Chapter 214
Ethan
I blink my eyes open to bright white lights and the sterile scent of a hospital.
It takes a few moments for my senses to focus on the details around me. At first I see only my
surgeon’s face hovering above me. Has the surgery not begun yet? I wonder dazedly. I could have
sworn I’d already started counting backwards for the anesthesiologist.
But when my doctor speaks, there’s a smile in his voice. “Wee back Ethan. Everything went
perfectly. You’ve been asleep for a while, but your family is eager to see you.
My family, I muse, the wheels in my mind turning much too slowly. Does he mean Nina and Matthew?
But even as I think these words, my wolf pipes up.
I smell Jane. I smell the pups! They’re here! He exims.
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No, they can’t be. It’s not possible. I reply, groaning internally at the pain this simple fact causes me.
Jane’s scent washes over me, much too potent to be my wolf’s imagination. Gentle fingers stroke my
cheek, and the next thing I know, her sweet voice is floating through my consciousness. “Open your
eyes, Ethan.”
I hadn’t even realized that I closed them again. I’m hovering on the edge of sleep, barely able to tell
dreams from reality. I shake my head stubbornly, determined to stay in the dream. “No.” The word is
little more than a whisper, my lips slurring the hard consonant. “Wanna stay.. in dream.”
I feel soft, familiar lips graze my temple, and I want to cry for wanting Jane. “Okay, my love.
There’s no rush.”
She feels so real- sounds so real. My wolf is whining in my head, and I gradually lift my heavy eyelids,
caving to his pressure. At once I see Jane’s stunning features hovering above me. Her face is blurred
around the edges, like an out of focus photo, but I don’t care. She’s beaming down at me, her emerald
eyes swimming with tears. “Hello mate
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful, and suddenly I’m afraid I imagined the doctor’s words.
“Am I in heaven?” I murmur, trying to reach for her but realizing I can’t lift my hand. That fact alone tells
me this isn’t entirely my imagination – if I had it my way she would already be in my arms.
“No, of course not.” Jane answers, caressing my jaw. “You’re just a little hazy from the drugs.”
“How… how is this possible?” I mutter, soundingpletely drunk.
“It’s all okay now, Ethan.” She soothes, using the same loving tone I’ve often heard her use when the
pups are upset. “The surgery was a sess. You’re going to be able to walk again – your wolf won’t be
trapped anymore.”
My mind is moving at a sluggish pace, but the mention of my surgery jolts me into the present quicker
than anything else. “You mean you know?”
“Yes, you impossible man.” Jane replies, hupping augh. “I know.”
No, no, no! Now that my mind is working, waves of violent emotion are mming into me one after the
other. This isn’t right. She can’t know. “No,” I manage to shake my head, my voice sounding strangled.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“Hush now.” Jane croons. She strokes my hair back from my crown, and something deep inside of me
starts to crack. “We have a whole lifetime to fight about this, Ethan.”
I can’t even begin to decipher all the feelings warring inside of me, I only know I’m suddenly drowning
beneath the onught. It’s a giant tangle of fury, anguish, guilt, fear, grief and the Goddess only knows
what else. I jerk against the dead weight of my arms and legs, hating that I can’t move. I growl my
frustration into the to0-bright room, and the machine beside me starts beeping faster and faster.
Suddenly the doctor reappears, recing Jane. “Easy Alpha, this happens sometimes with anesthesia.
Just give it some time and the mood swings will pass.”
“I don’t think it’s the drugs.” Jane’s voice intimates, sounding pained. “It’s me.”
“I think maybe you should step out, maybe send his mate in.” The doctor suggests, sounding farther
away now.
A ferocious snarl rips out of my chest at the suggestion. My mate is already here! My wolf thunderS. I
want to shout at the man for suggesting Jane leave, but I can’t make the wordse, as if some part
of me is still enough in control to realize admitting this would be a disaster.
Despite myck of speech, they seem to get the message. “Nevermind.” The doctor sighs, stepping
back.
Jane returns to my side, and though she looks a bit subdued, there’s still a stubborn tilt to her mouth
that tells me she hasn’t given up. “You shouldn’t be here.” I tell her again, knowing precisely how
contrary I sound.
“Are you sure about that?” Her lip quirks and I want to throttle her and kiss her at once. “You didn’t
seem to like the idea of me leaving.
“That was my wolf.” I mumble drunkenly, “He’s not being reasonable.”
“I see.” Jane observes smoothly, a sharp edge entering her voice. “So you think it was reasonable to
push me away for the sake of your own stubborn pride? To break my heart and the pups’?”
“I never wanted to hurt you.” I fight back a sob, wishing for the thousandth time that I could move.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“Shhh,” Jane breathes, ncing at the racing heart monitor again. She lowers her cheek to my chest,
as if she’s trying to hug me without actually jostling my body. Instead she lets me feel her warm curves
pressing against my side, her slender limbs cradling whatever they can reach. It’s a terribly awkward
position, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t effective. I can feel my wolf calming by the second, and I manage
to lift my arm for the first time, circling it around her back to hold her close.
Something tiny bumps my hip, and I realize it’s the pup in her belly, kicking out to say hello. A few stray
tears escape the corners of my eyes, “Why are you doing this to me?” I inquire desperately.
Jane doesn’t move an inch, in fact if anything she simply cuddles closer. “Because mates give each
other what they need, even when they don’t want…
“Don’t you see that’s what I’m trying to do!”I rumble in agony. “I’m no good for you. You deserve better.”
“I disagree, and so do the pups.” Jane informs me simply. “You’re always taking care of everyone else,
Ethan – even when it kills you. Now it’s time you let us return the favor.”
“No.” I growl, trying to sound authoritative even though I’m still slurring like a man who’s ten drinks in.
“Im the Alpha, I make the rules.”
The brazen she-wolf onlyughs, and the sound wraps around me like a warm nket. “Trust you to
issue orders when you’re high as a kite and weak as a kitten.”
“This isn’t a joke, Janey.” I reply fiercely, knowing my body is betraying me even as I scold her. As my
body slowly wakes it only pulls her closer and closer, and I’m sure she’s going to be in the bed with me
before too long. There’s a sharp intake of breath, and Jane turns her face into my muscr pec as if to
hide herself from view.
“What is it?” I demand, looking around the recovery room. We’re alone in a closed off bay, surrounded
by curtains.
“Nothing, you just… you haven’t called me that in so long.” She answers, her voice thick with emotion.
I wince, realizing I’ve slipped up again. “It was just a force of habit. It doesn’t mean anything.” I answer,
only half lying. If my wits were sharper I wouldn’t have slipped up, but it sure as hell means something.
“You’re lying.” Jane replies with a sniffle, sounding emotional but certain. “You can growl and snarl all
you want, Ethan. Try to push us away until you’re blue in the face. We’re not going anywhere.”
“You’re supposed to be with Devon.” I remind her, “
And I’m marrying Nina as soon as I’m well enough.”
Now it’s Jane’s turn to growl. I’m d she can’t see my face, because the sweet omega’s jealous snarl
has me smiling like an idiot. “Over my dead body.”
I sigh, deciding there’s no use arguing about this now. “How did you find out about this anyway?”
“It was Paisley. She’s been so worried about you.” A note of disapproval enters her voice, and I know
mama wolf is rearing her head. “What were you thinking – asking such a little one to lie for you?”
“I didn’t want to.” I confess. “She figured it out all on her own. I tried to exin that this was for the best.
I told her that she needed to stay with you over and over again, but she vowed to keep running away
until I let her stay.”
Before Jane can answer, I realize that my neck and arms aren’t the only limbs waking up. My legs feel
weighed down and leaden- but I feel them.
There’s a muscle ticking in one of my thighs, and a strange tingling in my toes.
“Oh my Goddess.” I utter in amazement. “It really worked. Jane, I can feel my legs!”
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