7

Diana

My eyes drifted open, and I shot off the bed, but something on my hand held me back, sending rockets of pain through my blood. Ana and alarm went off before my hazy brain could even figure out where I was, the shrill sound sending more slabs of pain through my skull.

I groaned and turned to face my hand. An IV was connected. I clutched at it, ready to rip it out when a voice called out in panic. "What are you doing?"

I followed the sound of the voice, the familiarity of it sending me to realize a direction immediately. The blood in my veins boiled, rushing inside me like a torrent of wildfire; my breathing came to a standstill, and the air suddenly thought for me to draw in.

Bradley,'s eyebrows raised in question, as he approached me. "Were you by any means trying to escape before you're fully healed?"

"Where am I?" I asked, back, ignoring his question. I needed answers, not more questions than what was already in my head.

"Take a look around. Where else could you be that looked like this?"

I did as he asked, my eyes taking stock of the sterile white that adorned my room, the narrow mattress on an iron, wheeled bed, and the machine that stood beside me with wires connecting to my arm. I exhaled harshly, and then the fear that had taken root inside of me webbed instantly.

"I'm in the hospital." My voice sounded parched even to my own ears.

He finally stopped at the edge of my bed and then picked up a glass of water. "And you need to stay hydrated so you can heal faster."

Once again I obeyed, dragging cool gulps of water down my aching throat and sighing in relief as I dropped my head back down to the pillow. A thought occurred to me.

"The alarm."

"Went off because you woke up in a state of panic. I turned it off when I walked in and realized all was well."

My forehead creased in confusion. "How is that even possible? You didn’t come close enough for that."

"I didn't have to." His shoulder bounced in a carefree shrug.

Just then, the door to my room slid open, and a concerned Uncle Jeremy walked into the room. He eyed Bradley, uncomfortable with his presence here, but still, he bowed his head in greeting. "Alpha."

"Jeremy." Bradley regarded him coolly.

My uncle turned to me then, his brow raised in question. "Are you okay?"

I made to shake my head, but a quick scan of my body showed that I was in considerably less pain now than I was before Bradley showed up. My eyes bounced toward him again, questions swimming in their depth.

He nodded once, giving an answer to a question I didn't voice before he spoke to my uncle. "She is okay. Better than okay, even."

"What did you do?" Uncle Jeremy challenged all forms of respect temporarily dropped.

Bradley gestured to me with his hand. "Look at her. Do you think whatever I did was good or bad?"

"But that's not possible, she's not your pack. You cannot..." he trailed off as though a new thought had formed in his head. His gaze ping-ponged between me and Bradley several times, understanding a we,ary sigh from him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked me.

I gestured at my body in the bed. "I don't think I had the time to."

He closed his eyes, fingers massaging his temple. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine. I just need food, I'm hungry."

"Alright. I'd have Estrella bring over something for you to eat. Give me a moment."

As soon as he stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him, I faced Bradley again. "It was you who found me, right?"

He nodded.

"How?"

The ghost of a smile touched his lips. "A certain someone had siphoned power off me to heal herself. I traced that power since it belongs to me anyway."

I dropped my eyes from his, shame making an appearance inside of me. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

He cut me off. "There's nothing wrong with taking power from your mate when you need it. Except you plan on denying the fact that that's what we are again. Do you?"

The door opened again, saving me from giving him an answer. "She'd be here in 20 minutes with chicken soup and some orange juice. You should get some rest, though, you still haven't told us who did this to you." Uncle Jeremy advised.

"Okay."

Bradley looked at him and gestured with his head for them to talk outside. They both stepped out, and I heightened my senses to hear them through the door, but there was some form of barricade over the door that prevented that from happening.

I frowned. Bradley was being very careful with preventing me from hearing their conversation and it just made me more curious.

After about thirty minutes of peace and quiet, the door opened again and Uncle Jeremy walked in with his wife, Estrella, and Bradley was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Bradley?" I asked immediately.

"I'm glad to see you care more about him than your own family," Aunt Estrella cautioned.

"She's still disoriented from the drugs, let her be." Uncle Jeremy cut in.

I smiled weakly at him in silent thank you and he nodded.

"Alpha Bradley had some pack issues to attend to, he'd be here by the crack of dawn."

"Okay."

"Why is she so curious about Alpha Bradley? And since when does he care so much about hospitalized wolves that are not part of his pack?" Confusion was drawn in obvious lines across her forehead.

"This is not a conversation for now, Estrella. Let the girl eat and rest a while."

They served the soup and I sat up, grateful for the aroma that wafted through the antiseptic fragrance of the room. The first bite was heaven, I moaned in delight.

Uncle Jeremy cleared his throat, and I looked up at him.

"Your room is going to be guarded for now. You are not allowed to step out of this room without Alpha Bradley giving you permission." He dropped a phone on my bed. "You can reach him with this; his number is already input, so it shouldn't be hard to find."

I almost choked on my food. "What?"

He shook hi

s head and walked to the door, his wife in tow. "Call me if you need anything." And then he was gone.