Chapter Thirteen
Bennett
June
“What’s happening to him?” I asked as I climbed into bed with Felix.
“I don’t know, this isn’t typical,” Carissa said, running to the phone in the corner of the room. “Page Dr. Tanaka to room sixty-four. Now.”
She slammed the phone onto the receiver as Julia came into the room and rushed to the monitors.
I wrapped my arms around Felix and curled my body around his side as much as possible. “Did Ryder do something to him?” I asked.
“Ryder?” Julia asked, looking between me and Carissa.
The beeping on Felix’s machine stopped and the numbers on his monitor were stabilizing, returning to normal. “Is it working?”
Carissa nodded. “Between your presence and the meds, he seems to be responding.”
Julia folded her arms, glaring at Carissa. “There is no one named Ryder on the visitor log for this patient. You can’t just let in random people. This is the ICU! Maybe your last hospital let—”
“Stop,” I yelled, cutting her off. “Can you have this conversation somewhere else so he doesn’t respond to the stress, please?”
Carissa’s face was flushed red. “He told me he was his alpha. He showed me the bonding mark on Felix’s neck. I couldn’t refuse a bonded alpha.”
“I’m his alpha,” I growled.
Julia took a deep breath. “Is it true that Felix is bonded to another alpha?”
“He was in here for less than ten minutes and look what happened,” I yelled, gesturing to the machines.
“Which one of us do you think is better for him right now? Which one do you think is going to help him heal? The one who stresses him out, or the one who calms him? And don’t even get me started on the fact that I’m pretty sure Ryder is the one who put him in this fucking hospital. ”
“Sir,” Carissa said, pointing to the monitor. Felix’s heart rate was climbing again. I took a deep breath and released calming pheromones, watching as the numbers dropped again.
“Carissa is right. We can’t keep out a bonded alpha. It’s too dangerous if he becomes enraged. We won’t kick you out either, but we can’t have the two of you fighting,” Julia said.
“Fine,” I said in defeat. I traced my thumb over the mark on Felix’s neck.
If only I’d claimed him already.
There had been so many moments when it had felt natural to make him mine and I’d resisted over and over again, waiting for him to be as sure about me as I was about him.
When we’d spent his heat together, the ache in my jaw to bite him had been so strong that I’d bitten the inside of his leg once, breaking the skin before blowing him.
He’d screamed for me to make him his, but I knew it’d been the heat talking.
We’d only been on one date, and I’d promised to wait for him.
Every day since then, I’d wanted to claim him and show him that I would be here for him forever.
I thought we had plenty of time.
“You could solve this problem if you wanted to,” Carissa said, gesturing to Felix’s neck.
Julia narrowed her eyes. “She’s right. Why haven’t you claimed him?”
My eyes stung from having to explain this again. “I love him too much not to be patient. With his history, he deserves to be sure that I’m who he wants forever.”
They both looked at me with sympathy before looking at each other.
“How can you tell we’re true mates?” I asked.
If everyone else can tell, I’m finding it hard to believe Felix couldn’t have known. Did he not want to be bonded?
“We see a lot of couples here, Bennett. People so in love that you can see it in their eyes,” Julia said.
“But when I watch someone sit next to the bedside of their true mate, they look like their soul has been sucked out of their body. Since the moment I met you, I could tell your soul was lying in that hospital bed with Felix.”
“That would be kind of beautiful if it wasn’t so tragic,” I said.
She shook her head. “It’s only tragic when they don’t wake up.”
Julia and Carissa left the room, assuring me that Dr. Tanaka would be in to check on him soon.