Chapter 8 - Silenced

Cassie -

After my conversation with Dr Thorne, he went to follow up on my blood test results, and I leaned back against the mountain of pillows behind me and closed my eyes. The words how and why kept flashing behind my closed eyelids. How did someone get ahold of wolfsbane, let alone get it into a hospital and manage to dose someone with it and why would they want to? It doesn’t take a genius to work out it was probably Ace that did it, or maybe Maddie on his orders though.

I must have drifted off to sleep again for a while, and when I woke up, I was shocked speechless.

Luna Lily was sitting beside me reading through a binder of some kind. She is stunning, all regal elegance and true grace with her auburn hair tied regally in a chignon and her eyes downcast to a book sitting in her lap. I stir, and she looks up from her book giving me a soft smile as she marks her place and closes the book gently.

"Cassie, thank goodness, I am so glad to see you awake, I've been wanting to talk to you, let me get you Dr Thorne quickly so he can update us on your blood tests and prognosis, and then we need to talk hunny." She pops to the door and whispers to who I assume is the guard the Dr mentioned earlier. He walks away briskly, and Luna Lily resumes her position by my side.

When the guard returns, he opens the door, announces the Dr, and throws a wink and grin in my direction. He seems like a playful, flirty type of guy, Tall with dark brown hair slightly mussed and chocolate brown eyes that twinkle with mischief. Then he takes up a post in the corner of the room, standing silent and still, making me a little nervous. I can't take my eyes off of him, his eyes went from mischievous to serious in an instant.

Dr Thorne clears his throat and looks me in the eye when I swing my head in his direction. "Now Cassie, according to your blood work, all the wolfsbane is out of your system and everything else looks good, your vitals are stable and your color is good, so long as you have somewhere safe to go, I am happy with releasing you from our care within the next few hours."

"I can go back to my room. Thank you for all you have done for me, Dr Thorne. You have been very kind." I say, hoping that with Alpha and Luna back, I will be relieved of some of my duties and will be safe.

"Nonsense, you will stay with me. We have things of great importance to discuss, Alpha agrees that until we understand everything that has happened, we want you with us or your new guard, Thomas, at all times." This is said gently, and as she mentions the guard, she waves her hand in his direction, and he nods and grins at me.

"Thank you, Luna, for your kindness, I will only stay with you until I am well," I say, confused by this sudden interest in me.

"Very good, now I have a meeting to attend, get some more sleep, and Thomas will bring you to our suite once Dr Thorne has discharged you." Luna Lily then sweeps from the room like a queen.

Dr Thorne pats my arm tenderly and leaves, that is when Thomas steps forward, I don't remember seeing Thomas around the pack house before, so I am a little nervous of him. "I've been away with Alpha and Luna," he says, almost as though he is reading my mind, "I will be right outside your door if you need anything, call on me anytime, for now though, get some rest, Cassie!" and he leaves before I can utter a sound. I close my heavy eyes and go back to sleep easily, still exhausted from all of the healing, I guess.

A while later I am awakened suddenly by a strong breeze ruffling my hair, as I begin to stir, a hard hand clamps over my mouth forcefully, and an arm crosses my chest, pressing down firmly, holding me in place. The sparks tell me who it is before I even have a chance to open my eyes, and I stop moving immediately, terror coursing through me at the thought of what is about to happen.

"When the Alpha and Luna ask you how you got into this condition, you are not to mention me for any reason. Is that clear?" he whispers aggressively, close to my ear. He removes his hand from my mouth and strokes my cheek tenderly as I open my eyes. I nod my head slowly making eye contact with him, then he glares at me, pulls his hand away harshly as though angry at the gentle touch he bestowed and continues, "We will discuss the arrangements I have planned regarding us being mates once your bodyguard has been disposed of, do you understand me?" Still unable to move much or speak at all, I nod again, and in a flash, he is across the room, he is climbing out of the window, the window he must have come in through. Once he is halfway out of the window to my room. He shoots me a fierce look as if to say "don't forget" before jumping out of the window down to the ground.

I stay frozen in place for a full minute. My mate just snuck into my room to threaten me and inform me he has a plan for us? And nobody noticed. Was it Ace who gave me the wolfsbane? Or did someone else do the same thing? I think about what he said to me. He has plans for our mate bond? I don't think so, I begin thinking of what I can do to be rid of him and his cruelties, then it hits me, I am going to have to reject him, I can't be near him with this bond between us but I can't let the bond strengthen by trying to ignore it either, rejection won't be easy on me, but what other choice do I have? I can't be with him after all he has done this last 6 months. But will I survive a rejection in my current state?

Ace -

I had to risk it, I had no choice, her telling the Alpha what has been happening will be worse than if I am caught sneaking into her hospital room and her telling the Luna would be the same as her telling the Alpha, he will know everything shortly after Luna learns anything, they are close like that, always sharing everything, no secrets, it’s sickening honestly. If I'm caught in her room, I can say I was checking in on her, as any good leader would, after all ‘she is a member of this pack and deserves to be heard’ I have had to hear those words ring in my mind in the Alpha’s voice ever since I was a child, it is a lesson he tried to teach me a long time ago. So I scout out the hospital and I see the Luna leave, after about 2 hours of watching I finally catch sight of the Dr at the reception desk talking to one of the nurses, now is my chance to slip inside.

I climb through her window, she is on the first floor so it isn’t too difficult. It's easy enough with my strength and agility to jump up and catch the window ledge before pulling myself in, I wake her when I land on my feet, and I have to quickly cover her mouth so she won't scream out and get that moron in here before I can get my message across. I hate the sparks that race up my arm from the point of contact because of the bond my body reacts to her in a predictable manner and I can't stop my hand from stroking her cheek in an almost loving caress, that moment of tenderness makes me loathe her and the bond even more and I make sure to drive my point home about her keeping her silence, anger at my weakness to the bond consuming me the whole time I am with her, before slipping from the room the same way I arrived, completely unnoticed.