Leon's brothers watched him leave, lumps in their throat, Ian felt like he was choking on his.
It stung him, although there was no way he could have guessed but he was his twin, he should have somehow known that his twin had such a weight on his shoulders.
He wondered if all that had never happened if Leon would be the same person he was now. He wanted to give his twin a hug but he doubted his wingmen would let him.
Even through all that had been happening, he hadn't missed the mating marks on Jaxon's neck.
"They weren't wrong to declare his mom's death accidental." Alpha Noah spoke up.
"But everything else was intentional." Theo said darkly, his heart lighter now that he had gotten justice for his friend.
"Yeah, we'll leave the rest to you then." Virgil swept out the room, Dale and Ian following closely.
"Wait..." Alpha Noah hurried after them, he needed to know where this put his standing with the other Alpha.
Theo was left with Ethan and he didn't even try to communicate with him, Xavier, his dad had shared his fears with him a couple weeks before he died but then he was already bedridden and beyond help.
Ethan was definitely twisted up in the head, it would explain why the pets his parents bought him kept dying out and he had felt no remorse, just shrugging and saying that he hadn't really liked them anyway.
He had thought that most of Xavier's stories had been delirious ravings so he paid them no mind but recently he had been noticing little things that sparked his curiosity again.
He made the call to the Sheriff, there was no need keeping him around anymore.
"We made a deal, Noah." Virgil said stiffly to the Alpha walking beside him. "And unless they want to come back, I'm not going back on my word."
He brushed past him and made his way out the Pack, Ian sticking close to him.
"Don't think about it too hard." Dale patted his pack. "You should get some rest, you've had a pretty hard day." He saluted the Alpha, leaving as well.
Noah's shoulders sloped at this, his exhaustion ran deep, through the cracks in his heart. Maybe he just might take the dark haired Alpha's advice.
Maybe it would be easier to bear the pain after he woke up from a long, restful sleep.
Leon had tired himself out and by the time they got to the apartment, he was quite drowsy and immediately rolled over to sleep when he was placed on the bed.
He didn't know what to expect from everyone and although his weight was gone, it left behind a gust of sadness.
He expected to be treated differently though...
"Oi!" Darian's voice cut into his overthinking. "Don't hog all the space on the bed." He nagged, taking off his shirt.
"I'm sick of staying at the centre, someone swap with me." Jaxon joined in.
Leon didn't know when he replied. "I'm not staying at the centre, you guys will crush me." He complained.
"We'll rock paper scissors for it then..." Darian started to say.
"Fuck no, I always lose." Jaxon refused.
It was like nothing had changed and everything had changed at the same time.
He got everything back though, he got to watch Darian and Jaxon again.
Darian ended up being coerced to stay in the middle, lying down stiffly face up with Leon and Jaxon curled up on both of his sides.
"I'm uncomfortable with the atmosphere we have created in this room." He mumbled.
"It's not even that hot, you just like walking around shirtless." Jaxon fired back. "Besides, someone has to be the middle person."
"Fine but we'll rotate it." Darian grumbled.
"I deserve a break, I've always been the middle person." Jaxon stated.
"And I got kidnapped, that should get me some perks." Leon murmured, feeling sleepy again. "Not to mention that Darian is an awesome body pillow."
"Can't argue with that." Jaxon agreed sleepily.
Darian just shook his head fondly then went sober. "We're not going to treat you differently for something you had no control over." He said seriously. "And I'm sure everyone else feels the same."
Jaxon reached across Darian to ruffle his hair, ignoring his choking because he had his elbow against his neck.
"If anything we're proud of you for being strong enough to forgive yourself."
It made Leon laugh, his whole body shaking with the motion, relief washing away his sadness. "You guys are fucking saps."
"One more word and you're sleeping in the middle." Darian threatened.
Leon went quiet real quick after that, he was sleepy but he also didn't want to sleep just yet.
He was sure that rivals didn't cuddle each other on a bed beside the person they were supposed to be rivals over.
"Are you guys leaving?" Jaxon asked curiously.
Darian turned his head to Leon, he was the one that could make the call anyway.
"There's not much to be done again to be honest, Midnight Pack's Warriors adapted and improved far quicker than I had been expecting." He said seriously after briefly thinking it over.
"We came here for a vacation though." Jaxon reminded, which was partially true, going back to Pine Creek meant that they would go back to their busy lives.
Which they all loved but having some quality free time every once in a while never hurt anyone.
"If Leon is better tomorrow, let's go on a date." He offered, sitting up halfway in his excitement.
Darian and Leon swivelled their heads slowly over to him as if to ask which of them he was referring to.
"All of us?" Darian asked, bewildered.
"Yes of course." He said like they should have gotten the memo and really they should have, the tension rolling between them singed him sometimes.
But what had he been expecting, it was Leon and Darian, they wouldn't admit it until it smacked them in the face.
"Now shh and go to sleep." He scolded them, nuzzling into Darian's side.