He glows under the endearment and asks, “Well, where is he now?”
“Fucked if I know. Been in a coma for three months,” I reply weakly, trying to be sassy, but failing miserably.
They discuss amongst themselves, for a few moments, as to his possible whereabouts, but I don’t really give a damn and drift back off to sleep.
Chapter 8
Buckinghamshire, England, September 2013 - Liv
Cole and I are staring into each other’s eyes just smiling at each other. We are nose to nose and he leans forward to kiss me. Just a soft peck on my lips.
“I missed you so much,” he says.
“I know, baby,” I say. “Are you feeling okay?”
He sighs and says, “Don’t worry about me. You just concentrate on getting yourself strong again.”
“I can’t do much for you, but I will do what I can,” I tell him seriously and he shakes his head.
“I’m fine,” he says, and I frown at him. “Fine” around here means the exact opposite.
I lift my arms to wrap them around him and he sighs again but contented this time as I roll over onto my back and he rests his head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat.
“Can you take me outside?” I ask him. I need some proper fresh air.
“Of course,” he says, but doesn’t make any move to get up. He is happy where he is and I leave him, stroking my hand through his hair.
We lay like that for some time and then he gets up and takes my hand. “Do you want me to carry you down?”
“No,” I say with a smile. “I want to try and walk. Just help me.”
He helps me off the bed and I stand on shaky, aching legs and grimace. He whisks me up into his arms without another word and carries me downstairs. He pushes open the terrace doors and seats me on a sun lounger. It is mid-morning and bright as Hell, so I close my eyes against the sun.
“Be right back,” he says and in a flash of Vampire speed he has left and come back with a pair of Ray-Bans and a blanket, which he wraps around me tightly. I feel like an old woman in a convalescent home. He sits next to me and takes my hand as CK arrives with Lincoln. We go through the whole crushing-hug process again and then he pulls up a sun lounger to sit next to me.
“Pack?” I ask almost straight away.
He sighs. Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good at all.
“Issues, but nothing I can’t sort out. You don’t worry about it,” he says, brushing it off, but I can see the strain on him.
“Linc,” I start, but he shakes his head.
“I said you don’t need to worry about it. You are back now and that is all that matters,” he interrupts me.
I ponder that response for a moment. It was filled with more than just an expression of him being happy because I am awake and alive because he missed me. There was a far darker meaning to his words, and I start to worry about it. I pick at the blanket and he grabs my hand, stopping me. I look at him and ask him telepathically, “Dissension? Because of my absence?”
He sighs at me in my head and says, “Yes. B
ut I will handle it. Please don’t worry about it.”
Now I just feel plain awful. This situation not only resurrected a complete monster, it put me out of commission for three months causing my charges to slide downhill quicker than a sled down a snowy hill and also caused problems for Lincoln and our Pack. If they try to overthrow me, I am in no fit state to fight for my right to stay as Lincoln’s Alpha. I wonder briefly if I would be allowed a Champion? Someone to fight on my behalf.
“Stop it,” he chides me out loud and I grimace and throw my blocks back up. That in itself is exhausting, and he sees the toll it takes.
Meanwhile, Cole and CK are glaring at us in annoyance. Well, actually, resentment is probably more like it. They are obviously not big fans of the connection I have with my Alpha.
“I will leave you to rest,” he says. “I will come back later and spend a bit more time with you.”