The Unwanted Wolf

ADIRA

I woke up to Mark gently shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and smiled when I saw him staring at me. “What time is it?” I asked. It was still dark in the room, which made me feel disoriented.

“It’s late.” Mark knelt next to the bed, waiting for me to sit up. “Zay told me Reyland woke up, and I knew you would want to see him. If you want to go back to sleep, we can visit him in the morning.”

I lay my head on the pillow for a second, ready to go back to sleep, but when my brain processed what Mark had said, I flung forward with wide eyes. “He’s awake?”

“He woke up a few minutes ago. He was asking about you.” Mark moved to pick me up, but I stopped him.

“I can walk,” I insisted. I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. Mark hesitated, ready to pick me up, but he let me do what I wanted.

“If you get tired, let me know, and I’ll carry you.”

I lifted up on my toes and kissed him on the cheek. “I will. I just want to stretch my legs.”

Mark interlaced his fingers with mine, and together we walked to Doctor Zayla’s office. The lights were low, which emphasized the lights coming off the various machines around the room. We walked past Jori to get to Reyland’s bed, and my eyes lingered on Jori for a moment. He looked extremely pale, and his chest was barely moving with each breath. I wondered if he would ever get past this and wake up. I had so many questions for him.

We continued on, and in the patient’s bed at the end of the room was Reyland. He was sitting up, sipping on some water. Zayla was examining him by pressing a stethoscope to his chest and back. After listening to his breathing for a few minutes, she stepped back.

“Your heart sounds strong, and your breathing sounds normal. At this rate, I will be okay with releasing you around noon tomorrow. You recovered nicely.” Zayla made eye contact with me and then nodded. “I will check on you later.”

Zayla turned and walked away, giving us a little bit of privacy. Mark was still holding my hand, and I knew he didn’t plan on going anywhere.

Reyland looked at me and smiled. “Adira. You’re here.”

I smiled at him, relieved he was still alive. I was terrified from seeing him bleeding after being attacked. It made me grateful I never joined him on the battlefield as a child. “You look well.” My throat tightened as my emotions bubbled up.

“I feel much better. That doctor of yours is incredible. I might have to steal her from you.” He chuckled at his own joke, and his laughter filled me with joy. It reminded me of my favorite parts of my childhood and felt like home.

Mark let go of my hand and pulled a chair up and motioned for me to sit down. “You should take it easy.”

I sat in the chair, even though I felt okay. I wasn’t going to worry about Mark right now. I turned my attention back to Reyland. “I need to thank you. You risked your life for me, and you put yourself directly in harm’s way for my mate.”

“It’s the least I could do to help make up for what I did to you. Besides, what father wouldn’t put himself in harm’s way for his daughter?”

My heart swelled at his words, and my throat tightened even more. Hearing those words coming out of his mouth stirred something deep inside of me. “You’re not technically my father,” I reminded. It didn’t feel that way, since Reyland was the best parent I had ever had, but it was also the reason he kicked me out on my sixteenth birthday. It made me hesitant to fully open up to him.

“I have come to realize that b***d doesn’t matter when it comes to determining your family. The people who choose to care about you and you choose to care about in return–those are the people who are your real family members.” Reyland took a deep breath and looked down at his hands. “I know you may never see me as your father after what I did to you, but I will always see you as my daughter.”

I chewed on my l*p, unsure of how to respond. I missed Reyland more than I wanted to admit, but the pain of being rejected by him wouldn’t go away instantly. With all of his help and sacrifices recently, I knew I was ready to start to move on from what happened. Even if it took time, I knew I would get there eventually.

I reached forward and grabbed Reyland’s hand. He looked at me with wide eyes and a slightly agape mouth.

“I’ve missed having you as my dad.” My emotions choked me, and the tears sat on the brim of my eyelids. The moment I blinked, I knew the tears would spill over. “I want to rebuild that, if you are willing to be patient with me.”

Reyland’s face relaxed. “Of course. I’m just happy you aren’t kicking me out right now.”

I giggled, knowing it was only a half joke. “I can’t kick you out now. The war isn’t over yet. We’ve only won the battle.”

“Did that bastard escape?” Reyland’s jaw tightened. “He deserves to die a horrible and painful death after what he did to you.”

I glanced at Mark, who was just patiently standing by during the conversation. There was a subtle anger in his face, and I knew he was just as angry as Reyland, if not more so.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “I think we saved a friend, but I don’t know if the true enemy is gone or not. I still don’t understand a lot of these magic things.”

Reyland closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I can only imagine. It’s a lot to take in.”

Mark stepped forward. “We’ll figure it out, though. We have a lot of resources, and surely Cain knows more about the situation. We’ll make him talk.”

Reyland gave Mark a sharp nod. “It’s good to hear you captured him.” He turned to me. “Are you doing okay? Did he hurt you?”

My hand slid to my missing mark and thought about the pain I felt when Cain had removed it. I swallowed hard and decided not to go into detail about that.

“I’m okay,” I said. “I just need some rest to be safe.”

“Make sure to actually get that rest. Whatever you think you need to do can wait.” Reyland looked at Mark. “I trust you will keep an eye on her, son.”

Mark smiled. “Of course. I insist on making sure they’re healthy.”

Reyland tilted his head to the side. “They?” he repeated.

I looked at Mark to see his reaction. He was looking back at me and nodded to me. I smiled and looked at Reyland. “Yes, you’re going to be a grandfather.”

Reyland looked like he had stopped breathing. He looked back and forth between Mark and myself. His eyes finally settled on me. “Wait, you’re pregnant.”

I beamed, excited to finally share the news. “Yes. Not everyone knows yet, so do me a favor and don’t tell anyone yet.”

Reyland reached forward and pulled me into a big bear hug. “I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandpa. Of course I won’t tell anyone.”

Mark looked at me sheepishly. “By the way, Rie and Scythe know, so just expect their reactions when you finally see them.”

I knitted my eyebrows, confused for a moment. Then I realized they were there when I told Mark about the pregnancy. It wasn’t exactly the way I imagined the announcement, but none of this was how I imagined it.

The door to the patient’s room slammed open with a loud bang! I looked over and saw Luna Freya storming towards us. She looked wild and furious. She moved right over to Reyland.

“Wait!” a warrior yelled, running into the room after her. “Ma’am, you’re not allowed in here.”

Mark held up his hand, signaling to the warrior that he had the situation. My heart raced seeing my mother rush into the room. I had no desire to talk to her after our last conversation. I was hoping I would never see her again after how she treated me.

“You promised you’d take me when you went to find Cain,” she snapped. “How dare you go back on your word like that!”

Reyland’s eyes narrowed at the sight of my mother. “It was an emergency situation, and Adira’s life was in danger. I didn’t have time to wait for you to show up.”

Freya’s face started to turn red, and she lifted her hand to slap Reyland. Mark grabbed her hand mid-slap.

“You have no right to walk into my pack house and slap my guests, especially one who is lying in a hospital bed. Do you have no sense of respect?” Mark’s voice was deep, and his alpha energy was oozing out.

“I am the luna of Pack Lyna, young man. You’re the one disrespecting a luna from a well-known pack,” Freya snapped.

Mark held her hand firmly. “I know exactly who you are, and I simply don’t care. I don’t put up with anyone disrespecting my pack or my guests. I suggest you address me appropriately, or I will have you escorted out of this house.”

Freya clenched her jaw, and it looked like she was about to explode. She took a deep breath to compose herself and took a step back. “I was promised to be taken to see Cain in exchange for information to help find Adira. Since Adira has been returned, I’m assuming my information was well used. Now I expect my end of the bargain to be fulfilled.”

Mark clasped his hands behind his back. “The prisoner won’t have any visitors right now, but we can discuss a compromise at a later date. We can find a room for you, but it’s late, Luna Freya. We all need rest, and these matters will not be discussed tonight.”