Bad Love: An Alpha's Regret (Leah and Aaron)

Chapter 338

I lurch forward and press my fingers into Emily's neck, thinking the worst.

When I feel her pulse, I almost get dizzy with relief.

However, it's weak and her skin feels clammy.

I reach up and push her hair off her pale face so I can see her more clearly.

Her eyes are open, but staring dully, sightlessly at nothing.

"Emily!" I say, more loudly this time, trying to jolt her out of whatever this is.

When that doesn't work, I try saying her name again, even louder, and give her shoulders a gentle shake.

She doesn't respond, remaining limp and listless beneath my hands.

Has she gone into some kind of catatonic state?

But why?

She was furious when I left her, not scared.

What the hell could have caused this in the short few hours I left her here?

My stomach is churning with anxiety as I lift her out of the tight space.

She still doesn't stir, and I cradle her gently in my arms as I hurry upstairs to her room.

Luckily, I don't see anyone else on the way.

I don't want anyone to see Emily like this.

Not only because I think she would hate it if she knew, but also because she would worry people would see her as more broken and fragile than she already is. I could never think that of Emily.

I know what it's like to go through something like what happened to her when she was abducted by the old Roberts Alpha.

She didn't let it ruin her, if anything, it made her more of a fighter than she probably already was.

Not everyone survives something like that, but Emily did, and I respect her for that, if nothing else.

Upstairs, I take her into her room and slam the door shut behind us.

I have no idea what to do with her, how to bring her out of whatever this is.

I half think about putting her in the shower and hitting her with a spray of cold water, but that seems unbearably cruel when she's already in such a state. Instead, I set her down on the bed, then kick off my boots, before searching out the softest blanket I can find.

I join her on the bed and wrap her up in the blanket, tucking her against my chest and holding her tight.

"You're okay," I tell her in a low, quiet voice. "You're okay, now. I've got you."

She doesn't respond, and I hold her just a little tighter, wondering what the hell I'm going to do if she doesn't snap out of this soon.

Worse.

What Aaron will do to me if she doesn't snap out of it, and he comes home to find his sister in a catatonic state when I was meant to be looking after her.

I keep holding her, and after a while, I start humming some old songs I used to like.

Once, centuries ago, I was quite

proficient at playing the piano, as many upper class people had been Back then, there hadn't been much else to do besides learn a musical instrument, or play chess, or read extensively.

Not like today with smart phones or tablets or computers with their infinite troves of entertainment.

People of today didn't realize how quickly and suddenly the modern world had come about.

Things had basically been the same for centuries upon centuries. Candles were the only source of illumination, fire the only source of heat and horses the only mode of transportation.

Then, within a few short decades, technology had exploded and within three generations, people's lives had drastically changed.

Sometimes it amazes me to think how long I'd lived and all the things I'd seen.

But other times, it felt like a bottomless well of loneliness I couldn't escape from.

Sometimes I wish more than anything that I had someone to share this long life and all those amazing sights and experiences with.

But no other wolf is immortal like I am.

And while I'll admit that in my

weaker moments I've wondered if I

shouldn't just take up with a

vampire, because at least she would be able to live decades and

centuries by my side, I had secretly always wanted to experience the feeling of being mated.

I'd seen the mating bond from the outside plenty of times-a connection that runs deeper and stronger than simple love-so how could I not wonder what that would

feel like for myself?

I just never imagined the Moon Goddess would actually grant me a mate under any circumstances, let alone the complicated one I've found myself in with Emily.

I'm not sure how much time has passed, but I feel it when Emily starts coming back to herself.

She takes in a deeper breath and then some tension flows back into her limp body.

I rub her back soothingly, not sure what to expect when she's completely with it again.

Will she immediately descend back into a rage?

Will she try to fight me off her?

Tell me she hates me again?

Fury seems to be her default emotion.

But I know from experience that it's much easier to feel angry than all the other negative emotions that come after going through something like Emily did.

However, Emily doesn't do any of those things.

The one thing that happens is the one thing I didn't expect.

The one thing I don't know how to deal with at all.

The one thing that makes the guilt and regret burn like fire in my blood.

Emily begins to cry.