A touch caresses my face, as a jolt up. My neck aches from sleeping against a side table. I’m becoming deformed from spending so many nights sleeping next to Adam’s hospital bed. My eyes finally adjust to the dark surrounding.
“Adam,” I whisper.
His gaze is trained on me. All the tubes and lines are gone. He looks healthy, but still broken. If only he hadn’t jumped over me, he wouldn’t have been shot. Instead, I’d be in the bed, clinging to life.
“How are you,” Adam asks and a little piece of me dies, “I tried to get to him first, before he could hurt you.”
His first words question my health and safety while my first act after he got shot was to leave him. More of my heart breaks as I nod my head. It isn’t much of an answer.
“Were you injured,” Adam questions his gaze fluttering to different parts looking for bandages.
My insides fall, destroyed by his selflessness, “A small wound. I’ve healed.”
I can’t tell him the truth about being shot by Ben, not yet. Johnnie isn’t convinced that he’s out of the woods. I won’t take the chance of making his recovery any worse. We can talk about my stupidity another time.
“I heard Ben got away,” Adam begins.
His voice sounds hoarse. I offer water, he declines.
“He did another vanishing act. We have most of his pack,” The words leave but I’m not aware of what I’m saying.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Adam continues.
It’s too soon to talk about tracking Ben. Adam’s life hung in a very delicate balance over the last few weeks. If he wasn’t a wolf, he’d be dead.
“You might not get your chance,” I begin, sniffing in the tears, “The council sentenced him to death.”
It’s for the best but I’m not about to tell Adam how many wolves tried to take him down and failed. Ben’s too dangerous. No one can get close enough to finish the job.
Adam’s hand reaches out and I instinctively grab the water. He slaps it away as his cold fingers grab my hand. Dropping the glass on the table, both hands wrap around his.
“You smell like smoke.”
Even though I showered, I doubt there’s a way to get rid of the fine ash coating my body. The pack is out daily to clean up what remains of the lodge. The site’s almost ready for construction to start. Wolves work fast. By next year no one will be able to tell a massive bomb went off, ripping the building apart and leaving a smoldering heap.
“I’ve been helping at the lodge. No one’s talking about what happened.”
I’m still fuzzy on why Adam or someone else blew up the building. The elders weren’t surprised by any of it. The elders hinted that they knew Ben would seek them out.
No one was hurt in the explosion, which means they knew everything. All are silent as to what really took place that day. I’m not sure why it needs to be a secret. The deed has been done. The attack was an utter failure.
“It’s for the best,” Adam brushes off the comment before turning his gaze back to me, “Come here.”
Glancing out the door to make sure Johnnie isn’t around, I carefully climb onto the bed. He doesn’t want me too close to Adam while he heals. Adam’s arm opens, folding me into him. My forehead nuzzles against his chest as his arm falls over my waist.
“Your mom hasn’t been here lately,” I delicately inform.
“It’s my request,” Adam tiredly responds.
Susan lives at Adam’s townhouse. She won’t go to the lodge to help. I’m not sure if the work is beneath her or because of me. I haven’t seen her in weeks. All I know is that her treatment to me has her on a rocky footing with her son.