The Beast's Possession

**Jonathan pov**

Zion finally shut his mouth and agreed to let me help him. Figured it would be harder to make him see reason, but as it turned out, the guy still had some common sense. Suppose the remark about his mate did something after all. And truth be told, I didn't want to hit him below the belt. I wanted to make a point - his mate really didn't need to see him like this. With clothes on, it was bad, and without, it was even worse.

As I threw his arm around my shoulders and helped Zion down the narrow corridor, I could feel the weight of his exhaustion hanging on me - both mental and physical. While I had no idea how bad his experience in Bane's pack was, it couldn't be all berries and flowers, that was for sure.

The man barely held himself upright, but he still tried to walk with some sense of dignity. Sure, as stubborn as ever, like any other Beta I had met before.

"Almost there," I hissed, ignoring the pain that kept shooting up my back. The strain of my voice betrayed how much I was struggling, but at least Beta Zion didn't comment on that.

We reached the bathroom and I eased him onto the stool near the sink. While at first, I planned to give him a shower, the horror that crossed his face was enough for me to understand that wouldn't be the best idea, so I grabbed a cloth and wet it in the sink.

Turning to Zion, I cleared my throat. "Should I help you drop the clothes or you can do it yourself?"

I knew how important pride was for higher ranked wolves, so I had to double check with him. Zion grinned, like a child that got his favorite candy, and wiggled his eyebrows. "Go on, all of this," he motioned towards his body, "is all yours."

With an annoyed huff, I helped him out of his clothes and started to scrub the dirt and blood off his skin. Zion dropped the stubbornness and leaned forward, running a shaky hand through his matted hair.

"You don't have to do this," he whispered. There wasn't much fight left in him, so the words didn't sound convincing at all.

"Don't start," I mumbled and rinsed the blood off the cloth. "Let me help. We'll forget this ever happened once it's over."

Zion didn't bother to argue again. As I cleaned him, I noticed how the tension slowly left his muscles and for a while, the only sound around us was the water in the sink and his occasional sharp intake of breath whenever I hit a sore spot. I was almost done with cleaning him up when Zion spoke again. "I knew he was slipping, you know. Bane's been holding it together by a thread for a while now."

I paused and glanced at him. "Well, he hides it well, I suppose. You can't try to find your blame in the situation now. That's not healthy."

Zion let out a weak, bitter laugh and shook his head. "Too well, in fact. Maybe you're right, maybe I can't blame myself, but I let myself believe he kept managing it and that's pretty stupid of me. He's my best friend, damn it. I should've known better, tried harder, done anything to prevent this from happening."

Zion leaned back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling, his face void of emotions, "but the worst part? I'm the one who made it worse. I'm the one who's responsible for adding the final nail in his coffin." "What do you mean?" I asked, rather taken aback by the odd admission of guilt.

"Aife," Zion whispered her name. "I sent her away. It was my idea. Right before Bane realized she's his mate. I thought I was doing the right thing, I swear I meant no harm. With how things were going, I had to try to protect her and keep her safe. She wasn't safe with him back then. But all I did was rip his mate away from him and now, fuck, now my best friend is gone."

Tears streamed down his face when Zion finally choked out the last words. Carefully, I placed my hand on his leg as an attempt to reassure him, but I wasn't sure that was working at all.

"It's not all on you, Zion," I tried to emphasize the statement so he could hear I was serious. "You didn't know how much he could spiral because of that."

Zion shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "But I should've known! I should know my best friend better than anyone does!"

There wasn't much I could say, especially since Zion had already convinced himself all of this was his fault and there was no changing his mind, so I finished cleaning him in silence. Once I was done, I handed him a towel to dry off and helped him into fresh clothes. By the time we made it to the living room and I settled him onto the couch, some of the color had returned to his face.

"Why do I feel so much better? I felt like I was dying ten minutes ago. Did you add drugs to that water?" Zion chuckled.

Leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and shrugged, offering him one word response. "Wolfsbane." Zion's eyes nearly popped out of his skill as he shouted, "what?!"

"Calm down. It was a small dose mixed with herbs. We use it in the pack, it can give your body a chance to reset, especially when you've been under extreme pressure." "You drugged me!" Zion argues.

I rolled my eyes. "You're welcome. Now, sit there and relax while I make some food."

I walked into the kitchen and checked the pantry just as the front door opened and Zion's mate stepped in, looking worried. She scanned the room for him, appearing more relaxed when she noticed him sitting on the couch. "What is it?" I asked, stepping out of the kitchen.

Kala shifted her weight and looked away. "Aife wanted to stay with the creatures in the forest and I didn't want to leave her, but," her eyes darted to Zion, "I was worried about you."

Zion tried to get up, but I shot him a look. "You stay here."

His mate sat beside him, her hands instantly finding Zion's. "I feel bad leaving her."

"They will protect her." I stated, but she still looked worried. Given her condition, I knew it was better to ease her mind than argue, so I dropped the idea of cooking and headed for the door. "You two enjoy some privacy, I'll go to get Aife, looks like her presence will ease both of your minds."