An Alpha's Bond

Twenty-Four

   Late into the night, I woke up to the sound of my bedroom door locking behind somebody. At first, it took me a minute to process and blink away the sleep, and when I did, I internally groaned at what I saw. When I sat up to see what on earth could have been going on that was so loud, I saw Hunter standing in front of my door sheepishly. He only looked at me for a minute, before he silently entered my closet and grabbed a blanket.
   "Why are you in here?" I whispered, probably a lot nicer than I should have been.
  "Alex is still chasing me, and he has a key to my bedroom. Can I see what I did now? Please." I didn't say anything to him, but I didn't move or turn my head when he turned on the bedroom light. His hands rested against my face, checking me over. I had to resist the urge to lean into the touch, remembering that the same gentle hands could bring tears too. "Fuck. I don't know why I did it. I don't know why I got so angry— but I know that I am really sorry. It's not good enough, it's nowhere near, I know. But fuck, I don't what else I can do."
  "I'm pissed at you for hitting me again. It's not fair that I have to second guess whether you'll hit me when you're angry. It's not fair." he nods, turning away when he started to tear up. I tried to catch his eyeline, but couldn't. "Maybe you should go for anger management to help. It might help it."
  "My Dad said that I'm lucky that I'm already in charge of the pack because if it were up to him after this I wouldn't have taken control," he rambled, speaking too fast for me to catch on to what he was saying straight away. "Said that if I can't be mature enough to handle my anger then why should I have this power? He's right."
  "Hunter, you should go to anger management. If things are going to work and this is going to stop, you need help with this anger. It's unpredictable, and I can't spend my life tiptoeing around you. That's not fair," he made some noise that sounded like a whimper, and I carried on. "You're my mate, H, and I'm an omega. Children aren't out of the question, but that can't happen if you're snapping like that."
   "I don't want to hurt you, I hate that I did this again. I hate that I hurt you. I hate myself. Gods, you should hate me for this. At least enough to kick me out of your room and tell me that I made another mistake coming in here."
  "I don't hate you, Hunter. I'm mad that you hurt me, but I also saw how fast you switched. It was like you weren't even in there, and then all of a sudden you were. You're already in trouble with your Dad, and Alex, and Kyrell probably," he huffed and shook his head. "I think that you've spent the last few hours beating yourself up, and I know that you will make it up to me."
  He nearly collapsed on my bed, crying and out of breath.
  "We should get some rest soon. Tomorrow you can start making it up to me, right?" he didn't say anything for a while, holding my hand as he cried, his body trembling next to mine. I let go of one, slowly rubbing his back when I recognised what was going on. "Sit up, H. Come on."
  "I'm sorry." he whispered, not listening to what I had said. Having his face buried in the pillows or blankets would only make things worse, so I pulled him by the shoulder and repeated myself.
  "Just move over a little bit. That's it. You're suffocating yourself there, it's not safe. Okay? I'm right here."
  "Go... you shouldn't be." I pulled again, but he refused.
  "You made a mistake and you feel horrible enough about it. I'm right here, okay?" he nods, choking on the same air he was gasping for. "I'm okay now, why don't you take a closer look at me? Right here."
  "No, no, Alex is gonna hate me too. Everyone will hate me." he panted, not moving from his spot. I lay down next to him, facing him. He was nearly doubled over, though, and his breathing was already quite bad. He was going to make himself sick. "I'm sorry, fuck, so sorry." when he started heaving, I moved back and grabbed my bin before doing my best to tug him up. All I knew was that I hated to see him in such a state, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do to help.
  "I'm just gonna go get you some water, H, I'll be right back." he didn't answer what I was saying, shifting and falling onto the floor as he heaved harder. Instead of getting water when I left, I turned the opposite direction to the bathroom, not seeing Alex anywhere— though I wasn't sure he was what Hunter needed anyway. Seeing Alex would probably make things worse for him.

   "What do you mean he's on your floor in a bad state?" the old Alpha grumbled after several minutes passing, not too pleased I had woken him. He was snoring and mumbling when I had gotten to his bedroom, but I was left with waking him for the sake of Hunter.
  "Well, right now he's on my bedroom floor crying, throwing up and not really able to breathe properly." he nodded, following me to my room; to where Hunter had curled up under my desk, still trembling and crying. I didn't pay too much attention to what he was saying to his Dad, not wanting to pry when I realised that it had escalated outside of our own situation. They sat there for a moment before Hunter was coaxed from under the desk and carried out of my bedroom like a child- his hair being stroked and his crying being shushed. I didn't think that I had ever seen such a gentle side of his Father. I didn't follow them for long, and Alex appeared from around the corner. He looked exhausted.
  "Don't do anything else to him, please?" I whispered, not able to get the sight of his desperation out of my mind. Even after he had hurt me and I had wanted him to know it was wrong, I couldn't watch him get like that. "He feels guilty about everything and—"
  "I know, I know. He's beaten himself up enough. Are you okay?" I nodded, inviting Alex into my room so he could get into Cova's bed. I stood waiting for about fifteen minutes until Hunter's Dad finally left his room and looked in my direction. He was conflicted.
  "Go see him before he falls asleep if that's alright with you. He's a little rough and could use a mate's comfort. I understand if you don't want to be there with him." I gave him a nod and smiled, making my way over to his bedroom.

   Hunter looked up as I shut the door behind me, humming as I approached. He was buried under his blankets and clearly quite tired. I watched him carefully, hoping that he had managed to calm down.
  "Wells, you don't have to—"
  "I wanna sleep here with you," I whispered, shuffling out of my jeans and socks. "It scares me to see you so upset and I need to know that you're okay."
  He lifted the blankets without saying anything, and as I climbed into the bed, I spotted claw marks up his own arms and across his stomach. He had done that to himself. When he realised that I had noticed, he covered them with his arm.
  "Will be now you're here. Dad gave me a couple of my meds to calm me down... 'm just tired now. They're anxiety scratches, I can't always control shifting," I lay my head on his chest and nodded, not saying anything about it. "I'm sorry... shouldn't have to see me like this. I just keep fucking up."
  "It might not be nice to see, but if we're going to spend the rest of our lives together, then that is something that will happen. Okay?" he nods, eyes closed. "Just get some sleep now."
  "Okay... thank you... gonna sort out anger management," he whispered, his words coming out slowly and nearly illegible.
  "You'll make it up to me, I know you will." he hums, not really listening as he started to snore.