Chapter 259 259 The Homecoming and the Heat They Couldn’t Hide 2

Chapter 259 259 The Homecoming and the Heat They Couldn’t Hide 2
At the hospital, there was a small farewell party in the VIP ward where Amber had been kept. Nurses and doctors came to bid her goodbye, smiling with genuine relief because her recovery had felt like a victory for all of them too. Levi was more than eager to take his wife home. The mansion was the last place any of them wanted to be, but anywhere Amber stayed alive beside him would still feel like home. Brian was there to help Leah, and his concern for her was clear enough that even a blind person could have sensed something beginning there.
Victoria and Meadow helped Leah and Amber gather their things after everyone had expressed their joy. Meadow was gentle with Amber, careful not to make her move too much, while Victoria helped Leah with the small items she needed. There were smiles, soft jokes, quiet gratitude, and beneath it all, tension. They were leaving the safety of the hospital and going back to a mansion that no longer felt fully theirs. Everyone knew that.
The ride home was nervous and quiet. No one needed to say why. They all knew Cynthia would be waiting in some way, because the woman was a natural troublemaker. She could not allow Amber to return peacefully. She would need to make a show. She would need to remind everyone that she existed and had power now, even if that power smelled fake from a mile away.
When they finally arrived at the mansion, Levi wanted to take Amber to Ethan’s wing where most of the family had been staying. He thought it would be safer, easier and less stressful for her. Amber refused. She was weak, yes. Healing, yes. But she was not going to let Cynthia chase her from her own wing. She had survived liver failure, surgery and betrayal. She would not now hide from a woman who had always wanted more than she deserved.
Brian took Leah to his room in the mansion. He barely used it because he did not live there, but now that Leah would be staying for a while, he decided to move in temporarily to care for her. No one questioned it. Not yet. They had too many bigger things to worry about, and honestly, Leah looked comfortable enough with him that it did not feel strange.
While Levi led Amber toward her wing, Cynthia came out of Amber’s office looking smug. The sight alone was an insult. Amber’s office. Amber’s wing. Amber’s home. And Cynthia stood there like she had earned any of it. Her eyes moved over Amber’s frail body, and she laughed a little, clearly pleased by how weak the Luna looked. Everyone knew Amber had once been fierce. Everyone knew she could fight. Cynthia had probably worried Amber might come home ready to shift and drag her across the floor. Seeing Amber weak gave her confidence.
“So you are back,” Cynthia said.
Amber looked at her calmly.
“I honestly thought you would die there,” Cynthia added.
Levi’s anger rose instantly. His hand tightened, and the air around him changed. Amber felt it and squeezed his hand to stop him. She did not want him wasting strength on Cynthia. Not now. Not when Cynthia wanted a reaction so badly.
“I just want you to know you are no longer in charge. My mate will soon be here, so do not get any ideas in your head,” Cynthia warned.
Amber began to laugh.
“You do not have a mate until you have a mark, Cynthia. Right now, you are just a lackey. Hopefully, he isn’t just using you, whomever this mystery man may be,” Amber said.
Cynthia’s face tightened.
“I warned your mother that you would turn out like this, but she did not believe me. It is a shame. Ethan dodged a bullet, and now Sebastien too,” Amber added.
Cynthia’s anger flared.
“I dumped that good-for-nothing cripple. He wasn’t man enough for me. You did not birth men but little boys,” Cynthia said.
Amber laughed at her again, and it was soft but cruel enough to cut.
“But your wolf believes otherwise,” Amber said.
Levi chose that moment to lead Amber away. He knew his wife had already said enough, and he also knew Cynthia would keep going until someone gave her the fight she wanted.
“You are supposed to be the acting Alpha. I will have you demoted if you do not side with me next time,” Cynthia warned Levi.
Levi laughed without turning back fully.
“I did not apply for the job, little girl. You can have it,” he said.
He led his wife back to their room, and the moment they were away from Cynthia, his focus returned fully to Amber. He could not wait to be alone with her. It had been a while since they had been together, truly together without hospital walls, doctors, fear and sickness between them. He was grateful for the gift of life, grateful she had been returned to him, and more determined than ever to find whoever had been poisoning her in the mansion. It had to be one of the staff. Someone close. Someone trusted enough to reach her. He would catch them.
Ethan and Meadow retired to their bedroom soon after. The moment they entered and the door closed behind them, Ethan got off his wheelchair. He was tired of pretending he could not walk. Sitting in that chair for hours when his legs worked again annoyed him more every day. But the secret mattered. They needed the element of surprise. Their enemies still believed he was one less physical threat to worry about, and that false belief would help them when the time came.
Meadow looked at him and laughed softly through the bond.
“Got tired?” she linked him.
Ethan smiled and moved towards her. He pinned her against the wall, his body firm against hers, his hands already on her waist.
“What do you think? Sitting on that thing for hours when my legs are working sucks,” he said.
He kissed her skin and went straight to the mark on her neck, sucking it gently. Meadow’s eyes fluttered, and her hands gripped his shoulders. She loved seeing him like this. Standing. Moving. Stronger every day. It still felt like a miracle she was afraid to touch too roughly in case it vanished.
“I think Joseph and your friend are together,” Ethan said against her neck.
All Meadow could do was breathe. Her mutism was getting better, but she was not talking yet. Sometimes she could sigh. Sometimes a moan escaped her. Sometimes, when pleasure or shock was too much, a sound came out that was almost a scream. But she was still waiting for words. It showed that Camila was making progress, though, and Ethan clung to that hope fiercely. He could not wait to hear Meadow call his name one day. He believed it would happen. He needed to believe it.
He lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around him immediately. Her dress rode up as he held her against the wall. He rolled it higher, exposing her panties. With his wolf claws, he tore the fabric aside, leaving her bare beneath him. His hands squeezed her gently, and Meadow welcomed the pleasure he offered, her body already warming for him.
She reached quickly for his belt buckle, fingers eager and impatient. She released his pants and shorts enough to set him free, and Ethan groaned low against her neck. He sucked on his mark again, and Meadow released an inaudible moan that went straight through him. Then he buried himself inside her and began to move with the kind of hunger he had been holding back all day.
Meadow clung to him and took everything he gave. Ethan was having the time of his life. After being confined to a chair for seven years, he finally got to use his legs, and he was not wasting a second of it. He loved the woman he loved with everything he had, giving her all the strength returning to him, all the hunger he had carried, all the gratitude he did not always have words for. He moved hard and deep, holding her up with the same body people thought was still broken.
She welcomed him completely. Her body tightened around him, her breath breaking in soft, helpless sounds as he drove into her again and again. For that moment, there was no Cynthia, no unknown Alpha, no army, no poisoned staff member, no hospital, no fear. There was only Ethan standing on his own legs and Meadow wrapped around him like she had always believed he would rise again.
He kept going until she came fiercely, shaking in his arms. The feel of her release dragged him with her, and he buried his face against her neck as he finally poured himself into her. He held her there for a moment, breathing hard, refusing to let the world come back too quickly.
Then he carried her to the bed to continue.
Soon they would have to go for training, but it could wait.