Lycan Prince Hunter
I was awoken with a start the next morning. I was laying my head down on Kailen’s bed, holding her hand. I don’t remember falling asleep. I sat up and my back and shoulders cracked with the movement. My whole body was stiff. I must have been out for a while.
I looked over at Kailen and noticed that they had removed the breathing tube and she was now breathing on her own. How did I not hear the doctors removing the tube?
I looked over at the monitors and I could tell that her blood pressure was higher, closer to normal range, and her heart rate was strong. The colour had returned to her skin, and she was looking more alive than dead.
I squeezed her hand and noticed that she was no longer cold. She was getting better. I let out a breath that I didn’t realize I was holding in.
“She’ll make it.” Rex said in my head.
“And how do you know?” I asked him.
“Because Aurora has accepted our mark, it’s making her stronger.” He purred in my head. He was happy that he finally had the mate he wanted.
“So the bite mark will stay?” I asked him, confused.
“It will until you claim the spot it should be in. Usually it would fade, but Aurora and I accepted each other and refused to heal either bite mark. That’s why yours will also scar.” He explained. I reached up to touch the place on my shoulder that Kailen had bitten a few days ago, and the spot was still tender.
“So this means that she is ours?” I asked him hopefully. His tail started thumping in my head and he let out a loud howl.
“She is ours.” He purred. And I couldn’t stop the smile that crossed my lips. She was finally ours, and I was never letting her go.
I sat there holding her hand, thinking about the life we were finally going to have together. I was planning on having our house built out by the lake. She loved sitting out on the deck in the morning with her coffee and the evening with her tea.
We could finally build this life together, we could finally move on from the past and step into the future, our future.
Kailen, squeezing my hand, pulled me from my thoughts. I looked down at our hands and then at her face. She was looking at me with a small smile on her face.
“Kailen!” I exclaimed, getting up from my seat. I placed my forehead against hers, cupping her face with my hands. I could feel tears of joy falling down my face. I couldn’t help it. I was just so thankful that she was finally awake.
“Hunter.” She whispered, her voice raspy. I looked around and saw a cup of ice water. The nurse must have brought it in after they removed the breathing tube.
I reached over, taking the cup from the side table, and brought the straw to Kailen’s lips. All the water was gone before she was satisfied. I placed the cup back on the table and looked down at her beautiful face.
“How are you feeling, Beautiful?” I asked her. She gave me a small smile.
“Better,” She whispered. Her voice was less raspy after the water she just drank.
“Are you in any pain?” I asked her, sitting on the bed beside her.
“It aches, but I’m okay. What happened?” She whispered out. She winced when she tried to move.
“Hey, be still. I’ll explain everything, but I need you not to move.” I told her.
“I’m just trying to get comfortable.” She sighed.
“I’m sorry, Beautiful. Let’s get the doctor in here to get you all checked out. Then, after we can talk.” I leaned over and hit the call button. Then I rested my forehead against hers until the nurse walked in.
“Miss Steele, you’re awake? How are you feeling? How is your level of pain?” The nurse asked.
“I’m okay, a little uncomfortable. I feel like there is something digging in my back.” She answered. I moved back to my chair and took her hand in mine.
“Okay, Miss Steele, I’m going to check the bandages on your front first and then I’ll help roll you onto your side so I can check your back. Okay?” She asked Kailen, and she nodded.
The nurse lowered the bed and pulled down the blanket that was covering Kailen’s torso, exposing the thick bandage covering up her wound. Kailen couldn’t see the wound over her breasts and I was thankful for that. I didn’t want her to worry about how bad it might still look.
The nurse pulled the bandage back to expose an angry red scar vertically down her stomach. It went from her sternum to her belly button and I was so thankful that he didn’t go through her spine.
Her abdomen was heavily bruised and I’m sure her back was as well. At least the wound had closed up. Kailen squeezing my hand made me take my eyes off of her stomach, looking at her face.
“You okay?” She asked me and I felt guilty that she was worried about me when she was the one lying in the hospital bed.
“Yeah, and the wound is now closed up from this side.” I informed her, and she nodded.
“Okay, Miss Steele, everything seems to be closed up. Let’s roll you onto your side so I can check out the back wound, okay?” The nurse asked her, and she nodded.
“Lycan Prince, would you be able to help her roll?” The nurse asked me, and I nodded. I stood up and placed my hands where she instructed me.
“Miss Steele, this may hurt, but the pain will be quick once you settle into the side position, okay? We will take this slowly, and don’t fight, just move with our movements.” The nurse instructed, and I could see the worry on Kailen’s face.
“1,2,” the nurse counted down. Before she said three, we rolled Kailen on her side, facing me. Kailen let out a hiss and a groan. Her breathing became laboured as she tried to breathe through the pain. I leaned down closer to her while the nurse was bending her legs to help stabilize her in this position.
“I know, Beautiful, just breathe.” I whispered, kissing the tears off the cheek that wasn’t resting on the pillow.
When the nurse instructed me that I could let go, I kneeled down beside her bed and rested my head beside hers. I would give her gentle kisses when she winced out from whatever the nurse was doing. It was hard to watch her in pain and not be able to help ease it.
“Miss Steele, I’m just going to go get the doctor. I’ll be right back.” The nurse spoke while covering Kailen’s back with the blanket. I didn’t see how bad the wound on her back was. I was just so focused on making Kailen feel better.
Kailen yawned and closed her eyes, even before the nurse left the room. I knew she was now exhausted. That movement looked like it hurt like hell.
I was still kneeling beside the bed, brushing my fingers through her hair, when the doctor and the nurse from earlier finally walked in. Kailen was now sleeping again, and I was just watching her sleep.
“Lycan Prince.” The Doctor greeted me. And I nodded. I watched him pull back the blanket that was covering Kailen and I noticed that his face fell.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him, worried.
“Nothing to be concerned with, Lycan Prince. Her wound on her back isn’t closed up yet. There are still over half the stitches that haven’t dissolved yet. So I would like to keep her on her side so that we can keep an eye on the wound. The nurse here is just going to get the wound cleaned up and redressed. She should be able to leave tomorrow, or if you’d like, we can airlift her back to Ivory Moon.” He explained.
“I would like to have her airlifted,” I told him, and he nodded.
“I’ll make all the preparations and let you know when the chopper will be arriving.” He bowed and left the room.
The nurse started to clean up the wound on her back and, to my surprise, Kailen stayed asleep. I was glad that she wasn’t awake to feel the pain that I’m sure the nurse was causing.
I stood up and looked over Kailen’s body to see how bad her back actually was. And it was indeed bad. The wound was red, angry, and swollen. Her whole back was black and blue with bruises, and it was hard to even see if the wound was actually clean or not.
When the nurse was done, she covered Kailen back up. She replaced her cup of water with a full one and made sure to check all her vitals before she left the room.
I flopped back into my chair and let out a breath. I felt exhausted, and I hadn’t even done anything. I pulled out my phone to call Greyson. I needed him to get everything packed and everyone ready to leave when Kailen and I left in the chopper.
“Hunter, how is she?” He answered his phone.
“She was awake there for a few minutes, but now she is sleeping again. The doctor okayed her to be flown home, so can you get everything that we need to take back with us for the investigation and have the warriors ready to leave when we take off?” I told him.
“Yeah, I’ll get everyone organized. Zach and I are just in the Alpha’s office going over files as we speak.” He told me and now I was curious.
“Have you found anything?” I asked him.
“I think the lack of evidence here is more suspicious. And we still haven’t been able to locate the former Beta.” He informed me.
“Have you talked to the not Luna?” I asked him. And he sighed.
“Not yet. She is refusing to speak to anyone but Alpha Owen, and he is refusing to have anything to do with her.” Greyson said, and it was my turn to sigh.
“What do you think we should do?” I asked him.
“I think we should take her back with us to Ivory Moon. She did attack the king’s gamma, and that offense is punishable by death.” Greyson told me, and I had to agree with him.
“Okay, ready the prisoner for transport as well. I’ll let you know when the helicopter is scheduled to arrive.” I told him before ending the call.
What the hell is wrong with this pack? I’m going to have to launch an investigation when I get back to Ivory Moon. There is no reason that a pack member should have been abused like Kailen was as a child.
The doctor came in a few hours later, while I was checking emails on my phone, to inform me that the helicopter would be arriving in about an hour. I thanked him, and then he came over to check on Kailen’s condition.
“Has she been sleeping this whole time?” He asked me.
“Yes,” I answered him.
“That’s good. The more she sleeps, the faster this wound will close up. It’s definitely looking better.” He informed me before covering her back up.
“We’ll be in before the helicopter arrives to prepare Kailen for transport.” He bowed his head before he left, closing the door behind him. I sent Greyson a text, telling him that we should be leaving in about an hour.
I then pocketed my phone and leaned down, resting my face in front of Kailen’s face. I could feel her breath on my lips. She was sleeping so peacefully and I love watching her sleep.
The moment was rudely interrupted when the door to her room was thrown open. The door hit the wall with a bang. I stood up from my seat, ready to attack whoever came through the door.
Alpha Owen stormed into the room with a fury. I moved around the bed and stopped him before he could make it to Kailen.
“You are not leaving with her.” He growled out.