The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 309

Laila’s POV

Jason and I hurried in to see Ava. She was groggy from the surgery, but smiling.

“I told you that I’d be fine,” she said, and I started crying. “Don’t cry, Mommy… I’m okay.”

“I know, honey. You are. We all are. It’s going to be fine,” I said, but I couldn’t stop crying.

I had thought this surgery would solve everything, that Ava would finally be okay, but it only opened a new set of problems, ones that I had seemed to pass to her. And now we didn’t have any way to solve it. Jason had said he would help, and while I

appreciated that, I had no idea how he intended to follow through. He himself said he had only met the Lycan pack Alpha once as a boy

“Don’t cry,” Ava said, and I did my best to hold in the tears for her, my brave little girl.

She was right. I couldn’t allow the tears to keep falling. I couldn’t give into despair and feel sorry for myself in this moment.

Maybe finding a cure was impossible, but that didn’t mean I was going to try.

Looking at Jason, seeing the look of determination he gave back to me, I knew I wasn’t going to be the only one fighting. And that gave me a sort of hope that I had not experienced in a long time.

Before, I had been alone when facing Ava’s health struggles. Now, Jason and I were going to tackle this together.

Ava was exhausted, and didn’t stay awake for long. As Jason and I stepped into the hallway to give her time and quiet to rest, Jason said to me, “I’m going to find a way to get that cure. For her and for you.”

I wanted to believe him.

The odds were stacked against us, but maybe together….

For Ava, I would do anything. Jason seemed to be the same.

Later, I went home to shower and change. I’d be spending the night at the hospital but I wanted to prepare for that first.

Hannah was at home when I arrived, sitting on the living room couch. I walked to the kitchen and she stood and followed me, almost like she had been waiting for me.

I wanted to tell her about Ava, so I was glad she wasn’t running from me anymore. Yet, before I could say a word, she started.

“Carter told me about what happened. About how you rejected him.”

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I braced myself. The idea of my rejection of him had upset her before. She didn’t like that I couldn’t see him like she did, as some kind of perfect mate. For Hannah, he was perfect. For me, we just had too many differences.

“I tried so hard to be okay with the idea of you and him,” she continued. “But in truth, my heart was breaking. I…” She wiped at her eyes, before the tears could fall. “Does it make me a bad friend to him that I was relieved you rejected him?”

“No,” I said. “You love him, Hannah. And this was hurting you. I’m only sorry that I allowed it to go on for so long.”

“I told you to. I pushed you to it. And I thought I was doing the right thing. But I hated myself. Every step of the way, I hated myself. And I hated you too, even though none of this was your fault.”

“Love is a complicated emotion. It makes a mess of everything.”

“Stop defending me,” she said.

“I can’t,” I told her honestly. “You are like a sister to me. I know you want to take the blame for this, and beat yourself up, why would I let you? I love you.”

but

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Hannah rushed forward and hugged me. I hugged her too.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into my ear. “I treated you so badly.”

“It’s okay,” I told her. “I understand. I promise.”

We held each other for a long while, restoring the sisterly bonds that had gotten strained since Carter first declared I was his

mate.

I didn’t think Carter was a bad guy. He was just young and naive, not the man for me. For Hannah though? Secretly I hoped the two could fix things, and that Carter could stop searching elsewhere for a love that was already at his side.

He had to be the one to make that choice though, to open his eyes and see.

For now, as long as Hannah was okay and our bond was repaired, I was satisfied.

When we separated, I explained to Hannah all that was going on with Ava. Hannah hung on my every word, worry taking over all

else on her face.

“Poor Ava. And poor you, too.”

“I’m more worried about my daughter.”

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“Sure,” Hannah said. “But you were the one poisoned initially. Aren’t you curious about that? Don’t you want to know who could have done this to you?”

“I don’t remember anything from my past,” I said.

“Isn’t that strange? Usually people remember things, even small things, from before they were 5,” Hannah said.

“Maybe…”

“Something bad must have happened,” Hannah said. “Maybe it was so traumatizing that you blocked it out.”

“I don’t know that,” I said, but my heart clenched as she had said the words.

Something terrible must have happened to me if I was poisoned. Could it be that I had blocked all of it out as a means to protect myself? Was that why I couldn’t remember my own parents‘ faces?

“I’ve heard that meditation can help,” Hannah said. “You do want to remember, don’t you?”

Did I? Wanted to, no. But needed to, yes. For Ava’s sake, if not for my own. If I could remember who poisoned me, I could better

r protect us both. And maybe I would have some answers that could lead to a future solution.

“I’ll send you a playlist,” Hannah said, already bringing up her phone. “Listen to it when you go to bed. See if it triggers anything.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t have much hope it would work, but I was willing to entertain the idea. It wasn’t like it could hurt anything.

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