Chapter 14 - The Grieving Process.

Natalia's P.O.V.

"Mmm, aahhh f**k"

"Nat, oh thank god, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, aahhh"

I tried to sit up but Emily quickly stopped me.

"Oh no you don't, stay right where you are"

"Urgh!!, Emily I'm fine"

"Really? you've been awake for less than a minute and already you've shown your pain twice"

I give up trying and lay my head down on the pillow in a huff.

"Good girl, now, how do you feel?"

"Like I've been beaten and bitten by a rogue"

I say with a chuckle which Emily didn't appreciate, she gave me a stern look which resembled a look that a mother would give her child to scare them straight.

"I'm fine Em, I promise, I'm just in a little bit of pain"

"Ok, I'll go and get the pack doctor, hopefully, he can give you something for it"

"Thanks, Em"

"You're welcome, oh and I've mind linked the boys, they're on their way down"

I groan in annoyance, as much as I'd love to see my brother, Brody and the rest of the guys, I just know that they're gonna annoy me about something.

Angelo will probably give me and Brody a lecture, alpha Jay will wanna know how everything went down and the twins, well, they're just annoying.

"Natalia, it's good to see you awake, how are you feeling?"

"Well, apart from the pain I'm in, I feel fine"

"That's great, lucky for you, I've brought you something for the pain"

He says whilst holding out the needle.

"Did I ever tell you how much I love you doc?"

He chuckles as he injects the painkilling liquid into me.

"What are you giving me?"

"Morphine, you should start to feel the effects pretty quickly"

And he wasn't wrong, as soon as he injected the morphine into me, I felt the effects really quickly and the major pains which are in my ribs and my shoulder, quickly disappeared and I felt so much better.

"Thanks, doc"

"You're welcome, you gave everyone a good scare, Nat"

"Really?"

"Yes, there was even a moment I was scared for my own life"

I chuckled believing I knew why but I was dead wrong.

"I'm sorry for my brother, he can be very over-protective of me"

"Oh it wasn't Angelo, Nat, it was your mate"

My head snapped to my right as shock and fear ran through my whole body.

"My what?"

I asked with a shaky voice hoping that he doesn't say what I think he's gonna say.

"Your mate alpha Cole, he's been here ever since you were brought in, he's very worried about you"

"What?"

I whispered as I backed myself further into my pillows, I looked over at Emily who was looking down at the floor and had wrapped her arms around herself in a way to protect herself.

"Are you sure it's him?"

"Oh yes, he made it very clear who he was and had even threatened to make rogue food out of me if I A) caused you any more pain, B) didn't heal you and C) looked, touched or thought of you in a way that I shouldn't"

What the f**k?.

Beeeeeep!!.

"Oh that's me, excuse me ladies"

The doctor leaves and I look at Emily trying not to glare but I can't help it.

"Is he telling the truth?"

She doesn't answer me.

"Emily, is he telling the truth?"

I said with more anger in my voice than I intended which caused her to jump, I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Em, I....I just need to know....i..is he here?"

Emily looks up at me and I already knew the answer just from looking at her, her whole body is shaking in fear and her face is full of tear stains.

"Oh my god"

"Please don't panic ok, he's not gonna hurt you or me"

"H..how d..do y..you kn..know?"

Emily grabs hold of my hand and strokes my hair with her other hand.

"Because Angelo won't allow it"

My breathing evens out but I still don't feel any better, just knowing my sick, demented asshole of a mate/brother is somewhere around here is enough to make me feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

"Nat"

I look up and smile when I see Angelo coming towards my bed, he crushes me in a bear hug and nuzzles his face into my neck whilst muttering 'thank yous' to our moon goddess.

Angelo pulls away and cups my face caressing my cheeks with his thumbs as he looks me over making sure I really was ok.

"Don't worry Angelo, I'm fine"

"You said that before and then you fainted"

"Touche"

We both chuckle and for a split second I smiled a bright and happy smile but it quickly vanished when I heard the door creak and I looked up to see the real life Freddy Kreuger staring back at me.

"Cole"

"Hey Nattie"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

I back away in fear.

"Calm down, Nat, he's not gonna hurt you"

"Are you kidding me, Angelo? that's Coles favourite habit, he's not happy unless he's hurting me"

"Natalia please, I promise you, I'm not here to hear you"

"Get out"

"Nattie"

"GET OUT!!, GET OUT!!, JUST GET OUT!!"

"Leave Cole"

"No"

Cole growled and I could tell from the tone that his wolf was about to take over.

Emily quickly wrapped her arms around my shaking body and comforted me as Angelo got Cole out of the room, I instantly felt relief seeing him gone but I wasn't completely relieved knowing that he was still here and I won't be happy until he's gone.

Later That Night.....

I woke up after a great sleep to the feeling of something stroking my hand, I looked down at it with sleepy vision and I saw Angelos hand holding mine.

"Angelo"

"Hey, baby girl"

He said happily whilst wiping his face with his free hand.

"Are you crying?"

"No, don't be silly"

"Yer you are, why are you crying?"

Angelo looks at me with hurt and pain and he doesn't even try to hide his tears now.

"Natalia there's erm.....there's something I need to tell you"

"Wh..what what is it?"

He takes a long, deep breath.

"Nat, there's a reason why Cole's here"

"Why?...is he here to take me back?"

I ask with panic laced in my voice.

"Sshhh!!, calm down, he's not here to take you, I promise"

"Thank god"

I let out a relieved sigh.

"So, why is he here?"

"Erm baby girl....this is hard for me to tell you"

"What could be so hard?"

He was silent for a minute.

"It's nanny Gail and grandpa Grayson"

"What about them?"

"They erm....they...oh god"

He places his forehead on our entwined hands and let's out a sigh, I couldn't help but run my free hand through his hair which is messed up and not his usual style.

"Hey, come on you can tell me"

He looks up at me and I started to worry when I saw his handsome face was now filled with tears.

"What happened to nanny and grandpa, Angelo?"

He looked broken and it hurt my heart to see it.

"I'm sorry Nat, they erm...they died"

"What?"

I can't believe this, my nanny and grandpa are dead, this is impossible, they can't be.

"H..how? they're fit and healthy Angelo, how can they be dead?"

"Cole said they died in their sleep in each other's arms"

"Oh my god"

A whimper leaves my mouth as I struggle to contain my tears, my nanny and grandpa were like Angelo, they were the only ones who loved and cared for me and even tried to stop all of the abuse but my parents refused to listen to them, I can't believe they died without knowing how much I loved them.

"Come here, baby sis"

Angelo sits next to me on my bed and wraps his arms around me, he tries to calm me down and comfort me but it's difficult and I know he's trying hard to control his own emotions but he failed.

We stayed like this for god knows how long, we cried together and even laughed as we reminisced about our amazing grandparents and the wonderful life they lived, they may not be my biological grandparents but they were still my family and have been ever since I can remember and I'm gonna miss them dearly.

The Next Day....

Emily's P.O.V.

I don't know what to do or what to say, both Angelo and Nattie are hurting and I'm at a total loss as to how to help them, I've got Angelo who has become really quiet and hardly ever speaks unless it's with me or his dumbass brother and then there's Natalia who has locked herself away in her room and hasn't left it since she came home from the infirmary.

She's barely ate even though we've left her numerous plates of food in her room but thankfully, she's at least drinking water which is a good thing, she hasn't been attending training and as far as I'm aware, she hasn't shifted into her wolf since before she was attacked, everything from the attack to Coles arrival and the news of her grandparent's death has taken it's toll on her and now she spends all of her days crying and sleeping.

"Babe, how's Nattie?"

"Same, she's just laying in bed whimpering"

I could feel Angelo was frustrated and I knew that wherever he is, he's sighing and probably rubbing his forehead vigorously.

"Ok Em, come downstairs"

"Is he still there?"

"Yes he is"

"Then no"

"Em please, you need to learn to forgive baby, you're gonna be his beta female and like it or not, he's your alpha"

I sigh angrily, I hate how much he's right.

"Are you coming down or do I have to come and get you?"

"I'm coming"

I take one last look at my beautiful best friend and sigh feeling sadness enter my heart, I really hope she gets through this, the poor thing.

I head downstairs at a slow pace trying to prevent the inevitable which is seeing Cole douchebag Vasquez, I f*****g hate this asshole for not just everything he's done to me but also to Nattie and even though we're both stronger now and I've got my mate, it still doesn't erase all of my fears that I've had for the majority of my life.

"Stop dawdling Emily and get your ass in here"

Urgh!!.

"Don't tell me what to do, Angelo, you're not my daddy"

I walk into the kitchen and go over to the sink to get myself a glass of water.

"How is she, Em?"

I take a sip of my water and look at the men who all look worried even alpha dumbfuck looked genuinely worried.

"She's heartbroken, I've never seen her like this not even when she got rejected"

I mutter under my breath knowing they'd hear but I didn't care, if I had the balls, I would've said it right to Cole's face.

"What did you say, little girl?"

"Cole"

"Shut up, Angelo, if my beta female has got something to say to me then she needs to learn to look me in the eye and f*****g say it"

Bastard.

I slam my glass down on the counter as I glare at him, I don't know where my confidence was coming from but I didn't care, it's about time this asshole was taken down a peg or two.

"You wanna know what I said asshole, ok fine, I said that Natalia is heartbroken and I haven't seen her in this state since your dumbass cruelly rejected her and broke hers and her wolfs hearts"

The room went silent as I glared at a shocked Cole but I honestly don't know what he was more shocked by, that I'd found the balls to actually stand up to him or that Natalia was hurt by his rejection.

"She was heartbroken? she didn't show it"

I roll my eyes in annoyance.

"You've been hurting her ever since she was six years old, Cole, she became numb to showing her pain to anybody including me"

"But a rejection pain is ten times worse than any other pain....how was she able to hide that from me?"

"You know for a smart alpha male Cole, you're really just a dumb little boy"

"What did you say?"

Cole used his werewolf speed to go from where he was sitting to standing right in front of me, he was glaring at me and huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf he is but I wasn't scared...not anymore.

"You heard what I said, you're a dumb little boy, ever since Natalia was a little girl, all she's ever wanted was to find her mate so that he could save her from all of the pain and misery she was suffering from but instead of getting her dream man, she got the living, breathing Freddy Kreuger who is caked in tattoos instead of scars"

"Emily..."

"She waited for you to save her but instead you caused her so much pain that she became numb to it even Lucky became numb to all of the pain she was caused after she saved your stupid ass from a rogue and found you half naked with your whore in the woods"

"What?"

"Emily..."

"That was Natalia"

"Well duh, who the f**k else would it have been, Cole? you're not that important to save but for Lucky and Nattie you are and I'm guessing they were giving you one last chance to redeem yourself and change but you f****d up yet again"

"EMILY!!"

"WHAT?"

Angelo nods his head slightly towards something behind me, I turn around and I was shocked yet happy to see Nattie standing in the doorway.

"Nat, hey how are you? are you ok?"

She looks around at each of us looking like an emotionless robot.

"Nat..."

"When you lot are done arguing about the story of my tragic life, can you keep it down, please? some of us are trying to grieve in peace upstairs"

Natalia once again looks around at each of us making sure to linger her stare on Cole longer than the rest of us, she then turns back around and walks upstairs shocking us all, what the hell is going on with Natalia?.