-:Ashton's POV:-

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since she had collapsed. She lay there lifelessly. Her pale skin was marred by several burns and bruises. She looked more fragile than ever. Her heart beat steadily, but she hadn't opened her eyes.

And I hadn't properly closed mine.

I tried, but every time I did, I heard her scream. That heart-wrenching scream full of agony. I saw her lying on the ground, lifeless. Her lips kissed by blood, eyes haunted, and her contused body.

They said she was stable, she was okay. But she was under the influence of a lot of heavy sedatives. Her body had been too frangible so the doctors had to do that. Put her to sleep and give her body time to recover.

Vincent and Andromeda, those fucking bastards used silver and wolfsbane on her again. Then that stupid spell that Andromeda did. All in all, Cecelia was beat up. In the doctor's words, she was trying to regain her lost energy because her body was completely spent.

Our marks were gone. I couldn't hear her thoughts. Xavier had been radio silent since then. I just felt the mate bond weaken back to its dull hum, sort of like it was before we had marked each other. That was making me even more angsty. I couldn't hear her voice, I couldn't feel her physically and I couldn't feel her through the bond.

I felt lost. 

They had stopped giving her the sedatives last night. That was my ray of sunshine. That she could open her eyes today. Any time. The doctors said it would help if I talked to her. Wake her up sooner. But every time I tried, I would end up choking. Her unresponsive self was a stake to the chest every time. 

When I held her hand, I felt the dull sparks. They, the steady beep of the heart monitor, and her regular breathing were the only indication that she was not gone. That she was here. Right there, in front of me.

But she still felt so fucking far away, it tore my heart.

Her family visited multiple times even in the time she had been there. Technically, I should have left and given them privacy to be with her alone but the most I had done was retreat into the corner of the room and stay mum. If they were bothered by my constant presence, they didn't show it. They would talk to her for a while and then leave with grief leaden faces.

Noel and Hayden would come twice a day. They had wanted to stay but between pack duties and school, it was impossible. They brought flowers for her with them each time. Julian had told them that her favorite was gardenias. They were rather fragrant. They also brought me a set of fresh clothes every day. They were very supportive.

The girls had been here the entire day the first day. But ultimately, they had school and they had to leave. They visited with Noel and Hayden every morning before school and evening after dinner.

Julian spent most of his free time sitting like me at her bedside. We would just sit like we had nothing better to do. He had told his mate and family about Cecelia's condition. I was awed by their solicitude. They all were devastated when they first heard about it. Liana broke down and had to be hauled away because she was disconcerted and stressing too much. That wouldn't have been good for the twins.

With the Vincent threat neutralized, Julian had booked his ticket to fly out next week. He had tried to put it off till Cecelia got better but it was getting too late. It was high time he went back to his mate. Liana needed him. She seemed to be relatively happy when he broke the news to her today morning. She talked to me too. I probably washed away the first good impression I had made on her with all the black circles around my eyes and monosyllabic answers I gave her that day. She was kind enough to bear with me and did not hang up. In the end, Julian was the one who got frustrated, took the phone away, and walked out.

Speaking of Vincent, Ariadne had turned out to be Vincent's mate. That was noteworthily hilarious. As soon as he'd smelled her, it was like he didn't remember what he was supposed to do. When Andromeda had jumped in front of Vincent when he was in that state to save him from being mangled by one of our warriors, I had realized what Ariadne had meant by the statement 'Vincent is manipulating her'. 

He had made her fall in love with him to get his job done.

Repugnant on Vincent's part and super asinine at Andromeda's to fall for it

It was almost hilarious to see Vincent get caught up in the 'daze' and try to get to Ariadne. To the Ariadne who didn't seem to give a fuck. As soon as she heard him mutter 'mate', she had slapped the living daylights out of him. When he tried to kiss her despite that, she hit him with a blast of magic.

Andromeda was dumbfounded and utterly heartbroken, to say the least.

I had killed Vincent.

When we had seen that Cecelia had become unresponsive, we had sort of lost our bearings. That was an extemporaneous kill. The only thing we did regret about it was that it was too expeditious. That scoundrel should have had been begging at Cecelia's feet for mercy. We made it too swift and smooth. It was almost a gift.

I still had to thank Ariadne. She was very helpful. Although she had her own selfish reasons to is us, she still helped us get my mate back. We will never forget that. She was the one who located the Warehouse. It had been shielded from human and Were eyes by a magical shield, so we hadn't even known its existence. Meaning, it wasn't even on our list of places to scout. She had seen through that by tracing her sister using her blood. It was freaky. But helpful.

We had had to spare Andromeda in exchange for Ariadne's help. None of us liked it, but the sisters took an oath to never harm our packs in return. Considering that they were immortal, it was a good deal and we had to just suck it up and let Andromeda go.

The survivors had been given three choices: go away in peace and live as rogues, work as Omegas in the Packs to serve their time, or be thrown in prisons. We had prisons in both our packs so we had divided the prisoners of war fairly evenly and put them in the cells of our respective dungeons. The pregnant lady had been given special medical attention along with many other severely injured. She and her mate were vocal about her gratitude, I'd been told. I hadn't visited them so I wasn't aware of the reality. The warrior who inflicted harm upon her had been dealt with.

Mom and dad had visited Cecelia once, too. She was unstable then. Mom was sad, seeing my mate for the first time and seeing her fight for her life. Dad had been unbothered and confidant.

'The girl has fire,' he'd said, 'She is fierce, strong, and determined. She will make it, mark my words.'

I had never appreciated having my father steadying me more than then. We had a rocky relationship because of our different thoughts and mindsets but it hadn't changed our love. It had only changed how we expressed it.

I traced Cecelia's bruises with feather-light touches. The doctors had said that she would heal better if she were in the continuous presence of a loved one. I was more than happy to oblige. Blunt sparks danced around my fingertip, bringing me fleeting joy.

Somewhere in the middle of me doing that, her hand twitched in my hold. My eyes snapped up to her face. It was slightly convulsed as if she was struggling with something. I paged the nurse in a hurry, rubbing her hand soothingly.

"What is it?" The nurse who had looked after her when she was here last time came. She didn't enter, she stayed by the door. She was on Cecelia's case again. So was her previous doctor.

"I don't know. Can you just check her up once, Julia? She moved," I said. My voice was rough from not using it in so long. 

"This is the third time today, Ashton. This better be good." She warned.

"Please," I pleaded, "Just have a look."

She sighed and came in. She went through all the reading on her machines and her vitals in under ten minutes.

"She should wake up soon, child. You can stop staring at everything I do now. Stay here. She's alright. I'll send Zeus after an hour to give you some alone time. And for Selene's sake, fix your appearance. You look like a zombie. If your face is the first thing she sees when she wakes up, we might have another problem on our hands," she said and walked out without waiting for a reply.

Wow.

I sighed but I did as she said. I went to the bathroom attached to Cecelia's room and splashed my face with water. I dried it with a paper towel and walked out. I sat down on her bed this time. Right beside her hand. I was so thirsty to see those cool green eyes again. 

I didn't have to wait long.

Her eyes squinted and fluttered for ages before they opened. They met mine and I relaxed when I saw the flicker of recognition in them. The doctors had speculated that she might suffer from a temporary memory loss.

She opened her mouth to speak but ended up coughing. I hurried to get her some water. I helped her sit up and drink. I set pillows behind her to support her back. 

She and I stared at each other for a long time before her chin began trembling, her eyes watered and she feebly lifted and opened her arms. 

I dove into her embrace without a second thought, my own tears appearing. I clenched my eyes shut and buried my face in the crook of her neck. I pulled her as close to my body as I could. It was when she flinched did I remember she was hurt. I began to pull back but she fisted my shirt weakly.

"Don't," she begged, her voice hoarse. "Please."

I nodded, not needing to be told twice. I inched closer but was mindful of my grip on her. Sobs shook her body as she broke down. My heart felt heavy. Her bawls were like knives to my gut. My heart bled for her pain.

She pulled back just a little, tears running down her puffy red cheeks. Suddenly, she crashed her lips to mine. Her lips were demanding. Her lips . . . which were covered in blood two weeks ago. The image tugged at my heart again. I shook my thoughts. She was there. She was with me, safe, sound, and in my arms. 

So I kissed her back. To wipe off the taint that her blood left there. To cleanse it off her torment, her suffering, her aches. 

In response, she weakly attempted to shift her body and crawled onto my lap. I gladly helped her, supporting her weight. Not long had passed before she pulled back, coughing. I patted her back gently to ease her, frowning.

"I'm alright," she assured me between coughs, her voice scratchy. 

I'm alright. Even after being through so much, she said she was alright. 

"For a moment there I thought I'd actually lost you," I mumbled, brushing her hair back from her face. She kept looking at me but didn't say anything.

"I was so scared, Cecelia," my voice cracked, "I was terrified. My world was so dark, then." 

She leaned over and kissed my eyes.

"I love you so much, Ce," I cradled her face, brushing my thumb across her cheekbones and ridding the tears there.

"I love you, too," she whispered, making my heart beat faster. "You have no idea how much."

She loves me.

She really does.

I couldn't help it. I kissed her again. The kiss wasn't needy, demanding, or passionate. It wasn't two lovers unable to keep their hands off each other. It wasn't fireworks. It wasn't an explosion. It was my gratitude to her. For letting me love her, accepting me, and then returning that love.

I was the happiest man on earth. And I knew for sure that I was never letting this girl ever get away. I'd hold on to her till my dying breath, whatever it might take.

We broke the kiss simultaneously, putting our foreheads together.

"I'm so tired, Ash," she whimpered. "My body hurts."

"I know," I kissed her temple. "You should rest, I'll come back later."

"Stay," she said, her voice sounding broken. "Please. I don't want to spend any more time without you. It was horrible. And you don't look like you fared any better either." She traced my dark circles lightly.

"It was horrible," I agreed with a sigh.  "I was hoping you'd ask."

We carefully shifted in the bed and laying down, heedful of her IV and other machines. It was a little cramped, but we didn't mind our proximity. We needed it. I sighed in content. She seemed fine, but I still asked her to make sure she didn't need a doctor at the moment. She shook her head vehemently so I didn't press her.

I gathered the woman I loved in my arms and pulled her close to me.

"I love you," she whispered again, snuggling further into me.

"And, I love you," I replied, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and finally allowing my eyes to close.

********************************

A/N:-

So, a double update! Yessss!!

Before you scream and blast my eardrums, there's going to be about 1-2 more chapters and then an Epilogue, and maybe, note that I said maybe, a bonus chapter or two. 

Enjoy reading!!

That's it. See ya soon.

QOTD:- How did you like the book??

Until next time, all my love,
xoxo.

(12th June 2021)