Lethal✔️

Chapter 38

"I fucking hate funerals," I mutter to Cain once we're back in the pack house.

"Hopefully this is the last one for awhile," Cain says, his eyes sad, hair disheveled.

"You didn't have to do that," I whisper, finally realizing. "You took my pain, didn't you?"

Cain is silent, but his hollow expression answers for him.

"I can handle it," I say confidently. "You have enough on your plate without dealing with my pain too."

He shakes his head. "I will never let you be in pain, Ares. Not when I can stop it."

While I appreciate the sentiment, I found it completely unnecessary. However, now that I'm an Alpha, there's no reason I wouldn't be able to take his pain, as he had done for me now, and when Carter had died.

I focus on the bond, and imagine lifting the weight of his emotions off of his heart. Instantly, I can feel the crushing impact on my chest.

Gasping, I clutch at my chest. It feels like a part of my soul has been ripped away from me, and like my heart is being pierced with a thousand needles.

"Fuck, Ares," Cain swears, and the pain is immediately gone. "Don't fucking do that again."

"It's not fair to you," I say, catching my breath and straightening my spine, having been hunched over from the pain. "Just give me my half, it's only right."

"I said no," Cain growls. "I saw how it was for you dealing with Carter's death. I'm not going to have you go through that again."

"I'm stronger now," I insist. "Surely, you know that."

Cain sighs, and cups my cheek with his large, calloused hand. "I know that you're already dealing with the Transformation. You don't need this on your mind too. Just let me take care of you, okay? You don't have to fight me every time I try to make your life easier."

I nod, defeated. He wouldn't let this go, and if taking my pain gave him peace of mind, then far be it from me to fight him on this. There were way more important fights I wanted to win.

"I want to be put on the patrolling schedule," I tell Cain as he lays on the bed, his eyes closed.

"No," Cain says simply.

"It wasn't a question," I state. "I'm merely letting you know that I will be helping with the patrols. You can put me on the schedule and know where I'll be at all times, or you can have fun trying to track my whereabouts."

Cain is quiet, and he finally opens his eyes and sits up, meeting my gaze intensely. "You want to help guard?"

I nod, surprised he seems like he's going along with it. I definitely thought I would have to cut him up a little before we would come to an agreement.

"Okay. You'll have your first shift tomorrow," He says with a mischievous smile, and I wonder what he's planning.

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I groan as Axel takes me to the section of the territory Cain scheduled me to guard. "You've got to be joking," I whine as I look at the school.

"What? Cain said you wanted to get a patrolling shift," Axel says, but his smirk tells me he knows exactly how Cain has managed to pull one over on me.

"Yeah, I meant like guarding the Northeast border," I mutter, rolling my eyes. "Not watching kids wipe boogers on each other."

Axel laughs. "It won't be too bad. You like training the pups, what's so wrong with visiting them for awhile? I'm sure they'd love to see their Luna... you know, not soaked in blood."