Alec's pov:
It's the middle of the night, almost one week after everything happened – the attack on the pack and myself losing my legs (basically). I'm completely paralyzed from the waist down, but the doctors are saying that it's only temporary, that a wiggle of a toe will be a good sign and that the rest will come with time. Six days later, there's not a single sign of improvement. Sure temporary can be interpreted in many ways. I guess I just have a short period of time in mind. Despite of what they're telling me about nerve-regeneration taking time, I'm not really a patient type. I want to move around. I want to walk around and be useful. God, it's amazing how you miss those things when you can't do them.

Robbie has been going back and forth between his duties in the pack and his duties to me as his mate. We haven't really talked about the night when I got paralyzed, other than him calling me an idiot for going into those woods on my own, but that wasn't exactly news to me. That's the kind of person I've always been – the idiot. Even when I'm given such an honorable title as Beta of a pack, I'm also still the idiot because I don't really think things through.

Do you want to know what I spend my days doing now? Nothing. Well, I stare at my legs but that's hardly eventful if I might say so myself. I spend the day praying for some kind of miracle that my legs are fine and that I've just not put enough effort into moving them. That's not the case according to the tests. Ultimately, it just makes life miserable, though I don't say that out loud because I know Blake is having it worse.

For once I'm sleeping in this hospital room all by myself. Damian and Ivy usually sleep just fine, but they're now either not sleeping, or they're having nightmares and I can't freaking move over to them and soothe them back into sleep so they've been moved into Blake and Kate's room. I did hear Ivy talking to Kate the other day and I know Blake heard it because he was sitting by the foot of my bed. I was awake, but I didn't let him know.

That is all I can do these days – listen. I'm just third-wheeling pretty much everything these days. I'm just another defenseless pack-member that has to be protected.

- I've had enough of this...

I let out to myself as I try to reach out for the wheelchair, standing next to my bed. I haven't sat in it much, but whenever I have, Robbie has been the one to lift me over to it and push me around whenever he's had the time. That isn't all that much these days so I have to be patient for whenever he has the time, which isn't always when I want to.

I pull the chair closer to me and remove the covers over my legs. I have to physically move my legs over to the edge of the bed as I try to sit over to the side with my legs swinging. The moment I try to put weight on my legs, they immediately give way and I collapse. I'm leaning on my elbows as I still don't feel a damn thing below my waist. The wheelchair is standing next to me, but it looks like a tower from where I'm lying on the floor. Now I can't even be bothered to try anymore...

This just proves furthermore the helplessness I've been feeling this past week. I hate it. I freaking hate this! I mean, you haven't seen me do anything else than pull a joke about it, but that's just me putting on a brave face. The truth is that I feel more humiliated than anything. I can't do a damn thing by myself anymore. If I want to move around, I need help, if I want to wash myself or go to the bathroom, I need help...

I sigh to myself as I manage to pull myself up to a sitting position against the wall. I pull my legs up slightly and lean my forehead towards my knees. After a few seconds of sitting like this, I hear movement on the other side of the wall and the door opens. I don't need to look to see who it is.

- What the...Alec! What are you doing on the floor? Did you fall down from the bed?

Robbie immediately hurries over to me and is about to lift me back up on the bed, but I don't let him.

- No, I didn't, I just...I tried to get to the chair, alright? I just wanted to move around a little bit and I didn't know that you were coming by...I wanted to do it by myself.

I answer as he stops his movements and looks at me. I sense his hand slide down to the back of my neck, massaging me a little bit.

- It's the middle of the night and you want to move around in the wheelchair?

- Yes! Yes, I do, actually!

I almost yell at him before I manage to calm myself down, looking away.

- Before this happened, I could actually take these walks in the middle of the night. Now I can't even get to the freaking wheelchair on my own...

I hear him sigh deeply next to me before I sense his body-heat next to mine.

- What is this really about, Alec?

I have to rub my eyes because this is a conversation that's really getting to me. My mate is sitting right next to me, the person I care about most in my life. I know he wants to support me with everything he has and give me the strength that I need, I just...I don't know how to receive it.

- Is this about your legs? Alec, you know it's not a permanent thing. You will get your legs back...

He keeps on, but I shake my head slightly.

- That's what the doctors are saying all the freaking time, Robbie! The doctors tell me to be patient. That a little twig of movement is a good sign because the rest will follow...they keep telling me that as if I didn't remember that from the four other times they told me that. I know all of it and it's not happening. My toes are not wiggling and my feet are not moving. When is this going to end? Because by the way they're saying it and by the way you're saying it, it sounds like it's just around the corner but it isn't...

I sense a lump in my throat as I have to cover my face for a moment. He immediately grabs my hand and squeezes it tightly. God, I hate being this vulnerable. I hate him seeing me like this.

- Hey, you're not going through this on your own, alright? I know you're the one with the paralyzed legs and you're the one who has to deal with it more than me, but you've got me by your side. I will not budge, okay? I'm gonna be here for whatever you need...

My breath is still shaking. Letting my guard down like this is just way too much. I'm opening up for so many things that I've kept bottled up. It's a good thing that I have Robbie and that I can just fall apart in front of him because this 'being strong and positive'-thing is not something I can keep doing for myself. It's exhausting.

- This is just getting to me. I've reached the point where I can't pull that brave face in front of everybody. Robbie, I can't use my own freaking legs, how am I even...

I can't find a single word to fill the sentence as Robbie puts both of his arms around me and my head rests on his shoulder.

- I hear you, Alec, believe me when I say that I hear you. You know, you don't have to be strong in front of everybody. You have the right to feel whatever it is that you're feeling. You have no expectations to answer to, alright? What you're feeling right now is completely justified...

I sigh deeply to myself before I turn my head towards him. It's actually a relief to hear someone say it. I mean, I know these things, but to hear it from somebody else helps a lot more.

- I love you, you know?

I let out as he smiles down at me. I lean up towards him and we share a passionate kiss before I rest my head on his shoulder, feeling much lighter than I did earlier tonight.

- Yeah, I know, you goof. I love you too.

He answers and I chuckle weakly to myself. He always calls me 'goof'. He doesn't mean it all the time, but most of the time, because that's just who I am.

- Right, so, do you want to sleep or do you want to take a little trip around the mansion? I'm pretty sure I heard Blake in the office...

He asks as I look up at the wheelchair. All of a sudden, it doesn't seem that far away.

- I really could use some time outside of this sad, sad excuse of a room...

Blake's pov:

I take a deep breath to myself. I couldn't really sleep tonight so I got over here and started cleaning up the mess I made a couple of days ago. I didn't touch this the entire day after I had my outburst in front of Kate, but now I'm back. I should be sleeping tightly next to my mate at this time, but I can't. As much as I know that, she means well and that she wants me to be okay, I can't shake the heaviness that I feel inside my chest.

It feels like we're all just walking around waiting for the next thing to happen. My father hasn't made an appearance since that night, but we both know he can come whenever he wants and kill whoever that's trying to stop him. My biggest fear is that when there are nobody else, Kate, Damian and Ivy will come into the line of fire. The moment I sense the slightest of possibilities that they are in danger, I will not hesitate in doing what it takes to get them out of harm's way, no matter what I have to do.

I haven't spoken my mind openly about this to Kate, much because I already know what she's going to say to it. She is never going to leave my sight, but if it is for her own good, I'll make sure it happens. She's not going to like it or how it happens, but hopefully she'll understand why...eventually.

I don't get to think much further on this on my own before I hear movement outside the door. Someone pushes the door open and I see Alec roll himself in on the wheelchair with Robbie following him closely.

- I heard rumors that someone else wasn't asleep...

Alec lets out and I smile to myself for a moment...if only for a moment.

- I think there are different reasons as to why...

I answer as I see him sitting there. I haven't seen him be wheeled around much, but I'm happy to see him out of that hospital-room. If I know him correctly, he's damn happy about it too.

- That is probably true...

Alec answers as I pick up something very valuable from the floor, something that I actually threw on the floor in anger a couple of days ago. Whatever smile I manage to produce from Alec's reply is probably something both he and Robbie can see through as I look at the picture in my hand. It's the very first picture of me, Kate and little Damian. He wasn't more than a couple of minutes old when this was taken.

- You look deep in thought...

Robbie eventually says as Alec speeds his wheelchair across the room and I lower the picture for him to see.

- You have a lot to fight for here, Blake. You have even more than you did back then.

Alec mentions.

- I know...

As if I haven't thought about that a million times these past couple of days.

- What's your plan, then?

He then asks.

- I have no idea. I wished that I knew what to do to make this all go away, but I keep ending up back to the one option I don't want to go with and that Kate's not going to let me either.

They both seem to know what I'm talking about.

- There has to be another way, Blake. That can't be the only way for you to keep your family and pack safe.

Robbie answers, but I honestly don't know if there is. The most important thing for me is that he doesn't lay a finger on my family. They have to be safe before I can think about anything else. If the ultimate sacrifice can secure them that, I'm not ruling it out.

- I keep looking for that other way, but I can't seem to find it. It's pretty obvious that he only wants me to see that one end...

A/N: Possibly my last update before I go abroad. If that's the case, I'll leave a little update to let you know it might take a while before I get to update again. Also, dedicating this to my beautiful Unicorn who is in need of some love <3.