The Wolf's Mate Book 1: Jason & Cadence (16 page)

The normally 30 minute drive to Mt. Carmel
Methodist Hospital took Bo less than 15 and Michael led Jason at a
dead run into the hospital. His parents were in the lobby and so
were Jake and Renee. Renee and his mother had been crying, faces
red and blotchy.

“News?” He demanded, trying to tamp the panic
that kept surging like a tidal wave.

“She hasn’t woken up yet, son.” His dad said
in that all too soothing tone that meant he was worried.

“She will, though. She’s a fighter.” His mom
sniffled, and he put his arm around her shoulders to offer comfort,
but what he wanted was to be comforted himself.

“I know she is, mom. Can I talk to the
doctor?”

Jake said, “Yeah, he was waiting for you to
get here.”

“He was?” He followed Jake to the reception
desk.

“Jason, you’re her mate. You know as well as
I do that it makes you her husband for all intents and purposes. No
one will say any differently. Her care is in your hands, the way it
was supposed to be.”

With barely a second to think over what Jake
had said, her doctor appeared and Jake went back to the waiting
room. Shaking hands, the doctor introduced himself as Carl Delray.
“She’s in remarkably good shape considering she went through a
plate glass window. She’s enough wolf to heal fast. If she’d been
completely human the blood loss would have been far too traumatic.
Her vitals are good, and there’s nothing keeping her unconscious. I
believe it’s her body’s way of helping her heal.”

“So she’s, there’s no serious head
injury?”

“No. No one is sure what she hit her head on,
there was a bruise but it’s all but faded now. Possibly a piece of
furniture within the garage, or the window. With all that glass,
it’s remarkable she had no stabbing, serious wounds. The cuts were
many, but shallow. She is lucky.”

That was the understatement of the century.
“How long before she wakes up?”

“Don’t know. Could be within a few hours,
could be a day or two. She’s been through an MRI and a CT Scan.
Everything is fine. She’s just not conscious yet.”

He swallowed at the lump again. “Can I see
her?”

“Of course, of course, Mr. Gerrick, she’s in
402, up on the fourth floor.” He shook his hand again, but all he
could think about was how lucky he felt. He waited until he felt
like he could talk to his family again, and then he repeated
everything the doctor said.

“Give me like 20 minutes and then you can
come up and see her, okay?” He was positive he was going to lose it
and he didn’t want to do that with any witnesses.

The room was dark and empty except for the
overhead light shining on the monitoring equipment next to the
corner bed. As he crossed the room, he let his eyes go up the bed
slowly and when he reached her face, he did lose it. Like he
expected. Hot tears welled in his eyes and spilled over, and he
dropped to his knees next to the bed and took her hand gently in
his and cried for the first time in many years. He let himself cry
for a short time and then he fought to regain his control and
won.

He wiped his eyes with a tissue and blew his
nose and then gave an assessing look at his mate. Her face was cut,
little red slashes down one side of her face and neck and he saw
her arms were cut. It was almost like she had thrown her arms up to
protect herself. Smoothing back her hair, he pressed a gentle kiss
to her forehead and said quietly, “I’m here, love. Please wake up
for me. I need to tell you so much. Please.”

He squeezed her fingers lightly, and
straightened, looking down at her. She looked pale, sunken, her
hair fanned out on the white pillow and tubes coming out of her
hand. He was joined by his family and Jake and Renee, and they all
kissed her on the forehead and talked to her like she was right
there, and it was all that Jason could do to stop from losing it
all over again. This was family. This was what she’d wanted all
along. People that she loved to rally around her and support her.
He’d made so many mistakes. He was going to spend his life making
up for all of them.

“J, come here for a sec.” Michael said,
making a motion with his head towards the door. Linus and Fritz
were standing in the doorway.

He left her with a last glance and went out
into the hallway. Fritz looked like he was going to curl up in a
ball and cry but before Jason could say anything, Linus said, “It’s
not what you think, Jason. It’s not what anyone thinks.”

Linus had been coming to the front of the
store to lock up after working late on a project. He saw movement
across the street in the park and stopped to look. Cadence ran out
of the park and straight into the path of the truck. He ran to the
door, yelling for her, but Chris reached her first and rammed into
her with his shoulder and she hit the window with such force it
shattered. Linus called the squad immediately and used clean shop
towels and his own shirt to try to stop the bleeding for some of
the larger gashes.

“Why did she run into the street? I don’t
understand.” He cracked his neck in frustration.

“Because Chris was chasing her.” Linus folded
his arms and everything about him screamed that he wanted to hurt
Chris. He narrowed his eyes at his fourth. “You saw it? They
weren’t just…playing chase?”

“She was scared, man, and he was not playing
predator, he was being one. It wasn’t Fritz’s fault; Chris chased
her into the street.” Linus growled.

Fritz took a deep breath. “She came out of
the park so fast, Jason. I hit the brakes and then Chris threw
himself at her and she was flying. And then he was gone.”

“Gone?”

Linus answered, “No one’s seen him. He stayed
long enough to ask if she was alive and say that they were going
for a walk and she ran out into the street. I looked down at her
for a minute and then when I looked up he was gone. He’s guilty as
fuck. He hurt our alpha.” His voice ended on a growl.

Michael growled followed by Fritz, and then
Jason let his wolf growl, too. After settling, he ran his hands
through his hair a few times and then said, “We do nothing for now.
But I want him found. Get Trick up to date; have him run his
plates, cell, whatever. When she wakes up and can tell me what
happened, I want him where I can get to him.” Patrick Flannigan,
aka Trick, was chief of police, human, and married to a she-wolf
from Jason’s pack. He’d gladly step in for anything they
needed.

Linus snapped into gear and Fritz followed,
but not before apologizing. Jason clapped the young wolf on the
back reassuringly. “I don’t hold you responsible, Fritz, and
neither will Cadence.” Relief washed over his features and he
trotted after Linus who was already on the phone.

“Want me to stick around?” Michael asked.

“No. Thanks, though. I’ll stick it out until
she’s awake. Call the insurance company, the number’s on the
bulletin board in the break room on a business card, and get some
of the guys in to put up a tarp or something to keep the debris out
of the waiting room. And bring me some clothes, later.”

“You got it.” Michael turned away and then
turned back. Dropping his voice to a whisper he said, “I’ve never
been so scared in my life. When Linus called, I, well, I’m glad
she’s going to be okay. As soon as she’s awake and okay, please
don’t waste another second with her.”

“I won’t, brother.”

Jake and Renee came out into the hallway,
followed by his parents. His mother and Renee kissed him and asked
for phone call updates, which he promised to provide. His father
squeezed his shoulder and told him to call if he needed anything,
anytime. And then it was just him and Jake. Two alphas.

“I’m sorry this happened, Jason. I truly am.
If you need anything, please let me know.”

“Thanks, Jake.”

He looked into the dark room for a moment and
then said, “When you find him, I’d appreciate a heads up.”

“I’m not going to do anything until she’s
conscious. But I will keep you in the loop.”

Jake could not protect Chris from this
situation. If what Linus saw was the truth, if Cadence confirmed
it, then Chris had created a scenario in which the alpha of another
pack was harmed. That carried serious consequences with it.

He pulled a chair up to her bedside and
reached out for the hand that didn’t have tubes and monitors hooked
up to it. Rubbing his thumb back and forth absently, he kicked his
feet up on the windowsill and waited for the sun to come up.

Sleeping in hospitals was no easy trick, and
his six foot plus frame was not meant to be stretched between an
uncomfortable chair and a narrow ledge. Not that you could really
sleep in a hospital anyway. Too much commotion. Too many strange
smells. And every time his eyes shut, someone opened the door to
check on her. Not that he minded that part. She was looking much
better. What that meant for her waking up, he didn’t know, but he
desperately wanted to see her pretty eyes again.

Michael brought a change of clothes for him
and showed him pictures of the garage on his cell. Blood pooled on
the garage floor like someone had thrown a gallon of red paint
around and the glass caught the overhead lights like diamonds. The
insurance company cut a check on the spot for a replacement window,
and they were closed for the next few days until everything was
cleaned up and replaced. At the moment, he could care less about
the garage. The only thing that mattered in the universe was lying
unconscious on a hospital bed.

In the small bathroom in the room, he cleaned
up with a towel and a miniature bottle of body wash, and changed
into fresh clothes. Linus and Callie appeared with a white paper
sack and a large cup of coffee.

Taking one of the six breakfast bagel
sandwiches, Jason stretched his legs and eyed his mate while Callie
cried quietly and Michael comforted her. He wished to hell she’d
wake up. He’d give his right fang to hear her snarky comebacks and
witty barbs.

“You’ll make him pay, won’t you, Jason? For
this?” Callie wiped angrily at her eyes. Jason had never seen her
so raw and full of rage.

Choosing his words carefully, he said, “He
won’t go unpunished.”

“Good.” She smoothed her shirt and sighed.
“Is there anything I can do?”

“Yeah, actually. Go to her house and pack two
bags for her. A few days’ of clothes, whatever she needs. One of
them comes here for when she wakes up, and the other goes to my
place. Michael will take you.”

Michael tossed his wrapper in the trash. “Not
your place anymore, dude.”

He grinned. “Right. Our place.”

“Hell yeah.” Michael returned his grin, and
put his arm around Callie and as Linus left with them, he was alone
again, waiting.

At lunchtime, his parents showed up and his
mother insisted he go eat lunch in the cafeteria and she stayed
with her. By dinnertime, Callie and Michael had returned with her
bag and they ate pizza in the room. When night fell and he was
alone with her again, he began chanting in a low voice for her to
wake up. His beast was angry, to have her so close and injured, and
unable to provide comfort, and the unhappy growl that came from his
throat made her hand squeeze his.

He stared at her hand in shock. She’d reacted
to his wolf! Dialing into his beast, he let him loose enough so
that his body scent changed from his regular human scent to the
musky, fall woods scent of wolf, and he picked up her hand and
pressed her wrist to his throat and growled. His other hand he
passed over her face again and again, hoping to draw her forward
with his scent and his beast.

She moaned softly and shifted, groaning
louder, and he stopped growling and said, “Sweetheart? Cades?”

The sweetest words he’d heard from her to
date were, “Ah, fuck! Where am I?”

He laughed and blinked at the tears of
happiness that threatened. He didn’t mind if she saw him cry. It
would show her how much he valued her. He leaned over her so she
didn’t have to sit up and he smiled, “You’re in the hospital. Don’t
move too much, you were really hurt. Let me call the doc.”

Using the call button, he rang for the doctor
and kissed her on the forehead. “I’m so fucking glad you’re
awake.”

“How long, how long was I out for?” Her voice
was a low rasp.

“Not quite a day. It’s about 7:30 on Sunday
night. You scared the piss out of me, sweet, I won’t lie.”

She blinked several times and looked like she
was going to say something, but the door opened and the doctor came
in. After about ten minutes of looking her over, he told the nurse
to get her on the liquid diet until breakfast, and then to see how
she felt.

“She may be able to head home on Tuesday, if
someone can stay with her.”

“It’s no problem.”

“Glad you’re back with us, Mrs. Gerrick.” The
doctor and nurse left them alone.

Had she caught that? He looked down at her
and she was giving him a hard stare and then her eyes went glossy
and she started to cry. With some slow movements, he managed to
help her sit up so she could cry on his shoulder. She leaned into
him heavily, her arms loose at her sides, but she wanted to be held
and comforted and finally he could do that for her. He stroked her
hair and murmured soft things to her until she settled down and her
shaking sobs quieted.

“I’m so sorry, Cades.”

“What are you sorry for?”

“Because I should have been there for you. I
wanted to be at the bar anyway, to tell you I was sorry for acting
like such a dick when I found out you were going out with him
again. I had no right to treat you that way.”

“You did, though, you had every right. I
remember now, Jas.” She looked up at him with those bright emerald
eyes and he could see that she did know. Hallelujah!

“What do you remember, sweet?” Just to be
sure.

“You tackled me, when we were kids and you
bit my neck. I always thought the story about the rosebush didn’t
make sense but it seemed like all I could think of when I thought
of them. And my father was the only one that ever asked about them,
except for a girl in college. You made me your mate back then,
right?”