Selcouth • J. Hale ✓

xxiv.

chapter twenty-four.

Karina raised her fist and knocked on Javier's door, she peeked over her shoulder to see Jacob petting Roscoe, who moved into Karina's spot. She smiled softly before looking back at the door and knocking again.

There was no answer from the other side of the door and Karina narrowed her eyes, "I know you're in there Javi. It's me Karina and I need to know that you're okay."

Silence.

Karina groaned and proceeded to twist the doorknob. Now breaking and entering has never been on her bucket list but as her heart raced, she knew that if it was then she could cross it off.

Entering the house, Karina was shocked to see that it was a mess. The furniture looked as if it had been torn to pieces, the pictures on the walls were on the floor with shattered glass, and it looked as if there was a tornado that hit.

"Javier!" Karina called out while stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

She heard something from upstairs and followed the noise. Now, Karina's seen her fair share of scary movies and if she had listened to all the advice she'd given the people in the movie then she would've run.

Instead, she climbed up the stairs and her heart sunk at the sound of someone coughing. Rushing to the noise, Karina opened the door to one of the rooms and she spotted Javier leaning over the edge of his bed and coughing.

"Oh, Javi." She quickly walked over to him and rubbed his back until he stopped coughing.

"Karina?" His voice was hoarse and small. "What are you doing here?" He cleared his throat and winced at the feeling.

Karina smiled sadly at him and watched as he covered himself with the blanket again. "Well, a little birdy told me that you were hiding from the world."

Javier scoffed, "Meaning you've talked to either Sam or Jacob."

Karina shrugged, "Doesn't matter. I came to see if you were in the same state that I was in but from the blood on your floor, I can see that you are."

"It's happening to you too?" Javier uncovered his head to peek at her.

"It started barely, I think something's happened to Jasper." She told him but frowned when Javier shook his head. "What? Am I wrong?"

"It's the bond." He told her, "When Alice left, she shattered our bond by telling me that she could never be with a wolf. I told her that I would gladly give that side of me away if it meant that she wouldn't leave me, but she shook her head. She just said that this wasn't going to work and then she left." He explained to her, and Karina's heart hurt for him. "Alice broke our bond and in turn, it's killing me."

"But Jasper didn't break our bond." Karina told him, "So that can't be why I'm coughing up blood."

Javier shrugged, "Yeah but you've strained your bond for months now. You didn't answer his calls, didn't text him and so he decided that leaving instead of talking to you was the best choice. The bond is strained between you two right now and it's hurting you like it's hurting me."

"Would you do it?" Karina suddenly asked him, and Javier looked at her confused. "Would you really give away your wolf to be with Alice?"

He didn't need to think about it, he had known the answer to this since he first imprinted on Alice. "Yes."

Javier knew that he wanted to be with Alice for the rest of his life, even if it meant changing into a vampire and being with her forever. He was prepared to give up his werewolf because dying without Alice, wasn't something that he wanted to think about.