Katya
My entire body feels like it has been hit by a truck, then reversed and ran over again, twice. Everything hurts. Forcing my eyes open, I groan and try to roll onto my side, but something heavy is holding me down. I don't recognize the room I am in. This isn’t Ezra’s room?
I scramble to a sitting position. Ezra's head is cradled next to me, his head resting on the edge of my pillow and the top of his head had been touching mine. Machines beep all around me and my wrist burns. I glance down to see I'm hooked up to an IV. I'm in the hospital? How did I get here?
Why am I here? What happened? There was that battle, but I couldn't remember much of it. A snore from beside me made me jerk. Mateo is on the chair next to me, sort of. Most of him is in the chair, but one of his arms is wrapped around my waist, and his head is nestled on my thigh.
What is going on? What am I missing?
I lift my hand, brushing it through the Alpha’s hair, where his head rests, before cupping his cheek. He turns his face into my hand and kisses my palm. Tingles rush over it warming my skin. “I love you,” he mumbles in his sleep. Seconds later, his head snaps up, as I giggle at his sleep-talking.
“Kat!” He gasps, staring at me before touching his hands to my face. He squishes my cheeks together and I can tell he is still half asleep. His eyes are still glassy from sleep. My lips must resemble a fish as he squeezes my face between his palms like he can’t believe I am really here. Why is he acting like this?
“You’re squishing my face,” I mumble through my puckered lips, when his eyes widen in recognition at the sound of my voice. Doesn’t he recognize me, or is he still half asleep? I have so many questions, yet my mind can’t process anything, but the tingles rushing over every part of me he touches.
“Kat!” He exhales, letting my face go. I stretch my face, only for his lips to crash down on mine almost frantically.
I try to shove him back as his tongue invades my mouth, before giving up and kissing him back. He releases me and I suck in the much needed air he has deprived me of.
“Geez, what’s got into you? You’re acting like I just dropped dead.” I scold him with a raised brow.
He falls silent, staring at me before dropping his head and grabbing my hand. He kisses each of my fingertips clasping my hand in both of his.
“What is it?” I ask him, worried about his severe affections. Usually, he wasn’t this clingy, in public at least. He says nothing, just lets out a shaky breath.
The weight on my thigh disappears as Mateo lifts his head. “Kat, you’re awake,” Mateo greets. He stands and leans over, bending down and kissing my cheek. He gives me a tight bone-crushing hug. He buries his face in my neck, in front of Ezra, who last time Mateo kissed the side of my mouth had gotten all weird.
What was going on here? My brows furrow, trying to puzzle it out. Why are they acting this way?
“You had us so worried,” Mateo breathes and I lift my hand, my fingertips brush the nape of his neck. If I didn't know him better, I would think he's trembling.
“I’m fine, what’s wrong? What happened?” I ask, worry eats away at me.
Mateo pulls back, cupping my face in his hands before kissing my cheek and the side of my mouth. “You’re okay, that’s all that matters,” he murmurs, sitting back down. Ezra is watching him, but the anger that had happened last time over a similar incident was completely absent. He nods, clasping my hand in his, and kisses my knuckles.
Was the Twilight Zone real? “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I slowly ask the words, hoping they'll pick up on the fact I'm completely clueless about why they're being so crazy.
“You don’t remember the Rogues?” Mateo gently asks, looking down at me.
The rogues… the rogues… The word should mean something, but all I could think of was something fuzzy and black. My eyes widen. I remembered more than fuzzy and black. I remember my best friend being torn apart and Angie almost killed. The memories hit me one after the other, nearly suffocating me.
It wasn't a dream! I'd been so convinced that it had all been some crazy nightmare I had conjured up. A punishment for teasing Mateo with my scary movies too many times.
Tears fill my vision. It was all real. A living nightmare. The beasts were real. Jasmine was gone for good. All I can think about was her last words before her death and her blank eyes after, and all the blood she'd been surrounded by.
“Jasmine!” I gasp, unable to breathe. My friend, my friend is dead, and what about Angie? What became of her?
“Kat, calm down, just breathe.” Ezra tries to calm me, rushing to cup my face in his hands. I shake my head.
“No! Jasmine, Jasmine,” I tell him frantically. Does he not remember? Shouldn't he at least be a little upset about losing a Pack member?
“Kat, calm down. She is alive. Jasmine is okay,” Ezra reassures me.
“No, she is dead, I saw her, she…. she…. they ripped out her neck. There was so much blood,” I tell him with gasping breaths while breaking down.
“She is alive, Kat, Jasmine is alive. She didn’t die, you brought her back.” Ezra tries to reassure me again, but I know what I saw, he is lying. He said he would never lie to me, but he is. Maybe he thinks I can't handle the truth.
I can’t breathe, all I can see are her dead eyes. I can’t get the image from my mind, now that I know it wasn’t a dream. I recalled the coldness on my lips as I kissed her head.
“Shit! Kat, breathe, you will pass out, just breathe please,” he begs, grabbing my face. I see Ezra’s lips moving, trying to tell me something as the room dims. Yet, I can’t understand what he is saying, the room gets darker as I try to breathe, my head feeling lighter as the room spins. “Kat, she is alive. I will explain, but please breathe,” Ezra begs.
She is alive; she is alive. I try to convince myself to believe it. People don’t come back from the dead, not even werewolves or vampires. We aren’t cats; we don’t get nine lives, so what he is saying makes no sense.
I concentrate on his face and his breathing, trying to regain my breath as I suck in air before I chuckle at his face so close to mine. His eyes blur into one. He raises an eyebrow at me, and I manage to catch my breath, though he continues to do his weird breathing.
“Why are you panting like a woman in labor?” I ask, and he pulls back.
“I was trying to help you, you’re the one who forgot how to breathe,” he scoffs, sitting back in his chair and grabbing my hand.
“I called her over,” Mateo announces, looking at Ezra.
“Called who over?” I ask. I wonder if he's talking about his mate. I don't know how I'll be able to stomach her. That woman was part of the group that took Jasmine away. The very thought of being nice to her makes my stomach ache.
The door bursts open and a bleary-eyed Jasmine runs into the room, in her pajamas which have little Tweety birds on them. I thought I had gone mad until she spoke. “Kat?” she murmurs, her voice like music to my ears as I fly off the bed and jump on her.
I crash on top of her and she feels solid; real. “You’re alive, you’re alive! How are you alive?” I squeal, kissing her pretty head as she pats my back.
“Yep, very much alive, but if you bust out in song, I may just kill myself and ew you’re slobbering on me,” she says, patting my back as I squeeze the living daylights out of her, never wanting to let her go. She is alive, Jasmine is alive! But how? “You would think she would want to keep me alive after bringing me back to life." Jasmine teases.
“Shit, sorry,” I apologize, pulling back to look down at her.
“Oh yeah, girl-on-girl action,” croons Mateo’s voice from behind me, I look at him over my shoulder.
“Huh?” Both Jasmine and I say at the same time. Mateo nods downwards and I look down at her, realizing I am straddling her waist, my hands conveniently on her breasts. I raise my hands.
“Sorry,” I squeak, my face heating.
“Don’t worry if I was gay, which I am not Beta Mateo,” she states, glaring at him. "You would totally be my type,” she says, sending me a wink before giving Mateo the stink eye again.
I laugh before hopping off her and helping her up. “Nice jammies,” Mateo tells her, and she rolls her eyes at him.
“See? All healed, thanks to you. Now can I go back to bed? I was having the best dream-”
“A wet one?” Mateo asks, cutting her off, and she flips him the bird.
“No! Actually, about getting into the college I want to get into. Nothing wet about it, although I think I would pee a little with excitement if I got in,” she giggles, her eyes lighting up.
“You dream about attending more school after finishing school, so lame,” Mateo butts in again.
“As I was saying before this moron butted in, I am tired. Can I please go to bed? Thanks for saving me, but I need beauty sleep,” she says, pouting. "We can't all be as beautiful as you, Kat. Some of us have to work at it." she winks at me.
“Wait, I saved you?”
Jasmine looks around me at the Alpha, who is just observing quietly. “You haven’t told her yet? Come on, man, I am not lucid enough for this right now,” Jasmine whines.
“I will explain. You may go back to dreaming about college,” he says in a mocking tone waving her off.
“Ok, I love you, thank you, Alpha. Beta Mateo, fuck you and goodbye,” Jasmine says. She tips her head to the Alpha before racing out.
I shake my head at her quick departure. “She is feisty isn’t that right, Pumpkin?” Mateo says and I grab the closest thing to me and lob it at him for calling me Pumpkin. Turns out it is a bedpan.
Mateo bats it away with his hand. “Ew so gross and you touched that with your hand,” he mocks.
“It’s clean,” I tell him before turning to Ezra. He holds his arms out to me and I step closer. He pulls me onto his lap, shoving his face in my neck and inhaling my scent. His tongue over my neck and I shiver. Sparks erupt over my skin and I moan before clamping my hand over my mouth at what I did in a hospital of all places.
“Gosh, I can’t wait for her to figure it out,” Mateo chuckles, shaking his head.
Ezra laughs at him. And I glare at them both. “Are either of you going to tell me what’s going on? Or how my best friend was resurrected from the dead?” I ask, waiting for some explanation.
“I thought I was your best friend?” Mateo whines, feigning hurt as he clutches his chest.
“I can have more than one,” I tell him with a roll of my eyes.
“But I am number one, right?" He gives me a wink.
“You are getting off-topic. One of you needs to explain, please. I am getting a headache.”
Ezra grips my chin, turning my face toward him. “Let’s get you home first, then I will tell you in the morning. It’s a little late for this conversation. Besides, we have been sitting in these uncomfortable chairs for three days. I miss our bed and I am sure Mateo misses his, too,” he says.
"I miss our bed," Mateo agrees with a nod, slinging an arm around both me and Ezra.
Wait, did he just say three days? They have been waiting for me to wake up for three days? “Three days?” I gasp. I lost three days, but I wasn’t even that badly injured. It makes little sense.
“Yes, Kat. Doc thought you would wake up after a few hours, but it’s been three days. I will explain tomorrow, but can we please go home?” Ezra pleads and I look at him, really look at him. He does look rather tired, his clothes are all wrinkled, and he definitely looks uncomfortable.