Axton didn't realize when he slept off, with Natalia laying on his chest, filling up, both physically and emotionally, all the spaces in him that her absence had cracked open.
 
Beta Scott came back to check on alpha Axton,  but turned immediately.
 
"Why do I always come at times like this?" He muttered to himself as he locked the door, then started to tiptoe away.
 
The sound of the door opening caused him to freeze and he turned on his heel.
 
"Oh, miss. I thought you were asleep."
 
She shook her head and walked to him. "I am a light sleeper. The click of the door woke me up."
 
He nodded, his smile wide. "So...is there something you want to say?"
 
She nodded. "I am worried about Acton."
 
"What do you mean? It seemed like you have forgiven him already, so I am pretty sure he is okay now, right?" Her expression saddened, causing his heart pace to quicken. "Right?"
 
She shook her head, affirming the negative.
 
"You have not forgiven him?"
 
"I have. I forgave him. I thought it would be like other times that it would instantly disappear, but...it did not."
 
"Wait," Beta Scott said, letting out an exasperated breath. He didn't want to believe what he was hearing. "Did you try kissing him?"
 
The blush that rose up to her cheeks was enough as an answer.
 
"Then how?" he asked her, his disappointment unmasked. "You always healed him."
 
She nodded. "I do not know what sort of twist this is. He does not seem bothered but...I am. I can not help it."
 
Beta Scott frustratingly pushed a finger through his hair as he let out puffs of air. "What do we do now?"
 
"I asked him. He said it was fine. He said he does not care. I am not sure if that should comfort me or...unnerve me."
 
"Maybe I should talk to him. He will probably tell me something he would not want you to know." Her expression changed, causing him to add, "So you would not be too worried."
 
She nodded and watched his back as he walked back to Axton's room. She leaned on the wall, her mind occupied.
 
Alpha Axton was still soundly asleep when Beta Scott walked in, and he soundlessly took a seat. He let his eyes roam around aloha Axton's face and hands, wishing the scars would just start to disappear under his eyes. But they did not. They stayed there intact.
 
He sat there for longer than he realized, till alpha Axton woke.
 
He waited rather impatiently as alpha Axton's eyes slowly opened and got used to the environment. He let out a small, almost irritated gasp when his eyes settled on Beta Scott.
 
"How do you feel?" Beta Scott asked immediately, ignoring alpha Axton's rather enthusiastic greeting.
 
"I feel fine. Where is Natalia?"
 
Beta Scott did not answer it, he just pulled himself closer, and leaned on the edge of the bed. "Why did you not heal, alpha?"
 
"I am not sure too."
 
"Does she not...love you as much? Does she still resent you? Does she need more time?"
 
Alpha Axton shook his head. "Natalia loves me. So even if I heal or not, as long as I have that..."
 
"But what about us? What about the pack? You are alpha, Axton. You are the leader. You are the one who made this pack what it is right now."
 
Alpha Axton thought about it. "I really do not know. Maybe it is the addiction that comes with first times...or maybe it is just her but...she is all I can think of."
 
Beta Scott sighed. "Have you read her father's letter. Do you think he knew this would happen?"
 
Alpha Axton pointed at his small safe. "There. Open it."
 
Beta Scott took the key from the bedside and opened the safe, then took out the envelope. He handed it to alpha Axton first, then went back to close the safe.
 
Alpha Axton kept it on the end, so he could use his right hand to open the envelope.
 
He pulled out the letter once he succeeded, then opened the paper.
 
On the top was Nicholas's name signed in.
 
"Axton," The letter read. "I never thought I would be writing this to you. I really hoped a day like this would not come. I gave my daughter to you on the condition that you would love her and take care of her. I am sorry. I lied when you asked for what to do with Natalia. It was not love, Axton. It was empty."
 
Alpha Axton looked up to Beta Scott, and he broke into small laughter.
 
"I had to do it. I had to lie, because I was not sure...what you would do to her. She has been through so much. Too much for a girl as frail and sweet. When she picked her own mother's necklace, somehow lodged in the ground for her to find, I let her keep that part of her mother at least. She did not know, so there was no need to deprive her of it."
 
Alpha Axton chuckled. "She knew, Nicholas."
 
"So as selfish as it is, I hoped you would love her. She would heal you in the beginning for sure, it seemed like that was what Selina wanted. But Selina is twisted. Everything she does is just as twisted. She will not be able to heal you after. You either let her suffer the same fate as her mother, or keep her by your side. I was selfish for asking you to love her with the hope that when that time comes, you will feel too strongly for her to just let her go. I do wish that was the case."
 
"It is," Alpha Axton said as he dropped the letter.
 
"What does that mean?" Beta Scott asked.
 
"I am not getting better. This is my fate." He smiled and closed the letter.
 
"I do not understand, Axton. How can that be?"
 
He shrugged. "I do not really care. I think I am pretty comfortable."
 
Beta Scott sighed and buried his face in his palms. "What sort of punishment is this?"