Shane

"Just talk to her" Dom urged, pushing me closer to Wendy's bed. She looked like she was sleeping, but she was in some type of comatose state. Dominic is convinced that speaking to her would somehow wake her up.

I thought otherwise. Speaking to her would be like speaking to someone who is passed out. I'll get no response. I'll practically be talking to myself. I wouldn't know what to even say. And I would look crazy talking to someone who couldn't talk back to me.

Maddi looked up at me and stopped caressing Wendy's head. "It might help" she stated. I shook my head, looking at Wendy again. I wanted to try everything to wake her up. But this was just something that I couldn't do. I couldn't get my mouth to form words. I couldn't go closer to her just to touch her. I couldn't act like everything was okay.

I was frightened. What if I touched her and I didn't feel the sparks? It's just not something I could handle. As for speaking. There was just so much that I wanted to say. There was too much that I wanted to say. But when I say those things; I want to be able to see her reaction. I want to see if she would smile at me. I want to see if her eyes would light up. I want to see her alive.

Technically she's alive. She is breathing. But it's not the same without her hazel eyes or her blabbering mouth. It's not the same if she's not able to be herself. The body on the bed is just the shell of her. It's not Wendy.

Wendy is my mate. She's the girl who loves Oreo ice cream. The girl who blurts out her thoughts without any control over it. The girl who climbs trees better than a monkey. The girl who has no reaction when she brings up sex; but would blush like crazy if someone made a sexual innuendo. The girl who kept me from breaking possibly the best friendship I've ever had. The girl that accidently got a waitress fired. The girl that no other could even compare to.

"I get that you're scared that it's false hope and it might not work" Dom tried to empathize with me. "But what if it actually does work and you don't try to wake her up?" He questioned.

I didn't respond as I continued to stare at Wendy. She lost a lot of color. She was paler than usual. Her lips weren't painted in that red lipstick that I had grown accustomed to. And she wasn't wearing her clothes. The doctors had put her in a gown thing that opens in the front. It's weird, but Doc did it for a reason.

She kept "crashing" as he called it. They would have to rip open her shirt and revive her with shock paddles. She crashed three times yesterday during the surgery thing. I felt it as her heart stopped beating. It was like my heart dropping down to my feet then popping back up and hitting my gut. After the second time, I came inside the room and just watched them operate.

She died. She died three times. But she fought through the surgery and made it out alive. I thought she would immediately wake up and everything would be okay. That wasn't the case. She laid still on the bed as if she was paralyzed from head to toe.

"Come on. I think you just need a break for a while" Tyson said, guiding me out of the room. "It's Sophia's birthday. We can go back to the pack house and see if she found her mate. You know, give him hell and whatnot" he joked, slightly bumping me.

When I didn't respond, he stopped moving and pulled me to a stop as well. We were right beside Ralph's porch. "I can't understand what you're going through, but I can only imagine that it's shit. I don't know what's going through your head. I don't know if you have regrets. I don't know why you're not trying to talk to her" he said honestly. "I do know something though. I know that things will only get worse if you don't get it out of your head. I know that it fucking sucks. I know that you need to keep yourself busy so you don't breakdown" he stated.

I took a deep breath, slowly nodding my head. "Alright then. Plaster a smile on your face and let's go to this birthday party" he urged. "I heard that Sophia bought a chocolate fountain" he stated, grinning at me. "I'll race you to the pack house" Before I even agreed, he screamed 'go' and ran off.

Chuckling, I ran after him. It was easy to catch up, but I think he might have been going easy on me. We made it to the packhouse in record time with Tyson beating me there. I walked in first, being greeted with the sound of numerous conversations. Everyone's head turned to me and I saw their expressions fall. Janessa, Dominic's mate, emerged from the crowd of people.

She smiled sadly at me. I shook my head, letting out a breath of air. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to think about it" I told her quietly. "We're here to celebrate Soph's 18th birthday!" I exclaimed, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers.

Ted came up to me, patting my back and guiding me deeper into the house. "If only the birthday girl was here. Who is late to their own party anyway?" He questioned.

Cole showed up next to Ted and Derek appeared next to me. "Maybe she found her mate and their having some alone time" Cole said with a smirk. "Damn. I would be jealous as hell of her mate. He's one lucky bastard" he stated.

Derek hollered in agreement with Ted chuckling along as they all high-fived. "Have you ever seen that girl in a bikini?" Derek let out a low whistle. "She is a looker"

I laughed, shoving them away from me. "Or she's just late. Who knows? One of you might be that lucky bastard" I reminded them. I left them alone as they continued talking about Sophia. "Hey, Alex. Spence" I said, sitting between them on the couch.

We were squished shoulder to shoulder. They both looked at me with wary expressions. Already knowing that they were gonna try to make me talk about Wendy, I stood up. But the assholes tugged me back down. "Are you sure that you want to be here right now? Sophia will understand if you didn't show up" Alex told me.

I stood up, breaking free from their holds. "I actually don't want to be here. I want to be over there" I stated, pointing to the makeshift bar. There's only one drink that can get werewolves drunk. I don't remember what it's called, and I have no idea what's in it. But it does a really good job at getting our kind wasted.

Walking over to the bar, the guy making the drink quickly spotted me. As if he knew what I was going through, he made me three drinks. I downed all three before going to find Tyson. "Hey, buddy. Best friend. My brother from another mother" I could feel the effects of the drink as I stumbled to Tyson and threw my arm over his shoulder.

"You have really nice eyes. It's the color of moss" I blurted, reaching out to touch them.

Tyson smacked my hand away with a scowl. "It's called green. It's the color green" he stated. "Stop trying to poke my eye!" Tyson snapped.

I clicked my tongue, moving away from him and going back to the couch. No one was sitting down though. "Ty" I said, dragging his name out. "Come sit with me. I'm lonely" I pouted at him.

He rolled his eyes, attempting to pull me up from the couch. "We should get you back to Ralph's. You're too much of a needy drunk" he informed me. I refused to leave, not allowing Tyson to pull me from the cushion. "You don't want to be with your mate?" he questioned.

I frowned. "She doesn't want to talk to me"

"She can't talk to you. There's a difference" Tyson stated. "Come on. Let's go talk to Wendy" he urged, finally getting me off the couch.

My vision became blurry, making me unaware of my surroundings. I didn't realize that I go in a car until Tyson drove off. In no time, we were in front of Ralph's house and Tyson was helping me out the car.

Ralph came out with his eyes narrowed at us. "He got drunk!" the Gamma shouted.

He said other things, but I wasn't paying attention. I could only see his lips moving. "I... bartender... plan... talk... Wendy... wake" I caught bits and pieces of what Tyson was saying.

Maybe if I was in the right mind, I could figure it out. But at the moment I couldn't understand anything. Tyson got in my face, making me focus on him. "Wendy is asleep. You need to go wake her up okay? Just talk to her" he stated.

I nodded my head, heading to the door and stumbling over the steps. Ralph and Tyson were having a conversation behind me, but I ignored them while going to my mate. "Stairs!" I tripped, laughing and reaching my hands up for them to help me.

They sighed, pulling me from the steps and helping me walk up the staircase. "This was your brilliant plan?!" Maddi shouted. Tyson responded with something that I didn't really care about. "Just keep him away from Clara She doesn't need to see her Uncle Shane drunk"

"She's not even one" Tyson blurted. Maddi glared at him, making him force me to walk faster. We got to Wendy's room and I struggled with the door knob before being able to open it.

Tyson walked me over to a recliner and forced me to sit. "Psst" I whispered to my sleeping mate. "Wendy. Wake up" I lightly shook her.

Ralph moved my hand away. "Don't shake her" he demanded. I looked up, cocking my head to the side. "She doesn't like being shaken" he said slowly.

Nodding in understanding, I poked her arm. "Wendy. Wake up. It's night time" I informed her. However, my mate was sound asleep. "Can I just sleep with her?" I asked Tyson.

"Just remember. Sex is cleaner with a packaged wiener" Tyson stated.

He got hit for that. "Of course, sweetie" Maddi cooed as if she was talking to a child. But her consent cause me to smile. "Just be careful. She hurt her back and stomach, okay?" I quickly nodded my head, slipping under the covers with her.

I pressed a kiss to her red hair. "You're kinda cold" I whispered, pulling her closer to me to give her body warmth. I slowly fell asleep.

*****

I woke up with a sharp pain in my head and sparks filling my arms. I opened my eyes and saw Tyson sitting on a chair by the bed. "Hey, asshole. You tricked me" I stated, sitting against the headboard. He shrugged nonchalantly. "Thanks" I said gratefully, looking at my mate in my arms.

It really looked like she was sleeping. "You didn't really buy all that bullshit about you needing to clear your mind. Did you?" He questioned. I nodded my head, embarrassed that I even got tricked while sober. But I was extremely grateful. I was more at ease knowing that the mate bond was still alive and working.

"I didn't do anything stupid, right?" I questioned. I don't remember everything. Like how I even ended up at Ralph's place. I remember being at the pack house, then I was suddenly in Wendy's room.

Tyson smirked at me, shrugging and acting innocent. "I think Maddi said that breakfast is done" he blurted. Tyson hopped off the chair and ran out the room.Rolling my eyes I slowly moved off the bed to dart after him. As I stepped into the floor, I heard a soft voice."Please don't leave me"  

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Picture above by written_well 

Well, I don't have a quote for you guys today. But I just wanted to thank all of you guys for your support and for giving me time. I love you guys so much. You have no idea how much you guys mean to me.

Kayyyzzzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.