*****
*Corey*
“– Corey?”
“Huh –? I mean, yeah?” I looked at Izabella confused and slightly annoyed that she pulled me from my daze because I was trying to decipher something.
“What’s going on with you?!” She asked. I was currently at Izabella’s house with all our friends and by all, I mean all. Even everyone from high school and the friends that had come with getting over our dislike for Sean and Jayden’s friends Kaden and Bentley. There were sixteen of us and we filled Izabella’s house. Only Jayden had refused to come, he looked pretty worn too so we let him stay at inferno because my mate was an adorable introvert that we could not say no to.
“I, uh… Nothing…” Everyone looked at me frowning at the reply and I chuckled, “Fine… I… I just feel like something’s wrong but I can’t place my finger on it.” I mumbled.
“Maybe it’s Jayden?” Zeke suggested.
“Jay… No… I think I would know if… I don’t know… Maybe.” I mumbled. I wasn’t sure, I could feel that something was wrong, but I was too far away to feel his emotions. It could have been anything.
“There is no ‘maybe’, Corey. You feel these things so you can protect your mate, you should go check on him. Better safe than sorry, right?” Sean said.
“Besides, I bet you miss him.” Hayley smiled. I rolled my eyes but felt a smile break onto my face. Maybe I did. Alright, I did. I still couldn’t believe that.
“I do, I –” I cut myself off suddenly wincing for no reason and then shook my head making a decision. I needed to check on him.
I dialled his number, but he didn’t pick up, it just rang which was weird. He always answered my calls almost immediately and then acted embarrassed about how fast he had answered. I knew he had his phone near him because when I texted he replied within a couple of minutes. The fact that the phone just kept ringing made my heart stop. Something was wrong.
“I’m going to Inferno,” I announced as I hung up.
“We’ll come with you,” Trent said. I didn’t object in order not to waste any time, we needed to move fast. By ‘we’ he meant himself, Kaden, Sean, Bentley and Jason because they all followed me out.
—–
“Jay?” I called as I walked into their practically empty packhouse. It had taken just minutes to get to Inferno because I had pushed my legs as fast as they could possibly move, “Jayden?!” I yelled louder when he didn’t answer.
“Maybe he’s asleep. You know how he sleeps.” Kaden said hopefully.
“You mean like you?” Trent said earning a glare from Kaden and Bentley chuckled.
“Let’s look upstairs,” Kaden said. I nodded and ran upstairs.
His room was quiet from the outside. Was he asleep? The possibility made my shoulders sink in relief.
“Jay?” I called. Nothing… I lifted my hand to knock but I heard a very soft, harsh voice. Only, it wasn’t Jayden’s.
“Shut up and I won’t hurt you!” What the fuck?!
“Jay?! Who is that?!” I tried to push the door open but it was locked and panic returned to my chest. I heard grunts before something smashed.
“Cor –” I heard keys in the door, his voice sounded desperate, weak and terrified. I froze before trying to shove the door open.
“Corey, what’s going on?” Bentley asked.
I heard Jayden shout as another smashing sound sounded inside the room and quickly stepped back trying to control my wolf as my body felt like it was on the verge of shifting. I knew who was inside and was going to kill him but I needed to keep in human form because I knew I would lose control if I shifted. Using all of my strength, I kicked into the door making it smash off of its hinges.
Before I could even step into the room, I caught the sight of Jay’s bloody, almost nude body on the carpet I completely lost control for the first time in my life.
—–
*Sean*
I stepped into the room and tried to hide my shock at Corey’s lovely artwork, note the sarcasm. It looked like blood had been splashed onto the walls, smeared on the carpet and there was ripped skin and body parts everywhere. It was unlike anything I had ever seen despite the wars our pack had entered into before and I was stunned. There was no way we would be able to recognise this person so Jayden would just have to tell us who it was.
I turned my attention to Jayden’s unconscious body on the ground. Corey’s blood-covered wolf stood by his head, licking his face gently. That was not Corey’s blood that covered his fur though… My eyes shifted back to Jayden. Why was he unconscious? He was covered in blood and tattered clothing… his blood? It seemed like it.
“Ja-Jay?” Bentley stuttered stepping forward to check on his friend.
“Whoa -” I grabbed Bentley and pulled him back when Corey’s blackened eyes moved at us and he let out a low, warning snarl, leaning back like he was about to pounce at us.
“Corey,” Jason began but was interrupted by another, more intimidating growl.
“What’s up with him?” Trent muttered.
“I… He must have blacked out. He doesn’t want anyone close to Jayden right now… I doubt he even knows who we are…” At the moment, his sole purpose was to protect his mate… but Jayden was not healing. Corey did not seem to notice that, he probably thought we were there to harm his mate. “We have to get Jay to a doctor,” I said. Why wasn’t Jayden healing?! He had drunk some of Izabella’s blood, it was supposed to make him heal faster! I stepped closer but Corey jumped in front of Jayden, he gave me a daring sneer before following it with a menacing bark. “Corey, calm down. I’m Sean –” I was cut off by another dangerous growl and sighed. Last resort…
“Lay off, Beta. That’s an order.” I spoke using my Alpha tone. Even if Corey didn’t recognise us, he would not be able to disobey me.
He seemed conflicted but gave a soft whine as he backed away from Jayden and laid down beside the bed, whining as he stared at his mate.
“Get Jayden to a doctor while I fix Corey,” I said.
“Fix Corey?” Jason looked at me.
“He’s clearly not himself,” I said as the others took Jayden away.
“Sift,” I ordered while digging through Jayden’s wardrobe before tossing the first thing I touched towards Corey.
When I looked back at Corey, he was back in human form, his eyes back to their calm blue and the coat I had thrown wrapped around his waist. His dazed, disoriented gaze ran around the room, trailing along the blood-covered walls as if surprised by all of it before he lifted a hand to his bare chest and looked down seeming confused.
“Corey.” His eyes snapped towards me when I spoke, “Who am I?” I asked. He stared at me for a few seconds before replying.
“Alpha…” He said slowly. Well… I smirked. Was it that easy to tell that I was an Alpha even when he was completely out of it? I must look pretty strong and respectable…
“His name, Corey,” Jason said rolling his eyes at my reaction.
Corey squinted. “Uh… I…” Corey stared at me, “I don’t know…” He said before he took a breath, “Should-should I… should I know?” He asked looking a little afraid.
I sighed. “You know you did this?” I motioned around the room and his eyes followed again.
“I’m… pretty messed up then.” He mumbled.
I couldn’t help but laugh before I straightened my face as I looked at him. “We came here because you were freaking out about Jayden –”
“My mate.” He interrupted narrowing his eyes at me.
“Calm down, I am not a threat to him. Yes, that Jayden, and when we got here, you saw someone hurting him –” I stopped when I saw his face turn from confused to frightened.
“Jayden – Where-where is Jay –?” He looked around sounding panicked.
“Doctor,” Jason said.
“Why?” He asked, his eyes blackening again.
“Calm down, Corey. He wasn’t healing, the doctor’s got it.” I said.
Corey opened his mouth but didn’t say anything. Instead, he leaned his head back against the wall and sighed. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking but he seemed to still be processing what just happened. I kept watching him making sure he did not suddenly go insane again.
“On the bright side… You killed the guy.” Jason said. I had to double-take when I saw the finger he was holding.
“Put that shit down, you idiot!” I snapped at him. He laughed throwing it at me. I dodged it and smacked the back of his head. What the hell was wrong with him?!
“I did…?” Corey asked softly, “Yeah… I must have.” He smiled looking around. “He’s dead. They’re both dead.” He muttered sounding relieved.
“I’m confused.” I admitted, “Who was this?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know what his name was. Let’s get to Jay,” he said lifting his phone from the torn mess that used to be his pants.
*****
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