Chapter 21
MADISON
I can start to hear breathing. Two other heart beats. A beeping of a heart monitor. That matches my own beating heart. I wake and blink around the room. Connor is on my left and Ethan is on my right. They are both dirty and shabby, but sleeping. Both have their heads leaning on my bed. I am covered in a white hospital blanket. I hear the door open, when I look over I see Curt walking into the room.
I smile at him. “I figured you still hated me.”
He smiles back. “Well, you sacrificed your life for me, I figured I owed you enough to check on you.”
“Well, I would do it again if that makes you feel any better.”
“Not at all. I am a warrior, you are supposed to be a Luna, you should never sacrifice your life for mine. It is supposed to be the other way around. At this point, I feel like I owe you my life.”
“It is your life, do what you want with it.”
“It’s not that easy.”
Ethan stirs. He looks up at me. “Hi.”
He leaps up. “You’re awake. You’re here.” He starts peppering my face with kisses. “Don’t ever jump in front of a bullet again.” He smiles as he kisses me. “You will never leave my side again.”
“Where am I?”
“The pack clinic, We moved you about six hours ago. You have been out for about twelve.”
“Justin?”
“Dead. Connor is not far behind.”
“Don’t kill Connor. He was misguided. He trusted his Alpha. He didn’t think I was going to get hurt.”
“He still hurt you.”
“He didn’t mean to.”
“I don’t really care.” Ethan seems firm.
“Let me handle Connor.”
He sighs. “If that is what you want.”Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.
“I love you Ethan.”
He cups my cheeks. “I love you.”
Curt clears his throat. “Well, as cute as that is, we still have some things to deal with. Justin had several rogues in his pack. A few of them were captured. Your father wants to know what you would like to do with them.”
Ethan looks at me. “What do you suggest?”
“Obviously they wanted to live in a pack. Maybe see where their alliances lie. If they want to go back to being a rogue, then they should be turned over to the council, but if they want to live in a pack, get to know them and see if they deserve it. You can’t fault them for following their Alpha’s orders. If that was the case then your father would have killed me.”
Ethan looks at Curt. “Tell, father, that is our decision.”
Curt nods. “Oh, Madi, I still owe you my life. I will never forget it.”
With that he leaves the room. Connor is still out. I don’t know if I should wake him or let him sleep. I decided to go with the latter. I lean towards Ethan. “How much longer do I need to be here?”
“Until the doctor says that you are well enough to leave.”
“I want to go home.”
“I know baby, I just don’t know if it is safe anymore.”
“Justin is dead, we are safe.”
“There are still wolves that know where it is. That compromises the safety. I wouldn’t feel safe with you there until we took better precautions there. I need it to be safer.”
“Then where are we supposed to go?”
“The pack house.”
I groan. “Great. Sounds fantastic.”
“I already told them to move your things to my room. I am going to pack up the house later.”
“It’s not the same.”
“I know, but we always knew that we would be moving back to the packhouse. We couldn’t stay in the cabin forever.”
“I liked it there.” I whine.
“I promise we will have time alone. I will make sure that after the cabin is safe again that we get to spend a month there.”
“Really?”
“I would never lie to you.”
“What about my birthday?”
“What about it? You and I both know that it will change nothing. I hate the things that you had to go through. I should have marked you that night. You wouldn’t have had to go through that if I did. He would have gone after me, not you.”
I sigh. “I know you were worried about my doubt. But what I didn’t tell you was that I doubted that I was good enough for you. I still do. I don’t doubt that I want to be with you. I just don’t know if I will ever measure up. Now, I will have this gross scar on my back.”
“Hey,” He stops me with a finger on my lips. “I don’t care about scars. I care about the pain that you had to suffer. You proved to Curt that you can be a Luna. I always knew that you would be my Luna. I knew it when my wolf took you. I was confused, but I knew. Our wolves were telling us all along. We should have just listened to them. I would have marked you then. But you know what? To erase any doubt. I am waiting until your birthday. You are just going to be attached to me until you bare my mark.”
“Why do you want to wait?”
He sighs. “Because Connor asked me to. I don’t want him hovering around for the rest of his life, determined that you are his mate. You are mine, he needs to see that and move on. He was your friend once. I would hope that when he sees that you are not his mate that he can be a friend. Not some crazy weirdo.”
I chuckle. “That’s it.”
“That is the only thing. Ok, and I want you to heal. I don’t think your body can take any damage at the moment. Even a mate mark.”
“So for Connor’s sake, we are waiting.”
“I want you to have your friend Madi. It broke my heart when you said that he was your only friend. I can guarantee that Curt is your friend now. He won’t forget what you did. But I don’t want you to lose Connor.”
I nod. “Alright, we will wait.”
“Eleven days.”
I laugh. “Eleven Days.”