BYRON

We had returned to Bramville and were at the Collingwood manor, in Julien’s room. My mate had lost a lot of blood and had been sleeping for three days. Jamie had offered to check him out seeing how worried we were, we knew just being bitten was not going to turn him but the loss of blood had been a lot. The room was silent as we watched Jamie do his work. The ginger omega sighed and looked at us.

“His condition is fine despite losing so much blood.” He softly smiled saving his tools back on his bag. Everyone sighed in relief at the older omega’s words.

“When’s he going to wake up?” Henry beat me to asking the question. 

“I can’t tell you when, it all depends on him now.” Jamie caressed my mate's head softly and then looked into my eyes. “But he will wake up eventually, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Thank you so much, Jamie.” Henry smiled at the other omega and gave him a soft hug, the latter let out a ‘you are welcome.’ 

“We should be heading to the pack now,” Dad said, but I didn’t even flinch at his words. I was just there, sitting next to my mate. Looking at his peaceful face while he was sleeping.

“You are right, it’s getting late so you should head back,” Eleanor said and I could feel she was looking at me. “That counts you too, Byron. You should go home and rest.”

‘Not leaving mate.’ Boris growled, trying to get control, but I managed to contain him.

“Byron? It’s time to leave, sweetie.” Jamie said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I let out a deep growl when I felt the omega’s hand on my shoulder, the latter moved away and went to his mate. 

“I’m not leaving my mate.” Boris took over looking at those present in the room, growling at them. I couldn’t blame him, I didn’t want to leave either. 

“Boris, calm down,” Dad said releasing his dominant alpha pheromones, trying to contain my wolf but he failed. Boris did the same, releasing strong pheromones. The omegas in the room started to cough hiding in their mates. 

“Rendall, do something about your son,” Eleanor said, holding her mate against her chest while releasing some of her own hormones to calm Henry. 

“Boris, you can stay. Eleanor will let you stay, okay?” Dad said looking at us, to me. He was trying to get to me, to control my wolf and I did. 

‘Boris, it’s okay. We are staying.’ I said taking over again and then stopped releasing my pheromones. I looked at my mate once again, sitting on the chair and ignoring everyone else; only one thing mattered to me at the moment, and that was waiting for him to wake up.

~oOoOo~

It was the next day, and Julien hadn’t woken up yet. I caressed his hand with my thumb while looking at him. His face looked so calm while sleeping that it seemed as if nothing had happened. Someone knocked on the door, I turned to look at it and saw a blonde head peeking out, it was Mikaela. I nodded at him and he walked into the room, standing next to me.

“Mason dropped me off here. He told me to give you this.” He handed me a bag with some clothes.

“Thank you.” He smiled softly and then sat on the chair that was on the other side of the bed, he took Julien’s hand in his and sighed.

“Juli, I have so much to tell you. First of all, we finally talked to Jamie and told him about the grandkids' situation, he understood we were not ready yet which is good. Second of all, drum rolls…” Mika made a drumming effect with his mouth, I chuckled at that.

“My parents are coming to visit! I hope you are awake by the time they get here. They really miss you, especially my Papa. Mason’s kind of nervous about meeting them but I know they will love him.” He giggled, caressing my mate’s hand with his thumb. “Oh! Mason took me to a nice restaurant in town, the food was really good and they had some exotic sushi on the menu, I want to take you there too. Byron can come too, we can have a double date, so please…Wake up soon Juli…” His voice started to crack and his eyes got teary. “I miss you…” 

“He will wake up soon, I know it…” I comforted Mika and he nodded in response. I bit my lips, holding back some tears. ‘I miss you too, Julien…’

~oOoOo~

Another day and Julien was still sleeping. Henry was sitting next to me, offering me some bunny-shaped apple bites. He was making sure I was eating my meals; Jamie probably told him to take good care of me. At stressful times like this, I tended to skip meals and not eat anything for long periods of the day. I couldn’t refuse his food, so I ate everything he gave me. 

“You know Julien loved eating bunny-shaped apples.” He giggled while cutting and carving the apple. “But then he grew up and started saying he was not a child anymore, that there was no need to cut the apples like this, but of course, he always eats them when I give him some.” He sighed and offered me the piece, I ate it.

I sat there, in silence, listening to Henry’s stories about my mate’s childhood. Smiling and laughing at some of them. When we finished the apples, the older omega put the plate aside and took Julien’s hand. 

“Sweetie, your mom…I think the idea of Byron being your mate is growing up on her.” Henry caressed his son’s hand and then left a kiss on it. “She’s also thinking about signing that peace treaty with the wolves.” He looked at me smiling and then back at his son. “I hope you wake up soon, sweetie. I want you to be here for that…”

I placed my hand on Henry’s shoulder, caressing it softly to comfort him. He had started crying while holding Julien’s hand to his face, leaving soft kisses on it. Just like I did with Mika the day before, I hold back my tears, trying to look strong for my papa-in-law.

~oOoOo~

It was night, Julien’s Papa had left the room a while ago and I was now alone with my merman. I laid down carefully on the bed with him, it was a big one so there was a lot of space for me. I sighed when I saw how peacefully he was sleeping, it made me wonder if his dreams were so good that he didn’t want to wake up or if I was in them. Perhaps I was there with him, holding his hand, giving him soft kisses, maybe we were mates already and he proudly showed my mark on his nape. I ran my thumb through his collar, thinking about the day I would see him without it. 

I felt something wet on my face, I brought my fingers to my cheek, noticing how wet it was. Was I crying? Yeah, I was and so was Boris, I could hear his whimpers on my mind, he missed our mate as much as I did. I let out a sob looking at my mate’s face again. 

“Baby…Julien…Please wake up…I need you…” I said, my voice cracking due to my sobs. I rested my head on my omega’s chest, making the duvet on top of him wet. I stayed there crying and telling him how much I missed him, begging him to wake up. Listening to the soft and calm beats of his heart lulling me to sleep…