The moment I came back in the room, I knew something was off but since Liah told me not to worry I let it go for now. As Madox, closed the bathroom door, I realized he didn't have clothes so I grabbed him a pair of my sweatpants and a t-shirt. Knocking on the bathroom door,I opened it and placed the clothes on the counter without looking at him again. As I closed the door, I heard him say “thanks Con” but made no move to reply. Once the door was securely shut, I turned back to Liah who was now sprawled out across my bed.

“Okay spill. What just happened in the last ten minutes for him to be awkward around me all of a sudden?” I asked confused.

“I can't tell you that but trust me when I say it's nothing bad. It may even turn out to be a good thing you don't know” she said with a shrug.

You're the queen of cryptic answers, you know that right?” I asked rolling my eyes before I sat on the edge of the bed.

“I know and you hate it but it's really not my secret to tell” she said with a sad smile.

“Okay, I guess we should think about sleeping arrangements” I said changing the subject.

“Well, I figured you and I would be on the bed and Madox could take the couch” she said.

“I'm cool with that plan” Madox said from the bathroom door surprising both of us since neither had heard the shower shut off or the door open. Looking over, we could tell he'd just gotten out of the shower because his hair was still dripping causing water stains to appear on the light gray shirt I had given him despite the towel he had wrapped around his shoulders to towel dry it.

“Geez Dox, learn to make some noise. You scared the shit outta me” Liah said giggling. Looking at each other, Madox and I smiled at her apparent surprise before he moved out of the bathroom door. As he walked, the new muscles of his chest were visible against the fabric of the t-shirt making me hard as a rock. Thankful I'd chosen sweatpants, I looked away from him trying to calm myself down as quickly as possible. Seconds later, Ty knocked on the door just to check in obviously fresh from a round or two with his mate. Standing by the door, I was grateful he smelled like that so strongly as it helped to hide the lingering scent of my arousal though it didn't go unnoticed by Ty at least. Quirking an eyebrow, he asked “you okay Conner?”

“Yeah, just a bit tired. We're just waiting for Liah to get out of the shower then heading to bed” I said yawning.

“Alright, don't forget to take your meds again” he said before bidding us good night and heading back to his room. As I closed the door and turned the lock, Madox asked “what does he mean when he says to take your meds again?”

“I have ones I take daily and some that I have to take twice specially if I haven't taken them in a while. Most of the time I don't take the ones for my PTSD but I always take an antidepressant, a pill for my anxiety, and a sleeping pill. With how today has gone though, he just wanted to remind me to take the second round of the PTSD meds and he's right I do need to take them” I explained moving to the small chest on top my desk where they were stored. As I opened the box, the bathroom door opened. As Liah walked into the room, she asked “getting the second set of meds?” as she spotted me next to the chest.

“Yeah, Ty just came to remind me to take them” I explained with a shrug.

“Ah, that explains why it smells like sex in here now” she said and I could feel my face flush slightly before I turned back to the box. Pulling out the three pill bottles, I glanced up to see both of them watching me. Each of their faces head a mix of emotions. Liah's was a mix of sadness and contentment while Madox was a combination of sadness, anger, and resignation which confused me.
“Hey moon, why does Madox look angry and resigned. I get the sadness part but why the other two emotions?” I asked my wolf as I turned back to get the pills from their bottles.

“I'm not sure but maybe he's angry about what happened causing us to have to take all these pills and resigned to the fact that he wasn't there to help you back then making this the way things have to be. I could ask Reign to be sure but I don't know if he'll tell me” he explained.

“Well it's worth a shot and it's okay if he doesn't answer” I said placing the bottles back in the box. Closing the lid, I walked over to the night stand and picked up my bottle of water. Popping the pills into my mouth, I followed them with half the bottle of water to make sure I took all of them before turning back to my friends. Capping the bottle, I asked “you guys almost ready for bed?” effectively snapping them out of their watching.

“Yeah, just about sweetie” Liah said coming to wrap her arms around me from my left side. Madox followed suit from the right without a word reminding me that I was loved by more than just my family.

The next month of training went by in a blur of bruises and working out every day. As the full moon approached, the entire pack began preparations for the Alpha and Luna ceremonies which made it so we barely had time to practice between school and helping with set up. The day before the event, Madox came to find me and asked if we could train for a few hours today since all the insanity had died down for most of the pack.

“Sure, wanna go get changed and meet me at the training ground?” I asked standing up from where I'd been seated at the island.

“Yeah, I'll see you out there in like ten minutes” he said turning towards the stairs. After he left the room, I turned to Liah who had been talking with me and said “he seems different today. I wonder what's going on.”

“I don't know. I tried to ask about it earlier but he won't tell me. Maybe he's worried about his dad and brother since they've been gone for so long” she said shrugging.

“I'll see if I can get him to open up to me after practice” I said turning to head to the stairs. Climbing the stairs, I smelled the familiar scent of my mother coming towards me. When I looked up, the look in his eyes was anything but happy. In fact, he looked angry and worried.

“Momma, what's wrong?” I asked starting to worry as I stopped in front of him.

“We were unable to stop the wolves that have been threatening Madox from coming to the ceremonies tomorrow. I warned him just so he can be prepared but I'm still worried. I'm also worried that “he” will show up tomorrow as well” he explained putting emphasis on the last pronoun causing my blood to run cold.

“I'll talk to him momma. I'll also stick with family and Liah and Madox all day tomorrow until everyone is gone just like Kyle's wedding. At least this time it won't be a surprise and I can be prepared enough to not make a big scene” I said with a sad smile.

“Okay baby. I just hate that we cannot do anything about all of this” he said pulling me into a hug than added “I love you my baby boy and I don't want to see you in that state again. I wish I could take away those demons forever.”

“I know momma. I know you and dad, Ty and Kyle, Liah and Madox all wish you could but there's no changing the past. I love you too momma” I said wrapping my arms around him. We stayed there for a bit before he remembered he had event preparations to complete and let go. Putting his hand on my face for a second, he turned and headed back down the stairs while I headed up them towards Madox room instead of my own. Knocking, I waited a few seconds before opening the door. Stepping inside the room, I found Madox sitting on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands crying. Closing the door, I walked over and sat down next to him placing my left hand on his back.

“A penny for your thoughts as they say” I said in a gentle tone.

“I'm scared. I'm honestly terrified to see all those asshole tomorrow. I know things have gotten better and you've trained me to be able to defend myself but...” he trailed off.

“But you're afraid you won't be strong enough despite all the improvements you've made right?” I asked in the same gentle tone.

“Yeah, I just feel like since there are more of them I won't be able to do anything about it if they try something” he said before sobbing again.

“You wanna know a secret?” I asked in a whisper.

“Huh? I thought I knew everything about you” he said looking at me with his blood shot eyes. Reaching up, I wiped away a few stray tears before saying “I'm scared too. I'm scared that that asshole will be here again tomorrow and I'll be too distracted by my fear to keep from loosing one of my best friends.”

“What you do mean?” he asked with a shocked expression.

“I saw mom in the hall on the way up and he said my rapist might be here again tomorrow. I promised to stay with you, Liah, or another member of my family the entire night but I'm still terrified something will happen. Knowing those assholes will be here too, I'm scared I will be completely useless if something does happen and you can't defend yourself” I explained.

“If anything happens to me and you cannot do anything to help me, I want you to know that it's not your fault and that you did everything you could to help me protect myself” Madox said wrapping me in a hug then added “thank you for helping me, protecting me, caring for me, and most of all thank you for being my best friend.” Still hugging him, I said “You are without a doubt one of the most important people in my life and I wouldn't change that for the world. I'm glad we got passed our initial distrust of each other and have come so far in such a short time. I know that without and you Liah by my side, I wouldn't have been able to get through seeing my rapist last month. I probably would've tried to kill myself again but knowing I had friends watching out for me helped me to face it without wanting to harm myself. Thank you for choosing to be my friend and listen to me without judging me for my past. And thank you for being one of my best friends, I couldn't be prouder of all the things you've done since you came to stay with us. I know it took a lot of effort to trust us and come out of your protective shell but I'm so glad you did.” After a few minutes more of crying, Madox managed to calm himself down enough to sit up and look at me.

“Why don't we skip practice today and just enjoy the day together just the three of us? What do you say to a movie marathon in my room?” I asked wiping his tears away.

“Yeah. Let's go find Liah and get that marathon started” he answered with a smile. As we left his room, heading down the stairs to find Liah I asked “why don't we make it an all night movie marathon and sleep over?”

“I'm down for that plan” Madox said with the first smile I'd seen on him today. Midway down the stairs, we were met by a worried looking Liah.

“I thought you guys were gonna go train?” she asked looking up at us as we walked towards her still in our street clothes.

“Nah, change of plans. We are gonna do an all night movie marathon and sleep over in my room. You down for spending the night with your two best friends?” I asked with a smile.

“I'm always down for spending time with my two favorite assholes” Liah said with a giggle. From the bottom of the steps we heard someone clear their throat. Looking passed Liah, we could see mom standing at the bottom with a raised brow and hands on his hips.

“Hi momma” I said followed by the other two saying “hi Luna Kris.” Giggling and shaking his head, mom said “what are you three hooligans getting into now?”

“We're planning to behave I promise” Liah said causing all three of us to bust out laughing before I managed to add “we're doing a movie night in my room complete with a sleep over” while trying to catch my breath.

“Good grief, just try not to stay up too late. Remember tomorrow may be a Saturday but it is also going to be a busy day” he said smiling at us before turning to head towards dads office. Still laughing, we made our way to the kitchen for snacks to watch during the movie. Once in the kitchen, we gathered a plethora of snacks and drinks before heading back up to my room. The rest of the night passed in comfortable happiness with two of my favorite people which almost made me forget about all the impending stress coming tomorrow. Almost... As I fell asleep, I was plagued with nightmares of what happened to me and woke up crying several times making Madox and Liah take turns cuddling with me while I cried.