*****
*Corey*
Bang.
Bang.
Was that coming from my head? The noise hurt. Oh God no. Another hangover? I could not even remember drinking and I remembered everything!
Bang.
Why was my head making that sound?! How could I make it stop?
“Are you two doing some shit that we can’t know about in there?! Because the rest of us still have to use those beds and Jay’s underage!” My eyes shot open hearing Sean’s shout. It was followed by laughter. What the hell?
I tried to get up to see what he was yelling about but stopped as I felt a light weight on my chest. I looked down and smiled at Jayden’s leg on top of me before laughing because his head was at my feet. How had that even happened? Wait. Oh. I didn’t have a hangover, we just fell asleep in the cabin. But then… how did he end up all the way down there? I decided I wouldn’t be able to figure it out and pushed his leg to the side gently before getting off the bed. I then stumbled over to the door while ruffling my hair to fix it before unlocking the door, it was pulled open before I could reach for the handle.
“What the hell took you so long?” Zeke glared up at me.
“Yeah, and where the hell is Jayden?” Kaden said.
“Sleeping, so you all should shut the hell up,” I replied hopping out of the trailer into the sunlight. It made my eyes burn for a second before they adjusted to the change.
“‘Sleeping’ huh?” Trent smirked. I stared at him confused.
“What?” I asked acting like I didn’t know what he was hinting towards. He rolled his eyes.
“Forget it.” I grinned at the fact that he thought it would be too much work to explain, “We’re at a gas station. We were wondering if you guys wanted any food or anything. Do you?”
“Yeah, I want some stuff but I can’t just leave him here,” I said.
“We’ll lock the door, he’ll be fine.” I opened my mouth to disagree with Kaden because being locked inside would freak anyone out, especially someone like Jayden that seemed to wake up disoriented but I paused staring at him.
“I need to talk to you. We’ll catch up, someone stay with Jay.” I grabbed Kaden’s arm and dragged him off before anyone could add anything. He stumbled along confused while glancing back at the others.
The gas station was huge. There were a few restaurants and a lot of travelling people and families around us so I figured our voices would get lost in the many sounds surrounding us and prevent our friends from questioning what I was about to ask Kaden about.
“Talk to me?” He furrowed his brows as we stopped walking, “About what?”
“Has Jayden ever acted freaky in his sleep?” I asked glancing towards where the car was.
“That’s why you dragged…” I gave Kaden a flat look and he shook his head, “You mean sleepwalking? No. He doesn’t. I mean, he mumbled in his sleep when we were in first grade, but his mom said that was because of the ‘trauma’ of starting school.” Kaden chuckled, “Jayden was a wimp back then and –” he continued babbling.
“No, Kaden. Focus.” I shook him slightly and he immediately swatted my hands from his arms, “I mean, when we were in the trailer, he fell asleep and then he began… fighting… in his sleep.” I swallowed remembering the moment, “He looked terrified, but he was still sleeping and just-just completely freaking out.” Kaden’s face morphing into concern caused my brows to raise. It had happened before.
“Again? I thought he got over that phase…” Kaden mumbled, “He used to have nightmares, he never told us what it was about but it wore him out really badly. He never really slept. Joe actually had to take him to hospital for exhaustion when we were twelve… He just fainted in class one day.”
“Probably his father,” I said clenching my fist.
“Yeah. If he has started again we have to do something about it. He usually isolates himself when he’s having nightmares. I don’t know, maybe he’s embarrassed by it.” He said, “I think we should call Joe.”
“Yeah, I do too.” I pulled out my phone and dialled Joe’s number, “Will you check if he’ll tell you what it was about, though?” I asked.
“I doubt he will, but I’ll try,” I thanked him and he left as Joe picked up.
“Corey? It’s about time you called.” He didn’t sound happy.
“Sorry, Joe. I forgot and I think everyone else did too… Oh, we might have used some money we got from the Inferno savings to buy a trailer.” I said. Trent had the card because he was one of their young deltas.
“What? Why?! That is for emergencies.” He said.
“Well, we found a new wolf and then with Adan and –” I was saying.
“Adan?” He cut me off, “Ian’s son… Adan?”
“Oh… Uh… We might have made Bianca – Marcus’s friend – bring him back from the dead… as well as Rita.” I mumbled assuming he was going to lash out about our ‘meddling with the natural order’ of things. No one in Galaxy was allowed to use their magic to bring anyone back from the dead, it was much too dangerous for any person doing the spell because of how much power and control it required and the spell caused immense strain between life and the afterlife. It would have resulted in a lot of problems if Bianca was not as ridiculously strong as she was.
“Are you serious?” He mumbled in utter disbelief.
“Yeah,” I said.
“But you’re only ever entitled to one wish that big. You couldn’t have asked for new mates as well.” He said thoughtfully.
“Yeah… We didn’t…” The words left my mouth slowly, carefully because of who I was speaking to.
“So you’re still mated to Jayden?” He asked.
“Very,” I replied.
“You better not be messing with him, Corey,” Joe warned.
“How can I be messing with him? I can’t reject him, I’ll always feel the pull and he’ll feel nothing if I do! You should probably have this talk with him because he could leave me if he wanted to.” I still didn’t trust Jayden. I didn’t trust anyone. I had never been in a relationship for more than a few months, how did people do it for their entire lives? How would he deal with me his entire life? I pushed the thoughts away as doubt and worry began to rise in my chest again creating a suffocating feeling and looked over at the trailer wondering if Jayden had felt it. Just looking towards him when I could not even see him seemed to calm me down instantly.
“He won’t. I know Jay. The kid’s not the type to rip someone apart, but in case he is, you should probably write off your Audi to him on your will before you kill yourself.” I snickered at his dumb joke and he chuckled.
“Whatever. There’s a reason I called –” I began.
“Really? I thought it was because you missed me.” Joe said. I chuckled.
“Daddy! Who’s that?!” I smiled hearing Clara speak.
“It’s Corey, Princess, say hi,” Joe replied.
“Hi, Corey!” She called.
“Hey, Clara,” I replied. I heard a little giggle and smiled at how cute she sounded.
“She just ran away. So why is it that you’re calling?” Joe asked.
“Well… Jay recently had this weird nightmare in his sleep, and Kaden’s seriously worried about it –”
“Nightmare? But he stopped having those.” I could hear the frown in Joe’s voice, “Was it… was it bad?”
“Yes! Very. He was literally fighting in his sleep and he sounded pretty terrified, I couldn’t wake him up.” Just talking about it was horrible.
“Not again. It took us months to get him to sleep for more than an hour.” He groaned. I bit my lip. Kaden and Joe sounded so concerned. It must have been a big problem.
“And… uh… There’s something else you should know.” I said. “This wolf we picked up, Zeke, had told us Jayden’s father’s been following us. I haven’t seen him… And maybe just the thought of him freaks Jayden out but… Maybe Jayden’s hiding something from us and he’s seen his father already.” I said.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?!” Joe pretty much yelled into my ear.
“Jayden’s almost never alone, and I think we can handle one man, Joe.”
“Almost. And yes, you can, but Jayden can’t handle him. What happens that one time no one is with him?” Joe sounded distressed before he gave a sigh, “Corey, I don’t think you understand what that Bastard does to him! You’ve never seen Jayden when he’s around him. He turns into a… a… Potato.” I raised my brows. Did Joe really just say that?
“Potato?” I asked to confirm whether I had heard properly.
“Couldn’t think of a better word. Corey, just come home and please don’t leave Jayden alone. I’ll talk to him about the nightmares when he’s back here.” He said.
“Alrig –” I was cut off by a loud boom that made me almost drop my phone as I covered my ears while the ground seemed to shake beneath my feet. What the hell was that?! The smell of smoke made me set off sprinting. My feet moved on their own and what the surrounding people would think of my inhumane speed had completely slipped my mind. I just needed to make sure that Jayden was alright.
*****
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