Chapter 24
Even Wolves Get Hurt
Dodger
A stab wound to the gut isn’t pretty. Neither is being the guy waiting for news about the patient with a stab wound to the gut. Hours crawled by in a sterile waiting room, not to mention my arguing with nurses and nearly getting thrown out by security.
Finally, they let me see him. I burst through the hospital room door, my heart hammering against my ribs.
“Harper!” My voice cracks as I rush to his bedside.
His normally tanned skin is sickly pale against the stark white hospital sheets. Dark circles shadow his eyes, a large bandage visible under the thin hospital gown. The sight of him—Detective Ethan Harper, the fierce wolf who’s been protecting me—looking so vulnerable makes my stomach twist.
“Are you okay?” I ask, wanting to kick myself. Of course he’s not okay, you idiot.
“Seen better days.” He tries to lever himself up and his sharp intake of breath has me moving to help.
“Here, let me—” I slide an arm behind his broad shoulders to help him sit up, feeling the heat of his skin burn through the thin cotton gown.
Solid muscle shifts beneath my palm as I ease him upright.
He’s okay. Alive. Sure, sitting up isn’t normally a two-person job, but he’s conscious and alert.
It should make me feel better. But him being here in the hospital, carved open and stitched back together, injured because of me… I don’t feel better, not even close.
“You shouldn’t move too much,” I fuss, arranging his blankets once he’s settled. “The nurse said you need to rest. Do you need water? Are you in pain? Should I call someone?”
Harper’s golden eyes track my nervous movements. “Dodger. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine! You’re in a hospital bed! You could have—” My voice cracks and I have to look away, blinking rapidly.
“Hey.” His large hand captures mine, stilling my fidgeting. “I’m okay. Really.”
“Do you even remember what happened?”
Harper’s brow furrows, his eyes going distant.
“We were on the streets of Concordia, you and me. Then Rowan showed up and...” He trails off, frustration evident in the tightening of his jaw.
“I remember smelling your fear. You were so afraid. I wanted to help you, but… I’m not sure. Everything gets... hazy.”
I sink into the chair beside his bed. “Rowan attacked you in Concordia. Right in the middle of the street. The doctors said the blade was special. Coated with something that’s slowing down your healing.
They’ve got you stabilized, but they’re still working on fixing whatever it is so your accelerated healing can kick in.
” I glance at the monitors beside his bed, the steady beeping reassuring.
“And that fancy pocket watch of his? Turns out it does more than tell time. It stunned you and messed with your memory.”
“The watch...”
“Yeah. I think it disorients people and erases small amounts of time, but it didn’t work right because he tried to take too much at once.”
Harper’s expression shifts, the detective side taking over even in his hospital bed. I can practically see the gears turning in his head.
“Erasing memories, that’s not legal without consent. So that’s how he did it,” he murmurs. “That’s how Rowan framed Jonathan for the dragon attack. He used the watch on the witnesses, erased their memories, and then fed them his own version where Jonathan was responsible.”
I nod along. That makes sense. If I’d spared a thought for Rowan beyond retribution and curse words, I could have connected those dots myself. The watch, the knife, it all fits how the weak witch operates. Buying tools from those with real magic, twisting everything for his own purposes.
Harper laughs, then immediately winces, his hand going to his bandaged abdomen. “Well, we wanted to know how he did it. Be careful what you wish for.”
“Not funny,” I say, my voice tight.
“This is good news,” he insists. “All the pieces are coming together.”
“You were stabbed.” Nothing remotely good about that.
“I’ll heal.”
I frown, studying his too-pale face. “The doctors said they took care of your confusion. Should I get them? You aren’t healing—”
“Not like a wolf,” Harper interrupts. “I’ll still heal.”
But not fast enough. I stand up, unable to keep still any longer. The room feels too small, the antiseptic smell suffocating. This is my fault. I dragged him into this mess.
I force a smile when I catch him watching me. “Never thought you’d be here, huh? In a hospital bed, an actual patient.”
“Even wolves get hurt,” he says softly. “I’ve been on the job long enough to know there are all kinds of tricks bad people use to account for supernatural abilities when they really want to hurt someone.”
“Oh.”
He places a hand over mine. “Sorry.”
I laugh. “You were stabbed by the psycho after me and you’re apologizing to me?”
“Dodger, it’s gonna be alright.” He sounds so calm and steady, and I can’t imagine how he does it right now. “Don’t do anything foolish.”
Wow, am I that easy to read? What happened to the days when I was just the moody necromancer with headphones stuffed in my ears and a million miles away? Getting that distance back is impossible, and I can’t promise him that I’ll be a good boy.
If he already knows me so well, maybe there’s something else I should share.
“Look, I should have told you this before, but I… I care about you, Harper. Ethan? I care about you, Ethan Harper.”
He makes a face. “Harper’s fine. You don’t need to say anything. We were going to take it slow.”
“This doesn’t feel slow.” I looked up one day and suddenly he was everywhere.
I was consumed with him. And instead of scaring me, it just feels right.
“You probably don’t know this, how could you, because I seemed so surprised when you told me we were mates, but I believed you as soon as you said it. ”
“You’re right. I didn’t know that.” There’s amusement in his eyes. “Because if I remember right, you looked at me like I was a lunatic who just told you that I was the president of the moon.”
“Yeah, it was shocking but that doesn’t mean I doubted you.”
“In fact, it wasn’t just the looks you sent me. You told me I was insane.”
“Okay,” I concede. “Us being mates made sense later when I thought about it. It explained what I saw when we met.”
“What are you talking about?”
I trace the back of Harper’s hand, which has an IV in it.
“There was a moment when suddenly all I could hear was your heartbeat, and I just knew that if my heart stopped yours would too, like our lives were connected. And then everything went back to normal and I had no idea what was going on. I probably seemed like a basketcase.”
“You barely looked up and seemed afraid of your own shadow,” he recalls. “Figured it was because you were afraid of your secret getting out.” That I was alive and hiding from his boss. “You Recognized me when we met?”
“Yeah. It took me a while to figure out that’s what it was, but yeah. Maybe it’s a necromancer thing? I could tell our lives were connected.” I clutch his hand tightly. “I know what we are to each other. I don’t want to lose you.”
Whatever it takes, I’ll make sure he’s safe.
The machines beep and screech as Harper tries to get up and rips the leads off his arms.
“Stay here with me,” he rasps, hand fumbling for my wrist. “Don’t go.”
“Lie down.” My palm connects with his shoulder, pressing him back into the bed. It hurts my heart that he’s so weak he can’t fight me and sinks back heavily into the pillows. “You should get some rest.”
His gaze bores into mine with that unwavering intensity that first drew me to him. “You aren’t alone anymore, Dodger.”
“I know, and I don’t want to be.” My fingers tremble slightly as I brush a strand of hair from his forehead. “That’s why I need to end this.”
The door bangs open behind me, and nurses rush in, a small army rallying to check on the patient. He’s in good hands without me. I couldn’t do anything to prevent him from getting hurt. But I can do something now. I can end this.
I made some calls while waiting for news about Harper.
The Iron Pack Alphas and I grew close when I first arrived in Concordia, and I stayed with them while hiding out before Harper came into the picture.
I asked if they could figure out where Rowan was staying and they found something. It’s my turn to drop in on him.
Harper is safe here. I won’t be able to say the same for Rowan when I find him.