I wanted this thing between us to work more than I’d ever wanted anything else in my entire life. If we were going to make it, I’d have to accept his apology, and we’d have to move past it. There just wasn’t another option.
I sighed again and nodded. “I forgive you.”
His smile was so wide and beautiful, I almost had to look away. Without warning, he tugged me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. Digging his face into the crook of my neck, he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, blowing strands of my hair across my face.
“I love you and I missed you so much. I’m sorry about today, but I promise to do better in the future. As long as you’ll stick by my side, I’ll do anything to keep you there.”
Those tears that were previously being held at bay finally freed themselves and slid down my cheeks. He froze in place before pulling away from me. His expression fell as his hands cupped my face and wiped at the salty trails.
“Baby, why are you crying?”
I sniffed as I tried to get myself under control. “I don’t know.”
He chuckled and tugged me into his chest again, pressing kiss after kiss to the top of my head. “Please don’t cry. You know it kills me when you do.”
I took a deep breath and willed the moisture from my eyes. When I thought I had myself under control, I pulled away so I could look at him. “So, you’re not going to try to make me quit my job?”
His eyes turned wary. “Not quit, no.”
I raised a brow. “Why do I hear a but in there?”
He sighed and looked away before meeting my gaze again. “I was hoping you’d compromise with me.”
I pursed my lips as I eyed him. “I suppose I’d be willing to compromise, but it depends on what you want.”
His eyes darted back and forth between mine for a long time before he spoke again. “Will you let me take you to and from work from now on? That way I know you’re getting there safely. It’ll make me feel a lot better.”
I thought that through carefully, knowing I only had one chance to get this right. Would it be such a big deal to let him drive me? I know I said I didn’t want to be carted around by Wyatt, but things had changed that morning. If this would ease some of his fears and make him less crazy, would it be too much to agree to?
I took a deep breath and nodded. “I accept your terms.”
His smile was wide before he kissed my mouth. When he finally pulled away, the wary look was back on his face. “Can I ask you for one favor, though?”
I tilted my head to the side. “What is it?”
“Will you work from home tomorrow? You can go back to the office on Monday like usual, but I’d just feel better if you spent tomorrow with me. Besides, I’ve missed you so much, I’d love to have a whole day with you.”
I thought that one through, too, but it didn’t take me long.
“Okay. I’ll talk to Callie and let her know I’m working from home tomorrow. They shouldn’t need me in the office, anyway.”
He smiled again and tugged me against his chest. “Thank you, baby,” he breathed into my hair.
Now that the worst was behind us, I let myself melt into his embrace. It felt like he’d been gone so much longer than he was, and I was just happy to be in his arms. When my stomach growled, I knew there’d be no hiding it from Abraham.
He pulled away from me. “You didn’t eat dinner.”
I shrugged. “Wasn’t really hungry.”
He grabbed my hips and lifted us both to our feet before taking my hand. “Well, you’re hungry now. Let’s go see what’s left-over from dinner.”
I let him lead me into the kitchen and, to our surprise, there was actually some food left. That was probably because the residents of the lodge had swelled, and the kitchen staff had to make so much more food. Thankfully, they overdid it, but that meant we’d get a good meal.
It had been a while since I’d eaten more than a few bites and I made up for it that night. After my second helping, I finally had to turn Ms. Elsie away. I swear, that woman would have fed me until I popped if I let her.
When we’d had our fill, the day caught up with me and I found I could barely keep my eyes open. I trudged up the stairs with Abraham’s arm wrapped around my shoulders, but by the time we made it to the second landing, he’d had enough. He turned and scooped me into his arms and, for once, I was too tired to protest.
He carried me right to our bed and gently placed me under the covers before crawling in himself. I yawned so hard I almost unhinged my jaw, and Abraham laughed while he ran a hand down my cheek.
“I missed you so much,” he whispered.
I turned to him with a soft smile and closed my eyes as he threaded his fingers through my hair. “I missed you too, Abraham.” I yawned again. “Did you see all the packs you wanted to?”
I cracked an eye open and saw him shrug his big shoulders. “I visited as many as I needed to. From here on out, I’ll contact other packs by phone and hope they’ll be as sympathetic as the others.” Another yawn wracked my body, and he chuckled before leaning over and pressing a kiss to my lips. “You’re so tired, baby. Let’s talk about this in the morning.”
I meant to tell him okay or sure or I love you, but I was too tired to do anything more than sigh and let the blackness consume me. Tomorrow was a brand new day. One where I’d have my fiancé back. One where I wouldn’t have to deal with the debilitating sickness anymore. There were infinite possibilities, and as it turned out, I wasn’t prepared for any of them.
Chapter 41
I woke up the next morning, blissfully warm in my fiancé’s arms. Unfortunately, the contentment lasted only a few minutes before the nausea rose in my system. Knowing I had only seconds, I jumped from the bed and raced to the bathroom, making it to the toilet just in time.
“El?” Abraham’s voice called from the bedroom, but I was too busy being sick to answer him.
Moments later, I registered his presence in the bathroom with me before his hands were pulling my hair away from my face. I heaved and heaved as last night’s dinner made a second appearance.
What felt like hours later, but was probably only minutes, my stomach felt like it would hold for a little while and I sat back against the wall. Abraham’s dark blue eyes were worried as he crouched next to me.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he passed me a wet rag.
I wiped my face as I fought to catch my breath. “I don’t know. I’ve been like this for days. I thought it was from missing you, but you’re back and I’m still sick.”
As the words tumbled from my mouth, my stomach sank at the realization.
The whole time, I thought I’d been so sick because we really were fated. Now that he was back, and I was still ill, it looked like it had nothing to do with him.
That meant we weren’t really fated.
Tears swam to my eyes as that sank in.
I’d gone back and forth for weeks, convincing myself it was one way and then being sure it was the other. Finally, I thought I had it right. I figured my sickness was irrefutable proof that we were fated, but now I knew that wasn’t the truth.
We really weren’t fated, and Abraham had been wrong all along.
Warm tears raced down my face as I struggled with the news. Abraham crawled closer and cupped his hands around my jaw. “Baby, why are you crying? What’s going on?”
I’d kept this from him for so long, battling my fears in private, but I couldn’t do it anymore. I couldn’t hide how devastated I was.
“We’re not fated!” I wailed, my voice hoarse with the tears still streaming down my face.
He rocked backward at my words before gripping me tighter. “What are you talking about? Of course we’re fated.”
“No, we’re not! There’s no way for a bitten wolf to be the fated mate of a born wolf. You know that, I know that,
everyone knows that!” I cried.
He shook his head and sat on the cold tiles next to me before pulling my shaking body onto his lap. Wrapping his arms around me, he gently rocked us back and forth while his hands rubbed my back.
“Baby, I don’t care if it’s never happened before because it’s happened now. I know you’re my fated mate. I’ve known since the moment I met you. How can you think we’re not?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense! We’ve never made sense!”
He sighed and kissed the top of my head. “El, everything makes sense when I’m with you. The whole world aligns the moment I’m in your presence. I know we’re fated. There’s no other possibility.”
I sniffed and hiccupped as I tried to get myself under control. “I had Callie do some research and she couldn’t find anything.”
He froze for a moment before resuming his rocking motion. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”
I hiccupped again. “I didn’t want to hurt you,” I said softly.
He sighed again and squeezed me tighter. “Baby, if you’d told me you were having doubts, I could have helped. I could have made it better.”
I pulled away, so I could look in his eyes. “How can you make this better?”
He cupped my face and smiled. “I could have reminded you of all the reasons why I know we’re fated.”
I sniffed and took a deep breath. “Like what?”
He pulled my head to his chest again so I could feel his words rumbling out of him. “Like how the moment you opened your beautiful brown eyes in the woods that night I found you, I knew right away. My heart yearned for you in that instant. Like it’d found its other half, and it was lying in a broken heap right in front of me.” He ran his fingers through my hair and cupped the back of my head. “I could remind you of how sick we both get when we’re apart–”
“But I’m still sick,” I interrupted. “How could it have been the fated mates magic making me sick when I’m still throwing up even though you’re here?”
“Well, what about me? I was so sick the whole time I was gone, I could barely get out of bed in the morning. But as soon as I got within a mile of the lodge, I started to feel like myself again. How do you explain that?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He sighed and pulled me away so he could look in my eyes again. “El, I know you can feel me.” He placed his hand over my heart. “In here. Just like I can feel you. Do you think the average couple can do that?”
I looked away and shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
He chuckled and grasped my chin to turn my face back toward him. “They can’t, but we can. That’s because we’re fated. We’re meant to be together. I’ve always known this, and I know you know it too.”
Tears flooded my eyes again and raced down my face before I could stop them. “Then why am I still sick even though you’re here?”
His face fell and the lines around his eyes deepened. “I don’t know, El, but it’s worrying me. Maybe you should go see Doc Monroe today.”
I took several deep breaths as I tried to get myself under control again. Abraham’s words tugged at me in a way I hadn’t expected. Everything he was saying was true. I did feel him deep inside of me. I did feel ill every time he was away.
But the question remained: why was I still sick?
I sighed and relaxed into his hold again. “I’ll go see him after breakfast.”
Abraham let out a deep breath and kissed the top of my head. “That would make me feel a lot better. I’ll call and let him know to expect you.”
I nodded but didn’t answer him. I had too many thoughts racing around my head to settle on just one. Everything was a mess, and I needed some answers. I needed to know why I was still so sick and what I could do about it.
Finally, Abraham stood us both up and walked me back into our bedroom. “Do you want to get some more sleep?”
I shook my head. “Actually, I’m starving. Can we go down to breakfast?”
His eyes sparkled as he nodded. “Of course. Why don’t you take a shower while I call the doc and I’ll join you in a minute?”
As it turned out, a shower was exactly what I needed. The hot water seemed to wash away the events of the morning, and by the time we were dressed and ready to head down to breakfast, I felt like a new woman.
The kitchen was even more packed than usual with all the new enforcers we had living in the lodge. We greeted a frazzled looking Ms. Elsie before grabbing plates full of food and finding seats amidst the chaos.
I dug into my scrambled eggs like I hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“I think we should hire some temporary staff to help Ms. Elsie,” I said between mouthfuls.
Abraham took a long sip of his black coffee. “I think you’re right. This is too much for just her and Aubrey to handle.”
“Should we be expecting any more enforcers?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Three more from the Raleigh pack should be showing up today, and Bryson promised to put a call in with the Greenville pack.”
I took a big bite of sausage, and instantly, my stomach rolled. Not wanting to embarrass myself, I finished chewing and swallowing before I took a big sip of tomato juice. Now, that tasted delicious.
“Sounds great. You did a good job, Abraham.”
He smiled at me and my heart thumped harder.
When I’d finished everything on my plate except for the sausage that I figured had to be bad, Abraham grabbed both our dishes and carried them to Aubrey. He walked back over to me and took my hand to help me stand.
“Let’s get down to Doc Monroe and find out what’s going on with you.”
I nodded and let him lead me to the back door. He’d just reached for the handle when his name was called from across the room. We both turned to find an irate looking Beatrice storming across the kitchen.
“Abey, we’ve got a problem.”
He frowned. “What’s going on?”
Her eyes darted to the many men surrounding us and she shook her head. “We should talk about this in private.”
He sighed. “I was just taking El down to see Kyle.”
Beatrice’s head whipped in my direction. “Why? What’s wrong?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t been feeling well lately.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Werewolves don’t get sick.”
My stomach twisted at the reminder. “So I’ve heard.”
Abraham took a deep breath before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “El, if it’s okay, I’ll send Wyatt with you, so I can take care of whatever’s going on with Bea.”
I shrugged. “That’s fine with me.”
He shot me a grateful smile as he instructed Wyatt to meet me in the kitchen right away. Honestly, I felt bad for the guy. It couldn’t be fun being at my beck and call.
Abraham leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Come and find me when you’re back. I wanna know what he has to say.”
I smiled up at him. “I will.”
He followed a still angry Beatrice out of the kitchen, and moments later, Wyatt showed up.
“I’m sorry about this,” I said as soon as he made it to my side.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me. Where are we going?”
I pulled the door open, and we both walked out onto the back patio. “I’m going to see Doc Monroe about why I’ve been so sick lately.”
He shot me a look out of the corner of his eye. “You’re still sick? Even with Abraham home?”
My stomach clenched at his words and I nodded. He too must have thought my illness was because I was separated from my fated mate. It seemed we’d all thought that, and we’d all been wrong.
We were quiet the rest of the walk to the pack houses as my mind spun with possibilities.
Maybe the shift hadn’t been as successful as we’
d thought. Maybe I wasn’t a full werewolf. Maybe I had some weird werewolf disease no one had ever heard of before. Maybe I was contagious, and I’d infect the whole pack.
The possibilities were endless, and I was doing nothing but scaring myself by worrying about them all.
When we made it to the pack houses, I slowed to a stop as I realized I didn’t know which one Doc Monroe’s was. Wyatt must have realized my predicament because he pointed to the first house on our left. “That one is the doc’s.”
I gave him a grateful smile, and we both headed up his drive. However, the closer we got to his door, the more reluctant I was to go in there with Wyatt. When it’d been Abraham to accompany me, I hadn’t minded, but I wasn’t sure I wanted Wyatt to hear what was wrong with me. At least not until I had time to process it myself.
We reached the front door, and I turned to my personal bodyguard. “Could you wait out here?”
Wyatt looked a little shocked, but he covered it well. “Sure, Ellie. I’ll be right here when you’re done.”
I gave him a grateful smile and knocked on the dark green door in front of me. Doc Monroe answered almost immediately, and he already had a warm smile on his face.
“Ellie! It’s so nice to see you, although I wish it was under better circumstances. Come in and let’s have a talk.”
He led me into his homey living room, and I couldn’t help but look around at the place. There were wall to wall bookshelves packed with books of all sizes, and comfy-looking overstuffed couches and chairs took up what little space was left.
“Is this a living room or a library?” I asked him with a smile.
He shrugged. “I guess it’s a little bit of both. Come with me to my exam room and we can talk about what’s going on with you.”
He led me down a hall and to the last door on the right. When he opened it, I was shocked to see it looked like an actual room in a doctor’s office. He motioned for me to sit on the exam table and I did cautiously.
Rise Page 34