The Us In Our End

There was sobbing all around me, however, something shifted with it, something different. I felt someone tapping my shoulder, gently calling my name.

"Atlas, wake up, boy," Alpha Cedric's voice penetrated my sleeping state. It wasn't a deep one so it was understandable. The problem is I don't want to wake up. I don't want to wake up to the truth that I lost my mate. 

"No, don't take her away, not yet. I'm not ready," I wasn't ashamed with how my voice was shaking as I curled closer to my deathly still mate. 

Pause.

My heart thudded in something akin to exhilaration, or some twisted impossible hope.

There's something wrong with my mate's body. 

Warmth. 

She's oddly warm. 

Quickly, I opened my eyes, going straight for the body beside me. My breath hitched, and big, fat, tears fell one by one.