My Broken Luna (REWRITTEN VERSION)

8. My Favorite Person

8. My Favorite Person: Brody's Pov

I toss the chloroform-soaked rag in the trash after Char goes limp in Xander's arms. By the time I return, he's wiping her tear-stained cheeks and moving her hair away from her face, both of us feeling guilty for causing her panic attack. "It was the only thing we could do to help." I state, attempting to reassure my best friend that our actions were necessary. "We had to."

He places her on the couch and props her head up with a pillow, seeming to have a conversation with his wolf before proceeding to add even more. After he has one under her back, knees, and feet, along with a blanket over her body, I stop him, "I think she's good."

"She's not good." he growls at me, not knowing how to handle this situation. Usually when Xander knocks someone out, he isn't worried about what happens to them. This case is obviously different; the guilt in his eyes is prominent as he looks at her.

Char's panic attack lasted around forty-five minutes and we were both unable to help her. I tried shaking her out of it while Xander tried to comfort her in a softer way, but everything we did just made it worse. She didn't even seem to register her mate-bond with Xander and tried fighting her way out of his arms. Even trying to take hold of her hands increased her panic.

The reason why this whole situation is so complicated is because Char is really the only source we have to get information from. Since we won't tell us, we have to resort to using her fear to identify her former Alpha by taking her to the meeting. This scenario isn't preferable by any means, but it's the only way.

"Char's afraid of people in power. We're going to have to prepare her to be around so many of us." I say, knowing it's going to be a challenge. Although she has Beta-blood in her and is the Luna of our pack, she's still not in the right headspace of projecting her authority. There a lot of Luna-duties that she's just naturally taken on without anyone having to guide or teach her, however, she doesn't recognize the power she holds in the pack.

"I don't think that will be too much of a problem," Xander responds, crouched by her side and holding her hand. "It's her former Alpha and Beta we have to worry about."

We proceed to discuss our strategy for the meeting and the protocols we'll have in place for when we take them into our custody. Our plan is to spend the least amount of time on foreign territory as possible. Once we identify them, we're leaving.

The discussion we have about punishing her abusers angers us so much that we end up in the basement gym to blow off some steam. We both want revenge for all the pain Char went through and it infuriated us every time we think about the trauma she's faced. I notice the large difference in how Xander acts when we leave the room. He's become good at masking his anger around her, but doesn't bother suppressing it if she's not in his presence. We've been best friends for as long as I can remember and the impact that Char has on him is drastic. She's the only person capable of keeping his emotions at bay.

He loves her, I know that for sure, but for the sake of taking their relationship at a steady pace, he's not telling her yet. I love my sister as well, but I know it's still too soon for me to say it to her. The concept of love is complicated and we can't just throw it on her before she's ready.

Xander's really good with being patient with her, which I'm grateful for, but I know it kills him inside when she doesn't know how to express her feelings for him or understand how much he cares for her. He's told me about the conversations he's tried to have about her thoughts as them as a couple and it doesn't seem like Char regards them two as an item. It makes us all worry that she just goes along with what Xander does because she thinks it's expected of her, which I know hurts him even more. Their relationship really is tricky considering the fact that no one really knows what goes on in Char's mind.