“You really shouldn’t be speaking right now,” Cole admonished.
“I need to,” I answered, fighting the urge to cough. “I’m sorry, for, for—” Tears stung my eyes, creating a particularly painful burn behind my right eyelid.
“I’ll be back with her meds,” Cole said and left me before I could find words again.
My chest ached, and I didn’t know if it was from physical or emotional injury.
What situation had I put Cole in?
She needed to know that she wasn’t obligated to follow through with the marking. It didn’t mean anything. I didn’t mean to trap her. I didn’t.
But when she returned, I swallowed down the pills she gave me with minimal coughing and couldn’t bring myself to say what needed to be said.
Selfishly, I wanted her, needed her.
I didn’t want her to go.
Not yet.
When she lay down beside me and opened her arms, I crawled brokenly into them and allowed sleep to take me.
***
When I next awoke to voices, I heard them clearly.
“What were you thinking?” Alpha Sara hissed from the ground floor beneath the loft.
“Keep your voice down,” Cole replied.
“Oh, please. Darren said you gave her enough pain medication to knock out a horse,” Alpha Sara said dismissively. “Did you think at all about the consequences of your actions? Marking her! Seriously! And then parading her around for the entire National Assembly to see.”
“It doesn’t change anything,” Cole argued.
“Have you lost your mind? It doesn’t change anything? What are you saying? It changes everything. Adrian has asked for a meeting!” Sara said, her voice rising.
“What does he want to discuss?” Cole asked, and I heard the sarcasm in her voice.
Sara growled loudly.
“This is not something you can sweep under the rug, Cole. You might have killed the heir of Pack Blizzard over an omega that you marked,” Sara warned.
“If he lives, I’ll kill him yet,” Cole threatened.
“I need you to start acting rationally. You need to do whatever it takes to fix this, Cole. The future of Pack Sandstorm, the future of your family, rests on your engagement to Andrew and securing our line of succession.”
Cole growled.
“I know what’s expected of me,” she answered.
“Then start acting like it,” Sara demanded.
I heard the door to the cabin open and close, and the door to the back porch soon after.
I got up slowly, assessing myself. I could see clearly from my left eye, and my right eye wasn’t as swollen. My legs weren’t as stiff when I pushed myself slowly out of bed and to a stand.
I made my way down the stairs and saw Cole sitting on the porch facing the forest, the setting sun dancing just above the treeline.
She turned as she sensed me.
