“You need your rest in order to heal. We’ll all be here when you wake up again, promise,” Jake says seriously and it seems that’s all I needed to hear before falling back asleep.
The next time I wake up it’s dark again. Everyone is still here as Jake promised. I wanted to ask last time but the moment never came. “What happened to him?” I ask the room.
“He’s dead. Taz shot him.” Jake reaches for my hand. The tears hit me without warning. I felt it last night; I had a feeling he was dead and with Micah’s scent, it was too much.
“I’m actually free,” I laugh through the tears. Jake squeezes my hand. I can feel them all in the bond, sending me their strength. I look to Micah and his expression, the softness in his eyes, says the same even without a bond.
Free.No one is after me anymore. Connor’s killer is gone. The darker part of me knows he probably died too quick of death after everything he did to Connor and me. It almost doesn’t feel real, after a year and a half since the stalking started, it’s over. I actually have a future with my mates.
Sophie needs to know. I try to sit up but Liam is quick to nudge me back. It doesn’t take much and my body still feels like shit. “Whoa, rest. There’s no need to get up yet,” Liam says.
“No, we need to call Sophie and the dads, they need to know it’s over,” I rush out. Almost everyone looks to Parker, who shrinks a little at the sudden attention. But when our eyes meet, he stands up tall.
“I actually called them the day you were admitted once we had information on how you were doing. They’ve been here a bunch. After you fell asleep earlier, they were here for hours and left not long ago for the hotel. Liam called in a favor for them to let us all stay here again tonight.” Parker’s eyes never leave mine. I’m not surprised he was the one to call them. I push my gratitude down the bond to him and seeing his eyes light up in response is the best feeling.
“Baby Girl, you need to rest. You’ll see them tomorrow. The only priority is you getting better,” Keelan says in that low gravely voice of his. There’s no arguing with him or any of them, not that I want to.
A burst of pain flares in my head. The guys felt it and Liam reaches for the nurse call button. I grab his hand before he can. “Wait.”
His brows pinch together in confusion as he looks at me. “I just need your scents around me. That helps control the pain. I know it doesn’t make sense but it’s true.”
Liam opens and then closes his mouth, looking so perplexed it makes me want to laugh.
“Good job Sunshine, you broke the doc,” Eli teases with a small smile forming on his lips. He leans over and gives me a light kiss. Then he’s pulling off his sweatshirt and laying it on top of me, his crisp apple scent filling my senses. Soon I am now surrounded by various clothing items, gloves, scarves, sweaters.By the time Liam places his scarf as the last item, I’m in heaven. The pain is gone now, though I’m stuck lying here.
I stare up at the ceiling. This is going to get old fast. The doctor said earlier that they’ll keep me here a day or two longer and keep checking my CTs to make sure everything is okay before I can go home. And with Liam, there’s no way we’d leave before they give the okay.
“I’m bored,” I pout, making my entire pack burst out laughing.
A loud squeal has me turning my gaze to the door. Sophie nearly launches herself at my bed, Max, James, and Mateo following close behind. Fuck, I’m crying again. I’m so tired of it but at least this is for a good reason. Sophie is hugging me so tightly but I don’t have the strength to return it like I used to. Out of the corner of my eye I see Liam panicking. Ben is laughing under his breath next to him as he holds his shoulder, preventing our overprotective doc from coming over here.
“You are not allowed to scare us like this ever again,” Sophie scolds me. I think it’s impossible to take her seriously when she tries to be stern. Connor felt the opposite, which was always funny to me.
I give the only acceptable response. “Yes ma’am.”
Each of the dads come over and kiss my forehead. No more tears, Thea. When Max comes over last and after he kisses my head, I see the slight glimmer of tears in his eyes and yeah, I’m a goner. Just a weeping mess now. It’s not long before Sophie follows, sending all our mates into a panic.
When we all calm down, Sophie says, “My new son-in-laws aren’t too bad. They’ve all been doting on you since we’ve beenhere, especially that one.” She glances over to Micah who’s talking with James. “He wouldn’t leave your side no matter what. The rest of the pack tried to convince him to go to the hotel to clean up and get a few hours of sleep, but he wouldn’t budge.” That’s news to me. I didn’t think much about that. I guess I assumed it was a rotation like they do for most things.
Micah’s words that night filter back to me but they don’t take root as Sophie states loud enough for everyone to hear. “Once you’re better, I’m going to come over and make your favorites. These guys need to finish getting to know each other, right?” She pointedly looks at her mates, making me hold back a laugh.
“Parker and Jake are good, the rest are on probation,” Max says, void of emotion. I roll my eyes at his shit stirring. Sophie and I both know he just wants to see their reactions. Parker is beaming at Max’s approval, which does make me laugh.
I never believed I’d really see this day. I’m so happy I don’t know what to do with it all.
44
KEELAN
We should find out today if Thea can go home. Liam has been optimistic about everything since she woke up, which is a good sign. She’s currently playing gin rummy with Mateo for the hundredth time since they came by yesterday. She said she was bored, and I’m glad he’s helping her pass the time. She’s still injured though and has needed a lot of naps throughout the day.
Since she woke up and found out her stalker is dead, there’s a lightness to her both physically and in the bond. Seeing Connor’s parents has only helped her more. Sophie is quite the omega. She says what she’s thinking and teases all of us mercilessly. I know she’s not Thea’s mother, but I can see where some of Sophie has rubbed off on her.
We’ve all been trying to get to know our in-laws the best we can here. Now that Micah isn’t holding vigil by Thea’s bedside, he’s interacting with them more. He and James seemed to have hit it off. Good. Parker has somehow become Max’s favorite, which Eli called out as a bias since he was the first one of us he met. Max just side-eyed him after that. It’s safe to say Elihas been pouting since. I bet once we’re home and things settle down, Eli will start making some elaborate plan to win Max over.
Jake has been stepping out more to talk with Logan. He’s been dealing with cleaning up this mess for us. But we all know what’s coming. Thea will need to make a statement. I don’t think she’s realized it yet. If she did, she wouldn’t be so light in the bond. When Jake returns, Logan is in tow. Even he looks tired like the rest of us.
“Logan!” Thea says, all smiles. Gods, she is beautiful when she’s happy like this.
