WESLEY
I tried to sleep like Dr. Russo suggested, but I couldn’t get more than a few minutes at a time. The chair was cold and uncomfortable, and my mind moved a mile a minute as I sat in the almost silent room.
All the events from that evening played over and over in my mind as I tried to figure out if there was anything I could have done to change the outcome. And the only solution I could come up with was to have never agreed to Alpha Tim’s proposal in the first place.
Which, I didn’t even know what had happened with all of that. It wasn’t my priority, and I knew my dad would handle it and fill me in.
I could have joined her on the bed. It was plenty big enough. All the beds in the pack clinic were large enough to hold two people. It was so mates could stay together when one was sick or injured, since the mate bond helped werewolves heal faster.
But I was too scared to jostle her and mess up her stitches. With her being human, I wasn’t sure how much longer her healing would take than a
werewolf.
A scratch sounded at the door, followed by a mindlink from Nolan. “Can I come in?”
I sat up from my half laying on the bed position. I stretched my arms and cracked my neck to relieve some of the tension from the not-very- comfortable way I’d been lying.
“Sure,” I linked him back, getting to my feet to let him in.
I opened the door, and he trotted in, still in his wolf form. It was probably because he’d ripped through his clothes when fighting off Haven’s ex. But it was also probably because his wolf needed to see for himself that his luna was okay.
He walked to the bed, his nose nudging and sniffing at Haven’s hand that still reached out towards where I had been sitting. He whimpered as he looked at her bandages, then moved to the foot of the bed and lay on the floor, his head resting on his paws.
“My wolf was getting anxious,” he said. “I needed to see her. Be closer to her,” he explained.
“I understand,” I replied. “She’s your luna. Our luna.”
“I’m still pissed at myself for letting that asshole get away.” “Seb will find him.”
“He shouldn’t have to even look for him. He should be dead already.”
My lips twitched with a bitter laugh. “He’ll get what he deserves when Seb finds him and brings him here.”
“Good.”
I sat back in my chair and took her hand again, my thumb stroking her smooth skin. Touching her had always felt different—better—than any other touch, but now, with the mate bond in place, it was second to none.
Nolan and I sat in silence, both of us in our heads and thoughts. I pulled out my cell phone, thankful my dad had given it to me before he went home for the night, opening it to my text messages with Haven. It had fallen onto the lawn when I’d shifted to get to the pack hospital.
I scrolled back to the beginning of our messages, to the first text I’d sent her when I’d invited her to coffee. I read them all, all the way to the most recent, the messages from her during the week I had ignored her so we could fulfill our plan to trap Timothy. So many messages I had left unanswered. So many reasons for her to no longer wish to be with me.
She’d wanted me with her at the height of her fear and pain, but what would happen when she was coherent and not caught up in the moment? Was it just the mate bond making her want me with her, making her seek my touch and comfort, or did she want me because she wanted me?
“What if she rejects me?” I asked Nolan, my voice shaking even in the mindlink.
“You’d deserve it,” he replied, lifting his head and narrowing his eyes at me.
“I know,” I agreed. “I fucked up.” “Damn right, you did.”
I chuckled at his candidness, even though it wasn’t a funny situation. But he was already acting like a true gamma. Mad at his alpha because his alpha hurt his luna.
“Does it hurt?” I asked, looking over at my sleeping mate.
“Rejection?” Nolan asked, and I nodded. “Like a bitch,” he said. “And it will probably be worse for you because you already have a connection with her.”
I clenched my jaw and exhaled through my nose so I wouldn’t growl at him. He was just being honest, just preparing me for the worst-case scenario. But that didn’t mean I had to like it.
“I’ll be there for you, though, if she does,” he added. “Just like you were there for me.”
“Thanks,” I replied.
“But Wes?” he said. I turned my head to him again. “I don’t think she’ll reject you. However, I do think you’re going to have to grovel. For real this time.”
I shook my head, dropping my chin to my chest, not sure whether to laugh or cry at his words.
His chuckle echoed in my head, and I sighed. “You should try to sleep, Nolan.”
“So should you,” he retorted. “Get on the bed with her. Hold her. You won’t hurt her. She’s not made of glass.”
I swallowed but nodded. Nolan once again coming in to save the day with his wisdom.
I set my phone on the nightstand by the bed, then climbed onto it, sliding under the blanket and scooting closer to Haven. I stayed on my left side, my body curled around her, and my head propped up on my arm. My right hand laced with the fingers of her right hand, lifting it to hold it against my chest so her skin touched mine and the mate bond could do its job.
Then I closed my eyes, focusing on her body next to mine, on the feel of her skin and her scent filling my lungs as my body succumbed to some much needed sleep.
 |
THE LOUD AND INCESSANT ringing of my phone on the nightstand jolted me out of my deep sleep.
“Goddess fucking damn it,” I grumbled as quietly as possible as I rolled over and grabbed it to answer it before it could wake Haven. She needed to heal, and she needed to sleep more than I did.
Two hours. It had only been two hours of sleep. But the call was from Benjamin, and I knew I needed to talk to him.
“Hello?” I murmured into the phone, keeping my voice low. “Hey,” he said. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”
“It’s fine,” I replied, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed to stand up. “What’s going on? Is your dad in custody?” I asked as I walked to the window of the hospital room.
Benjamin sighed, and I knew from that one reaction that whatever he was about to tell me would not be what I wanted to hear.
“He got away during the chaos. Your dad got distracted from the mindlink you all received, and his hold on me loosened. I lunged for my dad, but he was ready for me to attack, and he took off pretty much right after you left the room. I pursued him and came very close to catching him. I tried to challenge him for the pack, got almost all the words out. But he had a transport stone and vanished before I could finish speaking.”
“Fuck!” I exclaimed under my breath.
Nolan’s wolf lifted his head, his ears twitching forward, trying to pick up Ben’s words through the phone.
“I know,” Ben said. “Your dad told me the council member arrived while you were all in the hospital. There was a big pileup on one of the main highways, and he was stuck in traffic for much longer than what he would have typically been stuck in.”
“How is it that your dad has transport stones from a witch, but the royal council doesn’t?”
Ben laughed. “Your dad asked the council member the same question. He said they only have so many in their possession, and the king only allows their use on specific types of missions.”
“Hmph,” I grunted, putting my hand on my hip. “So, what do we do now?”
“Just wait and see what he tries, I guess,” Ben replied. “He went to the pack first, then disappeared from there again. It was a little chaotic when I got there, but not as bad as it could have been. He took some warriors and his beta with him, and we have some missing prisoners, but honestly, I think the pack members that are left are happy he is gone.”
“What does that mean for you?”
“Well, based on our laws, he’s abandoned his pack, which means the pack falls to his heir or to a council-appointed wolf if there is no heir. The council member passed the title to me about an hour ago, with your dad and my sister’s mate as witnesses. We’ll have my ceremony in a few weeks once things have settled down a bit here.”
I smiled. At least something good had come from the disaster the day had turned into. We still had Timothy to worry about, but with Ben as the alpha of Amber Forest now, we had a solid ally to count on when he decided to show his face again.
“Congratulations,” I told him.
“Congratulations to you as well,” he said. “I heard you found your mate.
Or, well, that your mate was the girl you were already in love with.”
“Yes,” I replied, my smile getting broader. “She’s mine. If she wants me still,” I added.
“I have faith in the bond,” he said. “I’ll let you go so you can get back to her. I hope she heals quickly.”
“Thanks,” I said, then I hung up the phone.
I set it on the windowsill, then leaned my palms against the cold glass, my forehand pressing into it as my eyes squeezed shut. Two wolves. Two lycans were out there, somewhere, both of them a threat to my mate and my pack.
“Pierce?” Nolan asked. “Gone,” I replied. “Fuck.”
“Exactly.”
“Maybe he’ll lie low?” Nolan suggested, but he didn’t sound even the slightest bit convinced of that idea.
“That’s all we can hope for,” I said.
A wave of fear and panic washed over me, muted, but there all the same.
The slow, steady beep of the monitors picked up their pace until they filled the room with a cacophony of beeps and buzzes.
I turned to find Haven sitting up in the bed, her eyes wide as she looked around the room and pulled at the wires and IVs attached to her body, trying to remove them.
I stepped towards her, but the nurses rushed in at the same time, blocking her from me as they crowded around her, grabbing her hands to stop her from removing her IV.
“No!” she croaked, her feet kicking out at the nurses.
Her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow pants, her eyes darting around the room, flicking between all the machines.
I realized then the emotions I felt weren’t mine but hers. Nolan growled and snapped at a nurse, and I lunged forward, moving them out of the way.
“Leave her alone,” I commanded, my voice low but cold, leaving no room for argument or disobedience. “Let her go and move away from the bed.”
They all stepped away as soon as the order fell from my lips. Haven’s eyes moved to me, and a sliver of relief formed within her tangled mess of emotions.
“Please, Wes,” she whispered, her eyes looking around the room again, taking in the nurses, monitors, and the wires. “Please,” she repeated, her arms wrapping around her knees as they curled into her body.
Her breaths were still shallow, her body shaking as I walked to her slowly, taking her face in my hands and lifting her gaze to mine. My thumbs stroked her cheekbones, and I held her stare. Her eyes were still wide and glassy, but her gaze didn’t move from mine.
“Get Dr. Russo,” I told the nurses, my eyes still locked with Haven’s.
Her legs uncurled from her body, and she scooted towards me, her arms wrapping around my waist. I let go of her face so she could rest it against my chest, my hands moving to her back and rubbing up and down in long strokes.
“Yes, Alpha?” Dr. Russo asked as he rushed into the room. “I’m taking Haven back to my house,” I told him.
“But—”
“Her wound is healing faster than a human normally would,” I said. “There is no blood on the bandage, and you haven’t had to change it at all
since they placed it on her neck. Whatever else you need to do to monitor her, you can do at my house.”
“Wesley, that isn’t how—”
“Can’t you see she’s terrified?” I growled, glaring at him. “She doesn’t feel safe here!”
Her arms tightened around me, and I could feel her surprise at my understanding of the cause of her panic.
The hospital. Of course, the hospital gave her a panic attack. Before, when they’d been stitching her up, she wasn’t lucid. She was in pain and shock and had adrenaline coursing through her.
But after all that wore off, and she realized where she was—well, she panicked. And it made sense. The hospital most likely brought back memories of the worst day of her life, the day social services took her away from Jack and Shirley. From her family.
I’d heard all about that day, both from her and her parents—heard about how everything had happened and how awful it had been for her. I wasn’t about to force her to stay in a place that made her relive those moments.
“Is she stable?” I asked him.
“Yes.” He sighed. “Her IV antibiotic is done. I can do all her checkups from your house.”
I didn’t say anything else. I just scooped Haven up into my arms and cradled her against my chest. The nurse removed her IV. Then Haven looped her arms around my neck, burrowing her face into my chest.
I walked out of the clinic with her in my arms, Nolan trotting along behind us, still ready and in his wolf form. I carried her all the way to my house, holding her as close to my body as I could, using the mate bond to soothe her and settle her frayed nerves.
When we reached the house, Nolan stayed on the porch as I took Haven into my room and settled her on the bed. I turned the lamp on, looked her over, taking in the uncomfortable hospital gown she wore. “Do you want one of my shirts?” I asked
She nodded, and I kissed the top of her head, then went to my dresser to grab a shirt for her. Through the bond, I could feel her calming down, and I could hear her breathing through her nose.
“Can you untie this?” she asked me as I handed her the T-shirt, her fingers pinching the fabric of the gown. “My shoulder is still sore,” she added softly.
Her voice was still raspy from the damage to her vocal cords, but the swelling and bruising on her neck was already diminishing.
“Of course,” I murmured, moving behind her to help.
She pulled the loose gown off her arms, and I stayed in my spot, putting the shirt over her head so she didn’t have to lift her arms. I closed my eyes to give her privacy, even though I’d seen her naked before. But I didn’t know where we stood anymore and wanted to be respectful.
“Do you need any other clothes?” I asked her as she changed. “I’m sure Maddie has more in one of the guest rooms.”
“I’m fine for now,” she said.
“Okay,” I replied, peeking through my shut lids to see if she’d finished.
She gave me a weak smile. Her eyes were still puffy and watery, and even though she was calming down from her panic attack, there was still lingering anxiety under her brave face.
My lycan whimpered in my head, urging me to take her in my arms and hold her, but I held myself back, too nervous to hurt her or scare her.
“I’ll sleep on my couch,” I muttered as I turned off the lamp, pointing at the white couch in the sitting area of the master suite.
I stepped away from the bed, but her hand grabbed mine with an iron grip, stopping me from going any further. I turned to her, and she shook her head, scooting over to make room for me on the bed.
“Are you sure?” I asked, and she nodded, leaning back against the pillows and sliding under the white comforter.
She rolled onto her right side and curled up into a ball as I crawled onto the bed with her. I lay down next to her on my back, an inch of space between us. I could feel my lycan glaring at it in my mind, pushing at me to close the gap.
I clenched my jaw, though, and held still. I didn’t want to push her. She wanted me with her in the bed, but did she really want me? Would she spurn my affections, or would she return them?
The answer to those questions came in the form of her small voice. “I need you to hold me, Wes.”
I wrapped my body around hers in less than half a second, pressing myself close to her. She didn’t need to tell me twice.
I would take whatever she let me have. Because I knew the next day we would need to have a very long, important talk, and I didn’t have even a tiny idea of how that conversation would go. I just prayed to Selene that Haven wouldn’t give me too much hell come morning and that the day would end with our bond still intact.
