“Hi,” he greeted as he softly brushed a stray piece of hair from my face. I realized I was lying with my head on his chest. Feeling a little embarrassed that I’d been practically sleeping on top of him, I sat up.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said as he sat up and put a gentle hand to my back.
“No, it’s okay,” I said, enjoying his soft touch.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he scanned my features.
The question reminded me of the change I had gone through. I was pretty happy I would never have to endure that type of pain again.
“I feel good,” I replied, feeling stronger than ever before. For once I never felt that inadequate feeling of being physically weaker than my male counterparts.
I looked down to my hands. They didn’t look any different. I felt stronger but the muscles in my arms hadn’t grown any bigger. It felt so weird. Then I noticed I wasn’t in the clothes that I’d worn yesterday. There was only one explanation for that.
“Did you change me?” I asked as I looked to Blake. I don’t know why I felt nervous about it because he’d seen me naked before. It shouldn’t be a big deal but it made me feel vulnerable.
“Yes,” he told me. “After the change, you were so drenched that I had to change your clothes.”
Although it made me feel weird, I also felt a flutter of butterflies at the fact that he’d cared enough to do that for me.
“Thank you,” I mumbled, trying to hide my feelings.
He reached for my hand and held it gently in his.
“Watching you go through that was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” he said softly. My eyes met his and I saw the fear and concern.
“I’m okay,” I reassured him. There was no point in telling him that the pain had been so bad I thought I was going to die.
It was then that I remembered the words he’d whispered to me just before I’d lost consciousness. He loved me. I could see it in his eyes, the way they softened when he looked at me. He really loved me—it wasn’t just empty words spoken in an intense moment. I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I loved him but I wasn’t ready to tell him that. I might never be ready to say the words out loud to him.
“I need to shower,” I stated before I got out of the bed. I needed space to analyze how I was feeling about everything.
“Sure,” he said. “I need to get cleaned up as well.”
I stood by the bathroom door as he got out of the bed.
“I’ll be back here when I’m done,” he said to me. I gave him a nod. He stepped forward and gently raised my face to his with his finger on my chin. He kissed me gently on the lips. The kiss literally took my breath away and it was hard to not show how it affected me.
He gazed at me for a few moments before he left me standing there trying to catch my breath. I put my hand to my chest as I tried to take another deep breath. I didn’t want to feel the way I did about him but there was no denying it.
After I had a quick shower and I changed, I decided to hold off on shifting into my wolf. My body craved the feel of my wolf but I had one more thing to do before I’d allow myself to shift. I had to bury my mother.
I tried to ignore the feelings of grief every time I thought about my mother but then I would try to remind myself that she was in a better place. It was the only way I could deal with her not being here with me anymore.
The sting to my eyes reminded me that it still hurt to think that I would never be able to talk to her again.
I also couldn’t stop the hatred for Victor. He’d done some terrible things to her and I would never be able to make him pay. It would be something I would need to make peace with at some point but not today.
I left my room despite Blake telling me he would meet me back here. I wanted to be able to see my mom for one last time before she was buried.
Everyone inside the medical center was busy and it was easy to slip past everyone unnoticed and go straight through to the room that my mom was in.
A plain white sheet covered her body and I pulled it back to look at her one last time. She looked so peaceful, and a tear slid down my cheek as emotion I couldn’t control began to well up inside of me. Quietly, I cried for the last time. Afterward, I brushed my tears from my face and kissed my mom one last time before covering her with the sheet again.
Blake was waiting outside the room for me when I opened the door.
“I knew you’d be here,” he said.
“I wanted to say good bye.” I said the words as calmly as I could.
