Wild at Heart

Daniel drove me to the hospital to see Nick. He was awake and alert, and from what Dr. Morris told Daniel, he was doing well. I couldn’t wait to see him; my heart was racing faster than the wheels of the car were spinning. It pained me to leave him in the hospital, but I knew I had to get things taken care of. With Stefan still MIA, any information I could get to give us the upper hand was imperative.

The car was barely stopped when I opened the door and jumped out. I jogged to the room Dr. Morris had Nick in and I burst through the door. To my surprise he was sitting up in bed with a handful of papers. He lowered them from his face and smiled at me.

“Little wolf—” I jumped in the bed and wrapped my arms around him as best as I could. “Oof!” He grunted and I instantly backed off.

“I’m sorry!” In my delight to see him doing so well I forgot he was still injured from the fight.

“I’m okay, come here.” He struggled to move over in the bed.

“No, Nick, don’t move for me, you need your rest.”

“I’ll heal faster with you by my side.” I smiled at him and gently crawled next to him in the bed. I wrapped my arm around his bare chest and traced my finger over the edge of his bandage around his collarbone. He was wrapped like a mummy in gauze, but he looked much healthier than he had after that fight. “Emma?”

“Hm?” I picked my head up from his shoulder and turned to face him.

“You’re going to have to explain to me why I’m awake and alert after just being poisoned with wolfsbane.” I knew I wasn’t going to keep it from him long, but there wasn’t much to keep from him. Dr. Morris didn’t tell me all the details and I don’t think she planned on letting Nick in on it so soon, but with the recent events we had no choice.

“Dr. Morris has been testing my blood for more than just precautions.”

“She said she was testing it to make sure there wasn’t any wolfsbane left over.”

“She was.” I nodded. “But she was testing it for more than that.”

“What was she testing it for?” He questioned.

“I guess…” I wanted him to know the truth, but I didn’t know how much trouble I was getting the doctor in by revealing her secrets. “I guess she was testing the affects it has on wolfsbane, and she discovered that my blood isn’t affected by it at all actually.”

“How?” He asked.

“I honestly don’t know, Nick.” There wasn’t much time to get the information before a choice had to be made and I would have done anything to save Nick.

“Okay.” He said, pulling his better arm up and sliding it under my head. He pulled me closer to him and planted a kiss upon my forehead. “We have plenty of time to find out, but for now I just want to be with you.”

“Good, because you’re stuck with me, Alpha.”

“I wouldn’t wish it any differently.”

I woke from my sleep by the scent of a wolf. I reached my arm out and grasped the wolf’s hand that was trying to touch my mate. The nurse gasped at my sudden movement and it caused Nick to jerk awake. He winced in pain and I instantly let her go.

“I’m sorry.” I muttered.

“I was just checking his stitches.” The nurse stuttered out.

“I’m sorry.” I apologized again and sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Emma, you’re restless, why don’t you go to the training center for a little while?” Nick suggested.

“I can stay.” I opposed.

“I’m fine here, Emma.” He insisted. “They’re taking good care of me and besides, I need someone to check in with my Omegas. Daniel is still trying to plan his wedding, remember?” He knew what to say to get what he wanted. Of course, I wanted to stay in the hospital with him, but we all knew I was useless when it came to medical situations. He was giving me a task I knew I could perform to make me feel better and stop scaring the nurses.

“Okay.” I submitted for once in my life. “Call me if you need anything at all.”

“You know I will.” He said with a grin.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few hours.” He nodded and I kissed his lips before turning back to the nurse. “Take care of him.” I warned her. She nodded frantically and I heard Nick chuckling as I walked out the door.

When I arrived at the training center it was swarmed with Omegas. As soon as I opened the door all their eyes fell on me as if I was meant to give them some type of direction. I looked around at all the wolves in front of me and something inside my wolf felt pride to be their Luna. I felt like I should make some kind of announcement, but I didn’t know what to say. Nick and Daniel were the communicators of the pack, not me. But the way they were all looking at me told me I had to open my mouth.

“Nick is fine.” I bit my lip as soon as the words left my mouth. That was all I could come up with? I guess it didn’t matter to the pack because my words sent them in a cheer. As soon as the clapping died down, they all went back to their training. I walked over to a small group of them. Alan and Alex were talking with another wolf I didn’t know, but I recognized him as one of the guards from the basement of the packhouse.

“Emma!” Alan smiled and put an arm around my shoulders. “It’s always a pleasure to see you here.”

“Really? Even though every time I’m here it’s to kick your ass?” The boys laughed.

“Thanks to you, you’re the only one that can.” He responded.

“Let’s not get too cocky there, Alan.” Alex said with a grin.

“I don’t think we’ve met.” The unnamed wolf turned to me and flashed a smile. He was handsome, tall, and well-muscled. His eyes were a swirly milk chocolate that matched his hair. “Jake.” He said as he reached his hand out to me. I took it out of courtesy and shook it.

“From State Farm?” I asked.

“What?” He questioned.

“Nothing.” I muttered.

“Emma, want to show these boys why you’re our Luna?” Alex said with another smile.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

I was training with the Omegas for longer than I planned, but I hadn’t heard from Nick or the hospital yet. Hopefully, he was getting his much-needed rest. Jake went back to guard duty once Evan returned. Every time I saw him, I thought of the day I fell from the mountain. I brushed it to the side and tried not to hold the bad memory against him. Alex was the next to leave us, making up some excuse that wasn’t anywhere near the truth. We all knew he just wanted to go back to the packhouse for some privacy with Daniel. Evan and Alan were the only two Omegas left after the rest broke out into their patrol schedules.

“Want to hit the bar?” Evan asked us.

“I won’t ever turn down a free beer.” Alan responded with s chuckle.

“Who said anything about a free beer?” Evan questioned.

“You’re definitely buying me a drink.” Alan tossed his bag over his shoulder.

“Whatever.” Evan submitted with an eye roll. “You coming, Luna?”

“I’m gonna hit the showers and go see Nick.” I declined.

“I’ll check in with you later, okay?” Alan raised a brow at me, that little brother protectiveness was rubbing off on me again.

“Yeah, sure.” I waved them off and went straight to the showers. I quickly changed into my regular clothes and rushed out the locker room. The quicker I got to the hospital, the quicker I would see Nick again. But as I left the locker room, a smell hit me. I wasn’t as alone in the training center as I thought I was. I turned to the source of the smell, but I saw no one. What I did see was Nick’s office door cracked open and it definitely wasn’t before I entered the locker room. I crept over to the door as silently as I could. I pushed the door the entire way open and the wolf jumped in surprise. Sophia turned around to face me as I spoke. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”