The Mate He Couldn’t Control (complete)

Chapter 24

That night, Dalton came up with the brilliant idea of taking Angelina and me out of town for the remainder of the week. We didn’t leave the state, so we were still in pack borders, but we were as far from the forest as possible. But, to their disappointment, I didn’t feel better. I get their thought process because normally I would spend a few days away and be fine, but I don’t think that will work this time.

According to Dalton, I couldn’t have been asleep longer than thirty minutes because of the timing, yet it felt like days. For days I woke up and died on repeat as if I were a video game character that couldn’t pass a level. It was the most terrifying and gruesome thing I have ever experienced and I don’t see myself recovering any time soon.

One night in my dreams I was yet again reunited with the literal castle in the clouds. The magical view and the cool breeze of peace surrounding me made this place hard to recognize as reality. My grandmother stood in front of me, smiling warmly as I observed my surroundings in awe. “I thought you might need to discuss a few things.”

“I couldn’t imagine a better place to talk.”

“It’s breathtaking isn’t it?”

“I could stare for eternity and never tire of the view.”

“It’s a nice thought, but it’s not something you should plan on.”

“I’ve already made up my mind. Jaylon is going to be the end of me,” I argued stubbornly and fought off meeting her eyes.

“Do not look away from me. I believe after a thousand years I might know a thing or two.” Sighing, I looked into her less than pleased eyes as she wished.

“Then explain the dream or whatever that was! I feel that was a very clear confirmation.”

“That was not a dream or confirmation of anything other than your fear of your mate. It was simply a self-induced mental prison. I believe you are the first witch to achieve that skill.”

“A what?” Now that took my attention away from my surroundings.

“Mental prisons are exactly how they sound. Usually, it’s a curse placed on other witches after putting them to sleep as a form of punishment. Inside, sleep demons take forms to make you play out your biggest fears on a loop. You were in enough distress to do it to yourself.”

“But why was I human?”

“It’s a magical prison, my love. If you could use magic or any supernatural advantage, you’d find a way out. Jaylon unknowingly pulled you out of it by waking you up. Thankfully he was your mate, otherwise, your necklace probably would have shocked him to death out of defense.”

I watched as a cloud floated in between us and put my hand through it. It’s just a cold mist but I found it so mesmerizing. “I still don’t trust him.”

“I imagine I wouldn’t either. Mental prisons are very traumatizing and luckily you’re still sane.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to look at him when I get home. The last time I saw him, I was terrified of him.”

“Alison, you are a white witch. The only person that can bring your end is yourself. You have no reason to fear him and the times that you do, seek comfort in the parts of him that no demon can reenact,” she smiled at me before it all disappeared and I woke up. Well, that was specific.

Dalton purposely drove us home late on Sunday. He knew I didn’t want to be at home, or in any part of the forest so he spent our last day stalling with random activities. But, we couldn’t miss the night service so we had to come back tonight.

At the sight of the school, my hands began to twitch and the air around us picked up. Angelina quickly pulled me into a hug and promised that I would be okay. I knew she was right, but the thought of seeing him sent chills up my spine. Still, I calmed the air and repeated her words in my mind before nodding to both of them and following behind. It was true. I will be just fine.

In the prison, it was just Jaylon and me, so every person that I saw and connected with made my grip on reality stronger. Mr. Wells especially. He was yet again upset with me for my absence and I promised to come to see him again soon. It didn’t take long for my friends to find me and take turns smothering me with a hug. Julia’s of course being the most over dramatic but filled with love.

Once Ingrid and Malachi walked in with their son lingering behind, my fear returned. Jaylon wasn’t out of it but he wasn’t present. He simply followed behind them without a smile or glance at anyone. I put my shaking hands behind my back at the sight to avoid causing a public scene. It didn’t do much good because my breath started to catch, so I stopped directly looking at his face.

I smiled and followed the group out of the grand hall and into the church to sit in our section. For some unknown reason, Alphas and Lunas have their own special section to sit in. Me, Jaylon, and our parents have been spending the last few Sunday nights here blissfully. But now, I was not only pissed at, but also terrified of Jaylon, Ingrid and Malachi don’t know how to act, and my parents won’t be home until tomorrow. I don’t see how it was fair that they could miss but I couldn’t.

“You look beautiful tonight,” I heard from beside me.

“Thank you,” I mumbled while staring straight ahead. I spotted Bridget who was avoiding eye contact. It wasn’t out of her normal bitchy mood, it was from fear. Something I hated seeing from my cousin, but also something she brought on herself. Not long after I found Loren who sat glaring at me through tears. She had a bandage on her forehead since supernatural healing wasn’t one of her capabilities. I don’t know what purpose she had here. The only people that liked her were Jaylon and Bridget. The rest of the room was wondering when I would end up killing her. I am not a killer. That is not an option for me. But it’s an option for them. Scary.

“Can we talk after this?” I heard in my head. I ignored it for a minute until his hand reached for mine and I shook my head no. The whole service I could see him looking at me from the corner of my eyes and it drove me insane. The second it was over I rushed up as fast as possible. I was going to wait for Dalton in his car, but Autumn and Sarah stopped me.

I smiled at the pair as Autumn, as always, looked like she was about to jump out of her skin. “If you haven’t noticed, she would like to ask you something,” Sarah explained.

“Yes?”

“So, I thought you may not want to go home without your parents so I was hoping Sarah and I could come to stay with you in your room at the packhouse. It will be so much fun!” I froze for a minute wide-eyed and speechless at how anyone could talk that fast. It took me a minute to go back and realize what she said as her excited expression turned to nervousness.

“Yes, I would love that,” I beamed at her.

“Do you need clothes? I could totally lend you some!”

“I have some clothes left over in my suitcase.”

Dalton and Angelina took me back to the packhouse so the girls could get their things. I invited Julia and Penelope, which they were thrilled about. The boys being the boys were upset they weren’t invited. It didn’t take a genius to know why. I knew the answer, but I still invited Angelina. I would love for her to come, but Julia feels the need to make it very clear how little she cares about the Dalton situation every time she sees her, so much so that it reveals her true feelings and the whole room feels awkward.

I quickly showered before the girls arrived and found Nick standing on my balcony. I stepped out and offered him a smile, which he fakely returned. “What’s wrong?”

He waited a minute, taking one last glance at me before looking out over the balcony. “You know how my mom and little sister make jewelry together?”

“Of course,” I replied, shaking my wrist with my friendship bracelet his little sister made me. My smiles and giggles weren’t helping with whatever was bothering him.

“One day a few years back, Jaylon came over. That was the first of two times he came to my house. He talked to my mom for maybe five minutes in her office before leaving and did the same a few days later, wearing a bracelet when he left.” I looked at him confused as to why he was telling me this or why it was bothering him before he handed me a book. With that, his attention turned to me as he looked into my eyes sadly. “You are the one person in this world that it kills me to lie to. Last week, I did that and I’ve never felt worse. You asked me to tell you what happened at the packhouse and I selfishly left out this detail. I’m sorry.” Nick whispered the last part before placing a kiss on my forehead and leaving. I stood there for a second, still confused before looking down at the book. The first few pages were protection charms but I flipped through until I froze at stones. The moment I saw Black Obsidian, I knew exactly what was going through Nick's mind. Even with Jaylon’s mini obsession with me revealed, at that point in time, I didn’t see him doing that.

The girls barging into my room minutes later made me quickly find a hiding place for the book. Obviously, Penelope and Julia were the first to arrive since they lived in the packhouse and didn’t have far to travel. Julia told me all of the pack gossip while Penelope corrected the parts that weren’t accurate. Sarah and Autumn finally arrived and immediately jumped into the conversation. They got on the subject of boys quickly as I sat there bored. Autumn took it upon herself to braid my hair so I was struggling to keep my scalp on as she’d tug on my hair and readjust my head.

“So I really had a thing for Daniel, but it turned out yesterday that Toni was his mate,” Julia complained.

“Wait, when I left you had a thing for Chandler,” I commented with a raised eyebrow. Julia gets bored quickly, but we love her.

“Yeah but he forgot to compliment her at school on Thursday,” Penelope explained in a mimicking voice.

“Girl knows what she wants. We can’t be mad at that. So, what about you P?”

“I don’t really care to talk to anyone right now,” she replied with a sigh.

“Why?” Autumn questioned before mumbling about messing something up and restarting one of the braids. Oww.

“Well most of them like to transition the conversation into whatever he and my sister have done,” Penelope complained.

“I don’t get why you're so embarrassed by me,” Julia mumbled.

“I’m not embarrassed by you. I’m embarrassed that every guy in the pack knows what you look like naked!” I widened my eyes and gave Penelope a look. That was a little mean. . . Sarah and Autumn quickly grew very quiet as it momentarily turned into a sister fight. I feel for both parties, not only because they’re both my friends, but also because I understand both of their points of view. Julia is trying to find herself, maybe in the wrong places, but she’s trying and that’s more than some people do. Penelope on the other hand spent her whole life living in her sister's shadow rather it be with her parents, friends, school, or relationships. In one way or the other, they’d compare her to Julia or find a way to mention her in any conversation. No one knew that the backbone behind Julia was Penelope, which was something she would never receive credit for.

So far, I’ve learned that Julia thinks her mate will be a guy named Landon. Penelope thinks it will be Benny. Sarah and Autumn didn’t share but I already knew just from being around them. Sarah had a thing for Jacob and Autumn was in love with Jheremy. I’ve seen their futures. . . but I’ll let that part be a surprise.

One by one they each fell asleep and I sat in the dark debating with myself. Sometimes I wish I could make random things appear. Right now would be something to drink. My throat was as dry as sandpaper but my room was across from Jaylon’s and I didn’t want to take the risk. All of my friends had their links closed which meant they were asleep so I sighed and did it myself.

You see, walking through the packhouse alone at night was probably worse than any haunted house I’ve ever gone through. My mind would replay all of the times of me running through it while screaming to torment me. But since no one was here to hurt me this time, I guess it was a necessary step in the healing process.

Once I was back upstairs, I sighed, proud of myself as I walked to my room. But my pride vanished as I froze in my tracks and my eyes widened. I realized that I just passed Jaylon’s open bedroom door. A second later Jaylon made his way up the stairs as I pieced together that he came looking for me. I wanted nothing more than to run and hide, but I knew this process would only take longer if I did.

My body didn’t hide my mental or emotional state as I slowly turned around. I began to shake uncontrollably and tears formed in my eyes that I fought hard to keep from falling. “I was hoping we could talk now,” Jaylon explained as he slowly walked toward me. The closer he got, the more I shook and stuttered so he stopped at three feet.

“I-I don’t think now is the best time.”

“Please? Just a minute.” I nodded, looking down at my feet that couldn’t stay still on the ground. If I looked at him, pure chaos would erupt. “I’m sorry for getting mad at you and retaliating with Loren and Bridget. I shouldn’t have done it. Obviously, you already weren’t in the best state and that was the last straw. Whatever happened to you Ali. . . I swear I did not hurt you.”

“I don’t think I can talk about this right now.”

“No, wait. Ali, please!” Jaylon argued, stepped forward with his hands out and I flinched, causing the tears to fall down my face. During that, I looked up at him and as a result, saw pain swept across it and tears came to his eyes. “I’m so sorry.” His quiet, gentle whisper made me look deep into his eyes as I realized what my grandmother was talking about. Their eyes couldn’t reenact his or the way they looked at me.