To Feel Again [Welcome To Wolf's Peak]

Chapter Twenty-Eight - Niko

Niko

Those damn hunters were going to pay for taking and hurting one of my mates. Owen was lying on one of the hospital beds in the pack infirmary where the doctor insisted he stay for at least twenty-four hours. The cut to the back of his head had bled profusely before the doc had sealed the wound and put a bandage over it. He also had a swollen cheek and a black eye. Looking at the injuries to his sweet face had me enraged. 

"Those bastards are going to pay for this," I said, my tone low and angry. "I demand retribution!"

"You'll demand nothing until your mate is conscious and can tell you precisely what happened. I won't have you going off half cocked to kill humans. That would make you no better than them, you'd prove to them that we are the uncivilised animals that they believe us to be," Jason frowned at me from where he stood in the doorway. "Bram has taken the hunters to the council. One of them, a scared little kid really, was singing like a bird and ready to tell us everything he knew. The other will require medical attention before he can be questioned. He seems to have been the one in charge," he informed us.

"What were they doing here, I thought you'd caught all the hunters in the area?" Adrian sat by the bed holding Owen's hand in both of his.

"We did. According to the boy, Michael, they were here to deliver more of this." He held up a cologne-sized bottle of blue liquid with a spray top. "They call it camouflage spray." He rolled his eyes. "They're not very imaginative."

"Shouldn't you have sent that to the council?" I asked.

"We did. They had seven bottles of this stuff on them. I wanted our own doctor to take a look at this and tell us what he can about it. How's Owen doing?" Jason looked down at our man laying still on the bed.

"The doctor says he's going to be fine. The only serious injury was the cut to the back of his head and the knock he took so has a concussion and also some bruising to his face. The doctor wants to keep him under observation in case he develops any swelling or bleeding on his brain." Adrian raised Owen's hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it. He watched Owen with worry and affection in his sad eyes.

"You should get something to eat, love. I'll be here with him," I told him.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to keep up your strength and the baby needs something to eat too." I wasn't above making him feel guilty to get him to take care of himself and our child. I'd do whatever was necessary to ensure my family's well-being. "Maybe you can bring back a sandwich or something for Ginny when you're coming back." Owen's little sister was asleep in the bed next to his. She'd cried herself to sleep when she'd finally seen her brother over an hour ago. She liked to show a tough exterior to the world but underneath she was a little softie with a big heart who loved her brother very much.

"My mother has just made some chicken soup with homemade bread rolls," Jason said trying to entice him. 

It seemed to work because Adrian's stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly. "I'll get some soup and rolls for me and Ginny but I'll bring it back here so I can still be with Owen while I eat," he compromised.

"Okay, I don't mind where you eat as long as you get something in your stomach." I bent down and kissed his forehead before ushering him out of the room.

Once he and Jason were gone I took Adrian's seat at Owen's side and stroked my fingers lightly over the back of his hand. "Hi my sleeping beauty. Are you going to open those pretty eyes for me? You have Adrian worried sick and I know you'd be furious if you were awake, you'd tell him to stop. I'm making sure that he eats properly though. He needs to keep his strength up for the baby." I inhaled deeply. Owen still didn't smell like Owen. He smelled like pine needles and damp earth, the scents of the forest. I hoped that a shower would rid him of the hunters camouflage spray. "The doctor said you should wake up soon. Are you ready to wake up for us, love?"