For a long while Fenris hasn't moved in the car since Jeremy left. He has stayed there in the car, refusing to look even at the time, refusing to think about what must be happening at the pack house.
What must have already happened.
His phone buzzes with a message, startling him out of daze. His vision is blurred, but he manages to bring the screen into focus. It is Jeremy.
~"They've sworn Callum in as the Alpha of Blue Moon Pack. The elders and others attended. There's been chaos."
Fenris stares at the message, and his heart gives a slow, painful throb that echoes in his skull.
Of course this is the end. He thinks bitterly. Of course this is the final blow. He has failed, not just himself, but the entire pack.
Handing it over to Callum isn't even the worst part. It is how everyone now sees him, how they talk in hushed whispers and sidelong glances, how the other Alphas and the officials believe he is just desperate to keep the title.
That he is just clinging to power out of pride, not because he still believes he is the one meant to lead.
That he is a liar. That he has deceived everyone. That he is cursed because he actually doesn't have a mate.
With no warning, he slams his forehead against the steering wheel, hard enough to draw blood.
A deep throb radiates outward from the spot, and the coppery scent hits his nose.
As an Alpha, that small wound should close within seconds, but it doesn't. The blood continues to bead and drip, the dull ache deepens.
His muscles ache all over. His head pounds. His limbs feel heavy and too hot, like his skin doesn't fit right. He becomes feverish, dizzy and weak.
Time slips without knowing.
Later, deep into the night when the pain and bleeding doesn't stop, he finally steps out of the car to look for some pain killers as much as he hates it because it makes him feel human.
The streets are quieter now, thinned out, the city still alive but hushed beneath the late hour.
Lights blur through his vision as he staggers toward a pharmacy sign glowing dimly in the dark.
The moment he pushes through the door, a scent hits him so suddenly, so violently familiar, that it nearly knocks the breath from his lungs.
It strikes his senses like a slap, dragging him upright with a jolt. His heart stutters and his wolf rears.
It feels like flowers left too long in the sun have just tasted rain, life returns in an instant.
He braces himself against the doorframe as his gaze sweeps the narrow space until it lands on a figure standing at the far counter.
The figure is so similar to the one he has chased in his mind, again and again, now real, right there... Pinkish hair, the unmistakable height.
He is swallowing medicine, tipping water from a plastic bottle into his mouth, phone pressed to his ear.
When he turns and his profile become visible, the unmistakable pretty face, but also disappointment on his face is unmistakable.
"I've already paid the money you asked for the first time! Why are you adding the price?!" he snaps loudly, too loudly, the frustration crackling in his voice.
"What?! What the hell do you mean by 'who is this?! It's Axel, Axel Blake! Hello?! Helloo?!"
He stares at his phone in disbelief for a moment, "You dare hang up on me, you crazy bastard!" he yells, then rage twists across his features and he throws the device to the floor.
It shatters, the pieces bouncing and skidding, and he storms forward, his voice cutting sharply through the quiet shop.
His foot smashes down on the phone as he marches toward the door, but just as he passes, Fenris reaches out and grabs his wrist.
But Fenris suddenly collapses against his shoulder, like his body is struggling to catch up with the fact that it is alive again all of a sudden.
"What the...?! I'm not a damn nurse! Get your dying body off me! If you knew you were gonna drop dead halfway here, maybe you should have called an ambulance instead of crawling here and coming to use me as your human stretcher!" The words explodes out of Axel's mouth, furious and loud.
His voice cuts through the quiet of the store as he struggles under the weight of the man who's just collapsed on him.
He tries to push the Fenris upright, cursing under his breath, his palms slipping against the leather jacket.
His chest tightens as something familiar he felt last night creep in again.. a sensation that coils at the base of his spine and climbs without mercy.
The same unbearable rush of heat that had wrecked him last night when he got pinned by a stranger on the bed.
This time it's even more concentrated, it burns up the back of his neck and spreads beneath his skin like a wave of static, making every hair on his arms stand on end.
His fingers begin to sweat, gripping uselessly at the man's arms as his heart rate climbs sharply.
His breath shortens, shallow and uneven, while his head starts to feel heavy and fogged, as though the oxygen is thinning around him.
That strange familiar, animalistic... scent invades his awareness again, digging under his skin and clouds his thoughts.
With effort, he manages to pull the man up and straighten him against the glass wall, trying to ignore the way his vision pulses at the edges.
As he tries to hold him up, he catches a look at the man's face- and something about it feels too familiar, like it's about to trigger a memory.
Something in the back of his mind nags at him, a faint memory he can't quite reach. His brain struggles to remember, even though his gut insists he's seen this man before.
The man's head tilts slightly, his lashes fluttering for a second like he's trying to stay conscious.
There's a fresh reddish wound on his forehead, the kind that looks like it should sting like hell. His body trembles lightly, like it's fighting to stay grounded.
Then suddenly, right in front of Axel's eyes, the wound vanishes. It fades as though it was never there, skin knitting together with unnatural speed until his forehead is clean and untouched, not even a scar remaining.
Axel jerks back, hands slipping off the man's shoulders as if he's been burned.
His entire body recoils instinctively, breath catching in his throat. But before he can make sense of what he's seeing, the man lunges forward with renewed strength, grabbing Axel's arm and pulling him back close again.