Chapter 174
Chapter 174
Arianna
We all felt Luna’s consciousness when she woke up. What we didn’t feel was her wolf’s.
“Do you think she’ll get her wolf back, Kier?” I had gone to seek him out, needing reassurance. I know he’s working hard, keeping the pack safe while Alpha Quirin is with Luna Kennedy in the hospital. So, I brought him some food. It was a good excuse to go see him.
As busy as he is and as exhausted as he looks, he stops what he’s doing to come pull me into a hug.
“I trust Luna Yara and she says Luna Kennedy’s wolf will come back, so we’re all going to believe that,” he says, wrapping his arms around me. I feel him sigh as he breathes in my scent. I wrap my arms around him and hold him, letting him take strength from the mate bond.
“What do you have planned for today?” he asks.
“I thought I’d go see Christy. I don’t know if I can help her, but I have some understanding of what she went through,” I tell
him.
I’m surprised when he smiles at me, gently running his hand over my hair.
“What is that look for?” I ask.
“You act like a Beta female, even though you haven’t accepted the position yet.”
I blow out a breath. “I think the position is even more scary than being mated to you,” I say.
“Hopefully the idea of being mated to me isn’t as scary as it used to be,” he says, his voice hopeful.
I shake my head no. Then I run my fingers through his hair, smiling when he leans into my touch and closes his eyes. “You may very well be the most patient man I’ve ever met.”
He opens his eyes and looks at me. “If having you as my mate is the prize, I can be patient for as long as is necessary.”
Damn. He’s such a good man and he deserves a woman who isn’t tainted like I am, but he doesn’t care what happened to me in my previous pack. He just wants to love me.
“I got pretty lucky when the Moon Goddess paired me with you,” I say.
“I feel pretty damn lucky too,” he says, leaning down to kiss me softly.
Because I trust him and because I know he needs it, I lean into him, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. He does, his arms wrapping more tightly around me, but he doesn’t rush the kiss. It’s soft and gentle and so very sweet that it brings tears to
my eyes.
When he finally pulls back, he wipes the tears from my cheeks.
“You know, if you cry when I kiss you, I’m going to take it personally.”
I laugh, looking down at his chest. “It’s because you make me feel so special. You make me feel things that I never thought I would ever feel with someone. But I do with you,” I say, looking up at him.
“Good, because you are special. You’re special to me.”
We hold each other a bit longer, before he kisses the top of my head. “What did my sweet mate bring me for lunch?”
“I made you some meatloaf and mashed potatoes.”
“Is it YOUR meatloaf recipe?” he asks excitedly.
“As if I would bring you someone else’s,” I tease.
“Ahh, I can’t wait. If you go to the hospital, let me know how Luna Kennedy is doing.”
“I will. Eat some food. And uh… I’ll come see you tonight.”
“I’ll wait up for you,” he says, smiling. He walks me to the door and watches me as I walk down the hall. His sweet gesture makes me smile and I wonder if it’s finally time, time to agree to let Beta Kier mark me as his mate officially.
I think about that as I walk to the pack hospital. When I arrive, I see several warriors and omegas sitting in the waiting room, hoping to see our Luna.
“Any news?” I ask.
“She woke up, talked to Alpha Quirin, then fell back to sleep. This time she’s sleeping like she’s supposed to be according to Luna Yara,” Susie says to me.
I turn, going in search of Luna Yara.
“You can’t see her. Alpha Quirin is keeping her quiet for now,” Susie says.
“I was going to go sit with Christy,” I tell her.
“Oh,” she says, then waves me over, away from the other warriors in the room. They glance at us, curious what she’s doing, but they don’t say anything.
“Leo’s with her,” she says when we’re far enough away.
“What? Why?” I ask. All of the omegas know that he rejected her. We all had to cover her shifts while she suffered from the broken mate bond. It’s a lot harder for omegas than it is for others and Christy suffered for days before she was able to come back to work.
“I don’t know but Luna Yara has allowed it, so there’s not much I can do about it,” she tells me.
I nod. “I’m going to go see Christy and Leo can go screw himself for all I care.”
Susie smiles, trying not to laugh, but fails. “That’s actually pretty impossible, but thanks for that mental image.”
I smile then turn to head down the hall to Christy’s room.
When I get to the room, I knock lightly before stepping in, not waiting for a response or to be let in. Leo is sitting beside the bed, holding Christy’s hand.
“Hey Arianna,” she says as I walk in. It’s hard to see her like this. She still has bruising around her mouth and throat. I feel the bile trying to come up but I push it back down.
“Hey Christy. I wanted to come see you,” I say, turning to Leo. “Why don’t you take a break. I’ll stay with her.”
Before he can answer, Christy looks at him. “You should go. I’ll be fine.”
I can tell he resistant to leave her but I step forward. “She’ll be fine, Leo. Luna Yara is around here somewhere. If something happens to Christy, I’ll make sure to go get her,” I say, giving him no possible way out of leaving without an argument. If he does, I’ll link Kier to come order him away. I won’t have him upsetting Christy any more than she already is.
“Okay, but I won’t be far,” he says, leaning over to kiss her forehead.
She gives him a small smile before he walks to the door and steps out. I wait until he’s gone, then turn back to her.
“How are you?” I know it’s a dumb question. I’m sure she’s not okay, but I want to know if Leo is making it better or worse by being here.
She shrugs, the motion looking like it takes a lot of effort as her eyes fill with tears and she sniffles.
I hurriedly walk to the bed and take her hand. “I’m right here, I know that only does so much, but you’re not alone. How are you healing?” I ask her.
“Slowly. Sanjana is still silent. Luna Yara said that’s to be expected, but…”
“It makes you feel lonelier,” I say and she nods.
“What’s with Leo? Do you want me to have Beta Kier tell him to stay away?” I ask her.
She surprises me by shaking her head no. “He’s been really sweet. He said that Luna Kennedy has made him and all of the pack realize that strength comes in multiple ways. He said…” she looks down, plucking at the blanket that’s laying over her. “He said he made a mistake and he wants me as his mate now. But, how do I do that? He didn’t want me before because I was weak and I’m even weaker now,” she says.
I lean forward so she sees how serious I am. “Maybe you are at this moment, but you won’t always be weak. You survived, you’ll get stronger.”
“You don’t know that,” she says, looking away. I take a deep breath.
“Actually, I do. It’s why I ran from my pack before.
“What do you mean?” she asks.
I tell her about my past, about the abuse that I suffered, and how my own wolf went silent for a long time.
“Is that why you won’t accept Beta Kier as your mate?” she asks me, surprising me.
“How did you know?” I ask her.
She gives me a look. “Oh, please. You make him something special to eat every day. He’s the only one who wasn’t starving when we weren’t allowed to cook and there’s been more than one time when someone tried to find you in the evenings and you weren’t anywhere to be found. It took me a bit, but I eventually realized that when you weren’t around, neither was he.”
“He’s been willing to take the time I needed to let me get used to having a mate, to the idea of being intimate with someone consensually for the first time in my life. If I’m being honest, it’s terrifying. But he’s so patient and he’s such good man and Beta,” I say.
“He is. Maybe it’s time you gave him a chance,” she says.
I look at her and smile. “You know, I came here to support you and to help you find some peace with what happened to you. I didn’t expect you to be the one supporting me.”
“Leo said that Luna Kennedy told everyone that she expects this pack to act like a family. Family supports each other, right? At least, that’s what they should do. That’s what Luna Kennedy’s family does. So, I’m just trying to follow Luna’s orders and treat you like family, like a sister that I love.”
I feel tears prick my eyes. “Oh Christy, you are so special,” I tell her, knowing how much it meant to me to hear Kier s. earlier. I lean over her bed and hug her. “I will be here for you every step of the way. I will stay with you at night if you’re afraid. I’ll be there if you have nightmares. I’ll find a way to kick Leo’s ass if you want him gone,” I say making her huff a laugh. “I’ll be the best sister you could have ever asked for.”
“And maybe someday soon you’ll be the best Beta female any pack has ever seen?” she asks me.
“Maybe. Do you need anything while I’m here? I can hear Leo clomping around in the hallway wanting to come back in
“No, I’m good. He fed me and keeps asking if I need water or to go the bathroom. That was embarrassing, He refused to
leave me after carrying me to the toilet, telling me that he could smell the blood on me. It stung to pee and when I hissed at the pain, he was right there, holding my hands. His wolf, Javier, even purred at me to help me get through the pain. It was pretty sweet.”
“Good. Well, I’ll be back and Susie is outside right now, We’re all trading off, waiting for Luna to wake up for good so we can tell her how much we love her and how glad we are that she’s back”
“I need to thank her. She saved my life.”
“I’m pretty sure that you surviving will be all the thanks she needs. Get some sleep. I’ll let Leo back in and I’ll see you soon….
sister.”
She smiles at that. It’s a small smile, but I’ll take it. “See you soon, sister.”
I step outside and before Leo can walk back into the room, I stick my finger in his face. “Listen up. You hurt her again, I will bring the wrath of the omegas down on you. I will tell Luna Kennedy what you did and if I have to, I’ll tell Beta Kier, Luna Yara, Alpha Warren, and anyone else that will listen what you did. So you better make sure that if you want her, that you mean it. Because if you screw up again, it’s your life on the line.”
“I’m not going to hurt her again. I told her I made a mistake and I want to fix it. I know it will take some time, but I want to make it right,” he says.
“See that you do,” I say, turning to stride away.
I have my own things to make right. Christy is right. It’s time for me to take my place at my mate’s side and as a ranked member of this pack.
