Chapter 33

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*Jayden*

I was barely awake when something gripping my arm dragged me out of bed and I stumbled over my feet to keep up with it. The explosive sound that had just gone off had my ears ringing and my head pounding. It was painfully loud.

"Jayden!" I heard Corey's frightened shout between many other screams.

"I've got him, he's fine!" Zeke called back.

I opened my eyes to see that it was Zeke who had dragged me from the trailer, seemingly Izabella too as Sean tugged her into a tight hug while she seemed disoriented.

My eyes shifted to the people running around us in panic and the smoke looming overhead before I looked up when another hand caught my arm. Corey. He looked over me as if inspecting for wounds and I felt a surprising warmth at the concern.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Kaden shouted.

"I've heard word that someone planted a bomb in the kitchen. Help me get everyone as far away from here as possible," Sean said, grabbing a little girl who was screaming her lungs out as she cried.

No one seemed to be with her, so I suspected that she had lost her parents in the chaos.

"Where's Trent?!" Corey shouted above the screaming.

"He's getting Hayley!" Zeke replied.

I pulled my arm from Corey's hand and turned around. I gasped at the sight. The restaurants were on fire... and there were fuel tanks behind us.

Who the heck would set something alight at a fuel station in the middle of practically nowhere?!

"Guys! Stop staring and help me get people away from here!" Sean shouted at us.

I glanced around. There were a lot of people running and screaming, some covered in blood and others in cars, trying to get out of the parking lot without hurting anyone but being blocked by other cars and people. It looked like there were less than one hundred people, but definitely more than fifty.

"Jayden, get out of here!" Corey's voice drew my attention back to him.

"No. I'm helping," I stated.

He opened his mouth, the way his face skewed made me figure he was about to protest, but I left before he could speak and wrapped my arms around an old woman and a man not too far from her.

"What are you –?" the man was silenced by the fact that we were over 500 meters from the gas station in just a few seconds. I turned to head back but was stopped when he grabbed hold of me.

"Wait!" he shouted. "My wife – She-she was in the bathroom, she's short and has blonde –"

I left before he could finish.

One of the others would find her if I did not, I was certain of that.

We went back and forth with people until they were all safe in the field, and the fuel station blew up. It was so big that the heat could still be felt. I looked around, trying to spot the man from earlier, and was relieved to see that he had found his wife. They, like everyone else, were either staring at us or the station in shock and disbelief.

"Alright, now what do we do? They've all seen us move," Zeke hissed.

"We compel them to forget," Kaden replied as he walked up to a woman to speak to her.

Izabella, Rita and Trent followed his lead but before I could, Corey's hand gripped my shoulder and turned me to face him. The first thing I noticed was that his blue eyes had gone completely black.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" he snapped at me. "It might not have been a direct order, but you can't just disrespect my authority like that."

"What authority?! I'm not part of your pack, you're not my Beta; you can't tell me to do anything –"

"As long as we're out here, I damn well am your Beta! You –"

"This is not the time or place for the two of you to be arguing! Both of you shut up!" Hayley interrupted him.

Corey and I glared at each other for a few seconds, but I felt my glare fading as a look overtook his narrowed eyes which made me wonder if he regretted the wish he didn't make. I had known he would eventually.

I let out a sigh, turning away from him to walk up to a random kid.

"That was awesome – You guys are so fast!" He jumped while grinning up at me. I chuckled. At least the kids weren't too shaken by what had just happened.

"Yeah?" I knelt, placing my hands on his shoulders as I looked into his dark brown eyes. "The station blew up, but you received an early warning and managed to escape with everyone else."

His face became confused, and he looked around until his gaze returned to me. "Who are you?" he mumbled.

"No one, let's find your mother." I stood up.

-----

"So... do you think they had insurance on that car?" Izabella spoke after everyone had been silent for a while.

I would have laughed if not in such a bad mood.

"I doubt." Kaden chewed his lip, looking back towards the station.

"It'll be fine, we'll figure out what to do later," Sean told him. "Right now... We just have to get back home."

"We can't walk all the way back," Hayley frowned.

"We have to. We already used more money than we were meant to; at this point, we've only got enough left for food," Trent said.

I zoned out of the conversation as I looked back at Corey. He wasn't paying attention to the talking; was not even walking with everyone, instead trailing a few feet behind all of us, his hands buried in the pockets of his sweatpants while his head hung, letting a layer of curly blond hair shield some of his face.

He looked up as though feeling my stare, and I turned away as soon as our eyes met. I heard him sigh.

'I'm sorry, Jayden.'

The link made me stop walking.

Kaden furrowed his brows at me, but I shook my head. He looked behind us and gave a breath through his nose before continuing on, so I was left behind and eventually Corey made it to my side.

'I panicked out when the bomb went off, I thought you might be hurt. I needed you to get away from there...' his voice continued in my head. 'I shouldn't tell you what to do. There's no reason for you to listen to me.'

I bit my lip feeling an ache in my chest. I didn't know if it was from him or me, but I didn't like feeling him hurt.

'You don't have to look out for me,' I linked to him.

I was glad that he seemed to care, given how we started off. Maybe we could be friends. Until he found out –

Corey's voice entered my mind again just as it began to darken, quickly drawing me back.

'I want to... Can't you let me? I'm sorry, Jayden. About everything. I was wrong. There is no mistake. I know it's not fair to ask... but please can you give me a chance?'

I stared at the ground as we continued to walk, the pebbles crunching under our feet. They quickly became a blur to me as I thought. One of the reasons he had not wanted to be with me was because I was an Omega. Someone weak that required protection. That was exactly what he thought he needed to do, even at the gas station.

Not to mention my father. And then there was more that he didn't even know... I didn't want to further burden him. My strength had not changed much. He would become frustrated, and I couldn't deal with him accepting me only to return to how things had been.

'No.'

I felt my eyes sting as a sharp pain pierced through my chest. Again, I wasn't sure if it was him or me.

I blocked him out, figuring our conversation had ended, but felt his hand take mine. It immediately made me pull away as I looked up.

He glanced at our friends and back to me, his brows creasing. I knew what he was asking and crossed my arms over my chest so he couldn't touch my hands anymore while I unblocked him.

'Alright...' he linked.

Corey and I dove into silence after that. We kept at our pace, continuing to trail behind, listening to the others joke around, their voices occasionally drowning out as a car drove by us. My wolf and I felt comforted walking beside him, so I stayed there. The ride to the station had left me reeling, it was a relief to feel calm for a bit.

'Your nightmare... What was it about?'

I was a little startled by the sound of Corey's voice in my head after being quiet for so long, but just shrugged at the question.

"I can't remember," I replied out loud.

'Really?'

He knew I was lying and obviously wasn't very happy about it.

I didn't care. I wasn't going to tell him. I wasn't going to tell anyone. The last thing I needed was more concern, more pity or disgust. The last thing I needed was for everyone to think of me as even weaker or look at me differently. I especially didn't want to give Corey another thing to hate about me.

Besides, I didn't want to have to recall everything that happened. It was enough that the nightmares started again. I didn't want to have to think about it or envision it more than I already had. It was always so vivid and draining. Joe wasn't going to let it go this time if I couldn't get over it quickly...

"Don't tell Joe," I spoke up impulsively.

I regretted not linking to Corey when everyone else stopped and looked over at me. I opened my mouth to brush off what I had just said, but my mind had gone blank for a second.

"Don't tell him about the nightmare? I... Jayden, I called him –" Corey began.

I turned to him to find his face pale, regretful.

"You already told him? Why did you call him for a nightmare? Everyone has nightmares."

Wasn't calling Joe a dramatic response to me having a dream?!

"It just seemed like you were... I was..." Corey looked over at the others who were still staring at us. 'It looked like you were struggling, I was afraid. Look, I know it's not the first time.'

How would he know...? I turned to Kaden.

"You told him?"

Kaden looked at Corey. "He was concerned when he asked, and –"

"Why would you –? You can't just tell anyone about stuff like that!" I cut him off.

"What's going on?" Adan spoke, looking bewildered, as everyone did else except Kaden who shook his head at me.

"He isn't anyone, he's your mate. I assumed it was okay to tell him because of that. Besides, he knows – everyone here knows about your father, and we want to help you –" Kaden was saying.

"I don't need help! They're just nightmares. Everyone has fucking nightmares. It'll go away like it did last time. As for my dad, that is not anyone's business. So back off and keep your mouth shut!" I snapped at him.

He looked taken aback and I gave a breath of disbelief.

"Also, mate? Now you agree, too? What's changed? Or do you agree only when it's convenient for you? You two are a lot alike." I laughed.

"Jayden –" Corey began.

"The ONLY reason I didn't make that wish was because Izabella needed Adan more than I needed to get rid of you. My not choosing a new mate doesn't mean I chose you. I'm not going to. You keep saying sorry. If you really are, why don't you just fix this 'mistake' the way you should have if you weren't so selfish to begin with, Corey?"

I was heaving when I finished speaking, adrenaline causing my hands to shake. I regretted saying the last sentence. I was so sure we couldn't be together, but I didn't actually want him to reject me. Just the thought made my chest ache, and my wolf cower.

I was so angry at him though.

I turned away when I noticed Corey's glassy eyes and felt his regret and pain in my chest. I hated being able to feel his emotions when I wasn't looking at him.

"Ca-can we stop the bus?" Rita stuttered.

I turned around, making sure not to look at Kaden or Corey as the others called for the oncoming bus to stop. It pulled over right in front of us and I stared at the tyres to avoid looking at anyone around me.

"Hello, Sir. We need a ride to the closest town. Would you happen to have a few extra seats?" Adan spoke to the bus driver.

The man studied each of us before he spoke.

"You kids look pretty beat, you must have been walking for a long time. Get in," he said.

"We'll pay you when we get there because we don't have any –" Sean was saying.

"It's alright. You don't have to." The man smiled.

"Thank you so much," Corey said leading us in.

The bus was quite full but there were enough seats open for us. I sat down right behind the driver, next to an old woman. There were more seats open towards the back, but I didn't want to be close to anyone I could have an argument with and Kaden and Corey both sat close to everyone else in the rear seats.

As the bus began to move, I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the seat. My mind felt so clouded, I was still so mad at them. At least it distracted me from everything else for the moment.

I just needed to write so I could calm down. Shit. My eyes tightened in dismay as I remembered. The car was gone which meant my guitar was too, and that my book and everything in it was gone. The day could not have gotten any worse.

I frowned opening my eyes while feeling a buzz against my leg. At least I still had my phone. I pulled it from my pocket and felt my body tense slightly at the number displayed on the screen. Right... Things could always get worse.

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