The Alpha's Hunter

Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Chase

Have you ever felt like dying? Or, at least, have you ever been in so much pain you felt like you were going to die? Because that's exactly how I'm feeling right now.

Maybe that's because I actually am dying.

My mind wandered through the dark unconsciousness, but I still knew what was happening. I knew how I had left things; Hailey crying above me and the silver bullet in my chest all but digging its way into my heart. It's sort of like Hailey, in that sense, though she didn't have to do much digging.

The pain was beginning to reach that point where I couldn't take it anymore and I wanted to give into it-- give into the darkness surrounding me.

But then I heard it, Hailey's voice.

"Stay with me," her voice was faint, barely a whisper but I knew it was hers. "Please don't leave me."

I wanted to scream, yell and fight. I wanted to grab her by the face and swear to her that I won't ever leave her side. I wanted to kiss her passionately and love her with every fiber of my being. I wanted to show her exactly how much she means to me, but I couldn't.

I couldn't move, couldn't speak and I couldn't even open my damn eyes to see her.

A shredding feeling burst through my chest and that's when I really knew I had lost this final battle. I screamed and fought and kicked, but nothing worked. I couldn't wake up and couldn't get to her. I was nothing.

And so I gave in, and let myself slip away completely. Maybe I'd see her on the other side some day.

But giving in didn't lead to darkness like I had expected, but rather with me standing in a plain white room, a red wooden door across from me. The door called to me, pulled me with so much force I wasn't sure what to do other than walk to it. Placing my hand on the doorknob, I twisted it and pushed the door open.

Immediately I was greeted with a familiar sweet perfume, which matched the familiar sweet face in front of me. I nearly choked, "Mom?"

She walked up to me and wrapped me in her arms, "Oh, my baby."

Despite the childish nickname, I didn't fight her and instead wrapped my arms around her even tighter. This wasn't real, but it still felt like it. It felt like she was here.

"Come on, let's go sit with your father," she said, stepping back and giving me a view of my dad, sitting at the table behind her, smiling with three mugs in front of him. I nodded and followed her, sitting in between the two of them, sipping on the coffee.

Mom smiled at me, that same old twinkle in her eyes, "Tell me everything about her."

"What?" I questioned.

Dad gave a hearty laugh, "Your mate, son. Your mother has been waiting-- very impatiently, might I add-- to know all about this Hailey Argent."

I smiled at the thought of her, "She's amazing. Everything I ever could have asked for and more."

Mom smiled encouragingly.

"She was a hunter though, and things got rough," I frowned, recalling the night I had found out about her, when I had found that damn knife.

Placing her hand over mine, my mom smiled softly, "But she changed her ways, didn't she? She saw you for the good man that you are, and showed her that hunting was not the right thing."

I nodded, "Yeah. She helped us."

"Not just the pack son," dad clapped his hand on my shoulder, "she helped you. I can see it-- I have seen it. You changed so much, even in the first moment you saw her. You finally became a man when you met her, no longer a childish boy."

"Gee, thanks," I spoke dryly at his words.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners like they always did, "You know I'm just fuckin with ya."

"Language!" Mom chastised, earning laughs from both dad and I.

"So you love her," mom stated more than asked, but I still nodded. "And she loves you?"

I thought back to my last waking moments with her, and her light voice telling me that she did love me too, more than I knew apparently. I smiled at the though, "Yeah. I think she does."

She threw me a disappointed look, "Then what are you doing here?"

"What?"

"Why are you here with us dead folks, when you should be there, with your very alive and waiting mate?" Dad pressed, sipping on his coffee. I furrowed my brows.

Wait a minute, "I'm not dead?"

They both smiled at me sadly, and dad answered, "Not just yet, my boy."

I looked back at the red door, the only exit for me, a way back to Hailey. I could go back, live my life, be with Hailey and start a family sometime in the future. Or stay here, let everything go, and reunite with my parents.

"You know you'll come back, right?" Mom spoke, grabbing my hands in hers. "If you go back, you will die some day. And when you do, we'll still be here waiting for you."

"Yeah?" I questioned.

They both nodded. Mocking their motion, I tilted my head up and down and took a deep breath, standing up and releasing it. I faced the red door, and my parents came up behind me, standing on either side. With their hands on my shoulders, I could feel them and their support coursing through me.

"I'm proud of you son. You're a good Alpha," my dad's voice boomed from my left side.

Mom's angelic voice came from the right, "I love you, Chase. You're a good man."

"I love you guys, and I miss you," I told them, looking from one another, "and I know Lily does too."

Mom smiled sadly, "Tell her hello for us."

"And that we love her so very much," dad chimed in.

I nodded and walked forward, placing my hand on that doorknob once again, this time knowing exactly where it was going to take me.

Pulling it open, I stepped into the bright white room, stepping into it and suddenly I was falling, tumbling through open space until I wasn't. It was just darkness, with a beeping noise to keep me company.

Peeling my eyes open, I found myself to be staring at a somewhat familiar white ceiling. Turning my head, I found what I was looking for.

A cute brunette by my side, asleep sitting in a chair with her head on the bed, her hand tightly gripping mine.

Hailey.

~~
A/N: guess that means everyone's alive, huh? ;)

QOTC: what did you think about Chase's parents??