Wait For Me

It’s a strange thing, having to slap the heck out of a person you love.

“Will? Open your eyes! I need you to look at me. Will!”

He blinks a few times, his unfocused as I lovingly smack him into consciousness. For a second, it feels like my entire world is reduced to the feeling of his hand in mine until he finally squeezes it back. Finally, his eyes find mine, and I let out an anxious breath.

“Did… you just slap me?” he asks groggily.

“I told you I love you, and then you passed out,” I say, half-laughing and half-crying.

Will gives me a lopsided smile.

“You know… if you need to wake me up… I’ve heard true love’s kiss works wonders.”

Half-conscious and bleeding out, and yet he still has the strength to tease me somehow. Goddess, I love him, but this boy needs to sort out his priorities.

“Save your strength, you shameless scoundrel,” I scold him tenderly.

“Just a suggestion,” he says with a shrug and then immediately winces at the gesture.

I wonder if he’s just being a rascal or if he knows that the familiarity and comfort of our playful banter might be the only thing keeping me sane right now. Maybe he needs our jokes to ground him as much as I do. As long as it keeps him conscious, I’ll tickle him if that’s what it takes.

“You can flirt with me later, lover boy,” I say as I scan our surroundings.

Some of the clarity is returning to his eyes, but he’s still far too pale. We can’t stay here, but with Kade’s mercenaries taking control of the city, we can’t rely on an ambulance coming to help. With any luck, Marcus got the word out to our Pack and any wolves to evacuate to the safe house in the mountains.

We’ll need plenty of supplies and allies if we’re going to get out of this alive.

“Will, I need you to focus. This mansion is massive, and my aunt is hurt, but you know Silver Manor almost as well as she does. Where can we go?”

“Lady Margo has a bunker under the manor. After the accident… she had it converted into a medical facility while you were in the hospital… in case anything like that ever happened again,” he says with a frown.

Good old aunt Margo; secretive, paranoid, reclusive, and brilliant in her own weird and crazy way. I’ll have to thank her one day, assuming we all survive this.

“Okay, that’s perfect. Where is it?”

“It’s underground… Hidden. I’ve only ever been down there once, after you fell on the rooftop at Ossory, and I didn’t see all of it.”

There are footsteps outside the dining room, and my pulse quickens. Someone is going down the staircase. Will’s eyes widen slightly, and he straightens up slightly, wincing from the effort. I face the door as we both listen, hand in hand. Those steps are far too loud and clumsy to be Kade, too clunky.

Combat boots.

“Ash,” I explain, turning back to Will. He lets out a shaky breath. “She must have managed to bring Margo down, but I doubt my aunt has a lot of time left. We need to get her to that bunker. Do you remember how to get into the medical facility?”

“The secret entrance is through the library.”

Of course, it is. The library is on this floor, but it’s on the other side of the manor. Bloody hell.

“Okay, here’s the plan: Ash will be looking for us in the main hall. We’ll meet her there, go to the library together, and then you and Aunt Margo can get help. After that, Ash and I will come back and handle Kade once you’re stable.”

Will grimaces, and I can’t tell if it’s a reaction to my words or because of the pain.

“No offense, princess, but plans aren’t really your thing.”

He’s right. In fact, that’s an understatement, but I can worry about my pride later.

“If you have a better one, I’m all ears.”

He looks into my eyes, and I know before he even opens his mouth that I’m not going to like what he’s about to say.

“You go find Ash, and I stay here. Take her and Lady Margo to the bunker through the library. The hidden door is behind the third bookshelf from the window. To open it, you have to push on a book on that shelf. I can’t remember the title of it, but it’s above eye level and has green leather binding. That opens the secret staircase that will lead you down to the medical wing. There are many passages down there, but the second door on the left is a surgical room. Don’t come back from me until your aunt is safe down there.”

I’m shaking my head before he can even finish.

“That’s a terrible plan. I’m not going to do it. I won’t leave you.”

“I thought you might say that, little wolf,” he says, and the smile he gives me makes my heart ache. “But we both know there’s no time to argue. You said it yourself; Margo doesn’t have long.”

I’ve never heard him call her that. She’s always been Lady Margo or Lady Silver, but he’s never said her name so informally. I’m struck by the realization that as cold and shrewd as my aunt may be, she is probably the closest thing Will has ever had to a family. In many ways, she’s more his kin than mine.

Will nods, seemingly reading the expression on my face. His grip on me softens.

“Your aunt is a complicated lady. She’s not like you, Jane; she’s not as strong as she seems. She’s lived most of her life alone and afraid. I’m okay. I can hold on a while longer, trust me. Right now, I reckon Margo needs your help more than I do.”

Will once told me that my aunt didn’t raise him, but she gave him everything he needed to raise himself. After the accident, she didn’t visit me in the hospital, but she built a whole hospital wing under her own house. Even her misguided efforts to secure my engagement with Kade Blackthorn came from a desperate desire to protect her family. She said it herself, Margo is not an affectionate woman, but that does not make her uncaring.

But I can’t leave him.

Not now. Not like this. Not after everything we’ve been through. Will must see it too, because he brushes away a stray tear from my cheek, caressing me softly.

“I’m okay.”

“You’re not,” I insist, shaking my head again and shutting my eyes tightly. I won’t leave him.

“Maybe not, but I will be. I’ll be right here, little wolf. I’m not going anywhere.”

I hold his hand against my cheek for a moment, letting myself melt into his touch. When I open my eyes again, I’m met by the dazzling blue of his. For once, he holds nothing back. There’s no casual mask, no pretense, politeness, no trace of the mystery and brooding that used to cloud him when I first met him. My heart races wildly as I feel him through our bond, opening up to me like a book. I see myself in his eyes, his love written clearly on every page.

He’s mine. My partner. My friend. My mate.

And I hate it when he’s right.

“Okay. Stay here and stay awake. I won’t be long,” I tell him before pressing a kiss to the palm of his hand and letting go. “If anything happens, call me, yell, howl, or pull me through the bond. I’ll come right back. If you need me, call for me, and I will hear you.”

“I will. Go.”

I push myself to my feet, hating every step I take as it drags me away from him. He watches me with a small, sad smile, full of pride and patience.

“Wait for me,” I whisper, and then slip out the door. His hushed reply reaches me even after he’s out of sight.

“Always.”