way that Nvae had did.

    Nobody else.

    She pleaded on the sky above.

    “Squirt needed you then, Luna. I think you of all people know that.” Mason whispered.

    Hani sighed, closing her eyes as he blocked any emotion that was eating her from inside. “Do not do that to me, Mason. I could not face her — not right now. Not after what had happened yesterday.”

    “She could have died yesterday, Hani.”

    Her eyes shot open, dashing before him to grab his collar. The very anger in her eyes was very familiar to Mason by now as the man had his fair share of her anger back when she was a kid and before now. While Hani was learning how to handle her emotions — people only needed to trigger what makes her vulnerable for it to show.

    It was not new that a Luna's vulnerability is his pack. She will react in the same way when any of the people inside the pack is threatened and everybody was aware of that. 

    Unfortunately, Hani do not understand that enemies would usually do that before her very face. Mason had been playing nice to how he worded his words as he is also trigged by it. However, she needed to learn the basics if she wanted to continue on protecting people.

    Training to be better at your combat is one thing, but she also needed to accept defeat and her weakness. For her to not get manipulated in any of her fights, she needed to understand that people will get low just to have some jab at her confidence. 

    For everybody has weakness. 

    She was not the only one. 

    “She could have died there, kiddo. You needed to realize that now.” He continued, looking at her dead in the eyes. Mason was showing her how true his words was, and she needed to be aware that hiding and not showing her weakness is not good at all circumstances. “And you would have lost your chance to keep telling her to survive.”

    Her hand staggered before the man as she frowns. Hani tried to control her emotions in hopes that this was nothing but training to her, but her emotions are too much that she could not help but c***k down and let it all out. Ever so slowly, her tears fall from her eyes and she ended up breaking down before the man. She sobbed hard and long, crying for her friend who never showed signs of life anymore. Mason was quick to mind link the Alpha that she was grieving to what had happened last night, already knowing that he would feel her sadness through the link.

    “I can not face her knowing that I failed her, Mase. I told her that I would protect her and look at her now, her body is close to becoming nothing but bones and she is losing the life she used to have!”

    Mason smiled before patting her head, as the pressure on this woman continued all because of the thoughts inside her mind. “You never failed her, kid. I am sure she is proud to the woman you have become. Despite the differences, you had choose to pick Maddox and live through knowing that you will protect this pack.”

    Her heart pained into remembering how their last conversation had happened. “I failed to protect her because of my past judgment and look at where she is now.”

    “Everyone makes mistakes and you know better that V does not hold grudges — especially to you. That little squirt adores you and never had the hard to be angry at you.” He whispered.

    That seemed about right.

    Whenever she does something stupid that will irritate the woman, despite her annoyance and anger — Nvae would always sigh and ended up forgiving her before she could even realize her mistake. Of course, Hani would realize it on some days and properly apologize. Nvae was someone who would always trust her in the choices she have and never blamed her if she had made the wrong in the situation.

    “V does not hold grudges.”

    He nodded. “She does not.”

    “Okay,” she nodded, standing up from her crying her mess as she wipes the evidence of fresh drawn tears from her face before looking at Mason, “but you’re coming with me.”  

 .

.

Mason smiled in a distance.

    He had seen both Nvae and Hani growing up and to see one of them being very civil with the kind that she used to despise make him nothing but happy. The child that he had known before had blossomed into a woman who had accepted the bond of mates.

    Hani never seemed happier than she was with Maddox and it makes him nothing but grateful that she was in state that despite her being deprived of Nvae, there was someone out there who was looking out of her.

    “Yey! You found us!” cheered of one of the pups to her.

    Hani grinned, leaning in close, “It was very hard too.”

    While Hani had always been very open to kids before, she had spent more time talking to the parents and enjoying their company. She had fully transgressed from a hunter into a Luna.

    As the bell had come ringing, it was time for her to break from what she was stopped to do and finally come and visit Nvae. The kids had only stopped her when she was walking to visit her and as she most usually does, she gave them some time before they are needed to leave.

    “You’re getting quite good at that,” Mason complimented.

    She frowned, “I have always been good with kids.”

    “Yes,” he nodded, “But I was talking about being the Luna of the pack. You are maturing as the time goes, and I am very proud.”

    Nudging him to the side, her mouth formed into a grin, “It’s good that I did not become a descendant of the three idiots, huh?”

    “You’re pushing it now,” he fired back.

    While the two were also busy like him, it also gives him a little bit of relief that the three were never really separated. Everyone seemed like a family now that it seemed very wrong when someone is off the equation. While nobody had figure out how to encrypt the palace archives for the antidote, nobody was ever stopping Steven.

    “I’m not going inside the room, Hani,” he had warned her beforehand.

    She frowned, looking back at him, “Why?”

    “You wasted too much of my time. I have an appointment at ten minutes.”

    “Sorry,” she uttered, seemingly nothing but meek.

    However, she does understand that like her husband, her brother also has some schedule that he needed to keep track in. And yes, she called her brother—seeing that the three idiots were nothing but brothers to her now.

    Just as what Mason had said, he had the left the moment that they had arrived in the infirmary. She had not missed the scent of nothing but medicine swirling around the open air, but she does missed looking at the face of her friend.

    Nvae have been losing weight due to the time that she had been induced in nothing but liquids injected inside her, acting nothing but her food intake. She was naturally skinny due to the demand of the training with her job but she had lost a lot—and with the lack of exercise, her muscle might have run down too.

    “V,” she called, a smile eliciting on her lips upon seeing her heart spark with one little touch. Alas, just like what everyone was saying—she knew the voices of some people and she would show reaction on it.

    “I am so sorry,” Hani pleaded, fighting her way to cover her tears.

    Unlike before, she now has a tube going through her mouth to control her breathing. Her state was becoming worse by the time and everyone was scared that they were delaying the inevitable. She would have to look at the progress of Jax, seeing that he will know if something had happened to Nvae.

    He was losing sleep these days, getting quite irritated and even her husband has been scared of what might happen to his friend by the second that Nvae finally lost it.

    “Please, promise me you’ll stay,” she whispered,” kneeling on the floor before holding the frail hand of what used to be the best marksman she knew, “We have a lot to do, and frankly—you have a very good life ahead of you. You’ve found a man who will take care of you and will not do you wrong, V. Please, stay.”  

    Alas, nothing.

    Just like before, all the respond she felt was nothing but the beeping of the machine. It was getting to the point where she’s very worried that it’s all she will ever hear. To know that she was in the blink of death and she was nowhere to wake her up into reality, she really did have a mental breakdown.

    “Did the three idiots told you they’re royal werewolves yet?” she asked, wanting to open up something to her, “I am sure you’ll be surprised to know when you wake up—or the fact that I am mated to the very kind that I called monsters when you were awake.”

    There were a lot of things that she did not experience with Nvae, everything that she wanted her to have in her life. While Hani was happy with the place, she had her fair share of family who had loved her. Nvae, on the other hand, grow up in nothing but violence and people telling her what and what she shouldn’t kill.

    “You had us worried last night,” she whispered, holding the frail hand that seemed like something so delicate, “Please wake up soon, V. There is a good life out here waiting for you so please—don’t give up.”

    Hani had come to Mildred, the very woman who is helping her to her memories, into seeing what was wrong with Nvae but she could not help. All she knew was that Nvae was in a huge distress, maybe with all the pain injected by the poison or something else.

    Nobody ever knows.

    “Luna.”

    There was not a flinch in her body, already being aware of the Miller’s arrival. She had been here almost all of her shifts, making sure that they were making perfect rounds of Nvae. After what had happened last night, almost everyone is on high alert.

    She smiled, facing her, “Miller. How is she doing?”

    “Her vitals are getting stable again and she’s not rejecting the food intake as per this morning,” Miller replied. There was relief in her eyes as she looked at the Beta Female, “Her body is more compliant than before, which is a good sign.”

    Hani nodded, feeling her fears back away from her body, “That’s good to hear. Does Jax knew about it already?”

    “He has been getting immediate news about his mate, Luna.”

    “Good,” she nodded, facing her friend once again.

    Maybe she’s getting there—to the point where she could be healed and finally off of the damn bed. Nvae hated slacking off. Never in her whole life did she get anything but rest upon knowing that everything was fine.

    While everything is good now with the pack, there was always uncertainty to every single one as they fully know about their slowly withering Beta.

    “Miller,” Hani whispered, gulping down the pain as she voiced out her thoughts, “What do happen to wolves when their soul mate dies?”

    The Doctor frowned, fully knowing her worries, “The Beta most likely go crazy, Luna. He could never control his wolf when it’s mourning for his mate. It might take years before he could even live through the pain.”

    Jax has been showing nothing decline to his health and there were some senses of paranoia in him. She wanted to give him some free time but her mate had insisted that if Jax were to rest by his own, he would be more frantic as now.

    She needed to wake up.

    Even if it’s not right now—it should be soon enough.

.

.

Where is Maddox?

    Hani had been walking around the pack house for hours but she could not see the fragment of her husband. They had arrived way before she had arrived to Nvae’s room but he never had the audacity to even walk up to her. Just as she was getting agitated, she heard the muttering on the office.

    Rolling her eyes, she reprimanded herself. Why have she forgotten to check the very room that he likes to confide himself?

    “And I am telling you to be more careful!” Jax sighed, holding the side of his table while holding the folder of the people who Maddox had offended through the meeting.

    While he does understand that he was worried about his mate and never wanted to be in challenge with another Alpha—he shouldn’t have acted the way he should to people who could be potential ally and would be useful enough to get some resources.

    Even if their pack were thriving, there would be ways where some packs are needed than most.

    Midnight Dawn Pack is known for their strength and they barely have enough workers to do some farming for some stock. Even if Maddox had engrossed into capital by making business in the human world, there are more ways for them to be more civil with other pack.

    Maddox frowned. “What do you want me to do there, stand at the corner and act stupid?” He was just as distressed as Jax was.

    “You did not have to react at all, Alpha,” Jax addressed.

    “He was pissing me off!” He screamed.

    “You could have acted more better!” Jax screamed back.

    Hani frowned while looking at the two like they were newly wedded couple that was arguing in nothing but useless facts. Both men had missed sleep due to their drive and work—which does explains their mood for their upcoming problem. She had told them numerous times to never ever talk about any sort of conflict in any form when they are both stressed. Alas, these boys are acting like children when they are already old enough to know.

    Just before the two could continue, she had meddled,.“Are you both done?”

    They stilled, looking back into the door and sighed like they were just caught doing something they shouldn’t. She does feel like a mother hen on most days when these two are acting nothing but dysfunctional couples—at least, to her opinion.

    “What happened, Jax?” she asked, taking a seat into the opposite one of the Beta. Upon seeing the conflict in his eyes, she continued. “What seemed to have happened during the meeting?”

    The man blow out a breath. “He had offended another Alpha.”

    “Maddox,” she called, glaring at her husband, “That’s the fifth one this month. Just how many more Alpha do you want to piss off!”

    “My pack is known for strength, sweetheart. No matter how I acted nice, these people will challenge me if I show a little bit of remorse. My action is by reason, I have to stand by that fact.” He reasoned out.

    Hani sighed.

    She does know that the pack does have strength—she had seen it beforehand. Every warrior in this pack is a beast and with someone like the three royal guards who are teaching each and every single one of those warriors, it was not a surprise that the pack continued on thriving by their name.

    A lot of Alpha had requested to have the three but of course, they declined almost immediately as they had offered. For they were not here for anything that Maddox can offer them—the three were here to guard their little girls.

    “Please talk to him, Luna.” Jax begged before hearing his phone ring. He took some time to check the caller before he dashed out of the room and had answered it privately.

    It must be of someone who could help Nvae.

    “He used the title,” Hani teased while looking at her husband, “Now, I really needed to reprimand you. I have to apologize but that's the rules.”

    Maddox only grins at his wife’s word, knowing just how much she took pride in her title. 

    However, just before she could do anything just yet—he had pulled her to him, wanting nothing more than to feel her heat close to him. He knows that he had suffered this day by the link that they have and he wanted to be someone who could offer her help. Their lips automatically met, but it was nothing but soft—proving that he was just there for her.

    “Mason told me that I’m getting more stronger than before.” She grinned, pinning out the compliment with nothing but joy.

    “Good job, sweetheart.” He smiled, kissing her cheeks as he pulled her close. “I heard that you’re getting a lot stronger in such a fast pace that Mason is getting worried as to why.”    

    She pouted her lips. “No, Mason is just really tired today since he had watched over V yesterday.”

    “Speaking of her your friend. I heard you finally visited her ward?” He asked, stroking her head in order to give her mind some ease to the coming stress from his question. “How are you feeling? You are in distress last night so I am very worried..”

    Her hands fisted on his shirt. Even if she had her fill of breaking down in front of Mason, it was always very different when it comes to Maddox. She never needed to hide, her emotions just blasted out of nowhere. 

    “I was just so scared… but Miller told me that she’s hanging on more tightly now, which is good. I hope it does not progress into anything bad as that seemed to be a trend in her reactions.”

    “Sweetheart, she’s never really gone. Even if Jax seemed beat up with it, he knew that she is still there. The very reason why we could still work last night was because his wolf knew that she’ll live through.”

    Her eyes found his, wanting nothing but solace, “Really?”

    “Really,” he nodded, planting a soft kiss in her forehead, “She’ll wake up soon enough, sweetheart. Trust her.”

    Even if there were no scientific basis on his words, she had found herself succumbing to it like they were facts. She does not know if it’s the power of mates or she needed someone to assure her that Nvae will wake up.

    For everyone’s sanity…

    …she needed to wake up.