Norman:
Watching her in pain made me feel guilty. I had asked her many times if she was okay, but she lied. She told me there was nothing wrong. It made me realize she really is a ride or die.
She would rather die than tell me she was in pain because she couldn’t be with her mates. So when I walked out of that room, I couldn’t even look at her. I didn’t want to share her. I couldn’t bear seeing her with anyone else. But sometimes, great sacrifices are made when there’s no other option.
I walked over to Kaye’s room and heard him grunting in pain inside. He must have been suffering from the same kind of pain Helanie was going through because of my stubbornness.
I knocked on the door and noticed that Kaye had gone silent. He slowly opened the door, just halfway, so I couldn’t peek inside.
"Are you okay?" I asked, concern growing in me as I looked at his face. He looked like he was going through hell. Not just Helanie, but my brothers were suffering too, because of me.
"How’s Helanie?" Kaye asked, and his eyes twitched. He looked down and shook his head slightly, as if trying to focus on his question instead of me.
"She’s not well," I replied, and my brother lifted his head instantly. He looked so concerned. That’s when Maximus came from downstairs, panting and disheveled. It seemed like he had gone out for a run to help himself deal with the torment, but I could tell it hadn’t worked.
"Do you want to try some wolfsbane on her?" Kaye suggested, drawing my attention back to him.
"It’ll burn her from the inside. It’s no picnic," I sighed. Just the thought of her being in even a little pain was too much for me.
"Don’t act like you don’t know what the real cure is," Maximus chimed in, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest.
I didn’t say anything, but I could tell Kaye was giving him a look, silently begging him not to say it in front of me.
"Don’t look at me like that. You’re in pain too," Maximus said sharply, stepping forward and pushing the door open, revealing Kaye’s room.
"What the heck is all this?" I stepped inside, scanning the room, then noticed the stab wounds all over his body.
"He’s hurting himself to distract himself from the other pain," Maximus explained, his eyes scanning Kaye’s bloodied shirt with concern. His entire white shirt was now red. That’s why he had only peeked his head out earlier.
"Kaye, you know I can’t stand to see you in pain. Why would you do that?" I looked away, clenching my jaw.
"Honestly? To some extent, it works," Kaye replied.
"That’s why I came back too. The run didn’t help much," Maximus added as I stood beside them, grinding my teeth.
"There’s a better way. The one the Moon Goddess created," I said, and my words silenced them both. "She’s in the bedroom. I’ll go out for a run."
I didn’t need to explain further, they knew exactly what I meant by that.
"Are you sure? We don’t want to hurt you either," Kaye said gently.
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