My Healer (Bewitched and Bewildered Book 3) (25 page)

Gavriel nodded. "I am almost certain of it. Had I known the situation was so dire, I would have offered sooner. As it was, I had guard duty at the Alpha estate for the past two days and am only now getting caught up."

Rheia turned to Adam. "Do it. I don't care about all of the other stuff, if Colton will live, do it."

Adam stood, smiling for the first time in days. "Gavriel, if you would come with me, I just need a wee bit of your blood, maybe a bit of tissue. Shouldn't hurt a bit."

Gavriel sighed and glared at Adam. "It may hurt you." He clapped Aiden on the back as he walked by and left with Adam.

Aiden practically collapsed across the conference room table in relief. Rheia could see how deep his bond with Colton was, they were more like brothers than friends. Aiden sat back up and looked out at the room with bloodshot eyes, reaching into his pocket. "I'll just be in the waiting room, I need to update Meryn. Please come and get me the second his condition changes." Aiden started dialing and staggered from the room.

"He probably blames himself, poor boy. He's been protecting Colton since they were babies," Alice clucked. Rheia sat down next to her feeling like her eightieth cup of coffee was about to run out.
 

Alice leaned over and pulled Rheia into her arms. "Thank you. Thank you for doing whatever it takes to save my son. He's very lucky to have you."

Rheia hugged Alice back; she was probably the only other woman on the face of the planet who loved Colton as much as she did. "We're lucky to have him."

Alice pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "That's right, you have a daughter. I'm going to beat that son of mine senseless when he wakes up for not calling us the second he found you. I still can't believe I'm a grandmother."

Robert sat down next to his mate. "We haven't had a chance to meet her, but we've heard some amazing stories from the leader of the Gamma Unit. He calls her the 'Ninja'."

Rheia smiled wearily. "I never did get the whole story about what happened. Colton promised to tell me later." She swallowed hard.

Alice patted her thigh. "And he will. My boy has this uncanny ability that makes you want to pummel him and kiss his boo-boos at the same time. He's driving us mad with worry now, but I'll bet you anything he'll wake up grinning." She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief.
 

"All we can do now is wait. I'd give anything to see that grin again," Rheia admitted, laying her head on Alice's shoulder.

Alice took her hand. "Me too, my love, me too."

*****

The first thing Colton became aware of was the fact that the inside of his mouth was dry. The second thing he became aware of was that the inside of his mouth tasted like ass. He peeled his eyes open and saw Rheia standing over him. He grinned up at her. "Hey beautiful." His voice was so faint he could barely hear it.

Rheia burst into tears. Colton turned his head, looking around the room. Wasn't there anyone close by that could help his mate?

"It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered harshly.

She just continued to cry, great heaving sobs that were wildly out of control. Taking a deep breath he mustered all his strength and tried to sit up. That got her attention.

"What in the hell are you doing? Lay back down!" Her tears slowed down and she was in command mode. Colton preferred her ordering him around to crying uncontrollably. "Water?" he croaked.

"Of course." Rheia picked up a large insulated mug with a bendy straw and held it for him. He managed to spill a good portion of it, but what he did manage to swallow felt heavenly. Every second he was awake, he felt his strength returning.

"Thanks, my love, I feel a lot better. What happened anyway? The last thing I remember is being in the woods calling Aiden an asshole."

Rheia stared. "What happened? What happened! What happened was you almost died!" she waved his cup about.

"I'm getting better."

She blinked at him. "Did you just quote Monty Python?"

He did, but the look on her face had him second guessing admitting to it. "Maybe."

"Your mother was right, I want to smack the hell out of you and hold you close at the same time." Wearily she sat down in the chair next to him and laid her head on his stomach.
 

"You look like hell," he said, stroking her hair.

"It's your fault. You had to go be super dog and attack the feral and get bitten."

"I'm not a dog. What does the feral bite have to do with anything?"

"The bite poisoned your blood and tissue causing you to rot."

Colton sucked in his breath. "I was rotting?"

"Yes, Gavriel had to donate blood and tissue to counteract the rapid decay to give your body a fighting chance. Oh, by the way, he said we're tied to him for eternity now." She yawned.

"If I had to pick a vampire to be tied to, he would be it," Colton admitted.

"You told me to tell you, when you hurt me. Well this, you getting hurt and almost dying, hurt me. It almost destroyed me." Rheia turned her face and buried her face in his side.

"You know that this is part of my job. Do you want me to give up being in Alpha?"

Rheia sat up and shook her head. "No, but next time, let the men with projectile weapons kill the bad guy. Don't go after him with your fucking teeth!"

Colton grinned. "I hear and I obey."

Rheia gave him a sly smile. "You're in a good mood now, wait until your mother comes in. She's pissed at you, you know."

Colton racked his brain; her birthday wasn't until next year.

Rheia stared at him in astonishment. "You really have no idea why she's upset, do you?"

Colton shook his head.

"When were you planning on telling your parents you were mated and had a child?" Rheia asked.

Colton felt his stomach flip. "She's going to kill me."
 

"You'll live. Thank God, you'll live." She squeezed his hand.

Colton played with her fingers. "I saw you, in the darkness. At first I thought I was just dreaming again, but it was really you. It was weird because it was just like my dream. At first all I saw were your eyes, because you were wearing the mask and you were so anxious and worried. Then I saw your whole face and you were crying, and all I could smell was sickness and death."

"Before I met you, I had dreams with those images constantly, I thought they were telling me that you were sick and dying. I didn't realize it meant that I would almost die. If you hadn't been here, we would have lost Adam. Without you and Adam, I wouldn't have made it either. You saved me."

Rheia brought his hand to her lips and kissed him gently. "You're the one who saved me. Penny was the only light in my life until you. I'd closed my heart off to any potential love because I was afraid to lose them, like I lost my parents. You bulldozed right past all of my hesitations and simply loved me. You helped both Penny and me to smile again and to laugh. You're the one who healed my soul."

Colton growled. "We're a good match, huh? Gods, I want you so bad right now."

Rheia looked down the line of his body to where his erection was tenting the blankets. "Unbelievable. You were dying not two hours ago and now you're up and at 'em."

Colton wiggled his hips and leered at her. "I have my priorities in order."

"Colton!" Colton heard his mother's voice coming down the hall. He stared down at his cock and tried to think of anything to make it go down.

Rheia was chortling beside him and refused to see the horror of the situation. He cursed his disobedient dick and in a last ditch effort grabbed the pillow from behind his head and placed it in his lap. He slammed back on the mattress, jarring his injured shoulder.

"Motherfucker!" he growled.

The door opened. "Colton Marius Albright, watch your language. You're not too old for me to wash your mouth out with soap. If you're well enough to be concerned about putting a pillow in your lap, I won't feel guilty if I have to use that medical grade antiseptic."

"Yes, Mother. You'll never believe what happened. I found my mate." Colton gave her his best little boy grin.
 

Alice put her hands on her hips. "Yes dear, I know. I want to talk with you at great length about your poor communication skills."

Rheia stood and motioned for Alice to take her seat.
 

Colton stared up at his mate. "Don't go. We're a perfect match, remember?"

Rheia turned to the door. "I'm going back to the estate to shower, check on Penny and catch up on my sleep. You should be able to leave sometime tomorrow. Alice has volunteered to nurse you so I can finally get some rest. Have fun with your mother." She wiggled her fingers at him and shut the door behind her.

His mother looked at him and her eyes softened. "Are you in any pain?"

Colton wiggled a bit and slowly removed his pillow, when he saw he was in the clear he put the pillow back behind his head. "Not any more. It hurt like hell when I hit the mattress though."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Then you shouldn't have moved your pillow. Honestly Colton, you act like I haven't seen you walking around with an erection before. You might have forgotten the two decades you were in puberty, but I haven't."

"Mother! Please, never, ever, mention me and the word erection in the same sentence again." Colton shuddered. He looked around. "Where's Father?"

"He's sleeping now so he can relieve me later this evening. By tomorrow we'll take you back to the Alpha estate. We're both dying to meet your daughter. Really Colton, how could you forget to call us?" She sounded so hurt that Colton reached out and took her hand.

"It wasn't safe, Mama," he said simply.

"Oh my sweet boy, don't you know there isn't anything I wouldn't do for you? It's my job as your mother to protect you, not the other way around," she chided him.

Colton blinked and thought back to why Penny left the safety of the Alpha estate. There wasn't much a child wouldn't do for their parents either.

He looked his mother in the eye. "I know."

Her breath caught and she smiled down at him. "I guess you do, now. Welcome to parenthood."

"Love you, Mama."

"Love you, too, Colton. If you almost die again, I'll kill you."

"Yes, ma'am."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Meryn, Beth and Rheia laid blankets on the floor at the end of the hallway. Noah and Jaxon had the day off and were killing zombies on the X-Box downstairs, while Penny and Felix played tag in the hallway. Ryuu had set up an afternoon tea on the floor for the women and Rheia who were enjoying the lazy afternoon. Tomorrow would be pure chaos as the entire household prepared for the Midwinter's Ball, so she was thoroughly relishing this quiet time.

"Fuck!" one of the men shouted.

"Anyone hurt?" Rheia called out.

"We're good," Colton responded.

Rheia went back to her tea, inhaling the gentle fragrance of bergamot and spice.

"This was a wonderful idea. It's so peaceful." Beth leaned against the wall.

"Watch out!" The sound of something large falling from a great height reverberated down the hall.

"Colton?" Rheia yelled.

"That was my bad!" Darian shouted.

Rheia turned to Meryn. "Did you know Colton's middle name is Marius?"

Meryn choked on her tea. "Seriously? How'd that happen?"

Rheia chuckled at the memory of Colton's mother telling her the story. "Colton's father is an international business guru, he can apparently turn dirt into profits. Anyway, he was away on travel a few weeks before Colton was due, despite Alice begging him to stay home. After being home alone for so long, Alice got tired of being bored, so she got in her carriage and went to visit Adelaide for tea. She was just getting ready to leave when her water broke. In the end, Marius delivered Colton and, much to Robert's chagrin, she gave him, Marius as a middle name."

"It's why he feeds me. My father always hated visiting the McKenzie's; Marius would spoil me rotten. My mother unwittingly created quite a scandal naming me after House McKenzie's squire." Colton chuckled as he swaggered down the hallway. He held out his finger pouting. "I have a boo-boo."

Beth and Meryn went 'awwww' and Rheia rolled her eyes. Careful of their cups, Colton laid out on the floor between the three women and soaked up their attention. Beth dropped small chocolates in his mouth and Meryn offered him her tea. Rheia kissed his finger and shook her head at his antics.

Aiden came around the corner covered in flecks of paint.

"Colton! Get your mangy ass away from my mate and get back to your station. We're almost done. I'd like to be able to air out the room before Meryn has to sleep in here tonight," Aiden roared.

Colton hopped up and gave the women a salute. "Coming, fearless leader. Keep your fur on, because according to Meryn, you are fugly without it."

"Colton!" Aiden barked.

Rheia turned to Meryn. "Is it true you hit Aiden over the head with the back of his toilet?"

Meryn nodded. Beth stared at her wide eyed. "I K'O'd his ass the first day I met him."

Rheia laughed. "Didn't you hurt him?"

Meryn shook her head and lowered her voice. "He liked it. Secretly he's a... a... mannequin... a machinist... Beth what word am I trying to say?"

Beth was laughing too hard to answer.

"Meryn! Quit telling them I'm a masochist and come check out this paint color for the nursery," Aiden yelled from down the hall.

Rheia laughed along with Beth, Meryn was absolutely crazy, but that was part of her charm. Meryn got up and then whispered down at them. "Whoocha." She pulled her hand back and made a whipping motion.

"Meryn!" Aiden yelled again.

Meryn stood up straight. "That is Mistress to you, slave."

Colton's head popped around the corner with the biggest grin Rheia had ever seen on his face. "Hey babe, Aiden is turning purple, that can't be healthy."

Meryn walked past him. "He'll be fine. He's such a drama bear."

Colton held out his hand to Rheia. "Come see. We're done with Penny's room."

Rheia, Beth and Penny hurried down the hallway. Since the trainees now had their own barracks, they had converted the guest suite adjacent to Colton's suite into Penny's new room. Walking through the door Penny literally began to bounce up and down all over the room. The men had lost their minds. They had built her bed into a princess tower, complete with real ivy. Rows of bookshelves filled with fairy tales and stuffed animals lined one wall. Rheia snorted at the small chalkboard sign that read "Mommies and Papas Only" next to her bed. They had made the entire length of another wall a chalkboard, with buckets and buckets of colored chalk. Everything was done in greens and teals instead of pinks and purples, but it still looked dainty and feminine. In one corner Ryuu was putting the finishing touches on a small bistro style table with its own tea set.