Dying For You

Chapter 20

Theo's POV

I held Laila for almost an hour before her cries finally stopped, and she held onto my shirt and fell asleep. I don't want to disturb her, but I must take her home. It's going to get dark soon. I wish I could stay here with her forever.

I thought she might like this place, but I didn't expect this reaction from her. The complete joy only to be followed by utter despair. But that's okay, as long as she faces her past and heals instead of hiding. I want her to get better.

Slowly, I roll her off me, placing her on the ground without waking her up. Then, I stand and bend down to pick her up slowly. I don't want to startle her when she wakes up, so I will let her sleep. Laila's head falls against my shoulder as she moans softly into my neck. f**k. That might be my new favorite sound.

I walk her back to the packhouse and her parent's apartment. I kick their front door with my foot because I don't want to jostle or drop her. The front door flies open to expose her brother, Reid, who is looking surprised. "What' happened to her?"

"She's just asleep. She got tired, so I carried her home." I explain.

"You're sure she's ok?" He questions me.

"Yes." I nod, walking past him and to her bedroom. I know that I'm being followed, but I don't care.

I gently lay Laila on her bed and removed her shoes before pulling the covers over her. As I stand up and look at the door, I see Reid with his arms crossed. "Why does she look like she's been crying?" he asks, glaring at me.

"Because she has been," I answer, walking out of the room and closing her door behind me.

"Why has she been crying?" he asks.

"Because she's healing and needed to cry it out." I deadpan.

"What did you do to make her cry?" Reid asks, raising his tone.

"Nothing. She talked about something from when she was at the hunters. That got her emotional, but at least she got it out of her system. She decided to talk about it, and I sure wasn't going to stop her." I growl.

He seems to be fighting with his wolf for a moment before showing his neck in submission. It's always hard for wolves when they piss off their alpha. "Any more questions?" I ask.

"No, Alpha. Sorry." He hands his head.

As Reid follows me, I walk into the kitchen where Ron and Rebecca are. "I brought Laila back. She fell asleep, so I put her to bed." I explain.

"That's okay, Theo. Thank you. You're welcome to stay for dinner if you want," Rebecca answers.

"We made enough for you and Laila if you made it back in time," Ron adds.

"No, thank you. I really should be getting to work," I politely decline.

"Work? At this time?" Reid questions.

"I try to spend as much time as possible with Laila while she is awake. Then I meet my dad, and he catches me up on everything I need to know before I take over the pack," I explain. "Except tomorrow; I have to meet my dad earlier for a meeting after lunch."

"That's ok. Just come by whenever you want." Rebecca smiles at me. Then she asks Reid, "Do you and Amber want the extra food?"

"No, thank you. The doctor has her on a particular diet now that she's on bedrest." Reid shrugs.

"Your mate is on bed rest?" I question.

"Yes. The baby is due any day now, and it's been a rough pregnancy for her, so as a precaution, they have her on strict bed rest. I'm only here to check on Laila. I hate leaving Amber for even 20 minutes if she needs anything, but I just needed to check in here." Reid says. "Well, I better get going. Bye, love yall." Reid waves, then leaves.

"Bye, sweetie. Tell Amber, hey!" Rebecca yells after him.

Ron and Rebecca go back to cooking their dinner. "Can I ask you something? I know he is your son and everything, but I hope you know you can be honest with me. Did I do something to make Reid hate me?" I ask.

"No," Rebecca brushes me off. He's always been overprotective of Laila. And when she was taken, he felt responsible because he was the one who yelled to get my attention right before she disappeared," Rebecca explains.

"And you also tried to have him arrested and killed when you met Laila," Ron points out. Oh s**t, I forgot about that. Yeah, I should probably apologize for that. After all, he is going to be my brother-in-law one day.

"OK. I'll see you tomorrow." I wave, then leave Laila and her parents apartment.

Then I walk to my dad's office… soon to be mine. He is trying to work with me on Liala's schedule so he can still teach me everything I need to take over. I know that makes for some long days for him. But I'm so close to catching up on everything that we should be fine if he can stick with me for a few more days.

Mom is planning the exchange of power ceremony since my Luna is a little bit out of commission. That's supposed to happen this weekend, and Dad's got a long list that still needs to be done. Ugh. Gosh. I want to hang out with Laila.

I round the corner, walking into Dad's office as he diligently types on his computer. "Sup, old man?" I tease.

"What's up, fetus?" he retorts without glancing at me. I sit across the table from Dad and wait for him to finish what he's been doing. "How's the mate?" he asks, finally looking up at me.

"Good. She's learning a lot. She's still getting used to the glasses, but seeing things better and hearing us now has helped her trust us more. She's made major progress in such a short amount of time." I answer.

"That's good. I'm glad for her." Dad says.

"It's great. The faster she gets comfortable and trusts us, the quicker she can become my mate, and the quicker she can become Luna."

"Theo, son, it's good she's getting better, but are we certain she will recover fully? Will she ever be healthy enough to be a Luna?" Dad says, resting his arms on the desk.

"Yes. Absolutely. I'm not saying she is ready to take over with me this weekend. I'm just saying eventually. But I'm willing to wait. I'll hold down the fort alone as long as I need to for the pack to get a proper Luna." I nod emphatically.

"Ok. But I want you to be prepared if she can't go over the pack because we still have no clue what f****d up s**t those filthy hunters did to her for years. We don't know what kind of residual effects that will have on her, physical, mental, and emotional." Dad says matter of factly.

"I know that she still has healing that needs to be done, and I will support her and be there for her every step of the way. And I know her parents and brothers will be too. Whatever she can't do, we will make up for." I argue.

"Theo, please think of this logically as if she wasn't your mate-"

"SHE IS MY MATE!" I yell, standing up.

"Theo!" he slams his hand down, standing up. "Listen to me! I'm not trying to deny that she is your mate because she is. I'm saying, please take your emotions out of this. A lot of messed up s**t happened to her, and we don't know if she will ever be normal. Look at her, Theo! She wears glasses; I don't know any other werewolf with glasses! I know she can still be Luna with glasses; I'm not saying she can't. I'm saying who knows what other problems we will uncover because she doesn't know better and can't express when she is experiencing an issue." he huffs.

"She's fine! I will make sure she is fine!" I yell.

"Boys!" Mom flings open the door, cutting our argument short. "Half the packhouse can hear you!" she marches into the room, slamming the door behind her. "I don't know what this is about, but this is enough. Go to your rooms, and we will discuss it in the morning!" Mom commands, putting her hands on her hips.

"Honey-" Dad steps towards her.

"I say go to your rooms! It's late. I've had a long day, and I put on a face mask that's only supposed to be on for 5 minutes 7 minutes ago. You interrupted my skincare routine, and now you're both in trouble. Both of you to your rooms now! We will discuss it as a family at breakfast in the morning." Mom scolds.

"Sorry, Mom, we didn't mean to interrupt your skincare routine." I sigh.

"Sorry, but you don't need to worry about skincare. You'll always be the prettiest girl in the world." Dad says.

"Shut the f**k up and march, mister!" she points to the door, not buying any of Dad's attempts to kiss ass.

"Sorry," we both sigh and stomp out of the office and to our respective bedrooms.

"The two of you, I swear." Mom mumbles behind us as we walk silently.