Chapter 28

CHAPTER 28

THERON

T he soft, rhythmic movements of fingers gently raking through my hair distract me from the damn machine constantly beeping in my ear. The vibrant scent of lilacs masks the smell of disinfectant. Little sparks on my skin numb the pain that I feel all over my body.

I don’t bother opening my eyes. I lean into the comfort of her touch. Somewhere between the different stages of consciousness, I hear a sweet voice.

“Mama, when will he wake up?”

The next time I hear the machine beep, the fingers, the scent, the sparks are all gone. Rough hands shake my shoulder.

“Can you hear me?”

I try to sit up but flop back with a wince, cursing.

“Fuck!”

My mouth feels like I’ve swallowed sand, and my voice cracks .

I look around, but there’s no sign of Seren. My insides deflate. Did I imagine her here?

The pack doctor and a nurse are watching me like I’m a bizarre specimen.

“You gave us all quite a scare, alpha.” The nurse smiles at me while adjusting the incline of the upper half of the bed.

“The good news is, the two bullets missed your vital organs. With your wolf at peak strength, your healing has surpassed all our expectations.”

The doctor looks relieved. I try to process his words, but I’m only concerned about one thing. “Where’s Seren?”

“She’s been here these last three days, son. I insisted she go back and get some rest this morning.”

That’s my father’s deep voice. He sent her away.

As the staff leaves the room, he comes over and sits beside me. His frame is weak and there are dark circles under his eyes, but there’s still a quiet strength in his presence.

There’s the slightest of smiles on his face as he grips my shoulder, the pressure strong but comforting. “I’m proud of you.”

It takes me a moment to register those words. Proud of me? The concept feels alien. I’ve always been a disappointment to him, the son who couldn’t measure up.

He leans in closer, gently touching my wrist, as if he wants me to believe his words. I want to, but I don’t. I can’t.

“Why?”

He holds my gaze, and his words are more deliberate this time. “Because you’ve started putting others before yourself. ”

As he pulls me in for a hug, a lightness I’ve never felt before starts coursing through me like a cool breeze. My current pain and the years of bitterness between us are forgotten as I cry on his shoulder.

He passes me tissues and we stay like that for a while, until he finally moves away and smiles at me.

“Win her back.”

His words have me thinking, even after he walks out.

Over the next two hours, the door to my room opens multiple times to bring in food, drinks, medicines... I refuse everything—until my fated mate walks in.

With two massive bags in her hands.

She freezes by the door as she sees me sitting up. Her eyes rake all over me, scanning, frowning. I can’t imagine what I look like. I’m sure the cuts, bruises, and bandages might make me look worse than I feel.

I offer her a small smile before my gaze drops from her plump lips to her heaving chest.

“Typical,” she mutters, kicking the door closed with the back of her shoe and setting the bags aside with a soft thud. With her back to me, she continues to mutter while pulling things out of the bag.

" Ouch !"

She spins faster than a top, abandoning everything to rush to my side. “What happened?”

My pulse quickens as a smirk tries to tug at my lips. This might be my chance. I quickly suppress it, forcing a grimace instead, hoping it looks convincing .

“I think it’s my nerves,” I say, extending my palm. “My fingers are throbbing. Pain keeps shooting up my hand.”

She winces and sits beside me, her brow furrowed in concern. Her hands, surprisingly gentle, begin to work on my hand. Her eyes are not on mine, but there’s a faint blush coating her cheeks. Sparks dance all over my skin.

Oh, I’m so going to milk this now.

Just as she is about to stop, I extend my other hand to her. She narrows her eyes for a second before starting to massage it.

“We can’t have one hand feeling neglected,” I say, wiggling my fingers dramatically. “I know you don’t like favoritism.”

She rolls her eyes, but continues working the other hand anyway.

“Has Leon been okay?” I ask softly.

She nods, looking everywhere but at me. “Yeah. He was here the first two days. I took him back after you spooked him by talking in your sleep.”

By the way the color deepens across her cheeks, I have a feeling I made a fool of myself in my sleep. “What did I say?”

“Gibberish.” She shakes her head, but her grip tightens around my hand.

Interesting. “Who’s he with now?”

“Alpha Dan. It’s why I was able to come here.”

“But my father left two hours ago.”

Her eyes snap up to mine, shooting daggers at me before she drops my hand and walks back to the bags. “One of your nurses called to say you’re refusing to eat hospital food and were spitting out water because you said it was ‘bitter.’”

She hands me a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, thick with pulp—something I’ve always loved.

“Oh! You remembered.” I smile and gulp down the whole glass in one go. My insides absorb the juice like a sponge. “Got any more?”

She quietly refills my glass, her eyes landing on the bandage around my waist. She winces slightly, and a stab of regret pierces me at the sight of her discomfort, a reminder of how much I’ve put her through.

I lean back, watching her. “You know, if all this pampering continues, I might just get used to it.”

She gives me a faint, wry smile. “Well, it’s a good thing you run a pack with seven thousand members. You’ll always have help at hand.”

While I drink the juice, she starts pulling things from the bags and assembling a lunch plate for me. The familiar smell of home-cooked food brings a smile to my face. I have a feeling that Seren made all this herself.

She tries to set the meal tray in front of me, but I push it away. I don’t want to eat alone.

She shakes her head and places it right back, only for me to push it aside again.

She gives me an exasperated look and is halfway through setting the tray back when I bend to push it away, inadvertently pulling at the stitches on my side.

“What the hell,” she whispers, holding back the tray as she sits in front of me, exhaling sharply. “You picked a great time to be a child. ”

“My hands are hurting,” I protest, trying to keep the mood light despite my discomfort. “You want me to eat by myself?”

With a roll of her eyes, she sits beside me and sets the plate in front of us.

My eyes water and a wave of nostalgia hits me as I take in the contents of my plate. It’s almost a perfect replica of what Ella used to pack for our school lunches.

There’s a roast venison sandwich, a couple mini meat pies, carrot sticks, and spicy potato salad. On the side are two chocolate brownies and mini fruit skewers, accompanied by a small jar of honey. A little pouch of peppermints and a couple of lemon drops complete the meal.

“This is…” I trail off, overwhelmed, as she starts adjusting a napkin around the neck of my hospital gown. Her fingers smooth the fabric around my neck, and I’m hyperaware of every little touch.

Her scent is strong in such close proximity.

I notice her lips are close to mine. The plump, glistening buds coated with cherry lip gloss are just an inch or two away from mine.

I’m reminded of our kiss before they put me in the ambulance. Despite the chaos of that day, I have a clear memory of it.

She kissed me like she loved me. And now she brought me this very meaningful lunch.

“I thought you might need a little pick-me-up. Plus, it has all your essential nutrients,” she says. Her warm breath hits my face, and in this tiny space with nowhere to hide, my cock decides to make its presence known .

Heat floods my insides and I try to will it away, but knowing she’s right next to me makes that impossible. Her arm pressed into my side isn’t helping either.

I pull a pillow from behind my back and place it on my lap.

If she notices it, she doesn’t comment. But from the way her blush deepens, I know she knows where my thoughts have been.

She slowly starts feeding me. There’s complete silence between us now. There’s this strange tension crackling between us. I take time to swallow each bite of food. Titan, who has been asleep until now, stirs, urging me to close the distance between us, to show her what words can’t express. Not for him—but for me.

“At least try the fruit skewers. I know you love those,” I suggest, since she’s been refusing to eat anything off of my plate.

She finally picks one up, and with her lips puckered around the base of the stick, she pushes it all into her mouth. I fight to hold back my moan.

Fuck! Everything she does is getting sexualized in my head.

My breath hitches as her lips glisten with juice. Every rational thought is drowned out by the need to taste her.

“Uhm…I should go.” She suddenly gets up.

I immediately protest. “Why? No. Stay. Please.”

“I think you need rest and with me around,” she says with a smirk, her eyes twinkling, “that may not happen.”

I frown at her words until I notice the pillow on my lap has moved, and my raging hard-on is pretty obvious.

Damn! I feel like a schoolboy .

As she packs her bags, she places an ice box on the side. “This has a few juices, a sandwich, and two portions of salad. You’ll have to call a nurse to…”

“You’re not coming over for dinner?” I try to hide the hurt in my voice, but it just slips out.

She giggles. “Leon and I both will. But this is in case you get hungry before then, since you refuse to eat hospital food.”

I suck in a deep breath before saying, “Seren…”

She pauses, her back still turned to me. She knows me. And she knows what I am about to say.

“I love you. Can you consider…giving me another opportunity? I’ll not only protect you, but also love you with everything I have.”

I can hear my heart pounding wildly, but I manage to keep the shakiness out of my voice.

She is silent for a moment before she gives a smile. “Great timing, huh?”

I force a smile too. Nervously. And I admit I’m a base person, to ask when I know it’s hard for her to say no.

Her eyes are still guarded, but there’s an undeniable softness there. “I’ll…consider it.”

“Seren,” I say softly, my voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”

As the door shuts behind her, I glance at the old clock on the wall. I have to wait another five hours until she returns.