AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I groaned, raking a hand through my hair. "I still don't understand why the wound hasn't healed," I said. "It was just a bite. I've hurt him worse than that during training."
"I don't know," said Dr. Kelly. "I would need to run some tests. I suppose it's possible that being bitten by another wolf could have a different effect." He hesitated, so my response to that remark must've been as obvious as I feared. "Or a hunter with dominant wolf traits," he corrected himself.
"That's probably why he's been sick," Arrow said, giving me a pointed look. It hit its mark.
"What do you mean, he's been sick?" I asked.
"Since you’ve been gone. He's kind of pathetic, so I thought he just had a cold or something," Arrow answered. "He smelled weird, too."
"He smelled weird?" the doctor asked.
Arrow paused. "I don't know. Kind of sweet, I guess. He didn't smell sick, though. It was a nice scent."
A surge of jealousy welled up within me, irrational as that was. I didn't even realize I had growled until I saw how they were both looking at me.
Fuck, I had to get a handle on this shit.
"The scent," I began. "Did it smell kind of like honey?"
Arrow seemed to be considering it. "I don't know. I guess so. I didn't really think that much about it."
"Oh, God," Dr. Kelly muttered.
"What?" I asked.
Before he could answer, Eddie groaned in his sleep and I was at his side immediately. I didn't know what was wrong with him, but I knew it was at least partially my fault. That knowledge left me feeling more helpless than I had in recent memory, and I had forgotten just how fucking much I hated that.
"Eddie?" I called, sitting next to him on the bed and reaching down to stroke his hair. He was hot to the touch. Burning up, which suggested Arrow's theory about him being sick was right after all.
"Castor?" Eddie groaned again, staring up at me in confusion. His eyes were glazed and he still seemed half-asleep. I wasn’t even sure how he was awake already.
"I'm here," I said, never more relieved to look into his eyes. I had come disturbingly close to never being able to do that again. Because I had left him alone. Vulnerable.
Yeah, Arrow had protected him, but he wasn't Arrow's responsibility. He was mine.
"Where is Arrow?" he asked.
"Right here, mutt," he said, raising his hand. "But if you want a go at me, you're gonna have to wait until the doctor gives you the green light."
Eddie frowned. "You saved me," he said, his voice hoarse as he looked at me. "You both did."
Arrow scoffed. "Yeah, well, the only reason I haven't killed Castor is because he needs to take you back as his partner. You’re kind of a trouble magnet."
Eddie smiled faintly, but it didn't touch the exhaustion in his eyes. Or the sadness. I wasn't sure how much he remembered about what had happened to his sire, and I wasn't going to be the one to remind him, but I doubted he had forgotten entirely.
“He’s really gone?" he asked.
"Don't think about that right now," I said, stroking his damp hair back from his forehead. "You just need to get better."
"He talked to me," Eddie said quietly, trying to sit up as if he had just remembered something.
"Take it easy," I said, pushing him back down gently. "What do you mean, he talked to you?"
"In my head," he answered, staring up at me. "I heard his voice, and he could understand me."
I nodded in understanding. “Some wolves can communicate telepathically with their sires, or their mates. What did he say?”
He frowned, as if he was trying to remember. "He was just taunting me about being with hunters," he answered. "But he did say something weird. Something about me being an omega."
