CHAPTER 22 — YOURS

Dale was standing close to the bed where Adrian was lying down. The doctor had come and gone and had told them Adrian needed rest. Seth had gone to pack up some things for himself and Adrian, since Dale had asked them to stay at his place for a while, till Adrian fully recovered.

"I thought I was the one who died. This oldie is acting like he did." Dale laughed and adjusted the sheets over Adrian.

"Is he your father?" Her voice was soft as she said it and Dale shrugged.

"I am not a father figure. I am his father." 

Dale shrugged. "He probably said that for, you know. "

She nodded. "How long have you known him?"

"All my life. He has always been there. Through everything."

She folded her arms in front of her. "He could pass for your father, you know."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "You both smell the same."

"How can you even smell us?"

She shrugged. "Cause I can."

He gave her a look that said he wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she only gave an innocent smile and turned away. "So, how did it happen?"

"What?" He gave her another look. She gave him another innocent smile and he rolled his eyes. "What's with you, today?"

She shrugged. "I am fine, how are you doing?" He face-palmed as she giggled. "I took it all." Her voice was no longer the high-pitched squeal she had been using to annoy him, and it had a hint of seriousness...and guilt.

"What?"

"Your blood. I took all of it."

He turned to face her and held her shoulders. "Tell me in detail." He could remember up to when he slit his hand, but after that, everything just got blank. Like someone had hit his head with a plank and took the memories out.

"When you slit your hand, I smelt the blood. It drew me to you." He figured. She was a vampire after all. Blood would draw her to anyone. "I took it from your neck. You said something too. Elsa, its me, Dale." She sniffed. "I heard it, but I was not myself then and it just...it just didn't click at that point." She stopped and looked up to him, trying hard to keep her eyes, but you could see the moistness in them. "I am sorry." He nodded. "Tell me more."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes, looking down at her fingers. "It was your smell. My wolf fought back and took control and that was why I came back to my senses. Nothing would have been able to save you."

He lifted her chin with a single finger. "Except you."

She nodded. "Except me."

She looked up at him, this time with a vibrant smile on her face. "One day, you'll be able to heal me, too."

He laughed. "No way, me? I am just an ordinary human."

She nodded. "Yes, but you're still mated to me." she held both his hands in hers and looked straight into his eyes.

"A mate is someone with whom you share everything. With whom half of you belongs to." She pointed at his heart. "Half of you..." She pointed at herself. "Completes me. And half of me." She pointed back at him. "Completes you. If you ever...find me in danger...then you should tap that part of you that belongs to me. You should reach to that part of you that's mated to me." She shrugged. "It's like keeping a reserve of all my organs in someone else...for whenever I need it."

"Isn’t that just beautiful?"

She nodded at him. "It is, indeed."

"So, how did you know I wasn’t going to die?"

She laughed. "Curiosity looks good on you."

He blushed red and she added. "And bashfulness too."

He laughed at that. "You're such a tease."

She smiled. "I channeled enough wolf energy to you, till the wound on your neck healed, leaving nothing. Not even a scar."

He chuckled. Who knew in the span of months, his normal, ordinary life would go this supernatural? And who knew he would actually like it?

"I knew it was a matter of time before you woke up. You were healed, you just had to make the journey back home."

He nodded. "How did you call Seth and Oldie? How did you get me back home?"

She laughed at that. "You won't believe it."

"Tell me."

She leaned back away from him. "Well...I got you back home, to the PCT, and there was this weird buzzing sound, like a bee or something. I looked around, but there was no beer.!" She made an exaggerated hand gesture and he chuckled at how cute she looked. "Well, It was this thing you always hold with you." she pulled it out from her dress pocket. His phone lay flat in her hand, and he almost burst out in laughter.

"Bee, huh?"

She blushed red and closed her eyes. "Take it away." He laughed and took it out of her open palm before she opened her eyes. "It gave me a hell of a fright, that cursed thing." She said and squinted her eyes at the phone and Dale laughed again, shaking his head. "I did get a hang of your buzzing bee after some time, and...it was that other guy's voice. I told him we had gone hiking together and you met with an accident. I took you to the front of the PCT and waited for them."

"Wait....you carried me?"

She nodded, winked, and flexed her slim hands in front of him. "I am no weakling."

He smacked her arm and she yelled. "Sorry, strong woman."

He said amidst laughter, and she playfully eyed him. "I knew you would wake up, sooner or later. I was already planning on digging your grave to get you out if you don't wake up before you get buried."

He smiled and leaned closer, his forehead touching hers.

"And whose girl is that?" He said, Caressing the back of her neck.

"Yours."

"That's correct."