The first thing I see is that I'm not alone. Grant's head rests on my bed, and he sits on a chair beside me.
We're back in my room, and everything is so clean that it almost feels like a dream. I'm dressed again, back in my regular clothes and in my human form.
I can't sense any danger around me, which is jarring because of the last thing I remember.
Grant lifts his head and shows me a very sleepy face. Like me, his weariness doesn't last long when he sees that I'm up. “You're awake!” he declares. He gets up from the chair and basically crawls onto the bed to kiss me.
I feel a sudden rush of sensations when our lips touch. The pain in my body takes a back seat to this rush of pleasure. Grant tries to move away, but I pull him back with whatever strength I have left, deepening the kiss.
Grant fully enters the bed, taking me in his arms. I adjust to accommodate him, resting in my mate’s warm embrace.
Nothing feels better than this—definitely not anything I've felt in the past few days. I'm pretty sure I'm not going outside for at least a year after all that's happened. I'm fine with changing in the house when it's the full moon.
“I've missed you,” he whispers, bringing my face closer to his chest.
I rest against his pecs, fighting the urge to squeeze them. “How long have I been out?”
“About five days,” Grant says.
“F—five days? What the fuck? How was I unconscious for that long?”
“You went through a lot,” he explains. “Your injuries took time to heal, especially with the silver in your system.”
“But you look and feel great. Your injuries were worse than mine. How are you okay right now?”
He gives me a hearty chuckle. I wish I could see the expression on his face, but I'm cursed to stay eye level with his chest. This is a curse I'll happily take.
“I'm the alpha,” Grant states. There's no pride in his voice, just facts that no one can dispute. “I'm the strongest wolf here and anywhere else I go. No one's recovery is going to beat mine.”
“How long did it take you?”
”I was fine the next day.”
I gasp from shock. I had expected a couple of days at least, but to be up and active again so quickly, I couldn't dream of that ever happening.
“Just, wow…” I mutter. “Wait, what happened to the wolves?”
“We were able to chase them off,” he tells me. “I hate that I had to kill so many of them, but the rest have left now and are already on their way to a new home. Hopefully, they find a sanctuary that they can call their own.”
Grant's voice sounds almost like a melody. It plays in my head over and over, but this doesn't have the effect I want it to. Instead, I burst into tears.
Grant is clearly shocked by this. He pulls me tighter into a hug before letting go so he can look at my face. He brings my gaze to meet his own.
“What's wrong?” he asks. “You're safe now, why are you crying?”
“Because this is all my fault,” I sniff.
“Don't say that…”
“But it's true.” I'm full-on sobbing now. Grant keeps me in his arms, letting me release all my emotions. I keep going until the crying finallystops. Once this happens, the alpha wipes my face clean with his hands.
“You shouldn't blame yourself,” Grant tells me.
“You're just trying to cover up for me, but I fucked up, Grant. I shouldn't have stayed in the woods like that. There was no reason for me to be mad at you over something that wasn't ours to control. You're my mate.”
“But I still choose you,” he says. “Even if this bond hadn't manifested, I would've still chosen you.”
Grant runs his thumb over my lips, shutting me up effectively. All I crave in that moment is to be reminded of how he tastes.
