Oh Hell No

Chapter 10

It had been two days and Jamie had yet to wake up. Ryder had refused to leave her side, even as the pack doctor stitched her up, nearly causing him to tear the doctor's arm off. He could shift back to his human form if he tried, but he didn't have motivation to focus right now, so he stayed in wolf form. Enzo, who now refused to be addressed by anything other than the name Jamie had given him, was still worried, but he was confident she would wake up and be perfectly fine. Ryder though, was worried about what would happen when she did wake up. He found her outside of their territory, and even the dumbest around could tell she was running away.

Would she run again once she was healed? Would she reject him? Had he done something wrong?

He didn't think he had done anything to mess things up between them, but then again he hardly knew her. If she had a problem with him then she should have said something, because he would probably do just about anything to make her happy. She appeared to give zero damns about him, and yet he was absolutely whipped already.

He had her treated in his room as opposed to the doctor's office, not caring that his sheets had been ruined by all the blood and grass they had tracked in. His mom had been insistent on changing them yesterday, even though he really didn't want to move Jamie. And after staying up for most of the previous night while waiting for her to wake up, he fell asleep.

- - -

Instead of being in an actual hospital, Jamie was quick to notice that she was in Ryder's room when she woke up. An unidentified weight settled in her lap kept her from sitting up, and glancing down revealed it to be the black wolf that had saved her. She reached down to touch it, not really needing the sparks to confirm what she already knew. The wolf is Ryder.

When she tried to sit up, he growled in his sleep. She suspected that he hadn't moved for some time, and had kept his intention of protecting her even as he slept. While Artemis was absolutely smitten at his protectiveness, Jamie knew how pointless of a gesture it was for him to stick by her side like a bodyguard in his own home. She poked him repeatedly, either in the face or shoulder. Each time he growled lightly, but never moved or woke up.

Knowing that her options were either shove him off and then have to deal with the "why did you leave?" talk, or lay here for goddess knows how long, she chose the latter. While she waited, she checked on her injuries. It was hard to get a good look at the one on her shoulder due to the awkward angle and because of the shirt Ryder better not have changed her into. The large gashes on her side had been stitched up, but it looked to be about time for them to be removed. Heck, the pack doctor probably would have taken them out by now if a certain large wolf wasn't in the way.

It didn't take long for her to get bored of sitting around, so she picked up his front paws and scooted away. She then unceremoniously let go, causing him to fall back onto the bed. Unsurprisingly, he woke up with a start, looking around for whatever threatening presence may have disturbed him. He stopped growling when he noticed her, and his tail began to wag. His eyes briefly turned red and he barked happily, or rather his wolf did. She smiled awkwardly and took a step away, stumbling as pain shot up her side.

Ryder's excitement was dampened when she placed a hand to her side, and without thinking he shifted back, "Careful, the pack doctor will kill me if you tear open those stitches," While he stayed relatively calm she became acutely aware of the fact that he didn't have any clothes on. Her face turned red against her will and she kept her eyes firmly up, "Jamie, why did you run away?"

Ah shit. She was honestly hoping to avoid this question, hence why she ran in the dead of night without warning anyone. Actually having to explain that she didn't like him would be awkward, and she really didn't want to deal with the possibility of having him turn out to be overly possessive and place her on lockdown. Simply leaving also saved her wolf from the pain of seeing him heartbroken.

Right now, Artemis was already feeling that pain and it was getting to Jamie, "I'm hungry," Changing the subject was far from a brave move, but the heavy-hearted love talk would be even more embarrassing than her own cowardice. Her stomach backed her up by growling loudly.

The subject change didn't escape Ryder's notice, not even close, and he even opened his mouth to argue. The fight visibly left him and he decided not to push it. He didn't want to give her an actual reason to be mad at him, "I'll get you some lunch, the doc doesn't want you moving around too much yet," His sad expression felt like a knife to the heart, and Jamie almost regret her lack of honor. Instead, she opted to curse herself out for feeling that way.

Ryder got dressed, a slight exaggeration given that he only put on shorts, and left the room quietly. After waiting a couple seconds, she went over and locked the door. She turned around and slid down to the floor, trying to force air into her lungs. The bond was suffocating her. He was gone, he was hurt, and it was her fault.

Her eyes flashed between blue and gold as Artemis tried to take over. She was hurting too, and naturally, wanted her mate to comfort her. Jamie couldn't allow that to happen though, not if she wanted to actually leave. That brings up the question though, did she still want to leave?

A/N: Uh oh, Jamie's heart of ice and stone seems to be melting!!