Chapter Twenty-Three
Bennett
June
Felix whimpered and I tore my eyes away from Ryder who was writhing on the ground in pain, surrounded by nurses.
Reid stepped around the commotion, joining me next to Felix, while Oakley rapidly tapped Carissa on the back to get her attention.
Carissa appeared on the other side of Felix’s bed with Oakley next to her. “What did you do, Bennett?” Carissa asked firmly.
“I claimed him. I can feel the bond, it’s strong and solid between us. But he’s in pain,” I said, gripping Felix’s hand. I sent soothing feelings through the bond and a hefty dose of pheromones into the air.
Reid coughed next to me and stepped back. “Dude, warn a guy.”
“The broken bond is probably causing him some discomfort, and he’s also more alert than he should be at this point in the weaning process. I’m going to get Dr. Tanaka. It’s very likely that you jump-started his system in some way when you bit him.”
“Like jumping a car battery?” Oakley asked.
“Exactly,” the nurse said.
“Do you even know what a car battery looks like?” Reid asked as Carissa left the room.
“Do you think I’m an idiot?” she asked him.
“I think you’re spoiled, honey. Not an idiot.”
She rolled her eyes and took Felix’s other hand. “Bennett, he’s okay. You can feel that he’s okay, right?”
I nodded, trying to believe her as I reached for Felix through the bond. I could feel him there, reaching for me too.
“Oak, let’s give Bennett some space,” Reid said.
“Is that what you want?” she asked me.
“Yes, please. Thank you both for being here.” Reid squeezed my shoulder and Oakley gave me a sad smile as they walked to the door, Reid’s hand on the small of Oak’s back. They stepped around a screaming Ryder.
“Help!” Ryder yelled. “Please, I need something for the pain. Anything.”
Julia helped him to his feet. “I’m going to take him out of here and get him to a room where he can calm down.”
“Can you handle him alone?” a male nurse asked.
“Yes,” Julia said, giving Ryder a stern look as she turned him around and led him away from us.
Felix started choking and gagging around his breathing tube.
“Carissa!” I yelled.
She must have been close because she rounded the corner and flew into the room a second later, Dr. Tanaka by her side. “He’s waking up,” Dr. Tanaka said. “We need to extubate him now.”
She and Carissa moved to the head of Felix’s bed and worked to remove the long breathing tube from his throat. He coughed and sputtered through the process, my heart aching.
I brought his hand to my face and scented his wrist, licking his scent gland soothingly while they worked.
They blurred before me as they helped him, my tear-filled eyes unable to look away from the bonding mark I’d placed on his neck.
It had been easy to feel certain it was the right decision when the stakes had been what they were, but it would be another thing entirely to feel confident when the love of my life looked at me with disappointment and I had to confess that I’d bonded him without his consent.
The one and only thing he’d ever asked me not to do.
Felix gasped as the tube was finally pulled from his throat, his eyes wide open and searching. He looked between Carissa and Dr. Tanaka, panic lacing his features.
I reached for him through the bond to calm him and reassure him again, but the panic at what I’d done to him was consuming me and finding calm energy to share with him was scarce.
“It’s okay,” Carissa said, patting his hand. “Your alpha is right here. Here’s been here the whole time.”
I squeezed Felix’s hand, and when his eyes found mine, he burst into tears. He opened his mouth to speak but a scratchy sound came out.
I turned to Dr. Tanaka.
“That’s normal after an intubation,” she said. “It may be hard for him to talk for a few days.”
“It’s okay, baby,” I said, brushing hair of his forehead. “Don’t speak for now. I’m not going anywhere.”
Felix reached across his body with his free hand and weakly gripped the front of my shirt. I bent down, trying to follow what he wanted and placed my ear over his mouth. “Thank you,” he whispered in a scratchy voice.
“Sounds like consent to me,” Carissa whispered to Dr. Tanaka.
Dr. Tanaka nodded. “Less paperwork.” She shrugged, smiling at me.
I choked on a sob and wrapped my arms around Felix’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry,” I cried.
He shook his head and lifted his fingers to our bonding mark on the left side of his neck and gave me a weak smile. “I choose to be yours,” he croaked.
The weight crushing my chest finally released itself and I yanked at the blanket on top of him as I looked at Carissa. “Can I?”
She nodded. “Your presence will do more to provide him comfort than anything we can do for him right now. We’ll give you some time alone before we start running scans and checking on his condition. The fact that he seems aware is a very good sign, Bennett. Congratulations.”
She’d hardly finished speaking before I’d climbed into the bed and pulled Felix against my chest. As soon as I was settled, Felix fisted my shirt in both hands and curled against me.
I kissed the top of his head, feeling his body shake with sobs.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said, surrounding us in soothing pheromones.
“I heard everything,” he whispered between gasps for air. “I was so afraid you wouldn’t do it. I wanted you to do it.”
I closed my eyes, my tears falling on his head, and I pressed my lips to his forehead, afraid to let go. “You’re not mad?” I asked, tipping his chin to meet my gaze.
He smiled, still weak, but certain. “Not a chance, Bennett. I’m so happy to be bonded to you.”
I kissed him softly. “I love you so much,” I said against his lips. “I can’t ever go through this again.”
He scented my neck gingerly. “Can I bite you?”
“What?” I asked. “No, you need to rest.”
“I want you to have a mark from me too,” he said in another scratchy whisper.
“I will. When we get out of this hospital, you can mark me as many times as you want,” I said, rubbing his back as he settled for licking my scent gland instead. “You need to rest your throat too.”
“I can feel your love for me,” he said. “It’s even more than I imagined.”
“I can feel yours too,” I said. “It’s everything.”
“I need your skin,” he said, nuzzling against my chest before coughing and pawing at his throat.
I shifted him off me and sat up to pull my shirt over my head. “No more talking,” I commanded. I picked up the cup of water the nurses had left me earlier and pointed the straw at him. “Small sips, handsome.”
He nodded and wrapped his lips around the straw before settling back on my chest. I set the cup of water aside and held him against me, breathing easily for the first time in days.
“What about Ryder and the guy who did this to me?”
I shifted to meet his eyes. “The guy who did this to you? It wasn’t Ryder?”
“No,” Felix shook his head. “Ryder was there, but someone else was too.”
“Who?”
“I can’t remember what he looked like. Just his scent,” Felix said, his eyes fluttering closed.
“I’ll call Wyatt soon. Just rest for now, handsome,” I said, kissing his head again, as he fell asleep.
If Ryder isn’t the one who tried to kill him, then who did?