A second voice I recognized came from behind me. “Sweetheart, you’ve slept long enough. It’s time to wake up.”
Wake up? I wasn’t a dead smoke show in Hades?
Once more, I tried to open my eyelids or move a finger, to show I was conscious. Despite my best efforts, my brain seemed unable to communicate with my muscles, and I was left exhausted from the effort. Unable to help it, I drifted back into unconsciousness.
The next timeI became aware of my surroundings, it was to find someone gently stroking their fingers through my hair. The man sang a haunting melody with heartbreaking lyrics about love and loss. There was an otherworldly beauty to the cadence that reminded me of wolves crying out to the moon.
My body and brain still felt like two separate entities, each refusing to listen to the other, but I desperately wanted to see who was singing to me. I concentrated, focusing all my strength on my eyelids.
Finally, they lifted a tiny crack. But it was enough. Copeland’s dark eyes stared back at me.
He was alive. I wanted to shout the words, to tell him I loved him, but my lips refused to obey. Instead, I lay motionless and hoped he wouldn’t stop singing.
Copeland must have understood what I wanted because he began the next verse, all the while his fingers traced the lines of my face. As he got to the chorus once more, a lone wolf’s howl joined in. The eerie call blended perfectly with Copeland’s voice, as though they’d sung together many times before. The duet sent chills skating over my skin and down my spine.
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize I was in a hospital and that obnoxious beeping was a heart monitor ratherthan some type of hellish torture device I’d imagined. But if I was in a hospital, why was a wolf howling in my room? Some hospitals allowed visits from a cat or a dog. I’d even heard of miniature horses visiting hospitals, but I was pretty sure wolves were not on the approved visitors’ list.
An arm slid around my waist from behind me. “Welcome back, love,” Fletcher murmured, placing a soft kiss at the nape of my neck. “You scared us.”
“Hi,” I croaked, my lips and mouth dry.
Copeland finished singing and reached for a glass of water on a side table. Sticking his thumb on the end of the straw, he caught some water and held it to my lips. His movements were precise, and he didn’t splash so much as a drop on my face. Refusing to let me sit up, he continued until my mouth was no longer as dry as the Sahara Desert.
“Where’s Linc? Is he okay?” My vocal cords sounded rusty, making me wonder how long I’d been out.
Copeland uncapped a lip balm and gently ran it across my cracked lips. “Linc’s here and he’s healed, thanks to you.”
There was definitely an impliedbutin there…
“What’s wrong?” My stomach clenched, and the tiny sips of water tried to book a round trip out of my stomach.
The heart monitor beeped wildly, summoning a bevy of nurses and doctors to rush toward my room. At least I assumed that’s whose footsteps were thundering down the hall. I couldn’t be sure; I didn’t see their faces since they came to a halt as a vicious snarl echoed through the room.
“Have you been able to get him to shift yet?” a muffled male voice came through the thick wooden door.
“If you come through that door right now, you’re signing your own death warrant,” Copeland warned.
“We really need to check Charlee’s vitals,” the man on the other side of the door persisted.
“Believe me, we get that.” It was Fletcher who spoke this time. “But Linc isn’t in the mood to negotiate or listen to reason.”
“Can’t you do something?” The guy, who I assumed was a doctor, sounded absolutely exasperated.
“What do you want us to do?” Copeland snapped. “Not even the alpha was able to force him to submit, at least not without risking permanent physical or mental damage.”
“What happened?” Tears burned my eyes. Something must have gone wrong and Linc hadn’t healed correctly. I’d failed.
“Shh, don’t get upset. Linc isn’t hurt. And physically, he’s fine.” Copeland’s thumb brushed the tears from my cheek. “But the last thing he remembered before being forcibly held down and sedated was trying to get to you. When the sedatives wore off and he came to, he was still in protector mode. The staff tried to lock him in a hospital room, but his wolf wasn’t having it.”
Fletcher snickered. “That’s an understatement. I’ve never seen a piece of wood turned into splinters that fast in my life. If Linc ever gets tired of the mountain hermit thing, he could easily land a commercial role busting through walls to hand out sugary beverages. That door didn’t stand a chance.”
Copeland rolled his eyes. “Linc chased everyone but Fletcher and me from the room. We’re lucky he didn’t kill anyone. Now he’s refusing to let anyone back inside.”
“How long?” I whispered. “How long has he been guarding the room?”
“Three days,” Copeland supplied. “We’ve been giving the medical team updates on your vitals through messages and calls. They aren’t happy about it, but they’ve tolerated it?—”
Fletcher snorted. “What choice do they have unless they want to become Linc’s chew toy?”
