How are you ? Are you okay ? Do you feel any pain ? Dad asks me.
I feel fine, they’ve been taking really good care of me here, I tell them as Emilie hides her face in my shoulder as I pull her closer to me and hold her free hand.
Maybe we need to take you to a real doctor, Mom suggested.
Dr. Moore knows exactly what he’s doing and because it had to deal with stuff with werewolves and hunters, we wouldn’t be able to tell them the real story of what happened. They would see it was a sedative overdose and want to keep him for a psychiatric evaluation, which isn’t something we need to deal with, Joey explained to my parents.
I nudge Emilie’s arm and she looks up at me with tears running down her face. Hey, I’m okay, Em. I’m perfectly fine. They fixed me up and I’ll be back up and running within a few days and I’ll steal Joey’s card and we’ll go shopping, okay ?
She giggles and wipes her tears with the sleeve of her shirt. Really ?
Oh, absolutely. I’ll persuade him and we’ll have an amazing time.
She smiles and lays her head on my shoulder again. We watch as Joey talks to my parents to explain the whole situation to them because they weren’t leaving here without a real explanation. Emilie reaches over and grabs my hand. What if it happens again ?
I look down at her and wish I could tell her that this wasn’t ever going to happen again, but at the same time, I’m now an alpha of a fucking werewolf pack. I have an unusual mate bonding with Joey that many people want to experiment with and there’s plenty of hunters in this world who are constantly searching for werewolves and werewolves’ mates along with rogue packs that want revenge on my pack. If it does happen again, I’ll be okay. I’ll come back and we’ll have the rest of our lives to experience together. This isn’t something you need to worry about though ; there’s a whole pack protecting me, okay ?
She nods against my shoulder before I turn up the volume on the TV and we guess the answers before the game show contestants do and just have a fun evening together as a small, little family that’s recovering from a traumatic experience.
Two days later, Joey and I were walking from the car to the quarter house because they finally let me leave the hospital after running tons of tests on me. Joey wouldn’t leave my side through the entire time. Even when they made me take MRI, he stood in the gallery to watch and make sure I was okay and because he’s the alpha, no one feels like they can say no.
We walked into the house and I could immediately smell Lila’s cooking and I had never been happier to have some home cooked food. Conner, Cody, and Melissa were sitting on the couch, watching TV but were more engrossed in their conversation than whatever was playing in front of them.
We said hi to everyone since I hadn’t seen them yesterday or today before we made our way to our bedroom and before I even had the door opened all the way, someone had their arms around me as tight as they could be.
I’m so sorry, Isaac sobbed into my ear and I ran my hands up-and-down his back to calm him down. He pulled away to look over me before laying his forehead on my shoulder and crying into it even more.
I’m okay, I promise, I whispered to him and Oliver came over to me to give me a side hug before telling me that I was looking healthier than I did when he saw me when I was still asleep.
You died and I couldn’t do anything and I caused it because I was too weak to get out of the damn restraints and- Isaac chokes out before Joey interrupted him by placing his hand on his shoulder.
You did the best you could have. We don’t hold anything against you because you did absolutely nothing wrong. Don’t blame yourself, okay ? My mate said in a fierce tone and I noticed that his eyes were their electric blue, which meant he was probably thinking about everything again.
You think your mate is going to get out of this one ? As soon as he gets here, I’m going to rip his bright blue eyes out of his goddamn head and shove them down your throat. The words hit me like cold water being splashed onto my face and I stumble back, having to be caught by my mate.
Baby, are you okay ? Joey asks as he slides his hands up to set on my shoulders. More phrases ran through my head that must’ve been said while I was asleep or not paying attention because I genuinely don’t remember hearing them myself.
Kade’s POV
I shifted in my sleep before reaching over to Joey’s side of the bed before feeling nothing but the soft blankets underneath my fingertips. I slowly open my eyes to adjust them to the sunlight before I don’t see my beautiful mate next to me. I sit up to look at Isaac and Oliver who were sitting up on the foot of the bed with the TV playing some show that I didn’t recognize.
Hey, Isaac says to me as he picks up the remote to pause whatever’s playing.
Where’s Joey ? I asked him, rubbing my eyes.
I think he went to the training quarters in the woods, Oliver said as he turned onto his side to look at me. They have been sleeping with us for about a week because Isaac and I had both been having nightmares and we felt like it was easier this way. The bed was way big enough for all four of us on here, so we didn’t have to worry about that, but I know that Joey was having a hard time sharing his mate with our friends because it was always just him and I in bed, but now that’s different. His werewolf is pretty jealous and I think the whole house could feel that at this point.
Oh, okay, I’ll be back then, I tell them before slipping on my shoes and leaving the room. I say good morning to Lila and Conner who are sitting on the couch with coffee before I slip out the back door. I find my way on the path to the training quarters where Joey and I have spent some time sparing to help get my strength up.
Once I see the blue mats laying on the ground with buckets of boxing gloves, I know I’ve walked the right way. The line of trees on the far edge of the quarters have punching bags and that’s where I see my mate with wrapped wrists and hands as he throws punches at the bag.
I lean against a tree as I watch him in his basketball shorts and t-shirt that’s now covered in sweat. I take a step forward and my foot lands on a leaf that crunches under my shoe, making Joey turn around to stare at me with his electric blue eyes. Once he sees that it’s me, he smiles and starts to walk towards me as he unwraps his hands.
Hey, beautiful, is everything alright ? He asks me as we meet each other halfway and he wraps his arms around me and the smell of his sweat traps me.
I was before I smelled you, I tell him playfully and he laughs as he lets me go. but everything’s fine, I just wanted to come see you.
He pulled me over to the picnic table where he sat on top with his feet on the bench while I set my head on his knee to look up at him. He smiled as he reached out to run his hands through my hair. How are you doing ?
I sigh, making him give me a confused look. I’m okay, it’s just, like, I feel like there’s always someone watching me and waiting for me to be alone so they can something. I know it sounds so ridiculous-
He shakes his head. No, baby, it doesn’t sound ridiculous. It’s super rational with what happened to you, but I can promise you that what we did to those some of the rogues before they could run like the rest definitely sent a message of what we’re capable of, so we should be okay for a while with no worry.
I nod my head before getting up to kneel on the bench between his legs. I love you.
He sets his forehead against mine. I love you so much and I’m so happy that you’re mine.