The Alpha's Mate

Chapter 35

Presley

I woke to a sleeping Charlie holding onto my hand. I gripped his hand, and the small omega shot up.

"You're awake." He said groggily. I gave him a soft smile, I moved to sit up, but Charlie's hand held my hand firmly, keeping me down. "No, don't move... Your burns are too severe."

"Did they catch him?" I grunted out, suddenly feeling the pain that Charlie had mentioned.

"No." Charlie swallowed. "Papa and Alexandre said that his tracks disappeared in the woods."

"I think he was with a witch." I met Charlie's eyes, but he immediately averted his gaze from my eyes. "Right before I fell out, there was this lady with a thick Irish accent that was talking to him." Charlie cringed, he almost pulled his hand from mine, but I kept my grip firm on his. "What's the matter, angel?" I furrowed my brows.

"This is my fault...." Charlie said ever so quietly. I could hardly hear him despite having my enhanced hearing.

"Angel," I pulled my hand from his and cupped his face in the palm of my hand. "None of this was your fault. None of it. He manipulated everyone, not just you." I so badly wanted to pull him into my grasp to make sure he knew that he had done no wrong and that everything was okay.

"I'm just so sorry, Presley. If I had known he would have done something like this, I wouldn't have tried to force both of you into this." I could see the tears rimming his eyes.

"Charlie, baby, don't worry. None of this is your fault." I brushed the stray tear that had fallen out of his eye. "I'm okay. I'm here."

"You're not okay," His voice shook, pointing to the left side of my body. "He burned you, Presley. He beat you up! This is my fault!" Charlie heaved out, put his hands in his hair, and began to pull. I could tell this had been eating him up inside for too long. I had been gone for days.

"It's not, Charlie," I sat up despite the burning pain. Charlie mattered more, and I had plenty of time to rest later on. "It's his, all his fault. You were a victim as much as I was."

"You wouldn't have been if I weren't so– so stupid." He cried out.

"Baby, we make mistakes to learn from them. But this was not a mistake of yours. This was manipulation and lies. You and I had no way of knowing this was going to happen." I groaned in pain when I moved my scorched arm.

"Don't move." He untangled his hands from his hair and jumped to his feet. He gently pushed me back down. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't even talk about this. You're hurt." He wiped the tears from his eyes, sniffling.

"You may not be hurt physically like me, but I know you're hurting in your noggin'." I chuckled, cringing in pain. "Plus, you're carrying my baby. You come first before me right now. I'll be okay."

Charlie let out another whine and wiped at his face vigorously to rid himself of the tears he had cried. "I'm sorry." He mumbled again.

"C'mere?" I motioned for him to climb into bed with me by patting on the mattress beside me. My omega crawled into the bed and laid on his side, tucking himself into my embrace. I let him settle down for a few moments until he was calm. He rubbed his finger on my chest right above where my heart was in circles. Having him next to me, his warmth made me feel whole again. I felt better with him right next to me. "So tell me what happened while I was gone."

He proceeded to tell me about Rowan and Erin, the same Erin that Mateo had told us was dead. About their newborn child. And told me about the weird circumstance that Karsen was their mate as well. Which was weird on its own. He told me how worried he was for me and that he hardly slept a wink while I was gone.