Chapter 46
Chapter
Forty-Six
Iopened my eyes, not in as much pain as I had been expecting. The worst of it was my arm. Adjusting my body, I went through the process. Feet, legs, hips, shoulders, elbows, wrists, neck, and then everything in between. Everything seemed to be sore, but nothing was horribly painful.
Slowly, I sat up. It definitely was tight. It seemed like my ribs had been where my healing had focused, though. Pulling up my shirt, the part that wasn’t wrapped up was completely purple. At least it meant I wasn’t out for too long.
Putting my feet on the floor, I attempted to stand up.
It went better than expected, and I could stand.
Walking didn’t feel great, but it would take some time to stretch my muscles out.
My arm hurt a lot. I knew the wolf had crushed everything where he bit, but I’m sure that it would not be easy to heal.
It was lucky that he didn’t just bite my arm clean off.
Opening the door to the nursery, I stepped in and smiled. Candice was asleep in the rocking chair. It looked as if she had fallen asleep reading her book. Grabbing her book, I took the blanket that was folded up near and covered her with it. She moved, but didn’t wake up.
Walking over to the crib, I brushed my little girl’s cheeks and smiled.
She was sleeping, and considering it was two forty-five in the morning; it was a bit of a miracle.
I don’t know why she struggled so much sleeping at night, but considering how awake she had been when I was pregnant with her, maybe it made more sense that I would like.
I went back into my bedroom, leaving the door open a sliver, and opened my door. The house was quiet, and I expected it to be. My steps were slow, but I could go down holding onto the railing while I cradled my arm against me.
Once in the kitchen, I turned on the light. Reaching up, I pulled a mug and put on some hot water. Searching the drawers, I found Candice’s stash of ibuprofen. Taking four without water, I leaned against the counter, watching the kettle come up to temperature.
“Colton?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin, but the quick movement made me hiss, my arm shifting too much. Marcus was rubbing his eyes, standing in the kitchen archway. The kettle started to hiss, and I took it off before it whistled. Pouring it with one hand, Marcus grabbed the kettle from me.
Stepping back a little, he poured the water into the mug I pulled before grabbing a second one. He put it back and then turned on me. I wasn’t expecting the level of anger in his features.
“What are you doing up? You shouldn’t be out of bed!”
“I just…woke up. Checked on Kayla, Candice is asleep in the room, and I thought I would make some tea?”
Marcus looked like he was about to spit fire. “You have been out for almost an entire day! There amount of bones you broke, Colton, I couldn’t count them on my hands.”
“I feel okay. My arm hurts badly, but everything else just feels sore.”
“That doesn’t mean you are okay! Gods, are you always like this? Seriously?”
Chuckling, I sipped my tea. “Yeah, I am.”
“You have people who need you and care about you. You need to think about them and how they would feel! It’s not just you. It might have been before, but it’s not now. You need to get through that stubborn head of yours.”
My lips pursed, trying not to smile. This was déjà vu with him. It felt good, though. My heart felt warm, and I had to force myself not to lean into him. Eventually, I couldn’t hold back.
He was standing, facing me, and I leaned my head against his chest. For a moment, his chest didn’t move while Marcus held his breath. Then, he let out the breath, his arm coming around and holding me softly.
“You scared me. You passed out in Beau’s arms, covered in blood. She was screaming, and we didn’t know how bad it had been before I got there.”
“Nothing terrible. I was expecting it.”
Marcus snorted. “You were expecting to be thrown into a tree.”
“I mean, not that particular tree.” I chuckled again. “I knew I wouldn’t make it out of the clearing myself. So I attacked Queen. Keith did me the favor of sending me flying toward the lair. Over the heads of the warriors.”
“You weren’t going to be able to run after that.”
Shrugging, I blew the steam off my mug. “If I could stand, I could run. I wasn’t going to give up. I couldn’t. Not if it meant being in his hands.” The thought made me shiver. “What happened after?”
Marcus didn’t say anything for two more sips of his own tea. “Dad stripped Keith of his title.”
Straightening, I regretted doing it so fast. I winced and sucked in a breath. Marcus put his mug down, worriedly looking me over. Shaking my head, I put my hand on his chest.
“It’s fine. Just sore. I moved too quickly.” I took a slow breath. “What do you mean he stripped Keith of his title?”
“Just that. Dad is back to being Alpha. He stripped Keith and put him under house arrest with Queen. The kids are currently staying with Beau and Lauren. Though they might just all come over here so there are more hands.” Marcus sighed. “If I had a house, I’d take them again.”
My lips pursed, shaking my head. “I didn’t…that’s…a lot.”
“Yeah, well, he betrayed the family.” The growl was deep in Marcus’ voice. “It doesn’t matter what happened. You are my mate. Marked, and we have a hatchling together. Why he thought there wouldn’t be consequences to inviting another Alpha to take you…” He shook his head.
“I’m sorry. It hurt when I saw it was Keith who let them onto the territory, but seeing Queen next to him, I knew the real mastermind behind it all.” I let out a snort. “We mutually hate each other.”
Marcus looked down at me. “That was too far. All of it. If I hadn’t heard you…”
“I can’t believe you heard me.” I smiled up at him. “I’ve talked to you over the past few months through mind link, but I always assumed that you couldn’t hear me.”
“I haven’t. I’m sorry.”
Shaking my head, I looked away from him. “Honestly, I didn’t actually mean all of it for you, so it’s fine. The fourth dose really did a number on the bond.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “I couldn’t find you through the bond, though.
I was flying blind. I’d done a loop around the lair when I landed, shifted and called Beau to ask where you would be.
She was the one who called the rest of the family while I made your running circuit.
Luckily, I started from the closer end.”
“You saved me.” Putting my mug down, I stood fully in front of him. “Thank you. I would have tried to run to the lair, but there would have been no guarantee I could make it. You dropping in probably saved my life. So, thank you.”
Marcus watched me, his eyes searching my face. Leaning down, he took my chin before kissing me. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that.
It was soft, gentle, tentative as he just pressed his lips against mine. Lifting back up, his eyes were still searching for something. His thumb brushed against my skin.
“I’d never felt such panic and worry before. I thought I was going to lose you before I ever found you again. I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner. I should have been.”
“It’s okay. You did enough.”
His chest rose and fell, but there was a soft smile on his face. “I think I can understand how I fell for you before.”
My eyes widened. “W-What?”
This time he laughed. “You’re just…something else. Sometime completely different.”
“You mean I’m stubborn, sassy, and horribly incapable of taking care of myself?”
Marcus barked out a laugh, even snorting through some of it. “Yeah. You could say that. Among other qualities.”
I picked up my mug again and finished my tea, smiling. It felt so warm, and I knew I had a blush on my face. This was so weird, but being here like this with him, it felt almost complete. As though he felt it too, Marcus wrapped his arms around me.
He was gentle, but my face settled against his chest. I closed my eyes, feeling his touch, the barely there sparks that used to explode against my skin. My whole body relaxed against him, and I let out a sigh. Marcus reached down, and I yelped as he picked me up in his arms.
Without even letting me say anything, Marcus turned off the kitchen light and headed back up the stairs. I didn’t bother fighting him. I wasn’t in any condition to be doing that, and I could feel the worry pushing through our frayed bond. If this was what was going to help him, then it was fine.
Setting me down on my bed, I reached out for my phone.
Frowning, I unlocked it and scrolled through my messages.
Beau must have told Mike because the two of them had been blowing up my phone with messages that I needed to call when I woke up.
The most recent one was from Mike saying that I needed to call him first thing in the morning since I was awake.
The worrying one was from Selene. She texted me that she needed to see me. It had been from yesterday and I never got it. Replying to her, asking her if everything was okay, I didn’t worry about a reply tonight.
“Everything okay?”
Shrugging, I lowered my body onto the bed. “I will deal with it tomorrow.”
He hummed, reached and pulled the blanket over me. “Alright, get some rest.”
“Wait…Marcus…”
His retreat out of the room stopped.
“Do you mind…scenting the room?”
His hands twitched as his shoulders rolled back. “You sure?”
I chuckled. “It’s not weird for me to ask. It might be a little more awkward for you to ask me.”
“I guess…that’s true.” Walking back over to me, he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m not sure how to do this.”
“Just let out your pheromones in the room. It won’t ever be too much for me, so you don’t need to worry about that. Maybe stay until it smells like your room smells?”
He nodded. “I think I can do that.”
“Thank you.” I closed my eyes and curled up as best as my body would let me without hurting too much. “Sorry to ask it of you.”
There was silence for a while, the room suddenly changing from the room spray that I used after I cleaned to Marcus’ burning birch wood scent. It felt like home now. A tear slipped out of my eye before I could stop it. I didn’t move, though, just let myself drown in his scent.
My hair moved to the side as Marcus brushed it away from my face softly. “You don’t need to thank me, Colton. Not for being the mate you should have.”