Alpha Instincts

Chapter 42

I woke up disoriented to find myself in my bed at home, then startled when I registered someone had pulled up a chair and was sitting next to me.

"It's just me," Cole said soothingly, closing the book he'd been reading.            

"Hey," I said, sounding croaky. My head pounded and I raised a hand to it, groaning. "Why do I feel like I've just died and come back to life?"

He raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Because you almost did."

"What?" my eyes rounded.

"You passed out just after we found you."

Great. "It seems like I'm doing a lot of that lately," I muttered. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"About a day since we left. Whatever happened to you...well, it must've been pretty intense." There was concern in his eyes.

Wait.

I sat up straight looking around wildly. "Where's Quinn? Dad? What's happened? Is everyone okay?"

"Shh," Cole coaxed, grabbing my hands and staring into my eyes. "Quentin is fine." Something about his voice held a bitter edge. "More than fine, actually. I don't think I've ever seen someone so happy. Hanna filled me in about him being a werewolf, by the way." There was a hint of accusation in his tone, but I chose to ignore it.

I sighed with relief, resting against the backboard of my bed. "Did he use the antidote?"

His lips pursed. "I think you'll be able to find that out for yourself."

"And Dad?"

Cole froze. His expression was sorrowful, his eyes held so much sadness and sympathy for me that I immediately knew the answer to my own question.

My fists clenched as I tried to stop the tears from overflowing. "He didn't make it."

He caressed my fisted hand with his fingers, but all I felt from his touch was an emptiness. "We got him out. I don't know if that helps, but we got him out."

But I couldn't speak.

The most I could do was just sit there and take everything in. Dad had been protecting me from the very beginning, protecting me from my own mother and a kindred soul he thought would ruin me.

Just like mum did dad.

"The funeral's tomorrow," he continued, staring at me as if I was fragile and about to break. 

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

I swallowed hard and took a few moments to recollect myself. I should've expected this after witnessing the severity of Monroe's wound, but I couldn't stop myself from having a tendril of hope.

Cole stayed still, appreciating my need for silence. He knew I couldn't talk right now and it made me realise just how much he understood me. Guilt for everything I'd done with Quinn flooded me, but I had to remember that it wasn't all my fault. He was my mate, and it was fate for us to be together.

God that sounded ridiculous.

My thoughts led me back to dad. With him no longer here, there was no one to run the pack. It was all up to me.

"I think I need a moment alone," I said, looking up at him through steely eyes.

Cole opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, seeming to think better. There was something he was hiding from me.