Meeting In The Middle

Little Black Dress

The heavy silence after the name pierced through me.

Alex.

I sink into the hospital chair and think.

"All the deaths are my fault." I whimper. "I shouldn't have come here with you guys. Without me, Alex, Keith." I stop for a second to manage the tears. "They would be still alive. I would still be safe and everyone would be happy."

"Not me." Ryder says. "I would be mateless and this entire pack runs under me. Would they want a grouchy leader? Or one that was compassionate from his mate?"

By now, I couldn't even comprehend what was going to happen. What if that pack comes back? Then even more lives will be lost. The faint scent of the hospital room makes me dizzy. Ryder notices and grips me on the arm to steady me. He guides me out the door and glances back at a restless Dylan on the way out.

"Funeral's at 4." He told him, then closed the door.

"He can't even walk." I retort. "Let him rest."

"If he's gonna be part of our pack, he has to learn to endure." He smirks. "By orders of the Alpha."

I snort. "Every member of the pack should rest to their full health so the pack will stay strong and bonded." I mock his evil, pretty smirk. "By orders of the Luna."

He grins and scoops me up in his arms, kissing me on the nose. I almost forget about Alex but I don't. I tell him to put me down because I need to go dress shopping. It's been a while since I last saw Fern. She must be very worried about me.

I plant a quick kiss on my Alpha and scurry down the hall and down a flight of stairs. I look for the room number 188. Fern's room. I knock politely and she doesn't answer. I knock again, louder and I finally hear shuffling in the room. There was also a male voice. I suppress a smile.

Fern throws open and door and her wide eyes meet mine. She grins widely. "Hey! Rosella! It's great to see you again!" She throws her arms around me and hugs me.

"Hey Fern, it's been a while." I reply.

She ushers me into her organized room and I automatically see a guy in her kitchen. I laugh when he turns around. Gray? He was wearing a loose green T-shirt and an apron around his waist. It had colourful cupcakes and kittens on it. I laugh at his attempt at baking. A soggy goop of something lay on the counter in a bowl. Fern grins.

"So meet Gray, my mate." Fern smiles proudly at the tall guy in front of me.

"And Gray meet—"

"Ah honey, I already know this fine girl." Gray cuts her off sweetly. "Rosella." He acknowledges me with a nod of his head.

"Nice to see you Gray." I reply, turning back to Fern. "Congratulations!"

She blushes and gestures me to sit on the couch. "So what's up? Just dropping by or you wanna do something today?"

"Well it's Alex's funeral today." I gulp as memories of Alex come rushing up. "I need a black dress to wear. Can we go shopping right now?"

I hear Gray's groan from the kitchen. "I'm not coming!" He yells and goes back to kneading the goopy dough. We laugh and Fern nods. "I need to get out as well to fetch new heels too."

I smile and wait for her to get her coat and maybe exchange a couple kisses with Gray before meeting me at the door. I grin at her as she walks to me, a little dazed.

"Bye Gray!" I call and step out the door. Fern is a step behind me and she bounds up to catch up with me. Her cheeks are slightly flushed.

"So how did you and Gray find each other?" I attempt to start a topic.

"The day you left with the other Alpha, everyone had grouped together to watch you leave of course." Fern explains. "Then I guess we just found each other through the people and he took me out right away." She pauses to glance at me. "You worried me sick that day."

"Well," I smile. "I'm sorry. But I had to do it."

"You have to trust the Alpha. He knows what he's doing and he will get things his way." Fern tells me confidently.

A silence hangs in the air as we walk to Alpha Ryder's room.

"It's funny how this kind of love works, don't you think?" She sighs dreamily.

I do think so. No matter what comes between us, the bond is never broken. "Yeah." I agree. "Mates have something special."

I knock on the door and let myself in. Ryder is in some business conference with another wolf. He seemed pretty deep in concentration so I slip out quietly.

"I've got a car if that's what you needed," she tells me. I smile.

"That's exactly what I needed."

She leads me outside to the pack parking area and stops at a shiny silver car. It looked brand new. I gasp when I see it.

"No way." I say with disbelief at the beautiful car. She nods proudly.

"Gray got it for me." She says, a light in her eyes. "As a present."

I shake my head at her love-driven face.

"Lead the way, lover girl."

We end up at a fancy dress store. Through the glass, three mannequins stood with bellowing dresses that took my breath away. Fern is also dazzled by the dresses and ushers me in. I wasn't looking for pretty ones. I was looking for dresses fit for a funeral.

A funeral for Alex.

I start to dread the dress picking. There's no dress that's good enough for guilt. It's something that is far too valuable. I drag myself in, losing my shine from a couple seconds ago. Fern gives me a friendly hug and pulls me to the back of the store where the black dresses hang on hooks.

There are dresses with satin and jewels. Leather dresses, thick fabric. I didn't want any of them. I kept searching, nothing seemed to fit the attire. Nothing to fit the emotions building up inside me.

I slump down on a chair and frown. "It's no use Fern." I grumble. "Nothing is right."

Fern is behind a large stack of black fabric, rummaging through it when she suddenly picks out a beautiful black dress that caught my attention right away.

The hem of the dress is a dark satin. The bow around the waist gives it a look of darkness. The dress cascades down to my knees. I grin at Fern. "This is the one."