“Because it hurts so much,” Sage whispered, bringing his knees up to his chest. Exhaustion set in to the point he couldn’t keep his eyes open. It was as if he had run a marathon. He laid his cheek on his knees and closed his eyes.
“You’ll find that you feel a little better after you get some rest. I’ll see you in a couple days. We’ll talk some more,” Dr. Tucker said and stood.
“Thank you,” Sage whispered.
“You were very brave. Never forget that.” Dr. Tucker left the room, Estelle following him out.
“Why don’t you go take a nap? I’ll have Lucas let Garridan go so he can come here,” Ramsey said.
“How is Lucas keeping him back?”
“I don’t know. His witch mojo, I guess. Garridan can’t leave Bennett’s property.”
“How do you know he’ll come here?”
Ramsey snorted. “I was just at Bennett’s yesterday. The man growled and said, ’Give me my mate’. That’s the only thing he said to me the entire time I was there. Trust me, he’ll be here.” Ramsey punched some buttons on his phone.
Sage put his feet on the floor again and stood, starting out of the room.
“Sage.”
“Yeah.”
“It’ll get better.”
Sage nodded once, just so he wouldn’t have to argue with his Alpha. Sage had no idea whatbetterwas.Betterdefinitely wasn’t the image he saw in the mirror.Betterwas a thing that didn’t exist, at least not for him. He wanted normal but had no idea how to get back there.
Chapter Four
Garridan didn’t know who these people were, but he’d kill them for keeping his mate away from him. They were like the vampires. The vampires had kept him away from his child. They had kept his child prisoner and wouldn’t let Garridan see him. Garridan wouldn’t let that happen again. He wouldn’t make the same mistake with his mate. He would bide his time, wait for his body to heal and for him to gain his strength back, before he made these people pay.
The vampires hadn’t fed him enough and he had lost weight over the years. He also had a pain in his head that had come about just since he changed into his human form.
Images flashed in his mind of his child and a man. He felt a connection to them both. The man’s name was Samuel. He whispered it to himself. The word felt familiar on his tongue and he had to say it from time to time. There was a woman too. He tried to remember her name, but it just wouldn’t come. It was stuck in his mind, lost somewhere in the fracture.
For the past couple of weeks, he’d felt a pain in his chest whenever he thought about the child. He wanted to shift and find the boy. That boy belonged to him. Garridan had to protect him. He had to find him and make sure he never left his sight.
Garridan stood from the chair he had placed in front of the window. That was the direction his mate was in, the direction he needed to go when he finally escaped. He’d get his mate first, since he knew where he was.
He walked into the attached bathroom and closed the door behind him. He used the toilet and then moved over to the sink to wash his hands.
He had thought the Alpha had helped him escape from the vampires, but he had just taken him from one prison to another. At least he could shift, and he had running water and food.
He looked at himself in the mirror and saw his human face. He hadn’t been human in more years than he remembered. His face seemed foreign as if it shouldn’t have been there. He should’ve been staring at his dragon. At times, he thought about shifting back, but then his mate’s face would pop in his mind and he’d stay human.
Garridan walked out of the bathroom and opened the door to his room. He saw the big dragon shifter at the end of the hall and narrowed his eyes at him. “I want to see my mate.”
“I’m not keeping you from Sage. It’s his choice. He has a few problems to work out before he’ll let you see him.” The dragon shifter came down the hallway toward him.
“Release me so I can go to him.” Garridan tensed as the male stopped a few feet from him.
“Lucas won’t do that until Sage tells him it’s okay.”
“How is he holding me here?”
“He’s a witch. He’s using his energy to keep you on the property.” The man shrugged and then started moving again.
“I want my mate.”
