She didn’t hear him, she was asleep.
Chapter 14
Edric’s phone rang early that morning, and he grabbed it off the nightstand, answering it quickly, hoping not to disturb Jillian, but she stirred as he answered.
“Alpha, we have bad news.”
“Spit it out soldier.” It was one of the Coast Guard.
“We couldn’t find any bodies. The storm last night must have swept them all away.”
“What about the boat?”
“Underwater sir. We are sending in a dive team to see if there are any bodies on board.”
“Keep me updated.”
“Yes sir,” the man said and hung up.
“I’m sorry,” Jillian whispered.
“It is not your fault Jillian, I just wish someone had listened,” he sighed.
She nodded sadly, and he kissed her lips. He could see the deep sorrow in her eyes and knew that she would be a very good Luna. She cared deeply for her people.
“I want to take you home today if that is okay.”
“Okay, I am ready,” she said, kissing him.
“It is very interesting how quick you healed,” Edric told her, “if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were part wolf.”
“Yes, I am sure you are disappointed that I’m not.”
He kissed her, making her toes curl. “I will never be disappointed in you my love,” he promised. “Come on, let’s get you up and dressed. I’ll let the men know we are ready to go home.”
“Do I get normal food?” she asked, making him laugh.
“Of course love, whatever you want, like lots of Jell-O,” he teased, and then he got hit with a pillow.
He pulled her to him and tickled her. “Okay, okay,” she gasped out. “I surrender.”
“Oh really,” he whispered against her lips, kissing her softly.
“Not here Alpha,” she said, pushing him away, “we wouldn’t want to embarrass ourselves.”
He grinned. “I wouldn’t be embarrassed at all.”
“I don’t want anyone looking at your sexy bod though, except me,” she told him.
“You think I am sexy do you?” he asked, pulling her in for another hot kiss.
She sighed against him, she sure loved his kisses. She could stay in his arms all day she decided, but then a knock sounded on the door.
Edric pulled away. “Come in,” he said.
Emerson walked in, and raised an eyebrow, a smirk on his lips.
“We are ready to go whenever you are Alpha.”
“Give us a few Emerson.”
“Yes, Alpha,” he smirked and closed the door behind him
“Now where were we,” Edric said, pulling Jillian on top of him.
She laughed. “Not right now Mister, we don’t need anyone hearing us.”
“You don’t want them to hear my wild lovemaking skills?” he teased.
She blushed and he laughed, kissing her. “Very well love, I’ll save it for later.”
He pushed her off of him gently. She headed to the bathroom where clothes were waiting for her. She showered and dressed and then walked out.
Edric was on the phone, a frown on his face. “It can’t be changed?” he was asking someone.
“Fine, but it had better be short.”
He hung up and pulled Jillian to him, laying a kiss on her lips. “I have a meeting that I have to go to, one of the Alpha’s in the city over wants to discuss better protection for his pack.”
“Oh, okay.”
“I won’t be gone long. Why don’t you call your friend and see if she wants to go shopping. I can drop you off at the mall on my way to my meeting.”
“What day is it?” she asked him.
“Saturday,” he told her.
“Wow, I’ve been in here six days,” she whispered, shaking her head.
“Yes, love.”
“You want me to go shopping?”
“Yes, pick out anything you want.”
“Anything?” she asked cheekily.
“Anything within reason,” he chuckled. “No new sports car, or a million dollar diamond necklace.”
“Sure, spoil my fun,” she smiled at him.
He knew she would never do that anyway.
He pulled out a credit card and handed it to her. “I suggest you go and get you a cell phone also. Since I can’t communicate with you here,” he said, pointing to his head, “I would like to know where you are if you need me.”
She nodded, agreeing. He handed her his phone. “Call your friend, I’ll meet you out by the nurse’s desk in a few. I need to go and sign your release papers.” He kissed her then left the room.
Jillian dialed her friend’s number.
”Hello?”
“Hi, Kim.”
“Hey Jillian, I mean Luna,” she said. “How are you doing?”
“I’m okay, as a matter of fact, I am being released to go home, but Edric has a meeting in the city. He was wondering if I wanted to take you shopping while he is in his meeting.”
“Of course girl. That sounds awesome, are you up to it?”
“Of course, are you?”
“You had better believe it.”
“Sweet. Meet me in an hour in front of the mall.”
“Okay, see you then my friend and Luna,” Kimberly said, then hung up.
Jillian headed into the hall, a smile on her face. It would be nice to hang out with her friend.
“Ready love?” Edric asked her.
“Yes,” she told him.
He tucked an arm about her waist, his guards taking up position behind him. Warren and Emerson were also there and fell into step behind the guards.
All the wolves in the hospital hall that saw them bowed their head in fealty to her and to their Alpha.
Jillian nodded back. It would be difficult getting used to that. Edric nodded at all of them, glad they were showing respect to their Luna.
Edric helped her into the limo, then he climbed in along with his two guards. Emerson drove with Warren by him.
“Luna, I have not properly introduced my guards,” Edric told her. “This is Orson and Wes.”
“A pleasure,” she nodded at them.
“The pleasure is all ours,” Orson said to her. “We are glad that our Alpha has found such a caring and kind mate.”
“Thank you.”
“I am sending Orson and Wes to the mall with you.”
“But why?”
“Because, you are the Luna, and I don’t trust anyone,” he pointed out.
“You think someone would try and hurt me?”
“I would not put it past anyone, especially if they were trying to get to me,” he told her.
“Oh, I didn’t think of that,” she said as she kissed him. “Thank you for thinking of my safety.”
“You are welcome.”
“What about you? Don’t you need guards?”
“I will be fine. I’m not to worried about today.” He exchanged a glance with his guards, who nodded. Jillian hated that she couldn’t mind link with him. If only she was like him.
“I invited your parents over to dinner tonight,” Edric then told her. “I wanted a welcoming home dinner for you.”
“Oh, that’s sweet of you,” Jillian smiled at him. He smiled softly at her, loving how her smiles lit up her face. He loved making her happy.
Jillian then sat there and studied the guards.
They were both tall and well-built men. One had blonde hair, the other strawberry blonde hair, and both had blue eyes.
“Are you brothers?” Jillian asked them.
Wes nodded. “We are.”
“Have you always been Edric’s guards?”
“For about five years,” Orson replied.
“How come I rarely see you?”
“Because we like to follow at a distance. We don’t want anyone knowing we are there, but if something happens, then we can step in to help.”
“Oh. So you have been following Edric
the whole time I have known him?”
“For the most part,” Orson said. “Not to the school, but everywhere else.”
“Oh. Do you like your jobs?”
“Luna, why are you asking them that?” Edric said, smiling at her. “You know they are going to answer yes in front of me.”
The men grinned. Orson nodded. “Yes, we do like our jobs, Luna,” he winked.
She laughed, making Edric shake his head.
Almost an hour later they pulled up to the mall. Edric’s phone rang just as they did, and Jillian spotted Kimberly waiting on the stairs to the entrance.
“Edric,” he answered. “Yes, we will be there in 10.”
He hung up and then kissed Jillian. “Have fun,” he told her.
She nodded and got out of the limo, the two guards following.
She met Kimberly on the steps, who hugged her.
“Looking good girl. So who are the hunks?” she teased.
The men ignored her.
“My guards. Well, actually, the Alpha’s guards, but he is loaning them to me today.”
Orson laughed but hid it with a cough.
“Hmm, too bad I am mated, they are handsome,” Kimberly teased the men, who both flushed.
“Enough out of you Missy,” Jillian said, grabbing her friend’s arm. “Speaking of mates, where is yours?”
“I told him I was going shopping with you, he opted to stay home,” she grinned. “He brought me and dropped me off, so if I could get a ride home with you?”
“Of course,” Jillian nodded.
“We need to go to the phone store first, Edric thinks I need a phone since I can’t mind link like the rest of you,” Jillian told Kimberly.
“Sure, no problem,” Kimberly shrugged.
Almost an hour later, she was set with her new phone, and then the two girls went into a clothing store.
The two men stayed outside, taking up sentry positions.
“Why are they staying out there?” Kimberly asked Jillian, they had stayed outside the phone store also.
“Who knows, but I think they are drawing more attention to us,” Jillian pointed out as people walked by, checking out the burly men and wondering why they were guarding the store.
“They probably think someone famous is in here,” Kimberly laughed.
“Yes, we are so famous,” Jillian smiled.
“You are to me,” Kimberly said, throwing her arms about her friend, hugging her tight and crying. “You saved my life, I will never be able to repay you.”
“I don’t expect it,” Jillian told her, wiping at her own tears. “You are my friend, my only friend, and I didn’t want you to die.”
“But you almost did,” Kimberly whispered, “all because you wanted to save me.”
“What can I say, you are worth saving,” Jillian told her. “I just feel so awful about the others who died, and then the yacht yesterday that sank in the storm.”
“Oh yeah. I heard about it on the news this morning, and that we lost even more classmates,” Kimberly said sadly.
“I feel awful. Almost sixty students dead in the last week,” Jillian whispered. “It’s almost as if something is going on.”
“You don’t think someone wants us dead, do you?” Kimberly gasped.
“I don’t know. I just hope that no one else dies,” Jillian sighed. “Now enough with the morbid, we are supposed to be shopping, right?”
Kimberly nodded. “Right.” She held up a cute pink top. “What about something like this, for you? I think we need to update that wardrobe of yours, besides t-shirts and jeans,” she teased.
“I have dresses,” Jillian pointed out.
“Sure, but do you have cute skirts and blouses?”
“No, I guess not.”
“Well then, let us shop,” Kimberly grinned.
Two hours later the girls went to the food court to eat, and then went to a few more stores to shop. Just as they finished, Orson approached her. “The Alpha is on his way back to the mall, wondering if you girls were finished?”
“Yes, I think we are done,” Jillian nodded. She was tired. She probably wasn’t totally up to par anyways. She had just gotten out of the hospital that morning after all.
The four of them headed to the mall doors, the girls loaded with bags. They walked out and headed down the stairs to wait for the limo to pull up.
As Jillian walked down the stairs, a man was walking up the stairs. He nodded at Jillian, and then he suddenly grabbed her around the neck, and pointed a gun at her head.
“Tell your guards to back off, or you die,” he growled in her ear.
“No, I am not going to tell them to back off,” she hissed at him. “I would rather them kill you.”
“Let her go, now,” Orson threatened, stepping in front of the man, a gun pointed at the man’s head.
“No. The Luna is mine, and if you two try to stop me, she dies,” he pointed out. He started to drag Jillian down the stairs, her arms still full of bags.
She dropped the bags right in front of the guys feet, making him stumble, but he righted himself and hit Jillian in the head with his gun, making her cry out in pain.
“Do that again, and you die right here,” he told her, his gun jammed into her ribs.
Jillian could feel blood trickling down the side of her head where he had hit her. She was amazed she hadn’t passed out.
“Why do you want me?” she whispered.
“Because, your Alpha owes me,” he chuckled, but then growled in surprise as she suddenly fell. He stumbled and tried to pick her back up, but Orson let off a shot, and hit the man in the center of his head. He fell on top of Jillian, just as the limo pulled up.
Edric jumped out of the car and up the stairs.
“What the hell happened?” he growled, moving the dead man off of his Luna. He didn’t even look at his face to see if it was someone he knew. Jillian’s shirt was covered in blood, and he cussed.
“He was trying to kidnap her,” Wes ground out, kneeling down by Jillian.
“Luna,” Edric whispered.
She opened her eyes. “Edric,” she sighed.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked her.
“He pistol whipped me,” she said.
He nodded, and picked her up into his arms. “Orson, Wes, clean up this mess, I am taking her to the hospital.”
The men nodded and Edric scooted back into the limo, Kimberly beside him.
“I am coming too, that is my best friend,” she stated.
“Gun it Emerson,” Edric told him.
“What happened back there,” Edric asked Jillian softly, as he checked her head.
She gasped in pain, but the pain was soon gone, and she relaxed against him.
“I don’t know. We were coming out of the mall, he was coming up the stairs and suddenly grabbed me, putting a gun to my head. He told me that you owed him, so he was going to take me,” she whispered.
“Crap,” Edric said. “Warren, call Wes, have him take a photo of the guy and send it to my phone. I want to see who would try and kidnap my wife. I didn’t even look at him.”
“Yes Alpha,” he said, pulling out his cell phone.
“We don’t need the hospital,” Jillian said, sitting up in Edric’s arm. “I feel better.”
“You are wounded Luna, you need to be checked out.”
“But I feel okay now,” she said.
He looked at her head, brushing her hair aside where she had been hit.
He frowned. “The cut on your head is gone.”
“I know. I told you I feel okay.”
“I should still have you looked at,” he said, “you might have re-injured yourself when that guy fell on you.”
“Yes Alpha,” she sighed, not wanting to argue, and feeling tired.
“I just can’t keep you out of trouble,” he noted.
“I know, whatever shall we do about it?” she teased.
“Lock you in my tower perhaps?” he grinned.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned.
His phone pinged then and he looked at it. He swore and swore again.
“Alpha, what’s wrong?” Warren asked him, seeing the grave look on his face.
“Kelson,” was all he said.
“Not good,” Emerson replied. Warren looked worried.
“Who is that?” Jillian asked him.
“My old Beta.”
“Your old Beta?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted to be Alpha, and he almost killed me for the position.”
“Oh. So why is he still alive?”
“Because I was stupid and let him live on the promise he would never show his face around me again.”
“Now he is dead.”
“Yes, and good riddance,” he growled. “But what the hell was he doing trying to kidnap you?”
“That is the question of the hour,” Warren answered, “and how did he know where Jillian was, and that she is your Luna?”
Chapter 15
Emerson pulled up to the Emergency entrance, and two nurses walked out with a stretcher between them. Edric helped Jillian out and made her lay on the stretcher, then he, Warren, and Kimberly followed, as Emerson headed to park the limo.
The nurses put Jillian into a room and Dr. Hess walked in, shaking his head. “Didn’t we just discharge you this morning, Luna?”
Jillian grinned. “You did, but I decided to have a bit more fun before I headed home.”
Edric shook his head at Jillian’s smart remark.
Dr. Hess looked at Jillian’s head and her eyes for signs of a concussion. “This is remarkable, young lady. You look healed already.”
“I am. But the Alpha wanted to make sure I didn’t reinjure myself from the accident a few days ago.”
He nodded. “I’ll take you to x-ray then,” and he and the nurses pushed Jillian out of the room and down the hall to x-ray.
Emerson joined the others in the room while they waited to see how Jillian was.
Edric looked to his men.
“I can’t believe Kelson tried to kill my Luna,” he mind linked them. He didn’t want Kimberly listening in.
“Why?” Emerson asked. “And how did he know that you were mated?”
“How did he know she was there? And he called her Luna,” Edric frowned.
“We had better look and see what he has been up too,” Warren replied. “He might have formed his own pack.”
The Alpha King and his Human Mate Page 13