Chapter 25 - Killian

I woke up slowly, feeling the warmth of the bed I rested in and the quiet hum of chatter somewhere near me. My hand was enclosed in someone else’s. It took me a moment to realize it was Leah’s.

My eyes opened slowly, taking in the low lighting of the bedroom at Alpha Nile’s house. A group of people—the town doctor, Jasper, and April—was huddled around the foot of my bed, discussing my injuries. Leah sat by my side with her head bowed and eyes closed.

“Once the wolfsbane is fully out of his system, his recovery should be straightforward,” the doctor said.

“How long should that take?” April inquired.

The doctor shrugged. “As you know, werewolf injuries aren’t my specialty. My predecessor has far more extensive knowledge, but I have only just begun making headway on his notes.”

“That isn’t good enough,” Jasper said tersely. “His recovery is the most important thing right now—to all of the wolves in Pinedale.”

I saw the doctor’s eyes widen. This must be the new human doctor. Our own pack doctor had passed away fairly recently, as had the town’s human doctor.

“You’re scaring the poor guy,” I croaked quietly. “Don’t you know a calm doctor is a happy doctor?”

“Killian!” Leah sobbed, raising her head so quickly, I was surprised she didn’t get whiplash.

She smiled at me brightly, and I smiled back. The small movement of my face sent tremors through my body, and I hunched over in pain.

“What’s wrong?” she fussed.

“The poison is passing out of his system,” the doctor explained. “He’ll have side effects for a while, but the fact that he is awake is encouraging.”

When the shaking subsided, I took a deep breath. “You said it was wolfsbane?”

“Or something like it,” the doctor said. “There was a silver blade that slashed through your thigh, and whatever coating was on it went through your system. It isn’t wolfsbane, exactly. My instruments aren’t advanced enough to test all of its properties—nor do I have enough of the elements left on the knife—but they put the wolfsbane through some kind of chemical transformation to make it more potent for wolves.”

I sat quietly, taking in the information from the doctor.

“But you’re healing,” Leah said encouragingly. “It’s just going to take a little more time than usual. Your arm was broken, and you had a lot of deep cuts.”

I smiled at her, this time managing to avoid the crippling pain that had accompanied my last attempt.

“We’ll go make you some food and let you get some rest,” April said, pulling gently on Jasper’s arm.

“It’s good to see you awake, brother,” Jasper said.

He wasn’t a man of very many words, but I knew by those few words how much he cared about me. I had always considered him to be my brother, but rarely did I feel that sentiment reciprocated.

I nodded at him, my eyes filling with tears as Jasper, April, and the doctor left. Leah remained by my side, playing quietly with my hand.

“Were you injured?” I asked her. “I barely remember what happened. Everything seems so blurry.”

“The doctor said it might take some time for your memories to return,” she said. “The poison didn’t just attack your body; it attacked your brain, too. But to answer your question—no, I wasn’t hurt.”

I sighed in relief. When I confronted Franco at the community center, I remembered wanting to keep Leah safe, but I wasn’t sure if I had kept my promise to do that.

“Can you tell me what happened?” I asked.

She shuddered as she put herself back in the moment. “You asked me to hide in the hedge while you investigated the sounds coming from inside the building,” she began. “When I saw Franco in the doorway, I knew we were in over our heads—especially after he said that his pack was inside with him. I couldn’t see how many wolves he had with him, so I convinced Destiny to run back to the forest to get help.”

Her voice broke before she continued.

“When we got back, they had you surrounded. Killian, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you behind. I should’ve stayed with you.”

“No,” I said firmly. “Don’t think like that. You did everything right. I was outnumbered, and even if you had stayed, I would have gotten hurt. And so would you. We probably wouldn’t be sitting here talking about it.”

She nodded, wiping her eyes. “We split up—some of our wolves going inside to evacuate the prisoners and the rest fighting Franco’s pack outside,” she said. “Franco’s second baited you into attacking him. We had the rest of the wolves to our front, and we presumed he was too injured to attack our backs. But he transformed, grabbed a knife from somewhere, and cut you with it. We were able to take him down almost immediately, but the damage had been done.”

I concentrated on her words as images came back from that night. I remembered fighting the wolf, as well as the pain the blade had caused when it pierced my skin. But there was something else I remembered. A look of victory in the ice-blue eyes of my half-brother.

Franco had to have known what his beta had planned to do. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if he had orchestrated the entire night to end my life and get retribution for my abandonment of him.

I understood his hate and anger, but I also knew that they came from hurt. I had experienced that hurt before, but I’d had Jasper by my side to pull me through it and help me find light and hope on the other side. Franco had never allowed himself to get close to anyone—even me. My heart broke for what had transpired between us, and for the loss of the brother I would never have.

“What about the people in town?” I asked, suddenly remembering the din of the fight. Surely, the snarls and howls of the wolves had been noticed. “Did the fight raise any alarm among the humans?”

“No,” Leah said. “Luckily, it was quick and on the outskirts of town. Since Nile’s pack owns all the homes in that area, there weren’t any humans to overhear the chaos. Our secret is still safe.”

It was a relief knowing that my brother’s presence in town wasn’t going to force everyone to leave. Because of how integrated the werewolves were with the humans here, it was of paramount importance that we keep our abilities a secret. Anything else would cause problems for more than just us. The entire werewolf world would be at risk.

I shuddered, thinking how my relationship with my brother could have caused such catastrophic consequences.

Leah noticed my dark thoughts and reached out to place her palm on my cheek. “It isn’t your fault,” she said.

“I know,” I replied offhand.

“No, you need to hear this, Killian,” she said, looking into my eyes with sincerity and love. “What happened with Franco wasn’t your fault.”

My chest tightened as tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. “I abandoned him,” I choked out. “Twice.”

“You and I both suffered trauma in our lives. Plenty of people all over the world—including the alphas of the other packs here—have gone through unimaginable horrors. We’ve all made mistakes, yes, but we’ve learned from them and become better. Franco didn’t do that. He made his own choices, and those choices are not your fault .” She emphasized her final words, wanting the truth behind them to fully sink in.

As always, Leah was right. There was no one who could control Franco if he decided to go down a path of destruction, just as no one could control Jasper, Aiden, or me when we had done things that we later came to regret. Life was a series of choices, and my brother had chosen the wrong ones. All I could hope for was that someday, somehow, something would open his eyes to a better way of living.

I prayed that day would come before we met again.

***

Over the next few weeks, Leah never left my side. It took nearly a week for the wolfsbane to completely leave my system, and probably would have been longer if it weren’t for the diligent efforts of all three Pinedale lunas.

Violet had dug up some old books from Nile’s extensive library, which detailed various herbs and potions that could be used to remove wolfsbane from the bloodstream. With April’s help, they had made an array of concoctions to ease my symptoms, making the time I spent awake more bearable.

Leah ensured that I didn’t fall into despair at the prospect of being bedridden. I wasn’t used to being confined, let alone forced to stay in bed. I didn’t take too kindly to the idea at first, but after the third time I had fallen while trying to get out of bed, she put her foot down.

“Killian Leonard Stone,” she stated, using my full name for the first time. “If you don’t sit your ass back in that bed and stay there I’m going to tie you down. You are an alpha, and so help me goddess, you will do as your luna commands!”

“Yes, ma’am,” I acquiesced.

We spent days talking about our pasts, our wishes and dreams for the future, and everything else under the sun. Although the reason for my convalescence was less than ideal, the time we spent together ended up being some of the best days of my life. I was convinced now more than ever that Leah and I had been designed for each other. There was no universe or time where she and I weren’t meant to be mates.

As I regained my strength, I was allowed to go back home. Finally, about two weeks after the battle, I felt like myself again.

Leah had just returned from the bar, where she had taken over my management duties in my absence.

“How was everything?” I asked as she hung her purse in the closet.

“Everyone’s doing a great job,” she said. “I thought I might have to stay longer, but they’ve really picked up the slack for us. All I had to do was place orders. They handled the rest.”

“I’m glad you’re home early,” I admitted. “I have somewhere I want to take you.”

“Oh?” she asked, an eyebrow raised. “Did your jailer parole you?”

I laughed at her self-deprecating humor and pulled her into a hug. “I’m healed, darling,” I said. “I feel better than ever. Will you come out for a walk with me?”

She walked toward the door, holding her hand out for me to take it, and I led her down the street toward a park. The sun had already set, and a full moon was shining bright in the sky.

“What are we doing here?” Leah asked as we walked into a rose-filled garden.

“Dancing,” I said, twirling her around in a circle.

She laughed lightly but settled into me happily as I swayed her back and forth, her head resting on my chest. I held one of her hands in mine as the other wrapped around her waist.

“A moon dance,” she said quietly.

“I promised you I would dance with you in the moonlight again,” I pointed out. “And I want to keep my promises to you.”

“You have,” she said, looking up at me with love in her eyes.

“You deserve the world,” I said. “So far I haven’t given you that, but I want to change that.”

“You’ve given me everything,” she argued. “I have you.”

I nodded, but I was determined to continue with my speech. “You married me because you wanted to escape from Sparkle Hollow,” I pointed out. “I’m so glad you agreed to be my mate, because it’s allowed us the time to fall in love with each other again. To get to know each other, better than we ever did before. My one regret was that I wasn’t able to give you the fairytale from the very beginning.”

I stopped dancing, placing a hand inside my pocket to pull out a ring. Leah’s hand covered her mouth as I got down on one knee and held the ring out for her to see.

“Luna Leah Stone, I have loved you from the moment I met you and will continue to love you until my last breath,” I said. “Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, her eyes shimmering with tears.

I placed the ring on her finger and got to my feet, pulling her into my arms for a long, passionate kiss.

“I want a real wedding this time,” I told her. “The white gown, bridesmaids, flowers, champagne, and cake. All of it. You deserve to have everything you ever dreamed of.”