Chapter 71: Chapter Seventy-One - Willow

When I woke the sun was high in the sky. My entire body throbbed as I stretched my limbs out. I’d been pushed to my limits.

No matter all of the training I’d done in my life, I’d never actually been in a battle until yesterday. I’d slept for hours. It had to be 9 AM right now or later.

Chase’s side of the bed was empty and cold.

Maybe he’d gone to get breakfast. Or pick up the pieces of the battle.

The realization that I’d killed Ian hung over me like an umbrella. It’d been a bittersweet feeling to fight him.

He’d run because he was scared.

But then again, he fought me honestly and I appreciated that deep down. Not that I thought he wouldn’t defend himself. He did it with great force. My body was still throbbing from the impact of it. I could still hear the sound of my ribs breaking. When I took a deep breath it pinched my sides. I rolled over to sit on the side of the bed and my head spun around and around.

The aches in my body needed and deserved a shower but my brain raced with what Chase told me last. Lilly had saved him. They were going to get her. Was she here? Had they found her?

Or did she help and leave because this wasn’t her pack? Because she didn’t like the idea of a true pack. She'd grown up as a rogue. Would she fit in here? I thought so.

Standing up, I groaned and felt every bit of yesterday.

“You need a hot bath.”

Chase was leaning against the doorjamb with his hand above his head in that sexy guy way. I smiled at the lopsided grin on his face. He looked put together considering what happened yesterday.

His T-shirt looked just as good on his biceps and those low-slung jeans were filled out nicely. If I looked like I felt, I imagined it was death.

Or my hair was the nest for a family of rats.

Probably both.

“I need to talk to Lilly,” I said.

Chase gave me a sheepish look. “I kept my promise. She’s currently sleeping in a guest room. I’m having Keith bring her breakfast soon. You need a warm bath. Let me look at you.”

He walked over and picked up the long T-shirt he must have slipped on me last night. I gasped at the bruises lining my ribs. “Why hasn’t it

healed?” I mumbled.

Chase frowned. “Because he broke ribs and this is your first true battle. It’ll take your wolf time to be able to heal quickly like the other warriors. Come on, Bunny. I’ll start you a bath.”

As badly as I wanted to disagree with him and go to Lilly, I knew he was right. His mind was racing with regrets of letting me fight. He felt guilty for it. I reached forward to stop him and winced. “Ouch. Stop with the guilt. I did this on my own accord, Chase. This was not your doing. It was my doing.”

Chase huffed. “I thought I was doing a good job of hiding that,” he said, turning on the water. “The mind-reading thing is going to take some time to get used to. Maybe someone knows a way for you to turn it off.”

I chuckled as he helped me out of my T-shirt. “Ouch. Don’t make me laugh.” He poured some bath salts into the tub and helped me into it.

I groaned and slid under the water, bracing my hands on the sides of the tub and lowering myself gently.

Chase bent down beside the tub and ran his fingers against my thigh. “How do you feel other than your body?”

I closed my eyes. “I feel fine.”

“With the fact that Ian is dead?”

I peeked one eye open to see those hazel orbs glaring at me from under those long lashes. I hated how men got all the good features. “It’s all I ever wanted, right?” I asked.

Chase didn’t respond. It wasn’t the answer he wanted and we both knew it.

“I’m not sure how I feel, Chase. I’m glad he’s dead. What he did to my mother was wrong and I’m glad he can’t do it to anyone else ever again. But I don’t feel as fulfilled as I hoped I would. It won’t bring my mother back will it?”

I avoided the tears and closed my eyes.

Chase stroked my thigh and then my arm. “Don’t cry. You’re right. Your mother isn’t coming back. But justice has been served. You’ve found family? Perhaps you’ll become close with Lilly? Or maybe she’ll want to join the pack?”

“What will my dad think about that? Does he even know the truth yet?”

“I haven’t told him. Unless he figured it out.”

I nibbled on my bottom lip. “I’m not sure I want to tell him or not. He’s been through so much? Why hurt him, ya know?”

Chase nodded. “If you grow close to Lilly, he may figure it out himself. It’s obvious to me. You both look very similar. Same features. There was another girl that showed up that looked oddly like the two of you. And the blond wolf from the house.”

“Looks like Ian’s been busy in his life,” I mumbled.

Chase smiled and inclined his ear toward the hallway. “Keith needs me. You stay here for a bit and I’ll come get you. I’ll bring breakfast here—,”

“No,” I pleaded. “Bring a nurse to wrap my ribs and I want to speak to Lilly while I have breakfast. I’m starving and I need to see her.”

I wasn’t sure if she wanted to see me after the field but she did save Chase’s life. That meant something, didn’t it?

Chase stood. “Okay. I’ll be back soon. Stay in the tub.”

I chuckled as he shut the door. The man knew me better than I knew myself. I wanted to get up right now and get dressed. Instead, I waited for him to return with the nurse from the infirmary.

He helped me dry off and into some clothes. The nurse stood awkwardly in our room with her bag and bandages on the bed.

She winced when she saw me. “Geeze, Willow,” she said. “That’s rough, Girl.” She wrapped my ribs tightly, making me cry out at one point and grab the post of our bed.

Chase stood in the corner pretending not to feel my pain.

Being able to read his mind helped me understand his thought process. I could see that everything he did for me was out of love.

When the nurse slid down my shirt, she patted my arm. “There you go. It’ll be healed within a day or two. If not, I’ll take a look again.”

“Thank you.”

She left me with Chase who turned and offered me his hand. “A promise is a promise. Breakfast is in my office. I think the privacy will be good for you two. While you chat, I plan to help the warriors clean up the mess from the battle and make sure the pack is in order.”

I stopped in the hallway and looked up at him. “Thank you for all of this. None of this would have happened if you didn’t become Alpha. If you hadn’t come in here and pushed me out of my comfort zone. Put me in my place and allowed me the service of equal rights. I’m serious when I say I’m lucky to have found you.”

Chase dipped his head and pressed a soft kiss against my mouth.

“We’ve come a long way, haven’t we? You jumped out of a window the first time you saw me.”