When I woke up, Wyatt wasn't sleeping on the futon.

"Wyatt?" I called, wondering where my twin went. Not bothering to put on a shirt, I walked towards the door, to see if at least anyone was there.

When I opened the door, Nicholas stood in front of it, showing me his teeth. "Hello West," Nicholas smiled.

I took one step back, and willed myself to shift. This time, it was going to be different. This time, I would face him head on. Why wasn't I shifting though? Panic seized my entire being.

"Looks like you're not as strong as you think you are," Nicholas took another step towards me. "Looks like I'll have to kill you and your mate."

"WEST!"

Someone was shaking me.

"Wake up!"

Startled, I turned around, sleeping on my stomach because I couldn't put any pressure on my back, and a pair of green eyes stared at me, a face full of concern.

"Wyatt?" I croaked, getting up, but my heart was beating so fast it felt so real. Wyatt glanced down, but I noticed it. "Ah, crap." My claws were out, and I felt my teeth sharpened. I was shifting. In real life.

And my room was a wreck.

"Your magic was going all over the place," Wyatt explained to me, looking tired as I felt. Guilt gnawed on me. Wyatt shouldn't have to worry about me like this. "The loud thunder woke me up. And the objects hitting the wall too."

"Sorry," I told him, trying to calm down Salvatore so I won't shift suddenly nor would my magic go awry. I rubbed my head, willing the dream to disappear. "Bad dream."

Wyatt frowned, the same frown as Dad whenever he was concerned about something serious.

"It's nothing- really." A lie. I don't think I can't get it out of my head for a while. "And you should go back to sleep."

My stomach rumbled.

"Let's eat something. I'll get some food," Wyatt offered.

"It's not like I can't come with you."

Wyatt was staring at me, making me nervous. It's like he knew. Of course he knew. He could probably feel how much pain I was in. Excruciating pain. But I wasn't going to tell him. I needed to withstand it because school was about to start soon, so I needed to get my life together.

He sighed deeply. "West, you can just sit back."

"I don't want to just sit here and do nothing!" I exclaimed, getting annoyed. "That's what I'm doing, Wyatt. I can't even do anything with the rogues because I've gotten beaten up badly. But I need to something. I can do something."

"If you're at full strength," Wyatt narrowed his eyes at me. It's like looking at a mirror of myself, but with the disappointment of my parents looking back at me.

"Just let me stretch out my legs. We can go to the nearest crappy breakfast place." I made it sound like he had an option to say no, but I was getting up and grabbing a plain t shirt. Who cares if I looked like a homeless werewolf. Not like I was going to see Edith to impress her.

A reluctant Wyatt drove us to the nearest place which was the worst breakfast place, but it was something. The waitress sat us down, making it a point to stare at the both of us, but I was too bothered to notice.

I didn't even hear what she was asking us because Wyatt ordered everything for the both of us.

"West-"

"Don't say it," I crossed my arms, leaning back lightly.

Wyatt raised his arms, "Fine. I won't. So how about we talk about Abby? I heard from Theo."

"Theo can't keep his mouth shut," I muttered, taking a sip of water. Theo had to go back home to take care of his younger sister as his parents were taking a mini trip to Europe for a short amount of time. He texted me at least every other hour asking if I'm alive.

"What happened there exactly?" Wyatt asked. It was no secret Wyatt never liked her. He never hung out with my group because of her and he liked to be anti-social most of the time and just sketch things in his sketchbook.

"She kissed me." Wyatt opened his mouth. "Then confessed her love for me."

"I TOLD-"

"Then, obviously, I rejected her," I finished.

My twin looked impressed with me. "Good. You have Edith so if you didn't reject Abby's confession I'd have to knock some sense into you. And let me guess..." Wyatt tapped his chin. "Abby doesn't understand. She still wants to talk to you."

"I'll let her know." Now that I can tell her Edith is my mate, I want everyone to know that.

"Principal Greer wants to talk to us soon," Wyatt said.

"Who cares about her," I argued. "She's the one that got you into this mess." I'm glad Wyatt didn't get hurt during the process because then I'd have a serious problem.

"She thought she was doing the best thing," Wyatt said.

"You're defending her?" I asked incredulous as our large amount of food came in.

"Not at all," Wyatt said. "But she had a hunch that it was happening, and she tried to do something about it with the rogues."

"Would anyone believe us if we told them?"

Wyatt gave me a pointed look. "Mom and Dad would."

Every single day after work, Edith would come by the dorm room to visit me which made me feel all kinds of things. Theo told me I had a dopey look to me whenever I knew it was time for her to be here. Wyatt would do rounds in the school to make sure no one was lurking and gave Edith and I alone time. Seeing Edith was all I needed to keep that horrid dream out of my thoughts. I hated that I was getting paranoid.

That I couldn't protect her if she wasn't here with me.

That I couldn't protect her even if I was.

Frustration rose within me, and the crack of thunder made itself heard.

I snapped out of it when I heard a huff.

Edith put both hands on her hips. "What's up with you?" she asked. No, demanded.

"What?" I asked dumbly, standing up.

She narrowed her eyes. "Sit."

I sat.

"Did you put anything on your back yet?" she asked.

"Not yet," I answered.

"Turn around let me do it."

"I love it when you're bossy," I couldn't help but grin.

Edith's touch was gentle, as gentle as she could while she rubbed on the ointment on my back, but it still hurt, and I took a sharp intake of breath.

She heard it. "Are you still in pain?" she asked worriedly.

"It's fine." I wasn't going to tell her I was in pain.

"Seriously?" she asked.

"You're as bad as Wyatt. Are you guys the pain police?" I joked, looking up at her very cute concentrating face.

"West," Edith's face furrowed, concern now etching. The last thing I wanted from her. "It does hurt every time you move, doesn't it? It's not just your back that's hurting, but your neck too. I see how you have to strain at everything you do."

"It helps if I walk around," I said. "I can't be stuck on bed rest forever."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, "Let's just go for a walk." Edith hesitated, and I sighed. Same thing with Wyatt. "I'm not going to break. I need it."

As we were walking, slowly - I think Edith is doing it on purpose I swallowed my desire to lean into her closer because of her scent that drove me up the wall and calmed me and Salvatore just enough I forget about all the bad. We were both silent, and I wanted to say something to her, anything, but abruptly Edith made a sudden stop.

On pure instinct, I stepped in front of her, and saw the reason why she stopped. It was him.

Jared. The guy I hospitalized.

He took a step towards us, and Salvatore gave out a very unfriendly growl that cause Jared to turn pale. Jared swallowed. Visibly scared. Good.

Nonetheless the big pile of stupid opened his mouth. Maybe I didn't break his jaw hard enough. And right now, I was thinking about rearranging his entire face. My injuries didn't matter.

"I need to tell you guys something."