CHAPTER FOURTEEN – Rest

Emma’s POV

When I got out of the shower, I could hear Sienna yelling at Logan. She was telling him that he should have left Andrew to take care of me. I couldn’t hear what he said to her, but I didn’t even want to. I shut them out completely.

He was confusing the hell out of me. First, he rejected me, and then he was all jealous and growling at Jake. What was his plan, anyway? Did he want to take Sienna as his mate and make me alone forever because he couldn’t stand to see another man around me?

The most terrifying thing was that he could actually do that. Nobody could go against Alpha’s command. He could just order every male wolf to stay away from me, and they would have to obey him.

I got dressed as carefully as I could. The pain was consuming my entire body. I didn’t even know if it was physical or emotional anymore.

I sat down on my bed and leaned on the headboard.

I heard the front door open and close, and I prayed to the Goddess that Logan and Sienna had left.

A few minutes later, I heard Andrew climbing the stairs and walking to my room.

He opened the door, and I saw that he was carrying the food tray. He brought me soup, steak, and vegetables. My stomach twisted inside me. I couldn’t eat.

Andrew placed the tray on my lap and gave me a stern look.

“Eat,” he said and sat down next to me.

I slowly picked up a spoon and started eating the soup. My belly disagreed immediately.

I frowned and stopped eating.

“What are you doing?” Andrew growled.

“I am sick,” I said quietly.

“Of course, you are.” he sighed. “You haven’t eaten anything since your birthday. Your belly is shocked that you are finally eating.”

“Well, let’s not shock my belly even more,” I said and pushed the food tray away.

Andrew growled loudly and pushed the tray back. “You will eat, Emma. Don’t push me. You need to take a painkiller, and I am not giving you one on an empty stomach.”

I sighed and picked the spoon back up.

I ate about half of what Andrew brought up for me, and after convincing him I was full and would burst if he made me eat more, he finally moved the food tray away.

He gave me a painkiller and a glass of water.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were having trouble sleeping?” he asked me, taking the cup away and placing it on my nightstand.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“You should have told me,” he said.

I looked at him and sighed. I didn’t see how he could have helped me.

“Emma, you are all I have in this world,” he said thoughtfully. “No matter what is going on between us, you can always come to me with any problem. You are my sister, and it is my job and my privilege to take care of you.”

“Why don’t you believe me about Sienna?” I asked him and looked down at my hands.

I didn’t care if he got angry. I didn’t care if he yelled at me. I had to know. I had to know why she was so important that he always dismissed what I told him about her. It couldn’t be just because he thought I was jealous of their relationship. I was his sister. His family. I should come first, right? I know she was his childhood friend, and he was having difficulty believing she could be like that, but shouldn’t he believe me just a little?

“Again, Emma?” he asked with annoyance in his voice.

“How do you expect me to come to you with my problems when you don’t listen when I tell you about her?” I asked and looked up at him.

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“I just can’t believe what you told me about her is true,” he said. “I’ve known her my whole life. I would have noticed something, Emma.”

“She is very good at hiding it,” I said quietly.

“Look, I know I spend a lot of time with her,” he said and took my hand in his. “But she can’t ever take your place. Just because I spend more time with her doesn’t mean she is more important to me. It is because we grew up together, and she is closer to my age.”

Here we go with jealousy again. I knew that he would say that. I wasn’t worried about her taking my place. I was worried about her taking my life away.

I pulled my hand away from his and crossed my arms over my chest.

He sighed and put his hand on my thigh. “She loves you very much, Em. Give her a chance. This whole thing with Logan complicates things even more, but it is not her fault. Logan made his decision. She will be a great Luna, and you will always be able to count on her. We all will.”

“She is getting sloppy, Andrew,” I said, looking at him. “You will soon see that I am right.”

I just hoped that I wouldn’t have to pay with my life before he did.

He sighed and shook his head. “You are tired. Let’s just go to sleep, okay?”

He got up and walked out of my room. I leaned my head on the headboard and sighed. No matter what I said, he would never believe me. He would always choose her. Logan already did.

Andrew came back into my room wearing short sweats. He closed the door and climbed in beside me.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I am sleeping here,” he said. “Just like when mom and dad died, and you couldn’t sleep without me.”

He was right. I had nightmares after they died. I couldn’t and wouldn’t sleep without him here. It lasted for about a year. The difference was that back then, I wanted him here; now, I didn’t.

“You don’t have to do that,” I said.

“Get under the covers, Emma,” he said and turned off the lamp on the nightstand.

It wasn’t that late. It was only 7 p.m. But being December, it was already dark outside, and as soon as he turned the lamp off, my room was completely dark.

“Don’t you have Beta business to do?” I asked. “It is still early.”

“Logan gave me a day off to take care of you,” he answered. “Get under the covers and sleep.”

I sighed and did as he told me. I carefully pulled the covers over my body and tried to get comfortable. The painkiller I took was starting to make me numb, and it helped.

Andrew took my hand in his and came closer to me. He always used to do that when I was little. I couldn’t sleep without his hand in mine.

“I love you, Em,” he said.

“I love you too,” I whispered and let sleep take me.