My sins (on hold)

The tape

DANTE'S POV:

I could barely resist the pull I felt to be near Odette. At first, I couldn't understand how Caden could listen to Odette's wish and leave his mate alone. Then, I found out he didn't completely respect her wish, he hacked into the security feed from the school and watched her every move. 

I caught him camped out in his room with a bag of chips, crumbs across his sheets and his computer in his lap. He was intensely watching the screen as if Odette would disappear if he moved his nose further away from the screen.

I left him alone. I left him to mope. I was dealing with my own demons, now that Odette was gone. The only thing keeping me from entering the ring and never coming out was my hope that Odette would come back. 

He didn't show for dinner, breakfast, or lunch. He kept his door locked and we all let him have his space in the beginning. 

We all became more worried about him as time went on. Even Caspian regretted yelling at Odette and Atlas admitted to being in the wrong. None of these apologies or soft spoken words  behind a locked door got Caden out of his bed.

Until one day, he left his room in tears, frantically calling my name. He flew down the stairs, almost tripping over himself. He caught himself on the railing and bent slightly at the waist to caught his breath.

When he looked up, my fist clenched and I grounded my teeth together. His under eyes had darkened into a bruised purple. His once vibrant, bouncy curls had become an unkept mess on top of his head.

He looked so tired. If I had tried to convinced Odette to stay, none of this would have happened. I failed him.

I pushed aside my feelings and calmly placed my hand on Caden's shoulder to guide him towards a seat at the table that he hadn't attended in a while. Before I could open my mouth and ask him what rattled him so badly, he grasped the collar of my shirt and yanked my down. His breath was hot on my neck, "I fell asleep and - and."

I cut him off, "va bene amore mio. Ricorda di respirare." 

I hunched down to cocoon Caden in my body and give him some cover from Atlas's prying eyes. "respirare. Tell me what happened, baby."

I gently ran my finger through his hair, ignoring the tangled and knots from disregarding his hygiene. His ragged breathing finally evened out and he pulled away slightly, indicating he was ready to talk. I let him move away and watched him sharply, curious as to what caused him to become so freaked out.

"It's Odette." I tensed, anxious for him to finish. "She - she," he took another deep breathe, "while I was sleeping, she fell and hit her head, and it was bad I think, and she passed out, and I didn't even know because I was asleep, and -"

I interrupted his stuttering speech, knowing he would just keep beating himself up, "this incident was not your fault. You need your sleep, nobody blames you for anything. Now, how about I take a look at the video on the way to the school to check up on her?"

He nodded enthusiastically and jumped up from the chair, ready to bolt towards the door. I stopped him by firmly grabbing his waist and spun him around towards the spiraling stairs. "Why don't you go take a shower and freshen up, I will get the car ready and grab your laptop."

Caden scoffed, "no. We have to leave now. She needs me."

I ignored the sting, 'she needs me.' She needed Caden, not me. She needed her mate.

I fisted the back of his shirt and yanked it back which forced Caden's scowling expression to face my stern one. "That wasn't a suggestion, Caden." I let go of his shirt and pushed him towards the stairs, "go."