When he opened his eyes, he blinked a couple of times to make sure his vision was clear. Alaric laid on his bed and stared up at the familiar ceiling he woke up to every morning.
He felt so displaced, like he was a stranger in his own room. And not only that his wolf was in mourning, the mournful cries of his wolf were what actually woke him up.
The constant whimpering and sorrowful howling gave Alaric a headache. Not to mention the pain he was feeling in his chest. Alaric felt as if someone was clutching his heart and squeezing it tightly. If he thought about it too deeply, his breath always seemed to evade him.
So he laid there with nothing but his thoughts, his grieving wolf and his pain-filled heart. It didn't take long for his nose to itch. When his nose itched, the water logs were close by.
He could feel it coming, the tears stung his eyes and there was no way to stop it. He shook with his silent sobs. Alaric curled his body in a fetal position and sobbed.
Everything just kept replaying over and over in his head. He could remember the pain-filled roar his wolf let out when he finished his sentence. After that, he felt himself falling.
And now he felt empty, like the most important aspect of his life was gone forever. How to move forward from this? Could he move forward?
Alaric knew all too well that he had to push forward, but right now, at this moment, he only wanted to grieve the loss of his mate with his wolf.
And like that, Alaric stayed in bed crying and moping for the remainder of the day. Falling asleep after crying himself off and welcoming a new day. He was one of the lucky ones who could have sleep to escape to.
Jason stared at his unconscious son with a heavy expression. His eyes were bloodshot and his lip bruised. After learning the truth about rejection, he was angry, and understandably so.
It took him hours to calm down, and when he did, that witch popped back in and explained some things to him. Things he needed to understand, and though what she told him was a hard pill to swallow. It gave him a lot of insight as to why the other races seldom involved themselves with werewolves.
Morel didn't just tell him, she showed him. It made Jason understand why she helped in the first place. Though his grudge against Anderson lessened a bit, he still wanted to punch him in the face.
Hailey walked into Jace's room and came to a stop at the foot of the bed. She absentmindedly touched the leg restraints on the bed frame before turning to Jason's back and resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Come to bed, Jason." Hailey pleaded softly. Jason didn't answer, nor did he move. He just sat there. "The witch told us when he's beginning to wake up, she'd let us know. Even if you can't sleep, you can't sit here and stare at him until he wakes up."
"What are we supposed to do? Leave him alone? Hailey, it was horrible, so fucking horrible." Jason mumbled. Hailey was confused as to what he was talking about.
"What was horrible, Jason?" Hailey moved in front of Jason and squatted, she grabbed his hands and held them in hers, "What's going on baby?"
"Morel said there are worse things than rejection, that if the council got involved it would be much worse." Jason began and Hailey nodded. She was there, she remembered what Morel said. "Hailey, I hate to admit it, but if what she showed me was the truth, then it was right to have the rejection done."
"What exactly did she show you? Ever since then, you have been acting weird." Hailey asked in concern.
"I can't explain it, I don't want to explain it." Jason sighed and told her. His shoulders slumped down lower. "Let's just say she showed me a point of view of the council that has ruined any chances of us ever going to them."
"But I don't feel like this was the right choice, no matter how much I think about it." Jason pulled his hands away from Hailey's and covered his face with his hands. "His whole life centered around becoming the beta of this pack, and with our own hands we crushed it."
"What else could we do? The pack needs an heir. Do you know how many alpha wolves that lost their own pack selection would come to fight for our pack?" Hailey tried to comfort him and said.
"We thought about the pack, secured the pack's future and life. But what about Jace? What about his future, his life?" Jason's voice was muffled because of his hands. Hailey looked at Jace and then back to her mate.
As parents, they failed him. Hailey couldn't help but tear up. She was trying to be strong for them both. Yet here she was at the point of a breakdown, the pack was safe, its future secured, but today Jace was rejected to achieve it.
The best course of action, the safest course of action, whatever you want to call it doesn't change the facts. Hailey's head dropped onto Jason's lap, her tears soaked his pants.
Henry stood outside the door away from view and heard everything, he clenched his fist so hard his nails dug into his flesh. It was one thing hearing his parents explain it to him, it's another to hear them breaking down like this.
'This isn't right, this isn't right goddammit, fuck!' Henry bit his lip and thought, enraged by everything. His strong, reliable older brother lost everything today. All because Alaric and Maya couldn't keep their privates away from each other.
Henry remembered all the times that Jace would hang out with him after training, telling him about what type of mate he'd prefer and what type of beta he'd be.
Jace had ambition. He planned to go study under a retired beta from the council to better assist Alaric, to uplift the pack. He was a loyal friend to Alaric, and this is what he got in return.
Of course, Alaric had no way of knowing that Maya would be Jace's mate, but Henry couldn't forgive him. He'll never forgive him! Alaric was once like a second older brother to Henry. Alaric was always with the Maddox brothers. They all grew up in each other's homes.
It's all ruined now, and when Henry thought about the fact he would have to replace Jace as Alaric's beta, he felt disgusted.
He had never felt so disgusted by a thought in his entire life.