Cinderella And The Wolf Prince (Shifter Tales Book 1)

Chapter Six

     When I woke up, I heard that incessant beeping again. I was beginning to think that I was cursed.

     I pried my eyes open, only to find a man sitting beside me with my hand in a death grip. I couldn't pull it away if I tried.

     Since it was apparent that I wasn't going any where for a while, I decided to let the man sleep. He had dark circles under his eyes and there was something about him that drew me in. I pressed the call button on the side of my bed and waited for the nurse to appear.

     As soon as I saw her peeking around the corner of the door, I lifted the hand that wasn't being held to my lips in the universal sign to be quiet and then pointed to the man at my side. She seemed to understand that I didn't want to wake him, so she minimized the sound of her footsteps and whispered if I needed anything.

     "Could I have some water?" I whispered, attempting to keep the rasp out of my voice. I must have been out longer than I thought.

     She brought me a paper cup, filled only half way with water, and I slowly drank it. She asked me if I needed anything else, but I shook my head no. After she left, I studied the face of the man that gripped my hand so tightly.

     He had dark hair the color of a raven's wing, and his skin was tanned to perfection. I couldn't see his eyes, because they were closed but I knew that they were green like his wolf's. A beautiful emerald green that put the green of the forest to shame. 

     I guess he felt my stare, because he started to move. I didn't know what to say and was scared that he would be mad at me.

***

     I woke up at my mate's bedside the moment she pushed the call button for the nurse, but I didn't show it. I could tell that she was trying to be considerate of me and let me sleep, so I played along.

     Pretending to have just awoken, I gazed into her eyes and thought about why she had run from me. It couldn't be that she didn't know what we were. She was perfectly calm when I had found her in that cave in my wolf form.

     She had actually snuggled with me until she got sick. She wouldn't have done that if she had thought that I was a random wild wolf.

     She must have had some idea that it was me.

     "How are you feeling?" I asked her. Her health was the most important thing to me right now. 

     She looks a little nervous and kind of out of it, but she still manages to answer.

     "I feel kind of dizzy, but other than that I'm fine," she rasps. Her voice is a little rough, but I think that its just from her being malnourished and dehydrated.

     Without the rasp, I would bet money that her voice was as smooth ans sweet as honey.

     "You know who and what I am, right?"

      "You're the prince. You're a werewolf. You're my mate," she responded.

     "Right on all counts. Now what I want to know is why you ran from me?" I asked with my heart in my throat.