Reed’S POV.
I didn’t have the patience to wait for the doctor to tell us if we could go in to see Halle or not. I walk past him and head straight to the door where I can perceive her sweet perfume emanating from.
Yes. I know how she smells.
The moment I open the door, my heart drops into my stomach when my eyes fall on Halle who’s lying on the bed with her eyes closed and an IV connected to her hand. It breaks my heart completely to see her in this situation and I feel very guilty, because it’s my fault that she’s lying on that bed.
If I didn’t act like a jerk after the kiss we shared, if I didn’t tell her to leave, she would not have been attacked by a stranger.
Speaking of being attacked.
I’m going to find whoever did that to her and I’m going to kill him.
Tears glitter in my eyes as I watch her sleep peacefully. I want to cover and kiss her on her lips again. Kiss her all over face and tell her how sorry I am, but the approaching footsteps I hear behind me reminds me of the fact that I have company.
This is the moment I regret calling them over.
From the side eyes I’ve been getting from Alpha Jayce, I can tell he has a lot of questions to ask me after this.
“Aren’t you going in?” Alora’s calm voice comes through and that’s when I realise I’m standing in the doorway. I exhale heavily and walk towards Halle’s bed. Her eyes snap open as I draw closer.
I pause.
My heart rate skyrockets.
“Halle!” Alora cries as she rushes over to her. Phone averts her gaze from me to her and I sigh in relief because I have no idea what to say or do at this point.
Alpha Jayce shakes his head at me and walks over to Halle’s bed to meet her. Alora is already seated on the bed, holding her free hand in hers and asking her questions about how she feels.
Halle is looking at us like we have all turned into ghosts.
“Did you do this?” Is the first thing she says. Her eyes are on me. She’s going to make me crumble to dust. “Did you call both the Alpha and Luna over for such a trivial issue?” She asks in disbelief. I purse my lips and look away because I have no response to give her.
“This is not a trivial issue. You got stabbed!” That’s Alora. Her right hand is over Halle’s forehead, checking to make sure she doesn’t have a fever. “How are you feeling? Are you in pain?” Halle shakes her head.
Alora is so cute, I swear!
“Halle.” Alpha Jayce finally speaks. Halle looks up at him with weak eyes.”Don’t hesitate to tell us if you are in any sort of pain. The doctors are ready to attend anytime you want.” She calmly nods her head.
“Yes, Alpha.”
“And for the person who did this to you, I promise to get to the root of this issue and have him punished. He won’t go Scott free.”
“I trust you are going to bring him to justice, Alpha.” She flashes him a small smile. He looks at me. My head drops.
I’m too embarrassed to look at him right now.
I called him over because I panicked. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.
And now, he definitely wants to know what’s going on between me and Halle that made me panic when she was in danger.
I never panic.
“Reed.” He calls. I look at him. He nods his head at the door. “How about we go out for a short walk?”
More like; ‘How about we go out there so you can tell me what the fuck is going on here?’
I nod and we both leave the girls in the ward.
When we get to the long hallway which has guards standing at every corner, he turns to me.
“You know… I feel like a shitty person right now because I am more shocked at the fact that you had a girl over at your place than the fact that someone almost lost their life at your place. Can you tell me what’s going on… between you and Halle? Why was she at your place?” I stop walking and purse my lips together.
I swallow dryly.
I can’t hide it any more. I have to tell him.
Not because he asked, but because I want to.
Because I need advice on what to do at this moment.
“I like her.” I blurt out.
“Too dry. Try again.”
“I don’t want to say I’m in love with her… I’m not so sure about that yet, but I have feelings for her. My heart does funny things when I see or hear her voice.”
“You’re smitten!” I shoot him a foolish smile. He nods in agreement.
“Yeah… something like that.”
“Wow!” I explain in utter surprise. He’s looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. “It’s actually amazing to hear you say things like this Reed.”
“What do you mean by that? I’m a man just like you.”
“No you are not! You are a strange man. Your ways are different from everyone I know, including myself. No one does things the way you do them. You are unique, that’s why I’m amazed to hear that you have feelings for a girl.”
“Why? You thought I was gay?” He shrugs his shoulders.
“It’s a thought that crossed my mind a few times.”
“I mean… don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing bad about being gay, it’s just… no… I’m not. I am not attracted to men. I’m not.” I’m shaking my head very seriously.
“Understood!” A brief moment of silence. “So you have feelings for her?”
“Yes, but I’m scared to act upon them because she’s not my mate. What if I start something with her and she finds her mate or I find mine. That’s going to be emotionally draining for both of us.” He stops walking and gives me a critical look.
“It’s a good thing that you are thinking about that, but don’t let it ruin a happy moment. You two are eventually going to find your mates, but the time is unknown. So if you ask me, I’d say you act upon those feelings and have a good relationship now because if you don’t, I can bet my life that you’ll regret it. You like the girl, you want her, then get her. Let tomorrow take care of itself.”
“That sounds brilliant, but there’s a problem.” I wet my bottom lip with my tongue.
I cringe every time I recall what I did to Halle.
I kissed her and sent her out of my house.
Even a highschool boy wouldn’t have acted so immaturely.
“What’s the problem?”
“She definitely hates me right now.”
“Why would she?”
“Because I’m the reason why she got attacked.” He grows concerned.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I… I…” I nervously scratch the back of my neck as I think of how to tell him about our kiss.
“You…?”
“I kissed her and after I broke the kiss, I got flustered and asked her to leave. That’s when she got attacked.” His shoulders sag. Disappointment spreads across his face. He gives me the: “Are you fucking kidding me?” look and I purse my lips in embarrassment.
I will forever shame myself for what I did.
“That was very poor of you, but there’s no need crying over spilled milk, so let’s see how to remedy that situation. How did she react to the kiss? Did she hate it? Did she scold you? Did she smile?”
“She neither smiled nor frowned. But her face turned red. She was blushing.”
“Meaning she liked it, which implies that she likes you! That’s a perfect start. It’s a problem that can be solved with a nice apology and a few sweet words.”
“Are you sure about that?” I ask with creased brows. He nods like a lizard.
“Take it from an expert in the field.”
“Expert my ass!” I roll my eyes.
“I’m serious!”
“Yeah. Whatever! I’m going to do as you’ve said. I’ll apologise and say a few nice words, maybe call her a few sweet names, but mind you, if this backfires, I’ll come back for…”
And that’s when it hits me.
Something I did hours ago.
I just recalled that I addressed Halle as “Baby” when I had to carry her to my car and bring her to the hospital.
I called her “baby”.
“Fuck, I’m screwed!”