There was pacing and muttering for some time, back and forth along the length of the room. When he did come into view, I would see him raking his fingers through his dark hair, chewing on his nails, or just staring at me like if he looked hard enough, all of this might just go away.

"This can't be happening," he whispered at one point. "You were fine. Everything was fine. Nothing could happen because we're mated. You're my mate. I couldn't do this to you. I couldn't."

I wanted to comfort him. My heart that had been racing now ached for him. I wished I could have wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed his forehead until he gave out one of those big sighs and settled against me. But if I had been able to move at all, we wouldn't be in the position in the first place.

"I thought you said this happened slowly," Ryder continued, his pacing resuming at a faster rate. "Fuck, I thought there would be warning signs."

So had I. there had been with my parents. It all started so slowly. Day by day it had gotten worse. There was a visible regression. It was not like this. It was never supposed to be like this. I wished I had asked more questions when I had the chance. I wished that I had spent hours grilling everyone in the group, figuring out each individual story. I should have demanded to know just what this could look like, what it could do and how quickly. But it was too late.

My mouth wouldn't form the words to say what I needed to.

"We need to get you out of here. We need to get you away from me," Ryder blurted, his voice cracking.

No. I didn't want to go. I didn't want to be away from him. In such a short time, he had become the smile I looked for, the eyes that knew me. being separated...even the idea felt like an iron poker in between my ribs. But I couldn't tell him that either.

"People are going to see if I carry you out the front. What would I even say to them?" he continued. "We need to use a back exit."

There was a brief moment of internal deliberation before Ryder decided that getting me dressed for the day was worth the risk of proximity. He mumbled something about us being stuck in the car together and dug through my bag. I was wrapped up in a cozy hoodie and a pair sweatpants. Ryder was trying to be gentle, but it was clear he had no experience with these things. I flopped around a lot, my body limp when he didn't support me. the most control I had sometimes was contracting my muscles just a little bit to slow down the fall. I was a cooked noodle at worst and a slinky at best.

"Alright George, let's get you home," he murmured, then I was hoisted into his arms. His voice cracked a little. When I had been a teenager, I had dreamed of a strong, handsome man carrying me. but it was not like this. Never like this. My head lolled backwards until he used his arm to prop me up. "Don't worry, Georgia, you're going to be fine."

I might have believed him if I hadn't seen the tears in his eyes.

All of our belongings were left in the hotel room aside from cellphones and wallets. Ryder propped me up in the passenger seat and buckled me in. When he pressed a kiss to my cheek, I felt the wetness of his tears. Or maybe they were mine. I couldn't really tell

I didn't remember much of the drive. Ryder was quiet through most of it, I think. There was never any music playing. Sometimes, it felt like I was dreaming, then I would blink and be back in the car. I didn't know where I went in those moments, couldn't recall what I had seen, I only knew that my mind wasn't where it should have been. Occasionally, my hands were raised or I would have moved my legs, but it seemed that my body could only handle one or the other. I was either in control of my limbs or my mind. Movement seemed to put me in a dream state.

Ryder said something to me. at the time, I hadn't been able to hear him above a dull warble in my ears. I briefly tried to fight it. I imagined myself moving, thought of my arms and hands listening to direction. I thought about speaking, getting the words out of my mouth, even when they felt stuck in my throat. I gritted my teeth – at least mentally – and tried to move. nothing. Then I tried to speak. Nothing.

I slipped back into my sleep almost immediately after.

The car stopped. I saw a little house that I thought I knew. My house? No, not my house. Had I been to Ryder's house? No. Then it dawned on me: Milo.

Ryder was pounding on the door before Milo appeared.

"You have to help me," Ryder pleaded.

A blink later they were by the car.

"How did this happen?" Milo demanded as my unresponsive body was pulled out of the car. Even with a sluggish mind, I knew that I was in Ryder's arm, knew my head was resting against his shoulder.

"I don't know. She woke up like this," Ryder lied.

"You don't know?" Milo repeated.

"Please, just take her," Ryder begged.

I was thrust into Milo's arms. He thankfully accepted me with ease and gentleness, the kind of hands that had seen and dealt with wolf drain before. But his soft hold me was the opposite of what was carried in his tone. "I'm going to ask you again: how did this happen, Ryder? She is off the team. She should be nowhere near werewolves. And now, she had severe wolf drain and you're looking at her like she's a leper."

"Milo, please, just take care of her," Ryder said, taking a single step back.

I wanted to plead with him not to go. Wolf-drain or not, Milo's arms didn't feel like his. Milo's voice didn't make my heart flutter. Milo was not the person I wanted to wake up next to. I was only half aware that I was carefully being set on the ground. My mate was leaving. Ryder was leaving me here.

Then Milo whispered, "I'm going to fucking kill you."

My brain couldn't process who moved first. I was slumped forward and had to stare up through my eyelashes if I wanted to see anything. It was mostly a scuffle of feet, gravel crunching. A groan from Milo, a curse from Ryder.

The two of them ended up in the dirt. At first Ryder was the winning opponent. Though his lip was already bleeding, he was larger than Milo by a few dozen pounds. Milo's training mostly involved being sneaky and not getting caught. Once any attack ensued, we usually didn't have much chance of winning. Ryder used his long, muscular arms to pin Milo's wrists down.

Milo resorted to verbal attacks then, poison in his spit. "You knew what it would do to her! We talked about wolf-drain in front of you!" Milo accused. "You did this to her."

Ryder faltered. Milo bucked him off hard then slammed a brutal fist into him over and over again. Ryder only half-heartedly lifted his arms to defend his face.

I was screaming. I was wailing. I was begging. But nothing could make it past my lips. At least, I thought nothing made it past.

"Mate."

The voice sounded like it was not my own. I couldn't feel my lips parting or my tongue forming the words. But there it was, out in the open. Not just a figment of my imagination.

Both men froze.

"Mate?" Milo repeated.

Ryder had the good sense to shove him off then, using my distraction against him. My mate propped himself up on his elbows. If I had any control of my body, anything beyond the single word that seemed to take everything out of me, I would have run to him. I would have fallen to my knees at his side and gasped over his swollen eye and reddening jaw. I would chase it all away, like it was nothing more than a terrible nightmare.

"We are mates," Ryder groaned, spitting out a wad of blood. "I knew we were mated long before I knew she was a werewolf hunter, long before I knew about wolf-drain."

"But you knew and you stayed. You fucking stayed!" Milo bellowed, looking like he was about to lunge at Ryder all over again.

"I didn't really have a choice. I could have left, she could have too. It wouldn't matter. Fate would bring us together, over and over again. And if that didn't work, she would have gone into heat a thousand times until we were reunited."

"Heat?" It was enough to catch his attention. Milo looked a little less bloodthirsty now.

"I would tell you about it, but I think you're just going to want to punch me again," Ryder managed.

"I don't want to punch you. I want to put you in a coffin." I was sure that he wasn't lying, but it was a little comforting to see him straighten his shirt instead of going for Ryder's throat.

"Georgia and I wouldn't be able to stay away from each other no matter what. We thought that because we are mates that she wouldn't be able to get..."

"Obviously, that's not very correct, now is it?" Milo seethed.

"No, it's not. But we didn't know. we had already spent so much time together. she was captured by Keiko and Ajax. She was around werewolves for hours upon hours. Of course, we thought she was immune," Ryder explained, frantic. "Wolf drain is one of the only reasons Georgia is still alive. Ajax and Keiko thought it would be easier to use Georgia to find someone with wolf drain..."

"That's why you went after Cassey. You wanted to – what? Do experiments on her? See what werewolves really do to humans? Guess what, you don't need Cassey anymore! Just bring them your wolf wife."

"Please," Ryder repeated. His voice shattered. "Please, I need you to take care of her. I can't. I can't be around her. I'm scared that she's going to get worse. That it's going to be my fault."

"It is your fault."

"I can send you money, I can do everything else. Just please..."

Ryder wasn't able to get any more words out of his mouth. he scrambled to his feet like he had seen something horrific. A moment later, his car door slammed, the engine shifted. Then he was gone. nothing more than a set of footprints and tire tracks in the dirt.

And I was here. Without him.

Milo was at my side. "Oh Georgia, let's get you inside."

Internally, I was screaming for Ryder to come back for me. 

~~~Distraction Section~~~

You asked and I delivered! Hope this update sates you, at least for a little while.

Question of the Day: If you could acquire a superpower, what would it be?