Chapter 34: Chapter 34

"Dimitri..."

He looked up from the floor, Rosalie sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She bit her lip and glanced at his brothers, Dimitri followed her gaze and glared at her. He then walked over to his desk and sat down.

"You guys should leave, you're not needed here." He stated, his voice empty of any emotion.

Xander and Xavier had pained looks as they briskly walked out of his office. Rosalie watched them leave, when the door was closed she sighed.

"They're your brothers, Dimitri." She whispered.

"I know." He mumbled.

She looked up, "You can't just keep ignoring them like this. They're your family."

"But did that matter to them just a few days ago? No. It didn't. They were quick to hate me and shove me aside, like I didn't matter." He spat.

"I know that, but they..." She trailed off.

There was no excuse for what his brothers did and she now knew that. She still didn't like how he was handling it, but she stopped talking.

Dimitri looked down and played with the pen in his hands.

"They weren't there when I needed them most." He whispered.

Rosalie sighed as she watched Dimitri sleep, the plate of untouched food sat on his nightstand. She shook her head and grabbed the plate before leaving. She dumped the cold food into the garbage before putting the dishes in the sink. She sighed and placed her hands on the sink, she leaned against it.

"Rosalie."

She turned around to see Damon standing at the entrance of the kitchen, sorrow dulled his eyes.

"Yes?" She questioned.

He frowned, "How is he?"

"He won't eat." She murmured. "I don't know how to get him to eat."

Damon sighed and sat down, "Hopefully it'll pass, just like the last few times."

"Like the last few times?" Rosalie asked.

"He...like me, has a history of depression. His was mostly a self confidence thing, he handled it pretty well. But when he's emotionally hurting like this, he goes into some sort of depression. This is the third time in a very long time. The last time he had something similar to this he was eighteen." He explained.

Rosalie nodded, "He's hurting."

"But he won't tell us why."

"I have a feeling I know why."

Damon looked up, "You do?"

"He feels like everyone just leaves him like it's nothing. He keeps saying things like I'm used to it, everyone hates me, they were quick to hate me; things like that."

"He feels like he doesn't matter to anyone basically." Damon finished up.

Rosalie nodded, "We have to show him we care and that we can't hate him. And we need to be more careful with him when we're angry at him. Like...trying to be reasonable and think before we say things. He's went through a lot. Most of the pack betraying him was the biggest thing."

"He won't let us talk to him though."

"I know that, I'll convince him to talk with you guys." Rosalie smiled.

Damon thanked her before she left to go back up to her mate. She walked into the room to see him staring at the ceiling. She closed the door and crawled in beside him.

"Tell me." She murmured.

He sighed, "How come it's so easy for people to hate me? Am I really that horrible of a person?"

Bingo. She thought silently to herself.

Rosalie gently cupped his face, "No one hates you, well, beside the selfish bitch who was burned and now laying on the ground in the form of ashes."

He stared at her with wide and slightly fearful eyes. She glanced at him and sighed.

"Your brothers don't hate you, I definitely don't hate you, your daughters don't hate you, your son has no knowledge of hate, so he doesn't, your parents don't, your pack doesn't, do I need to continue?"

Dimitri frowned and buried his face in their pillows, "But the pack turned against me so quickly. They believed Eli over me."

"I know, but look at it from their perspective. Their Luna leaves for a reason they don't know, mind-links them sorry, leaves the pack and have the ties break, their alpha acts like Alpha Black again, another Alpha who walked out of the office after me tells them it's because you abuse me. What do you think they were going to believe? The evidence was all there even though Eli's reason was false."

Dimitri didn't answer for a little while, but when he looks at her his eyes were filled to the brim with pain. A pain that was rooted deep within him, planted by someone else a long time ago. She sighed and hugged him, gently running her fingers through his hair.

"There is no excuse for your brothers besides they got angry and acted foolishly. Almost like how you acted with me. But you need to learn to forgive them, they do love you. When you were ambushed they were worried sick in the waiting room."

He nuzzled his face into her neck and sighed, "But people can go from loving me to hating me in a matter of seconds. It has happened multiple times, what am I doing wrong? Am I just that cruel?"

"Dimitri...."

"I'm a drunk and the pack knows it, they were disgusted by me. I'm supposed to lead them, yet I'm either drinking or crying like a baby." He ranted.

Rosalie raised an eyebrow, "You've cried quite a bit this month but when's the last time you willingly cried before all of this?"

"Maybe ten years...I don't know...I bottled my emotions up."

"Exactly! You kept your emotions inside, you've been slowly destroying yourself for years. All this crying isn't from just this, but from all the pain you've kept inside for years. Isn't it?"

When he didn't answer, she knew she was right. She frowned at him, her heart broke as he just looked at her with the most hurt she's ever seen on his face. She shook her head and kissed him on the lips.

"You need to let go of all this pain and what had happened in the past. Letting go is sometimes better than holding on. It can cause less pain." She whispered.

He rested his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her close, refusing to let her go anytime soon. She smiled while running her fingers through his hair.

"Thank you." He whispered as he fell asleep.

After a while Rosalie got up to check on their son who was being watched by Harper. She ran her hand through her hair, her mind was focused on Dimitri. She was curious as to what had started all of this self confidence issue. Clearly, he was fine after he was eighteen, but something happened further in life that caused this. She had a huge feeling that it was Christine.

She knocked on his parents' door and smiled when Harper opened it. She walked in to see her son sleeping, she sighed and sat down. Harper closed the door and took a seat beside her.

"After he was eighteen he was fine?" Rosalie asked, looking at the woman.

Harper nodded, "He was fine for years, I mean, he would come over our house and literally cry on my shoulder. Christine stressed him out constantly, after she decided she didn't want to care for her daughters anymore, Dimitri took over. He was struggling to take care of the pack while caring for his daughters at the same time. I was only able to help a little, Maddox was severely ill at the time."

"Then he just....broke. After Christine left him he became even more stressed out, rogues were attacking multiple times and packs were taking advantage of his current state at the time. Then one day he changed, he became Alpha Black and slaughtered packs without a care in the world. He would make sure rogues and other alphas feared him at the end of each day. He became famous for it and packs stayed away. Then you came along and he was...happier again."

Rosalie looked at her hands, she started to put together the puzzle pieces. Dimitri had said he hadn't cried in ten years before their current situation, ten years ago Christine had rejected him. His pain was because of Christine, she knew all along. She knew that Christine was the source of all his pain and yet, she had ignored it for months. Ignored the signs of a depressed alpha, mate, and friend.

She was disappointed in herself, she could have fixed him a long time ago. She looked at Harper and smiled a little.

"I think I know how to help him." She said.

Harper smiled, "I knew you would figure it out."

Rosalie walked back into her room and climbed into the bed. She wrapped her arms around Dimitri and pulled him close. He stirred a little bit, but relaxed against her body.

"I love you." She whispered to him.