Selene
With every day that passes, the more worried I become that Bastien hasn’t called. I’m certain he’s alive. With our bond, I know I would feel it if he weren’t, no matter how far away he may be. Still, the continued radio silence is enough to make me fear any number of other tragedies. Is he hurt? Is he sick? Sitting in a dungeon somewhere?
Don’t jump to conclusions. Luna advises in a soothing tone. As far as we know, no news is good news.
I hate it when people say that. I reply silently, no news can be just as damning as bad news, especially when the person you’re worried about is literally facing death.
The worst part of all of this is that I know the others are worried too, but they aren’t telling me because they’re worried I’ll fall to pieces.
I’m sick of being babied this way just because I’m pregnant. I mean, I know there are some things I probably don’t want to know, and I know I’m already under too much pressure and buckling beneath the weight of everything already on my shoulders, but shielding me from reality isn’t helping. Now I’m simply imagining a thousand horrible possibilities rather than coping with anything real.
“Mommy,” Lila begins, interrupting my thoughts.
“Yes lovey?” I prompt, pulling her into my lap.
“Will Daddy be home before da baby comes?” Apparently our minds were on the same wavelength. The sweet pup is looking up at me hopefully, expecting me to have all the answers even though I’m in the dark almost as much as she is.
“I hope so, angel.” I answer honestly. “I really do.”
“Can we call him?” She asks for the thousandth time. She’s asking less and less often, but she still asks far too frequently, and everytime she does my heart breaks a little more – for all three of us.
“You know his phone isn’t working right now, Lila. We’ve talked about this, remember?” I explain gently.
“I tought it might be better by now.” She pouts, fiddling with the stuffed elephant in her tiny hands. After thinking for a moment, she looks back up at me hopefully, and I know what she’s going to ask before the words leave her mouth. “Can you come home t’day?”
Another question that breaks my heart, and one I hear way too often.
Sighing heavily, I begin, “I wish I could sw-”
“Your wish has been granted.” Aiden announces out of nowhere, striding into the room as if he’s on a mission, “We’re getting you out of here, Selene.”
I can barely believe my ears, “What?” Drake strolls in behind the beta, an odd look on his face. “Did Dr Kane say it was okay?”
“Nope!” Aiden quips matter-of-factly, “He did not. And that’s why we’re leaving.”
“I don’t understand.” I murmur, “What’s going on?”
“We’ll explain later.” Drake promises, looking down at my pup, “You hear that little bean, Mommy’s coming home!”
“Yaayyyy!” Lila cries, bouncing up and down in my lap and unfortunately making my stomach roil. Seeing the expression on my face, Drake quickly gathers her up and offers me the trash bin.
After emptying my stomach, I watch in a daze as the men pack my bags and call for the nurse to remove my IV. She’s still in the middle of the process when Dr Kane appears in the doorway. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“We’re taking Selene home.” Aiden declares, his countenance so cold I’m taken aback. The beta is normally the friendliest of shifters, I can’t recall ever seeing him look so fierce outside of a fight.
“I thought we discussed this.” Dr Kane says to Drake, “she’s not ready.”
“Selene,” Aiden says abruptly, turning to me, “Are you ready to go home?”
“Yes!” I nod vigorously, not understanding what’s happening, but knowing exactly where I stand on this matter.
“See,” Aiden tells Thomas curtly, “She’s ready.”
“Wanting to go and being ready are not the same thing.” Dr Kane growls.
“And your orders are technically only recommendations.” Drake counters with his own glare.
What on earth is going on!
“Selene can sign herself out of her own volition.” Aiden finishes the Eros Alpha’s thought. “And that’s exactly what she’s going to do. You can’t keep her here.”
“Listen, I’m not sure what is going on.” Dr Kane hedges, holding up his palms defensively, “but I must urge you to rethink this decision. Selene’s labs are barely recovered and she still isn’t putting on weight, she needs more time and a stress-free environment.”
“There’s no such thing.” Drake sighs, “But I assure you home is less stressful for her than the hospital.”
I’m elated that the men are finally supporting me, finally listening to what I’ve been saying this entire time. “Exactly!”
“We’re going to hire a full time nurse to help her at the pack house.” Aiden claims, everything you have here, we can provide for her at home.
“Except instant care in an emergency!” Dr Kane argues.
“It’s not as if she’s at risk of a heart attack.” Drake defends, “If she gets too dehydrated and passes out, we just have to get fluids into her, not rush her to the OR for surgery.”
“I am begging you to reconsider.” Thomas says, somewhat manically.
“Dr. Kane, is there something you aren’t telling us?” Aiden grumbles confrontationally, “some reason you’re determined to keep Selene here?”
I don’t want to share my own guess with them, especially not with the man in the room. It’s a very awkward thing to imagine your obstetrician has a crush on you in the first place, let alone confront him with the theory in a room full of your husband’s friends.
“I’m a doctor. She’s my patient. That’s all.” Thomas insists.
“Actually she’s not.” Drake informs him coldly.
“What?” Dr Kane asks, not following.
“She’s not your patient.” Drake announces, passing Lila back to me and moving to tower over the shorter man. “not anymore.”
“Mommy, why’s uncle Rake and uncle Aidn being so weird?” My pup whispers in my ear.
“I don’t know, angel.” I answer honestly. My only guess is that somehow between my conversation with Drake and now, he figured out or began to suspect the same thing I do: that Thomas has feelings for me.
“They’re really cranky.” Lila narrates.
Smothering a laugh, I stride across the room to stand beside Drake and attempt to defuse the situation. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Thomas.” I profess sincerely, “but I think this is for the best. I’m ready to go home, and I just think your regimen is too strict for me.”
His green eyes flash dangerously. “The Alpha would want us to be overprotective rather than under,” he asserts, taking me by surprise. I’ve never seen this aggressive side of Thomas, and I do not care for it – at all.
“I think we know the Alpha’s mind a bit better than you do, Dr.” Aiden snipes, zipping up my bag. “In fact these orders are coming directly from him.”
I whip my head around to stare at the beta in shock, “What?! You talked to him?”
“I’ll explain in the car.” Aiden remarks simply, coming to stand on my other side. Together we form a united front against the imposing chief doctor, and though his jaw is twitching as if he wants to argue further, eventually Dr. Kane backs down.
Pursing his lips, Thomas makes a dismissive tsking noise, “It’s your funeral.” He derides, stepping aside.
Aiden and Drake snarl in unison, but I’m already gliding away down the hallway, practically bolting towards freedom just in case on of my babysitters change their minds. Lila is happily chattering away in my arms, intermittently singing, “We’re going home!” and suggesting different activities for us to do when we get there.
Aiden and Drake catch up with us after a moment, and I glance back and forth between them. “Would one of you like to tell me what’s going on?”
“In the car.” Aiden repeats, peeking at my out of the corner of his eye. “Why didn’t you tell us that Dr. Kane was your physician?”
“I thought you knew!” I exclaim, “he’s the chief of medicine here, besides Odette and Drake knew.”
“Yeah well Odette and I weren’t in the loop on everything that’s been going on.” Drake shares, sounding annoyed.
“There was no reason for you to know this.” Aiden says back, in the tone of someone who is already tired of discussing this.
They’re really starting to get on my nerves. Luna grouses.
You’re preaching to the choir. I answer, letting my own annoyance bleed into my next words.
“All right boys, play nice.” I placate. Despite their odd behavior, my mind can’t help but linger on the single most important piece of information they shared back in my room. “Did you really talk to Bastien?”
Aiden exhales heavily, “Selene…”
“I know, I know.” I complain, mocking his earlier words. “In the car.”
