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Word Count: 1822

~Mara

I stare at his body, unmoving.

Kaden lays face down on the bed, white linen covering his lower half. He faces me, eyes closed, lips partially open. He looks peaceful. Almost...

"Why would you do it?" I question, my voice rough and unused. I haven't needed it these past few days. I've spent most of my time bent over Kaden's body, praying he wakes up. But he hasn't.

Why he lays on his front, I'm not sure. They just put him that way, despite the wound on his chest, that has refused to heal these past four days.

"How was I supposed to know that you would stab him?" Grayson questions airily from beside me.

We stand outside the room, looking through glass my breath keeps fogging up. I didn't want Grayson in there with him, and I'm not sure why. I've been so unexplainably protective over him lately, even though I am the only one who has hurt him as of late.

"Poison," I murmur. "Classy."

"Knife to the heart. Classy," Grayson echoes. Turning my head, I glare at him.

I'm grouchy as well. How could I not be when the sleep I've managed to scrape together is only a collective six hours over fours days. I'm on the verge of collapsing.

Giving up, I rest my forehead against the glass. I can feel the sympathetic look he's giving me, and the hand he rests on my shoulder.

"If I wanted him dead, Mara, I wouldn't have answered your calls, and taken him back here for my best doctors and nurses to work on him," Grayson's says pointedly.

He's right, but his words don't sink in. All I feel is guilt, and I want Kaden to wake so I can plead for his forgiveness. Yet the fact that he kept this from me still tickles the back of my mind.

"I'm going in," I say.

Pushing through the glass door, I enter the room. It smells clinical and clean, sending a shiver under my skin. Kaden doesn't move, still unconscious and unresponsive.

Sitting down on my seat beside his bed, I resume the position I've gotten used to lately. My arms laid on the edge of his bed, my head resting against them as I stare straight at Kaden.

I imagine him in a dreamland. Happier than he's ever been here. When I see his calm expression, I pray the Moon Goddess is taking care of him best she can.

Gingerly, I run my fingertips across his soft, flawless skin. The sparks it gives me makes me smile gently. No matter what this mans past entails, he is my mate, and I shall care for him the best I can.

"He loves you," I hear Grayson say from behind me.

I turn, seeing him looking at Kaden. He looks hurt, broken almost. It means a lot that he truly does seem to care, despite what Kaden has done to him.

"It won't seem real until I hear him tell me himself," I say softly. Turning back, I begin to trace the scars along Kaden's back.

"Why isn't he awake?" I question. Grayson sighs deeply.

"I promise my best doctors-"

I jump up, as suddenly, Kaden shivers under my fingertips.

"He-I...I think he's awake," I stutter. Yet as I stare at his face, he remains impassive.

Glancing at the cords running from his body, I inspect the bag of poison that's slowly been filtered from his body, and replaced by clean, healthy blood. It's full to the brim. For one knife, a lot of poison was spread throughout his body.

"How do you know?" Grayson questions, walking over to stand by my side. I pull my chair back, and shake Kaden's shoulder gently. He doesn't move.

Sighing, I squeeze my eyes shut. Maybe I was hallucinating, and he didn't really shiver after all. Maybe he is really gone...

"Hey, everything is going to be okay," Grayson murmurs. He turns me around, before wrapping his arms around me. I feel tears begin to well up in my eyes, as I stuff my face into Grayson's shirt.

"Get your hands off my mate..."

Flying out of Grayson's grip, I spin on my heels to see Kaden staring straight at me. I nearly collapse to the floor.

I've never moved so fast in my life. In a second, my arms were wrapped around his body, embracing him as close to me as possible. His groan of pain is the only thing that makes me pull away.

"Sorry," I murmur, taking my arms of his currently delicate body, but yet still remaining as close as I possibly can.

A lazy grin settles over his features, and I feel my racing heart begin to quell. Using whatever strength he could muster, he pulls himself off his stomach, and rolls over onto his back. It gives me full view of the bandage strapped securely between his rib cage.

Looking at it makes me feel nauseas.

"Good morning beautiful," Kaden says, his voice so rough and slightly lost around the edges.

"It's actually the afternoon," I comment, grabbing his hand between two of mine. The sparks are undeniable. He glances at me, feeling them too.

Seeing him stare at me, a glint of life and amusement having returned to his eyes brings me a new feeling of warmth. I've basically been shivering without his consciousness.

"Your look terrible," he says casually, probably noticing what a lack of sleep can do to someone. I roll my eyes.

"Can't say you look any better," I retort, giving his fingers a squeeze, while trying to avoid the needle dug into his skin. He chuckles; a familiar sound that makes me want to sing and dance for the first time in many years.

"Who's fault is that?"

The room falls silent. Stupidly, I thought he wouldn't bring it up. My cheeks pale, and I glance down at my feet, finding them suddenly more interesting than Kaden's obvious qualm.

"Mara...Its okay," he tried to reassure.

I watch him, as he struggles to pull himself into more of a sitting position. The want to scold him for putting himself in any immediate pain, while he is so weak surges through me, put I push it down.

"If I knew that we were, well, mates, I wouldn't have stabbed you," I decide to say, picking my words carefully. When I turn around, Grayson isn't there, and I wonder at which point, he left. Kaden grins broadly. 

"I would like to think you wouldn't."

"Speaking of mates..." I break off. Kaden raises an eyebrow, probably predicting what I was going to say.

Did I want to yell at him for keeping this from me? Yes. Heck, I wanted to punch and kick him, but I couldn't bear it now. He seems to notice me squeeze my eyes shut as a way to push all thoughts away. We had time to talk about it later, when he feels up to it.

Suddenly, he pulls me forward, clasping his arm around my back. My face is directly in front of his, my hand bracing against his crisp sheets. He smiles at my mortified expression.

"Can we just kiss and speak of this later?" He question airily. Placing my finger against his supple lips, I shake my head.

"Not when you've just woken from a coma," I say, sounding awfully motherly.

He cocks his head. "I can see down you shirt, by the way."

I shriek, pulling back by a few steps. He just laughs in amusement. My hand automatically pull at the top of my shirt, pinning the material to my chest.

"Charming as ever," I mutter.

"Come on, you're my mate, remember?"

Sighing in defeat, my steps eat up the space between us, and I collapse into my seat beside his bed. Kaden stares at me warily, eyes searching across my face for something unexplainable.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"This morning..."

"Slept?"

"I think I slept at least an hour last night."

Kaden narrows his eyes, and I'm suddenly aware of the instant disapproval. I've never seen this side of the dreaded Alpha before. It's strange.

"That's why you look so sick. Perhaps you should be in bed with me," he says. There is a tone of a joking manner in his voice, but I can tell he is serious about the sleep thing.

My lips twitch, but I refuse to smile to broadly. Instead, I run my fingers through his soft black hair, watching it fall around my fingers. For a man who hasn't washed his hair in fours days, his hair feels awfully soft.

"Seriously though, you need to sleep," Kaden says. His eyes go hard, as he stares at me expectantly, as if I would stand and walk straight out the room without a goodbye.

"And leave you? Not an option," I say stubbornly. He grabs my wrist, forcing me to take his expression seriously.

"Mara. Please. It would bring me nothing but comfort to know my mate is safely tucked away in bed," Kaden exclaims. I want keep his hand laced with mine, as I rest against his bed, and he sleep, but I can tell that it isn't an option in his books.

Sighing in defeat, I stand. "Fine, I'm sure Grayson will assign me a room."

"As long as it's not with him," Kaden says, quick with a snappy response. I shake my head immediately. That's the last of his worries at the moment.

"Don't stress Kaden, you owe your life to that man," I say truthfully.

Slowly, he slides down deeper into his bed, and motions with his head for me to leave the room.

Instead, I lean down over him, kissing his forehead. As I go to pull away, he grabs the sides of my face, and guides me down to give me a whisper of a kiss.

Hardly much but a brush of the lips, but I could still consider it my first kiss.

"You can go now," Kaden says, biting his lip. Giggling, I turn on my heels, and parade to the door.

💛••💛

Phew, I nearly didn't finish the chapter in time. *wipes forehead dramatically*

I feel like this chapter is kind of like an update to let you guys know that Kaden ISN'T actually dead. :D

By the way, everyone's comments were so sweet and thoughtfully chapter, so thank you so much! (You make me blush)

Love you all! xx

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