When I come to, it takes me a moment to comprehend that I feel as fine as I do. My head is fairly clear - however that is even possible - and I remember everything, including my less than graceful fall into a mob of rogues and Raph's scream that I never want to hear again. Once I fell, I couldn't see him anymore, but he was screaming. I had no idea if he was fighting off the rogues to get to me or sitting there petrified, but in that moment it didn't matter to me. He was screaming and his pain was so obvious, that alone made me want to die.
I notice pressure around my hand and when I open my eyes I see my tense mate sitting next to me. He's in one of those cheap plastic chairs. His hand has mine in a death grip and he is so tense, I can even see it in his jaw. For some reason he doesn't even acknowledge me, as if he is so lost in his own thoughts, which are probably mainly resolving around guilt, that he hasn't even realised I've woken up. I decide to slightly squeeze his hand back and I don't even have to wait at all before his head snaps over towards me, his eyes wide and jaw immediately slacked. He doesn't say anything, but the longer we stare at each other the more he goes back to tensing his body and sitting back in his creaking chair.
'I'm sorry.' he eventually says. He's not looking at me, but his fingers are now woven between mine, making a small smile appear on my face.
I carefully scoop over before tapping his hand with my finger in a patient rhythm until he looks back into my eyes.
'Join me?' I simply say and after a few minutes of internal debate on his part, he actually stands up and lies down beside me. His hand automatically lets go of my hand to drape around my shoulders, and is immediately replaced by his other hand. I hum contently and snuggle into him as much as I can. There's no wires on me or anything, but moving does still hurt a bit. My head ends up in the crook of his neck as I slide down a bit to fit the curve of his body.
I'm not sure how long we lie there like that, but he eventually starts explaining what exactly happened when he left to distract the rogues from Sam. They didn't make much contact at first, but did follow him at a distance. Only after quite a while was he blocked off by a few rogues. They didn't give him an opening to escape and his mother made herself known then. She was talking about having killed my dad because he'd intercepted a hunt of hers a few weeks prior. She said it was funny that we had ended up as mates and how she had better access to me now.
I don't say anything or react at all as I listen to him.
'She only said that she'll come get me soon and left and then all of them were gone.' He pauses again and continues to massage my head through my hair before talking again.
'I ... felt so betrayed, on your part. I couldn't stomach the idea of someone so ... close to me having hurt you so much. I couldn't come up with any sound reason why you would want me still.'
His hand is still preoccupied with my hair as he finally finishes. He's said sorry so many times already, I know he feels he has no place here at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure that the only reason he's still here is because I told him I need him.
I slowly pull myself onto my elbows and place them on either side of his head, halfway leaning over him.
'First of all, it was my choice to throw myself into those rogues, so stop feeling sorry okay? And secondly you are not close to that woman. She is a stranger. And therefore all your other arguments are void. Now kiss me to make it up to me and I'll be happy with that.'
I feel a smirk growing on my face and I can't help the happiness that floods me when he actually just pulls my head down and kisses me without another word. It's a short and sweet kiss, no tongue or too much pressure, just two mates being close to each other.
Eventually I feel the strength in my arms draining and decide to go back to my former position on the side of Raph's body. I hear a quiet whisper above me before his breathing evens out and he's asleep.
'I love you too.' I whisper an answer before closing my eyes and letting his heartbeat lead my own.
I'm awake when the door opens and smile when Marc comes through, closing the door behind himself quietly. He greets me with a nod, while grabbing a chair and sitting at the end of my bed, his arms crossed on top of the bed frame.
'How's it feel to recover from a mauling, o damsel in distress?' He smirks with a few eyebrow wriggles. I only roll my eyes.
'I'm alive aren't I?' I say.
'You fixed me up, yeah?' I say knowingly and when Marc's face morphs into a mask of utter confusion I know I'm right.
'If it had been Randy, chances are I wouldn't feel any pain at all right now.' I provide him the answer before he has to ask.
'Rude.' he says and huffs like an unsatisfied child, which makes him look a lot like his daughter.
I laugh quietly, knowing that he knows how thankful I am anyway. I was actually quite surprised when I found out that the Alpha is a pack doctor as well. Apparently he met his mate Randy at medical school. The reason Randy is so much better at what he does is probably because of the fact that Marc had to start focussing on being Alpha at some point, while Randy had time to perfect his skills. If you ask Marc though, it's apparently Randy's innate ability.
His relaxed expression shifts suddenly and before he even asks, I know he wants me to talk about what happened. With a sigh I relay everything that Raph told me. Some of it I'm contemplating leaving out, but there's really no point. Both Raph and I will be better off with Marc knowing.
When it comes to my dad's death, I can feel my hands start shaking. I hug Raph closer to me to disguise it and avert my eyes from Marc, trying to hide my watery eyes and shaking lips. I know he notices though, but I appreciate him keeping quiet.
The only thing he says is: 'We'll sort it, that's not for you to worry about, kid.'
He only really calls me kid when he wants to reassure me without sounding too much like an adult. It actually makes me smile a little again. But the awkward silence feels heavy in the room, so I deliberately switch the subject to one I can actually deal with without bawling like a baby.
'Hey Marc?'
'Hmm.'
'Why did you insist on fighting back when we first got here?' This has been bugging me for ever and I never dared ask. Funnily enough, the two of us developed quite a tight friendship over the years, especially because he is usually the one having to hunt down his daughter when she once again decides to have a wander around to work on one of her projects. That usually ends up with both of them having dinner at ours, during which Randy usually shows up as well with the excuse of not wanting to clean the house.
'You looked like a rabid animal.' he says with a shrug.
'Cheers' I interject dryly. I do not appreciate being called a rabid animal, even though he is probably right. He only chuckles again.
'Well, you're not a very trusting person towards outsiders so I figured if I gave you an ultimatum I could help you easier. It was either going to be your win, which, let's be honest, wouldn't have happened in a million years. Still wouldn't, by the way. But anyway, in that case you would have accepted help because you'd have earned it. Considering that you wouldn't have won anyway, the plan was to tire you out until you fainted so you wouldn't put up a fuss.'
'Wow, that actually sounded almost nice up until the last part. So not okay.'
'But efficient.' He winks at me. 'Elif says hi by the way. She's out terrorising that group of snakes she's obsessed with, so she couldn't come in. Her words, not mine.'
'You let your daughter play with snakes?' Sometimes I really struggle to understand that family.
'Hey, Randy has no idea! It's all good.' He looks seriously offended as he's trying to defend himself.
'That's not the point!'
'Well, she's saying something about studying their venom or something.' My jaw is literally dropping when he says that, 'but really, I've checked, there's no venomous snakes around.'
He looks insanely proud of himself and I can't help but chuckle. This guy is a great Alpha, but seriously, sometimes I'm completely confused what he's thinking when it comes to his daughter.
'Dad of the year, definitely.'
'Drop that sarcasm, I'm a great parent!' I can almost see the huff coming form his nose and can't help but chuckle again.
No matter how weird everyone is, I love living here, I just wish I could have my family with me as well. It's true though, it is a bit alienating not being part of a pack, there's a distinctive connection to everyone missing and while I've probably seen everyone around, I'm only actually friends with a few people in the pack. At the same time, it feels unbelievably special for Raph to be the only one that I'm this close to.
The blanket shifting by my feet brings my attention back to Marc.
'Elif actually sent me to bring this.' It's an excessively big, rectangular box, that for some reason I didn't notice earlier when he came in.
'What's in it?' I trust Elif about as far as I can throw her, and considering her growth spurt, that isn't much of a distance.
'Oh look, it's a wrapped box with a ribbon! What does that tell us children?' Marc says with a fake, excited voice. I only raise an eyebrow, not even bothering.
'It's a present, so why would I tell you?' he deadpans. Sometimes, I seriously wonder how that guy managed to get a medical degree.
'I'll give you a hint though. It's for tonight. Open it when Sleeping Beauty is awake.' With that he stands up to leave. Right before the door closes behind him he says one simple sentence and I can barely hold myself back from screaming. I wish Raph was awake so I could hug him in a hug too tight. I can barely contain myself, wanting nothing more than to actually give everyone a hug.
It only takes a few minutes before I can't contain myself anymore. I shake Raph's shoulder as gently as I can with my excitement just bubbling right under the surface. He grumbles and starts to turn over, but I choose to give him a big, wet smooch right on his cheek, leaving behind a wet spot. Immediately his hand comes up to wipe his cheek clean and he opens his eyes to scowl at me. Even though I love this moment, him completely forgetting what's happening and just reacting to me like he usually would, I can't help myself and just scream into his ear.
'We're becoming part of the pack tonight!'