1:53am.

Brook stared at the clock, half-asleep and half-awake. Her body was begging her to just close her eyes, pleading for her to get some sleep.

But she fought her instincts, convincing herself that she could catch up on her sleep later and that Naomi was more important.

Which at the moment, she was.

Naomi had been in surgery for five hours, and all throughout those five hours nurses and doctors left and entered the room. Each time they'd go in with more antibiotics, more bandages and more tools. But each time they'd come out with less energy and less hope.

"Moon goddess," Brook prayed. "Please don't take her. She's one of the few people I trust in this pack." Brook made she her voice was quiet, so quiet to the point that not even Connor could hear her. And he was sitting right next to her.

As if on cue, the doors opened. Everyone had expected the doctor to scramble for more tools, but instead he glanced at Brook and then at Connor with a relieved smile.

They both stood up when the doctor got closer to them, eagerly waiting to hear the news.

"We finally managed to stop the bleeding." The doctor chirped, his voice sounding too hyper for it to be 2am. "However, we weren't able to save her arm and we had to amputate it. When the rogue attacked her, it damaged the nerves beyond repair and crushed the bone in her arm completely."

Brook felt her stomach stirring uneasily, making her feel sick. Glancing at Connor, she could tell that he felt the same.

His stepsister was an amputee because of him, because he had to kidnap Brooklynn. A girl that he had known for years would have to change her life completely and it was all his fault.

Connor tried to mask his guilt, refusing to show any sign of vulnerability in front of the doctor or his pack.

But Brook could see straight through the icy exterior that he was putting on. She saw how much the guilt was consuming him.

"I'd like to see her." Connor said, his voice hoarse.

The weary doctor glanced at Brooklynn, as if he was asking for help. Brook could already tell that Naomi wasn't allowed any visitors right now, not even the alpha.

"Connor," Brook whispered. He looked at her with exhausted but cold eyes. "You need to rest."

"I need to see Naomi." He growled, shooting Brook and the doctor a threatening glare. The doctor looked down immediately, but Brook didn't.

"And Naomi needs you to be well rested." Brooklynn spoke, the alpha side of her coming out. "I can promise you that that was not the last attack, and for this to not happen again," She paused and motioned to the injured pack members. "We all need you to be well rested and healthy."

Connor clenched his jaw, fighting the urge to yell at Brooklynn for being disrespectful and telling him what to do.

But he knew that she was right. He knew that this was not the last time they would be attacked. He knew that if he wasn't in the right mental state then he would make decisions that would hurt the pack.

With one last glance at the room that Naomi was in, he sighed-A sad, disheartening sigh.

"Alright," He rubbed his temple. "But I'm coming back here first thing tomorrow and I will see her." Connor hissed, glaring at the doctor who was avoiding eye contact.

Without saying another word, Connor stormed out of the hospital. To keep up with Connor, Brook had to adjust her steps.

"Connor, slow down!" Brook shouted, stumbling and tripping over her own feet. Connor didn't slow down, instead he started walking faster-If that was even possible.

"Connor, stop!" She ordered.

Her mate stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around to look at her. Even in the dark of night, Brook could see the anger in his eyes. But passed the anger, she could see tears. Even though they weren't visible to any regular person, they were visible to his mate.

Connor fought to keep his angry facade going, but Brook's soft stare was chipping away at it.

And just as Brook reached him and pulled him into a hug, he broke. He let go of all of his anger and replaced it with tears. They raced down his face, each of them dropping onto Brook's cheek.

"Brook, this is all my fault." Connor cried, burying his face into her shoulder. "If I hadn't of-"

Brook cut him off, not giving him time to finish his sentence. She already knew what he was going to say, but it was wrong.

"You cannot blame yourself. Not now, not ever." She looked at him with firm eyes. "I made my choice and told my father that I was staying here. What he did after that is not your fault."

Connor was really trying hard to grasp her words and not blame himself. But the pain and guilt and anger that he was feeling was growing.

All of the years of murdering and ruining lives was catching up to him, and this time he didn't have a place to run. Like a dark cloud that had been following him, his emotions had eventually trapped him.

And now they were destroying him.

"Please, Brook." Connor begged, his eyes were filled with pain. "I want this to stop."

Brook paused for a minute, choosing her words with precision. She could feel what he was going through, and she could hear what he was thinking. Now, his thoughts were really eating him alive.

"It doesn't stop," She spoke. "You will be fighting these feelings day after day until you learn to forgive yourself. No amount of speeches from me can help you forgive yourself, because you've done some bad things, Connor. But so have I. I've killed people, I've played with guys just to watch them break. Trust me Connor, you aren't the only one who runs from their past."

"But now it's time to stop." Her words hit him, harder than anything had ever hit him before. He never would have guessed that a few short sentences could change the way he viewed himself, and he definitely wouldn't had guessed that they would have been from Brooklynn.

And as the tears slowly came to an end, Connor was making a plan in his head. He was planning on how he would go about this war. He was planning the best way for him to ensure the safety of his pack.

And though he knew how badly this would hurt Brooklynn and everyone else, he had to do it to be able to forgive himself.

Hugging her for possibly the last time, he let one more tear fall off of his face. It dropped onto Brooklynn's soft face, but she had no clue what Connor was about to do.

She had no clue that when she fell asleep, Connor wouldn't be there when she woke up.

*