Thirty.

Eren

Happiness was a feeling that I haven't experienced in some time, much longer than I would like to admit. But as I said goodnight to the twins I was finally able to put a name to that tightness in my face from smiling so much.

Dane had been quiet and hadn't said much since we first arrived at Dylan's house. I had muttered to him that we were going to kick Cruz's a** sometime soon and he needed to remind me so that I wouldn't forget.

I should have known that he was up to something when he insisted that I accompany him and Nico to "run an errand", but I didn't think that he would do something that sneaky.

Ever since that day he had made it a point to needlessly tell me details of Dylan's life that he heard about from Lecia. 

Nico and him had started spending a lot of time with her and I knew that he enjoyed retelling the stories of the things they did, ate, or even talked about.

I knew why he did it. My dumb a** had made him suspicious about how I felt about her. Even though I never came out and said anything, it was hard to deny that I cared for her even though I wasn't supposed to.

Regardless of their age, the twins were oddly mature and seemed to exist in their own little bubble, but somehow they had invited me to join them so they knew me better than most.

Too bad even though they were pretty cool most of the time, they could still act like d*cks when the occasion called for it

When I had realized that we were heading towards Dylan's house, I tried to throw out excuses as to why I had to go and do something else, anything else, but Cruz was relentless.

"What are you talking about," he asked so innocently, "you said that we were going to hang out for the whole evening, right Nico?"

Nico wasn't any better, "yep, he said that he missed us so much that he cleared his whole schedule just to be with us."

Even if I wasn't sure if Cruz had shared his suspicions about how I felt with Nico, I hoped that Lecia was oblivious to it.

"Don't feel bad about crashing our evening, I already told Dylan that you would be coming with us and she was cool with it," she said sweetly.

She turned to smile at me as we approached the door and I had to admit that I was so glad that Dylan had someone like her in her life. I still wasn't sure why he had let that happen, but I was still glad for it.

Lecia knocked, and I heard Dylan's soft voice say something, but when she didn't answer the door, Lecia just grabbed the handle and swung the door open.

Dylan was standing there and Dane purred in my head. Gods, I had had to shut my mouth so hard to keep hold of myself and hold back from making that exact sound. 

She looked beautiful in her fitted jeans and a white top that made the color of her hair stand out even though she had it up in the sexiest way.

F*ck, she looked really hot and I had to force myself to think of something other than that because I could feel a bulge in the front of my pants and this definitely was not the time for this.

When our eyes met she smiled, but it looked a little forced and I could sense that she seemed a bit nervous. That helped soothe my building erection, but I had to admit that it hurt.

I don't know what I was thinking. Just because the last few interactions that we had were better than most, it didn't erase all the times I treated her like sh*t.

Whatever reservations that she may have had though, she welcomed us all inside. The little space looked exactly the way it had last time but I noticed that she now had four chairs at her little table instead of two.

Apparently Lecia and the twins were going there to cook with her and have a game night of some sorts. I realized then that Lecia had a large bag with her and to my surprise it was full of all kinds of ingredients.

Lecia and Dylan headed to the kitchen and with the half wall being the only thing separating them from the living area, we could see and hear everything from where we sat on the couch.

"Glad you came with us," Cruz asked softly as he nudged me with his elbow.

I was, but I was not about to admit it to him. I was still annoyed that he had lied to me.

Glancing over at him, I jabbed him with my elbow like he had, just much, much harder.

Nico laughed at the noise that came out of Cruz's mouth, and I had to admit I enjoyed it as well, and now the three of us were smacking the crap out of each other like the grown a** men we were.

Watching Lecia unpack all the things that were in that bag was impressive. "My mom said that she is really sorry that we keep coming and eating all of your food so she sent a bunch today," she told Dylan.

The laugh that came out of Dylan made me stop short of the slap I was about to give to the back of Nico's head. I stared at them in the kitchen and all I wanted in that moment was for her to make that sound again.

Gods, had I ever heard such a beautiful sound. Cruz seized the opportunity and got me good right in the chest.

Leaning forward and trying to catch my breath, I heard Lecia yell, "can you three idiots cut your crap already. I swear, if you can't behave I'm gonna make you leave with no food."

The twins sat up straight like obedient little puppies and responded to her in perfect unison,"yes ma'am."

Gods, is that all it took to make these idiots behave. I laughed myself as I slowly sat back up and I locked eyes with Dylan again. This time her smile came a bit easier and I felt my heart begin to race.

Too bad the second that she turned away and her and Lecia started doing whatever it was they were doing in there, the twins decided to team up and both smacked me in the back of the head.

"A**holes," I hissed as I got up, rubbing the back of my head with my hand. Deciding that I would help them in the kitchen, I walked over and offered my services.

"Would you ladies like any help in here," I offered shyly. Dylan had her back to me because she was grabbing some pans from a little cabinet, but Lecia immediately accepted.

"Yes, that would be great," she chirped happily as she pointed to the sink. "Go ahead and wash up and I'll have you start chopping the vegetables.

When I went to the area Lecia had set up for me, she told me to roll my sleeves up like hers so that I didn't get dirty. I was so distracted that I hadn't realized that I shouldn't have done that.

As soon as I had, Lecia let out a soft shriek, "Gods Eren, what on earth happened to you?" 

When I looked up at her I noticed that Dylan was right next to her and they were both starring at my arms in a mixture of shock and horror.

Too late to hide them, I made up an excuse that seemed somewhat believable. "Oh, these are from all the sparing matches that I've had over the years."

The looks that they gave me were tinged with both horror and pity and I couldn't bear it, so I forced out a loud laugh and changed the subject."Cooking has never been my strong suit so don't blame me if I accidentally burn anything." 

The twins popped up and were now standing on the other side of the little wall leaning over to watch what was going on.

Crisis averted and subject changed, I asked for instructions on what they wanted me to do.

It turns out that they were making some kind of stir fry and they didn't really need much help because apparently they were both really good cooks.

I, on the other hand, could barely chop the carrots. In the amount of time it took me to peel and chop one Dylan had chopped all of the cabbage, mushrooms, and onions.

Her standing so close to me didn't help and I couldn't keep myself from getting distracted as I watched the way that she handled the knife.

What the f*ck was wrong with me, who gets turned on watching a chick wield a knife, me apparently.

Finally done with my carrot, Lecia made me and the twins set the table. Realizing that there was only four chairs, Dylan asked, "are one of you okay with sitting on my desk chair."

This time the three of us responded all together, "I will!" Immediately, the twins both ran to get the chair that was tucked neatly under her desk and then ended up rolling around like toddlers on the floor.

Once Lecia had smacked her giant sized toddler brothers, she made them finish with the table and we all sat down to eat. The food was amazing and even though we were supposed to have a game night, we never got around to it.

Too soon, it seemed that midnight had rolled around and we all stayed to help clean and keep the conversation going. Unfortunately, Lecia, who was spending the night, forced us to eventually leave.

It was on my way back to the pack house that I was met by one of my uncle's guards. They led me to that building, and I knew that things were about to suck.

My unce was sitting on the couch in the basement and asked me to join him. "I heard that you visited Dylan's house tonight," he said flatly but not softly.

I wasn't surprised that he knew, but I was a little impressed that he had found out this quickly. There was no point in denying it so I didn't say anything.

"Have you forgotten the instructions I gave you boy," he growled. Of course I haven't forgotten. How could I when he constantly reminded me of them.

Knowing that nothing I said would make this better for me, I responded, "I thought that maybe you had changed your mind since you let her have a friend finally."

That was the wrong thing to say, because he swung out so fast that I had no time to react. His fist hit me so hard in the face that I heard the crunch of my nose before I felt it.

"Who told you to think boy," he asked as he wiped the blood from his knuckles on my jeans. Looking down I saw that blood was dripping onto my shirt.

"Just because I let that girl get close to Dylan, doesn't mean that you are to let others do the same," he snarled.

Out of all the times that I've been here and all the times that I've been punished, this was the first time that he had ever hit me himself.

Unsure of what was going to happen next, I sat there and just let the blood run from my broken nose. 

I wasn't prepared for this, for him being in such a mood that he would be the one to do the punishing, but nothing could have prepared me for what came next.

One of the unnamed guards grabbed me and sat me in a chair that had cuffs on the arm rests and on the legs.

The blood from my nose had slowed to a stop already, but the fear of what might happen was making my heart race.

My uncle walked over to a table and I watched as he took out a pouch full of all kinds of weird tools and devices. One of the things he took out was a small torch that he tested the length of the flame when he switched it on.

Walking over towards me, he held the lit torch in his hand. "When your alpha gives you orders, you follow them, especially if he is your uncle who has taken you in and raised you."

My eyes watched him bring the torch down towards my wrist and hold it against the metal cuff. It took a few seconds to start getting warm, but before long it was burning the skin off my hand as I tried to pull my arm out.

"Oh Eren, it's about time that you see what happens when I'm truly upset," he said as he kneeled down and brought the torch towards the leg of the chair.

I wasn't sure how much time had passed while I had been in that room. The types of things that my uncle did to me, or instructed others to do to me had taken quite a bit of time and my body had not even fully healed yet.

A few hours ago he had Marq come in to heal what he could, but my body felt like it was on the verge of death. I couldn't even talk to Dane because of the amount of drugs they had injected in me.

When Marq had done all that he could, my uncle walked into the make-shift clinic in a clean suit and smelling of sandalwood and mint. I wanted to puke just looking at him.

"I hope this has taught you to follow orders from now on Eren. If you can no longer deal with Dylan, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to get someone else to help me with this," he said sounding sad.

My mind was all over the place and I couldn't tell if he was finally going to let me out of here, but I was also afraid that he would do just as he said and get someone else to hurt Dylan.

Some part of me was convinced that he knew that I had feelings for her and that is why he was making me do this to her, but I wasn't sure.

Noel came in the room and I knew that I must look like shit by the way his skin paled as he approached. 

"Get him showered and dressed, he needs to get to school," my uncle ordered him. Noel came over and practically carried me from the room and out of the building.

When we had finally reached the barracks, Noel took me straight to the showers and helped me get undressed. "I thought he had finally killed ya' boy, he had ya' in there for a whole week," he whispered.

The clothes he helped me out of were filthy. There was blood and burn marks all over them and I could hardly look at them as he scooped them up and took them to the trash.

As the hot water hit me, I let the tears that I had refused to shed finally fall, but I knew Noel saw them. Since there was nothing he could do about it, he helped me wash the wounds Marq couldn't heal.

I knew that I had to do something to Dylan today or else my uncle would do just as he said and I knew that if someone else was put in charge of keeping her secluded, they would do much worse that I ever had.

All the idiots that followed me around school were useful tools in the fact that they would do anything I said or even hinted at. It killed me to think of hurting her after the night at her house, but this was for her safety.

I got to school right before lunch and the crowd was already around me when I finally hobbled to my table. When she walked in and our eyes met, I thought that she looked concerned or worried for a moment, but I pushed it away.

It hadn't taken much to mention to one of the girls how much the sauce on the pasta looked like Dylan's hair for her to get the idea to go and dump it on her.

Watching it play out killed me, and I had started to feel Dane coming out of the drug induced fog. I could feel his anger at my actions, but he knew as well as I did that this had to be done.

No matter how much I prepared myself for it, seeing Dylan's reaction killed me. I wished I could run to her and clean it off. I wish that she never had to deal with things like this, or people like me.

When another girl walked up and threw the other plate at her, I swear my heart broke and when Cruz ran towards me and grabbed me out of the chair I didn't even try to fight him.

I wanted him to make me hurt as much, no more than Dylan was hurt in that moment. Each blow felt good. I deserved everything he did and said.

Somehow he had gotten me out of the chaos of the cafeteria and had slammed me up against the wall in the hallway. I was bleeding again, but not just from him, my cuts had opened up, I could feel the scabs tearing.

As he stood there looking at me, I could see the confusion on his face, but the anger was winning out and he kept punching me. "I can't belive you let those a**holes do that to her," he yelled at me.

I couldn't tell him. For one he probably wouldn't believe me, but it would be worse if he did, so I just kept silent. 

Teachers were in the cafeteria trying to break up a food fight, so when a door blew open a little further down the hall, no one came running.

Cruz and I were close enough to hear it so we both turned to see a massive red wolf leap into the hallway.

"What the f*ck," Cruz yelled as we both stared at who I was positive was Dylan's wolf.

No! There was no way that she would disobey him and let no just a few, but all of them see her wolf.

Dane was going crazy, he wanted me to shift, to go to her, to bow down and ask for forgiveness, but my mind was still reeling from everything that had happened.

I couldn't fathom how she would think that this was a good idea, and I was raking my brain to figure out what to do now.

Lecia and Nico ran into the hall behind Dylan's wolf and while one of them looked impressed, the other looked shocked.

If it would have been any other time, I would have pointed out to Cruz that him and his brother were making the exact same expression, but there was no time for that.

Knowing that there was no way that Dylan's wolf would listen to me. She probably wanted to kill me right now, I knew that I had to get the Silvera's to help me.

I grabbed the collar of Cruz's shirt and pulled him closer towards me. It took a second because he was focused on the snarling red wolf that was stalking towards us.

"Cruz, that is Dylan's wolf and you need to get her to shift and get out of here before anyone sees her," I yelled at him as best as I could with my broken and bleeding lip.

"What," he asked while he looked back and forth between me and the massive wolf. 

Gods, she was magnificent and I couldn't blame him for gawking, but right now he was my only hope of getting her out of this.

Shaking him roughly I yelled at him, "listen to me damn it, you need to get her out of here before anyone sees her. If they do HE won't let this go."

Thankfully the desperation in my voice must have pulled him out of his stupor because he looked at me as if he was trying to piece together a puzzle.

Dane still wasn't himself and I couldn't link with Cruz to try to explain things better, but as he starred at me I saw his expression shift from confusion to understanding.

"He," Cruz muttered as he looked me up and down from head to toe and I saw him see it, see me, and put it all together.

"You're trying to protect her from something," he whispered, "or should I say, someone."

I couldn't meet his eyes, but I knew that it was enough to make him realize what was going on. 

He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "when this is over, you are going to tell me everything," he demanded before letting me go.

He ran over to Dylan's large wolf with his hands raised and said, "hello ma'am, I don't know if you know who I am, but I really need you to shift back to Dylan before anyone sees you," he begged.

Dylan's wolf looked at him, and then at me and snarled. Gods, I wish she would just come and kill me, I deserved it.

But Cruz must have linked with Lecia because she ran up next to the wolf and kneeled down. When the wolf looked at her, Lecia spoke softly to her, but I heard every word.

"Rae," she said, "you must shift back and let us help Dylan get home, if the Alpha finds out that anyone saw you today, he will punish her. Do you understand?"

The wolf, Rae, swung her head towards Lecia, then back at me. For a moment our eyes met and she cocked her head to the side as if she was trying to see through me.

I stared back at her wishing that I could link with her or let her see inside my head, but she looked back towards Lecia and nodded at her.

In a flash, Rae was gone and the last thing I saw before passing out, was Dylan being scooped up off the floor by Cruz who carried her out the side door followed by Nico and Lecia.