Sleeping Dogs

Chapter 10: Good Things Come

Chapter Ten:
Good Things Come

Jake picked up Caroline's keys off of the living room floor. No one had said anything since she arrived, no one had said much of anything that night at all. He looked around the room at his brothers, making eye contact with each and every one and their imprints. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. Charlie was at that station and offered to come but Sue insisted they were fine. When one of them hurt, they all hurt. No one had brought anything over but themselves, it was all they could do. Show their support by just being there.

Caroline had come late and didn't say anything more to them but asking where her sister was and then she ran up the stairs and left them alone again.

He examined her keys. She hadn't added any keychains to it and he found it odd. There was only the key ring, his truck's key, the key fob and Charlie's house key. Upstairs, he and the wolves could hear them cry and there was nothing any of them could do about it but listen. He pocketed her keys and walked slowly upstairs, he couldn't help it. She was hurting.

He wanted to comfort her, to hold her, to whisper soft things in her ear and promise to make everything okay. When he got to the door he sank against, sitting himself down on the ground next to Sam.

The older man stared straight ahead, silent tears rolled down his cheeks as they listened. Sam, to the love of his life, the would be mother of his child. Jake, to the woman who made him feel recklessly happy and irrevocably angry all at the same time.

Jake lifted an arm and placed it around Sam's shoulders and immediately the older wolf turned into him and cried into his chest. The girl's needed one another right now, and boys needed each other.

When Emily finally lulled to sleep around 1 AM Caroline slid out of bed and filled up two glasses of water in the room's private bathroom sink. She glanced at herself in the mirror, wiping away most of the dark smudges under her eyes from her makeup. Her eyes were puffy and her hair was a mess but she put her hair in a bun and walked back into the bedroom. She wasn't going to look any better tomorrow.

She placed one glass on Emily's bedside table and the other on Sam's before kissing her half-sister on the forehead and sneaking out of the room. She wasn't shocked to find Sam curled up and sleeping outside of the door, but she was surprised to find Jake next to him. She would have smiled under different circumstances, she may have even laughed. Instead, she knelt down next to Sam and shook him gently.

"You should be with her," was all she said and he immediately got up and went into the room. Before he shut the door he nodded to her and she gave him a small smile and nodded in return. Caroline stared at the door for a few moments before she turned back to the other sleeping form in the hallway.

Her heart broke as she watched him. Dried tears stains streaked down his cheeks, his hair was sticking out in all directions and the way he was curled in on himself made him seem so small. It was a heartbreaking contrast to the usual larger than life man he always presented himself as. His brow was furrowed in his sleep and his breathing was deep but semi-irregular.

Caroline placed a hand on his feverishly hot arm. "Jacob," she said softly as he stirred underneath her touch. "You should get to bed. It's late." His eyelids fluttered open and he stared at her blankly for a few moments, as if trying to orient himself. The pain in his expression was so deep that Caroline had a hard time looking him in the eyes. Was her face as easily readable. "Jake?" She repeated, placing a small and neat smile on her lips, hoping it appeared comforting.

He clenched his jaw and started to sit up. "Is she?" He let the question hang.

"Sam is with her," Caroline said. "You should find a place to sleep, if you stay on the floor you'll be sore in the morning." She smiled weakly at him. Emily wasn't around to mother anyone, she thought. She took care of all of them.