Chapter 25 - Kaiden

The sound of the monitor beeping droned on in the room. It had for several hours now, and I really should have gotten some rest in there somewhere. But I didn't. Kit lay on the small bed in front of me, and I'd been sitting right here in this mediocre chair, holding her hand, since we got back to the compound.

She still hadn't woken up. It had been eight hours.

Eight hours, twelve minutes, and thirty-eight seconds. But who's counting.

Not for the first time, I eyed the bandage crossing her chest. The gash from Eli's fucking claws had done a number on her, and she'd lost so much blood. When I'd carried Kit out of that fucking room, I'd found the others, and we'd headed straight to Sunny, who waited for us outside.

Cade, Alder, and Brooks had placed more charges around the compound, and Grayson had helped to smash up the lab when I'd told him where to find it. Once everyone had been clear of the house, we'd blown the thing to kingdom come, and it collapsed in on itself.

Burying the enemy pack still inside under mountains of rumble was a quick way to take care of them. Part of me wished I'd been able to provide a bit more personal attention, seeing as they almost cost me Kit.

Mate.

"Sure, now you remember. Asshole," I grumbled to myself as my wolf whispered in my head, much quieter than usual at that.

Whatever the drug had done to me had worn off, but my entire body ached from the less-than-stellar shifts.

"Who you calling an asshole?" Willow spoke from behind me, and I turned over my shoulder to offer her a tired smirk.

"My wolf. The one who almost killed Kit."

She raised her brows, nodding. "Ahh, that guy. Yeah, makes sense."

As she came in, Willow went about her typical checks of Kit with me still seated right next to her. She'd learned quickly that I wasn't about to move so much as an inch, so Willow did what she had to and made it work.

"Vitals are still strong. She's recovering." Willow offered a gentle smile.

"Then why isn't she awake?" I knew my tone was a bit harsh, but I was getting impatient.

"Kit went through a lot at Eli's. Her body has to make all that blood again, and there's only so much we can do to help. We're not a true hospital, and Sunny has been doing the best she can, too."

The sigh that left me bled out from my bones, and I sagged in my chair.

"I'm sorry. I know you've both done a lot to help Kit. I'm just…worried."

Willow came around from the other side of the bed and pulled up the other chair in the room, sitting next to me.

"I get it. So," Willow crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back in the chair, her legs following suit, "how about a distraction?"

I chuckled lightly. "Sure."

"Firstly, I just want to mention that you really should be getting rest of your own after everything that happened with that overdose."

Glaring at her, I narrowed my eyes at Willow, ready for her to continue with her distraction. "I'll rest when Kit wakes up and can lie in bed with me."

"Ugh," Willow grumbled, "mated wolves are the worst. Anyway, I've run the tests on your blood, and the drug is no longer present."

Her tone was surprisingly flat, and I cocked a brow at her. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Of course. I'm just surprised that your body was even able to metabolize that much of the stuff. It's incredible. A true feat of wolven genetics that I don't really understand. Which pisses me off."

I laughed again and rolled my eyes.

"Well, I wish I had more to tell you, but it's like I said. When I focused on Kit," I glanced over at her, a hint of a smile echoing across my features, "what she means to me, being my mate, and I was finally able to shift into human form. To get my wolf to back down."

Willow scoffed, and I looked back over at her. "That's some magic, woo-woo bullshit, and I don't like it."

My shoulders shook as I restrained a chuckle. Willow was so different from the other wolves I'd met. I loved her, really. She was funny and sarcastic, and for being a shifter, which was inherently magical, she was not interested in that stuff.

When I'd told her about the V?lva, she'd thought I'd lost my damn mind. It took seeing Jet and hearing his half of the story to at least believe we weren't lying.

The irregular whoosh of the blood pressure cuff clicking on broke the spell our conversation had woven through the room. I was acutely aware of where I was again, and I glanced down at Kit's arm, where the cuff squeezed her bicep.

"Well, that was distracting. Thanks." I didn't look at Willow as I spoke, but I could hear her sigh.

"She'll be fine, Kaiden. I'm sure of it."

Still staring down at my mate, I gripped her hand. "I'll believe that when she wakes up."

That wave of concern flowed out of me, and I could smell the hint of char touching my scent. I was fucking terrified, but I couldn't put the blame on Willow or Sunny for Kit's condition. They'd done everything they could to ensure she was all right.

"I'm grateful, too. I know this would be a completely different scenario if it weren't for you and Sunny." I glanced around the room that had been stocked with various medical equipment. "This setup you guys worked on for the pack is incredible."

"Eh," Willow waved a hand at me, brushing it off, "it's not anything special—just the necessary supplies to keep the pack going. We'd already been working on it when Terrance still ran things. He was a fucking dick, but at least he knew we needed medical supplies."

I was about to respond when the door to the room opened again. It was Sunny. She looked a bit haggard, and I knew that she'd been spending nearly as much time monitoring Kit's condition as I had.

"Hi, Alpha. Is it all right if I come in? There's something I wanted to discuss with you."

I offered her a slight nod and turned to face her, still holding Kit's hand. "Sure, Sunny. What's up?"

She came into the room and stood near my chair. As Sunny fiddled with her hair, I noticed the hint of charcoal dotting her scent. She was exuding waves of nervous energy, and my heart squeezed in my chest.

"If it's something bad, you need to just tell me. I can sense your anxiety, Sunny. Talk to me."

Sunny shook herself, bowing her head. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I…I didn't mean to. Umm, so yeah, actually, it's not bad per se, just…complicated."

"Okaaay," I dragged out, holding Sunny's eyes as I raised my brows. "So what is it then?"

"I ran some tests on Kit's blood to be sure she was responding to the platelet infusion. Which she is, by the way. Good, strong blood production. It's good. Sorry. I'm rambling."

Shaking her head again, Sunny absently put a hand on the back of her head and rubbed, clearly a nervous habit. I held the silence, not wanting to snap at her, but the impatience was building.

"Anyway, Kit is doing good. I suspect her body is just especially tired, and it's working double-time right now, so that's why she's taking a bit to wake up."

Nothing Sunny was saying was making much sense. I was glad that Kit was okay, but what did she even mean by all that? I cocked a brow, narrowing my eyes at her as I brushed my hair out of my face with my free hand.

"What do you mean double-time? Because she was injured?"

"Oh, well, I mean, there's that, too. Getting a slash like that is a lot more work for a human to heal than a wolf. So, I guess, I mean, keep that in mind too. Kit won't wake up as fast as a wolf might, of course."

This conversation was going absolutely nowhere, and I could sense the agitation rising in my blood. Willow scoffed from her seat, taking Sunny's hand and getting her attention.

"Hun, you need to get to the point. You're freaking him out."

I rolled my eyes, but I was appreciative of Willow's ability to cut to the core of things. She never beat around the bush, and it was one of my favorite traits of hers.

"Oh," Sunny's brows rose to her hairline, "right. Sorry. It's just that…well, I've never actually had to tell anyone something like this, and I don't want you to be upset or something. And I know that timing is everything, so I thought maybe I should wait. But you've been sitting in here for hours, so I—"

"Sunny," I cut in, leveling her with a calming stare and holding my hand out toward her to stop the tirade of words tumbling out of her.

"Right. Sorry. Again." She smiled, her hand at the back of her head again. "So, Kit's body is working double-time because she already needed to start making more blood because of her condition. She'll actually wind up with about two times as much blood by the time she delivers."

My gut squeezed, and my mouth fell open. The first part of that explanation had been about as helpful as the rest of Sunny's tangents, but the word "delivers"—that held a particular meaning, one that I was all too familiar with.

"Did you say ‘delivers?' Is Kit—"

"You all are incredibly loud. How's a girl supposed to sleep you lot yapping constantly?"

I spun around to face the bed, my pulse shooting through the damn roof as I met Kit's open eyes. She was awake, and a tired smile stretched over her face. I practically leaped onto the bed, holding her face in my hands as I kissed the ever-loving hell out of her. Kit let out a tiny squeak, and I pulled back, aware that I was probably crushing her.

"Well, hello," she said a bit breathlessly.

"Don't do that to me again. I was losing my mind."

Restrained chuckles sounded behind me, but I didn't bother looking back at the other women in the room. The only one I was concerned about was lying right here, and she was finally looking into my eyes again.

"He really was. You should have seen it."

Kit laughed, glancing over at Willow and then back at me. "Oh, really? Guess I have quite an effect on you, huh?"

I shook my head, my eyes burning slightly. "Yes, you do."

"I should say so," Sunny added. "Willow and I haven't seen anything like Kaiden's recovery. He should have ODed on that drug, but he's still kicking. Which is so good, because now he'll be able to meet the baby."

I watched Kit's eyes flare wide, and she slowly leaned to the side so that she could stare agape at Sunny. After a second, Sunny realized what she'd said, and Willow just laughed, face-palming as she shook her head.

"Well, that's one way to break the news."

Sunny frowned, looking guilty. "Oops."

I looked back at Kit, who was shaking her head. "Wait, wait, wait. What, what baby?"

"Yours." Sunny gestured toward Kit with her hand. "And Kaiden's. Got that from the DNA. Still can't tell how that worked, or if they'll be a wolf or not. Which is fascinating, because we haven't seen any human-wolf babies here, and it'll be so interesting to see if—"

"Babe, you're rambling again." Willow patted Sunny on the shoulder before wrapping her arm around the woman and walking her toward the door. "Let's give these two some space."

"Oh, okay. Sure. Sorry about…well, okay. I'd like to check on her more after you guys, you know, chat and stuff. Run some tests!"

Sunny's words faded into silence as Willow pulled her out of the room. I was left alone with Kit once more—and the biggest bombshell of my life.

When I looked back at her, Kit's eyes were focused downward, staring at nothing. She was so quiet, and after a moment, I took her chin and made her look up at me.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Kit let out a half-chuckle half-sigh, shaking her head. "I…wow, okay. I…I'm pregnant, I guess."

Offering a sympathetic smile, I laughed lightly. "Sounds like. Sunny just came in to tell me, I think. I'm glad that you woke up for it. I mean, hell, I'm glad that you woke up at all. I…I really was a wreck."

Kit smiled, tired and overwhelmed. "I think I know how that feels. You know, considering the whole drug OD thing."

I raised my brows, nodding at her as I scoffed. "Yeah, that you do. I'm so sorry if I hurt you or scared you. I…that was fucking awful. I didn't know if I would be able to stop him before I just exploded."

"But you did." Kit put her hand on my cheek. "You came back to me."

Sighing, I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of her hand on my skin. Everything in the world was wrapped up in that simple touch, and I fucking melted.

"It was you that gave me the strength to fight the wolf. Focusing on our…connection."

When I opened my eyes again, it looked like Kit was going to cry.

"Hey. Hey, now. Are you all right? Did I—"

She shook her head, pulling me down toward her. Kit kissed me, then rested her forehead against mine.

"I thought I was going crazy when Eli had me locked up. I had this weird dream, and you were holding a baby in it. I don't know. Somehow, I just…knew." Her tears spilled free, running down her face. "I really did think I'd lost you."

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling Kit close. "You didn't. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

Kit sniffled against my chest, a sarcastic chuckle slipping free. "Oh, really? You mean to tell me that you're actually okay with this? With me having your baby?"

Holding her to my chest, I sucked in a deep breath, considering. Humans and wolves didn't mate, that I was aware of. But since I'd known her, Kit did something different to me. My wolf had claimed her as our mate, and clearly, our genetics were more than compatible.

I mean, we'd had sex one time, and Kit was pregnant. Potent wolf genes, indeed .

Still, I thought about everything Jet had been through during Senna's pregnancy, the way he'd changed, and what it meant to him to be a father. I'd only just become Alpha, and now I'd be adding on the responsibility of caring for a child. Did I want that?

"Kaiden?"

I leaned back, looking down at Kit as I still held her close to me. The deep wells of her sapphire eyes were the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. She felt so right here with me, my entire being calling out to have her, to keep her.

Mate .

A soft laugh left me, and I internally sent my wolf back a message saying, Yeah, buddy. I know.

Kit stared up, her face gradually becoming more and more concerned. I kissed the creases on her forehead, smoothing them away with my lips. When I met her eyes again, I smiled—wide and genuine and ear to fucking ear.

"I hope they have your eyes."