Her expression doesn’t change. “How are you feeling?”
I shake my head, tears swimming in my eyes. “In pain.”
“You went through a lot, but you’re still here. I’ll give you some more painkillers,” she says as she steps around the bed and fiddles with my IV drip.
“Where’s Caleb?” I demand again. My heart thrashes when she doesn’t answer my question. “Is he okay?”
Gemma sucks in a short breath. “I’ll go get Alpha Jaxon.”
Before I can say anything more, she leaves. My ears start to vibrate from the silence of the room, excluding the irritating sound of the machine beeping. Soon, Ava and Jaxon step inside, and I release a soft cry.
“Oh, Evan.” Ava rushes towards me and takes my hand. “I’m so glad you’re awake.”
I sniffle softly as I rest my pounding head back against the bed. “Where’s Caleb?” I whisper shakily.
Ava swallows and glances at Jaxon. “He’s here.”
Relief fills me to know he’s okay. “Where?”
“Are you okay, Evan?” Jaxon asks.
“No,” I croak. “Ryker tried to kill me. What happened? I need to know what happened.”
Ava squeezes my hand gently. “Take a breath,” she says with wobbly lips. “We’ll explain everything.”
I do as she says, desperate to know the truth.
“Ryker knew what Caleb was planning,” Jaxon starts. “We went to his territory, and we killed his men, but Ryker wasn’t there. And when Caleb realised, he abandoned the mission and came straight back home to?—”
The door cracks open, and my eyes flick to Caleb as he stands in the doorway. A soft cry escapes my lips at the sight of him. His gaze hardens as he studies my face, and sorrow meets his expression.
Ava blinks at me with a half smile. “We’ll give you two some time alone,” she says. “We’ll be back later.”
I nod, not taking my eyes off Caleb as they step around him. I notice the way Jaxon squeezes his arm on the way out and the sympathy on his face, but something about it doesn’t seem right.
The second the door shuts, Caleb walks towards me, and I stretch a hand out to him. He takes it within a second and presses it to his cheek, kissing my palm as he sits in the chair beside my bed. It’s all it takes for all my emotions inside me to calm down. For my mind to go quiet.
Caleb’s eyes drag over my face before landing on my throat as he curses to himself. He kisses my palm over and over until I’m crying from the sensations of the safety it gives me.
“What’s going on?” I whisper.
He lowers his head and closes his eyes. Panic starts to lace through me at his reaction, and suddenly I’m filled with dread as everything grows cold.
“Caleb, talk to me. You’re scaring me.”
After a few moments, he raises his head, his eyes burning with sadness and hurt. “How are you?” he murmurs.
“I’m okay,” I rasp, but it’s far from the truth.
My lips part at the sight of how devastated and destroyed he looks.
“Caleb—”
“I need you to listen to me,” he starts. “And I mean really listen.”
I flick my eyes between his cautiously as tears blur my vision.
“I’m going with my father.”
