The Beast's Possession
85: When she would leave me.

**Bane pov**

I tried to sleep. I really tried.

It was funny how Zion, acting like a mother and sending me into a timeout of a nap, wasn't what kept me awake as it usually would.

The reason why I couldn't sleep was her.

Every time I closed my eyes, I could see the sheer shock and disappointment on her face when I told her she was free to go.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to believe that it wasn't what she wanted. That she needed to stay here and build a happy future, but even I wasn't mad enough to believe that.

When the thoughts became too much, I gave up on the idea of having any rest and headed to the hospital. I promised myself I wouldn't enter the room, all I needed was to check if she had any food and how she was feeling. And maybe I wanted to know if she had mentioned anything about when she would leave me. I mean, when she would leave the pack territory.

*Fuck, Bane, pull yourself together, stop being such a pussy. Since when you let a woman rule your emotions like that, huh? Pathetic.*

The closer I got to the hospital wing, the harder my heart started beating. It had to be fear of a sort that made me feel so paranoid.

I knew I made the right call by setting her free. It was the right thing to do. But why, against all odds, did it feel so damn wrong?

Stopping in front of her hospital room door, I took a few breaths and listened. Since no medics were around, I acted like a true creep and waited.

If no sound would come, I could peek inside and see if she was asleep. Fast enough not to be noticed.

After waiting for a while and not hearing a sound, I slowly opened the door and looked inside. Her bed was empty...

"Fuck," I hissed under my breath, convinced she had taken my words to heart and left the moment I turned my back on her.

Fear gripped me. No matter how tough I acted and how much I wanted everyone to think I didn't care - I cared. I fucking cared a lot. And so did my heart that was threatening me to beat straight through my ribcage to leave me and chase behind her.

Just in the middle of my silent mental breakdown a doctor approached me. "Alpha, are you here to check on Luna? Didn't Rodrigo tell you she asked to see Rex?"

The doc looked genuinely surprised, probably as much as I felt. Slowly, I spun on my heel to face him. "What do you mean she asked to see Rex?"

The doctor started nervously switching his weight from one leg to another as his eyes darted everywhere but at me.

"Well, that's exactly what I mean. Luna asked Rodrigo to show her where Rex is kept now. They left the room and headed to the cells not long ago, if you leave now, I'm sure you can catch up with them before she does anything you don't approve of."

A chuckle left me. "She does anything I don't approve of?"

The doctor grew even more nervous as he nodded his head. "Yes. She's Luna or at least she will become one soon, and we're already supposed to listen to her too, you know. Who knows what she has planned. If she commands the guards to release the prisoners they really don't have the right to say no to her."

The thought amused me. I didn't think Aife would go behind my back and release all the prisoners, but I was pretty sure she was on a mission to get Rex out of there.

She was kind like that, too good to be associated with heathens as us.

Without offering the doctor more of my time, I advised him to carry on with his responsibilities and headed towards the cells.

I had to admit that I was a little annoyed, but also excited. Annoyed because she left the hospital before the doctors cleared her. Excited, well, I had plenty of reasons to feel like that - she was still around and on top of that, taking an active role as Luna.

Maybe one of these days my selfishness would take over and I would keep her against every warning signal that plays in my mind.

I knew it was a bad idea, but if I even had one, I was nearly sure the leftover of my heart wanted her to stay.

I ignored everything in my way as I ran down the stairs and found Aife, embraced by Rex. For whatever fucking reason, it pissed me off. I wanted his paws off her. I wanted them off even before I saw that he was touching her.

The growl that left me startled them all, but while the rest of them jumped away from Aife, she reached her hand towards me and asked me to take her outside.

I let my instincts take over, scooped her in my arms and carried her away from the dreadful stench. While I was adamant she had to return to the hospital, Aife kept arguing and insisting she wanted to go outside.

A while ago, I would grow so angry at her for talking back, but now, I actually enjoyed it. I loved the fact that she had found her voice, especially to stand her ground against my words.

We discussed something, I knew we did, but I couldn't follow the conversation as I sat down and pulled her body tighter against mine. I knew I answered something, but my mind was in too much of a blur to let me follow the words.

In this moment, I both loved and hated how perfectly she fit in my arms. It had been so long since someone felt like they were molded for me, but at the same time, knowing everything that was wrong with me, I feared for her safety. Why did the Goddess have to hate me so much to make me feel like Aife was 'it' for me, just to remind me why it was dangerous to even think of her staying around.

She muttered something under her breath, but the last words that escaped her lips felt like they were aimed straight at my heart. "After I wake up, you can kick me out of your pack, Alpha."

Her eyes were closed and she didn't react as I sucked in a sharp breath, trying to ground myself and breathe out the frustration. The last thing I needed was to do something completely stupid like mark her and claim her as mine fully. I wanted to. Fuck, the Goddess knew I wanted all of that, but going down that road would be a pure insanity on my side.

In just mere weeks, Aife had grown on me. I had been awful to her since the first day, while she had done nothing but showed kindness and even went out of her way to help someone who had hurt her.

Not to mention the fact that she saved my life. She saved the man who had abused and tormented her for weeks without asking for anything in return.