How to Tame a Demon [BxB]

Ch. 40 - Straight to Voicemail

Waking up without Zekaj was something Hunter never wanted to get used to. His bed felt empty without his soulmate there. 

He had slept in this bed for years without Zekaj, so shouldn't it feel normal? For the first couple of months, Zekaj didn't even sleep in bed with him, so honestly, it hadn't even been a full two years.

But his bed felt so empty.

His room felt empty.

Hunter was empty.

It had been about a week of him being waking up without Zekaj. It was terrible. Hunter laid alone in his room all day except for the few moments his dad came to talk to him but Hunter didn't talk to him much. It was mostly his father talking to him or trying to pry information out of him.

Jaxon had finally decided that Hunter was able to go to school. Hunter said he was ready days ago but his father didn't agree.

Bandages were still wrapped around his body and one on his hand where the binding contract mark was burned off of him. Both were slowly healing. A lot of the medicine his father was using was showing little progress.

Truth be told, Hunter didn't feel like he could make it through the school day. His body felt incredibly weak and was only getting worse. The bond was slowly tearing him apart from the inside.

Getting dressed this morning had taken a toll on Hunter already. The broken mage sat in his car in the middle of the school's parking lot. Hunter needed to head back in soon, but he was just waiting to regain energy, which took a long time now. 

Being alone with no one in his head meant he had to listen to his thoughts. Not the normal ones, but the small whispers in the back of his head telling him terrible things.

You're not good enough.

You failed Zekaj.

Your family hates you.

Everyone is embarrassed by you.

Hunter tried his best not to listen to those mean thoughts in the back of his head, but it was hard not to listen to them when Zekaj was gone. There was no one there to drown them out.

From his car, Hunter stared at the brick school building wishing he could just drive home, but he couldn't do that. At least not this minute.

Hunter's plan was simple and believable. Call his father and say that he's too tired to make it through the rest of the school day. Then drive home and summon Zekaj and run for the hills hand and hand, never looking back.

It was an alright plan. He felt like his father would believe it. The only problem was if his father didn't actually go back to the institute and decided to stay home instead. It was an over-an-hour drive from the institute home so he had a solid amount of time to begin working if he couldn't convince his dad to stay at work.

All Hunter had to do now was make it partly through the school day. No one knew that he summoned Zekaj besides some mages and the alpha of their local pack.

So Hunter was safe to assume that Aj knew, which meant that his loving mate also knew.

Hunter wasn't sure about Max. He had thought they had an unsaid agreement but now he wasn't sure. Max could've been the one to tell his father that Zekaj was in his head. But he also saw the mate mark, so what was the truth?

The car door opened with a thud as Hunter pushed with all of his strength to get it open.

The sickly mage threw his hood up and put his book bag on carefully as he slowly made his way towards the school.