"Get back here, you minx!"

I laughed, darting past the Alpha pair with a swift but respectful nodded greeting, feeling their eyes follow my progression with mirth as Max followed hot on my trail. Even when I shifted, I could sense him breathing just behind me, picking up speed as his wolf loved the chase I presented.

My heart leapt in my chest as we darted through the forest, the bushes and grass flickering as we flew by before I was tackled as gently as possible, Max cushioning most of my landing anyways. The second we came to a halt, he was laying on top of me, huffing as I gave a playful whine.

Instead of getting off of me, he started lapping at my muzzle, huffing a laugh as I whined in earnest and wriggled, struggling to get out of his hold. He shifted back, eyes gleaming with joy and tenderness as I followed suit before he nuzzled behind my ear, nipping at my shoulder where he would mark me.

His lips found mine in a sweet and tender kiss, the love and adoration he felt for me flowing through our link as he pushed himself on his lower arms, bracketing above me as he looked down as if I was the best thing to ever happen to him.

"I love you, with all my heart."

-*-*-*

I jolted upright in bed, heart racing as I panted for a decent breath. Pain pulsed through my chest, making me retch and heave dryly as I struggled to get a hold of myself and calm down. It took a while to realize that I was hyperventilating, making me stagger out of my bed and head to the window, yanking it open to get some fresh air in the room.

Frost clung to the window, blurring my reflection as I struggled and cursed, realizing the window was frozen shut before I turned around, body already morphing as I nearly broke the handle off of the door.

"Kyle, is everything al-"

Erina's voice shut off abruptly as I darted past her, hips smashing painfully into the glass doors on my way out as it opened too slow for my comfort. The second I was outside I broke in a sprint, not even going anywhere. I just needed to run and keep on running.

I didn't want to think back of that memory of a happier lifetime, nor did I want to recognize the tears that were still streaming down my eyes. But even running couldn't stop the memory from playing over and over again in my head, like a broken record.

Shifting back, I ignored the cold instantly assaulting my body, punching the nearest tree in frustration. The pain jolted through my arm, momentarily disrupting my memories and forcing my body to focus on the present.

I did it again and again, punching the rough bark of the tree until my knuckles bled, screaming out in pain as old fractures in my wrist cracked open and new ones joined the mesh and even then, the pain in my hands was not nearly anything was I was feeling in my heart.

"Kyle."

My name was gruffly spoken, warm arms coiling around my chest and pulling me away from the trees. Not another word was spoken as I broke down, screaming out my pain, breaking my voice as my wolf joined, ending the cry in a mournful howl.

And for the very first time after the rejection, I started sobbing. I heaved and cried as I was spun around and pressed against a massive chest, the person being mindful of my damaged hands.

I buried my face in their throat, inhaling the strong scent deeply. My body screamed in pain as I fisted my hands in his shirt, clawing at his back as if I was drowning.

Perhaps in a way, I was.

A shiver coursed through my body as a warm coat was draped over my shoulders, yet I couldn't stop all those damned tears. Nor could I force my chest to stop spasming, taking little gulps of air only to feel like I was drowning, slowly suffocating...

Dying...

And maybe I should've died... I should've bled out the day they attacked me, perhaps even starve to death in the grueling winters that followed. Even that kick of the deer could've lined up right to my skull and end my miserable life in one blow.

Anything better than this agony...

"Breathe Kyle. Breathe. Everything will be alright, you'll see." Fingers dug into my hair but despite the power radiating from the body I was pressed against and the slight tremble in his hand, it guided me gently against his collarbone, where I wept uncontrollably, gasping and wheezing.

Because this truly was the first time I broke down. After my rejection, I simply couldn't waste time on mourning the loss of my pack and mate. I had to be strong in order to survive. Every single day since I stumbled wounded across pack territory and was fixed up, had been a struggle of survival.

And now that I was no longer forced to keep one paw in front of the other, the dam holding back all that pain and sorrow cracked and exploded.

It left me absolutely broken.

Slowly, my erratic clawing came to a halt, Drake's shirt slick with my blood and tears as he drew me firmer in his lap. "I got him." He reassured while hands gently stirred over my back, standing with little to no effort as he calmly started to walk.

The snow crunched all around us, several wolves circling around to make sure it was safe. My swollen eyelids lowered, a breath stuttering through my chest before I hiccupped, listening to the steady drum of the heart underneath my ear.

My lungs unconsciously started to follow the pattern of the steady breaths that rocked me, the cold clashing with the warmth radiating from Drake's body nearly rocking me to sleep. The wolves around whimpered on occasion, a cold nose stirring against my bare leg from time to time as if wanting to comfort, to show I was not alone.

A sigh escaped my lips, burying closer against Drake's chest and the warmth it provided. The soft murmuring of voices was unintelligible, my wolf slipping out a fragmented whimper that was quickly responded by multiple others from Drake's pack while he hushed me.

Warmth enveloped me as doors opened, fingers gently tugging at the coat before a muffled curse sounded. In the silence, the steady drip-drip-drip of my blood splattering the floor was nearly deafening before I jolted when a cloth was pressed against my damaged fingers.

"Hush."

I blinked sluggishly, looking directly in Drake's penetrative gaze as he held my own. Our surroundings were new and I vaguely was aware of the pack doctors in my peripheral but Drake commanded my immediate attention as I struggled to stay awake and not give into my wolf's demand for slumber.

"Sleep Kyle. I'll be here when you wake." Drake promised as he gently laid me down on the table while Erina held on firmly to the cloth around my hands, red blooming across the bandages in a staggering rate.

A mask was placed over my stuffed nose and mouth, my mind struggling to understand anything beyond the pain in my heart and mind warring with the pain screaming through my mangled fingers and wrist.

"Sleep." Drake ordered softly.

And so I did.

A low growl rumbled through my chest as Kyle's wolf obeyed the command and stopped fighting the anesthesia, his head flopping weakly against the surgical table. The rest of the doctors huddled together around him, trying to stem the blood flow from the multiple fractures in his fingers.

And all this time, I could hear most of them wonder how much Kyle and his wolf must be suffering on the inside to not feel his knuckles break and the broken shards pierce through his skin.

I guess, the only positive thing about this situation was that Kyle would receive the much needed surgery to his wrist, though he'd still be in a lot of pain.

"Alpha? We need you to clear the room so we can focus on the patient...Please?" The doctor tacked on at my frustrated growl but it wasn't directed at him at all. I nodded and left, standing near the window so I could keep an eye on Kyle as the doctors went to work at reconstructing his hands.

My temples were pulsing with an oncoming headache, wolf snarling in anger as it too recognized the pain Kyle was in. It was a similar pain we had experienced when our own made rejected us, chose a female to provide him with offspring instead of the bond Fate had made for us.

I snorted, shaking my head to dispel the thought. There was no reason to wonder about the what if's with Elliot, as he had clearly made his bed and now laid in it. He had tried to reconcile after everything that happened but we both discovered that the bond wasn't there anymore.

Why on earth would people reject their mate, only to reconsider after they realized a few months or years down the road that they made a mistake? Like I had explained to Tristan in depth, a Fated bond can not be restored again once broken.

Because it wasn't just a bond that needed to be mended. It was an intricate and complex network of emotions, trust and love. To reject your mate, you physically and mentally cut them off of the mating Knot in your mind, causing the connection to wither away and die instantly.

There was nothing there to mend. The rejection was swift and brutal, as the mate was left alone with the bond literally ripped out of their mind and heart, leaving them incomplete and broken in both body and soul.

To be honest, I wasn't surprised that Kyle broke down. From the fragments his wolf had shown me at Tristan's pack down to the memories I saw a few second ago, he never had the chance to process the rejection.

He was rejected, banished and nearly killed as he was cast out. After his wolf barely managed to cling onto life, it had forced one paw in front of the other, its eyes focused on survival as it dragged Kyle along for the ride.

And now that it new they were both safe, that they would be taken care of, it wasn't afraid to leave itself open and vulnerable.

"Is he going to be okay?" Erina asked softly, wringing her blood-covered hands together. I sighed, scratching at the back of my neck before feeling my brows pinch together in worry as my hand was soiled with even more blood.

"He will be... in time. You did your best to stop the bleeding and the doctors are setting his fractures. The rest, is up to Kyle and his wolf." I murmured, keeping my eyes on his pale face. Even from here, I could see the tear tracks that gleamed on his cheeks, scowling as my fists clenched together and claws dug into my palms.

"He's so strong." Erina murmured, shaking her head slightly as Cedric stepped up behind her, lips brushing against her cheek and throat before his own eyes flitted to Kyle. "I'm glad his wolf accepted us enough to trust us at its weakest moment."

Cedric nodded in agreement, tugging his mate closer to him, probably imagining what Kyle had went through. "And we'll be there for him when he wakes up. For both of them."

My muscles slowly relaxed, gratitude filling my being as I was once again grateful for my pack. They had shaped me as much as I had shaped them, guiding them through their own forms of rejections. Some of them were rejected by their mates, others by their family and pack.

But all of us have stood on this knife's edge with bleeding feet, wondering if it would really be so bad to jump down into the abyss. Kyle had been walking that edge longer than any of us needed to and now it was time for us to guide him along and show him that there was still some things in life worth living for.

All he needed to do was give us the chance to show him that.