The Alpha and The Assassin

Chapter 16

I squint my eyes closed against the light, a small grumble of annoyance slipping past my lips as I turn to hide my eyes from the sun. The weight of Hayden's arm is draped protectively across my ever growing bump with his palm resting against it. Just as I am slowly drifting back to sleep, the sudden urge to relieve my bladder earns a disgruntled growl from me as I try to slip out from Hayden's embrace.

"Emmet, no. Lay back down. Too early," he grumbles softly, barely slipping into the conscious world. 

"As much as I would love to, my body says otherwise. I have to pee," I grumble as his grip on me tightens. With a huff of annoyance, he releases me while pushing himself up in the process.

"Fine. Go, go. But don't take too long." I roll my eyes at his possessiveness before turning to scurry towards the bathroom to appease my body.

"Hey, can we go see Ren? I want to check on how she is doing," I ask Hayden as I step out of the bathroom. He glances up at me from his phone with a quick nod before quickly going back to what he was doing.

"Sure love. Just give me a minute to finish up this message, and then we can head out," he mumbles out distracted by his task. With a satisfied nod, I move towards the closet to get dressed for the day since I'm sure Hayden is against me going out in only his shirt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ren?" My voice bounces around the room gently as I slowly peak my head into the hospital room housing my twin. My eyes travel to where her frail body is laying, hooked up to every kind of tube imaginable, on the pale purple sheets of the bed. The angry gashes extending from her lips the only thing marring her flawless complexion. Jake is sitting in the chair beside her bed, his large frame cramped uncomfortably in the small chair beside the bed. He glances up at me with sad eyes as I enter the room.

"Hey. How are you holding up," I ask him softly as I move towards him. He lets out a deep sigh as he rests his head against their joined hands.

"She's doing better than she was. The doc says that she's healing well all things considered and that they should be able to comfortably take her out of the coma in the next few days." I fix my gaze on Jake's tired eyes, shaking my head gently.

"No, I know how she is doing. I was asking how you were holding up." He holds my gaze for a minute before looking away, tears shining in his eyes.

"I thought that I'd lost her. I know that I will never be able to feel things the same way that you guys do, and I know we've never been out about it, but she's still my mate. And almost losing her,  I can't bear the thought. I've been an absolute wreck since she went missing." He drops his head to their hands once more, releasing the sigh that only a broken man can.

"I have never questioned your feelings towards her, regardless of what you guys told everyone else. I've always known. She's stronger, stronger than anyone else I know. She will get through this, and she will need your help to get through everything else. It will all work out," I tell him with a gentle smile before giving a kiss to Ren's forehead and turning to leave them in peace. She will be okay eventually. I slip out of the room, joining Hayden in the small hall of the pack hospital. He glances up at me in question, opening his mouth to speak before being cut off with a high pitched scream echoing down the hall.

"Oh come on man. Can't we just catch one break?" Hayden lets out a low growl before dashing down the hall towards the scream with me in tow. As we round the corner into the housing section of the pack house where the scream came from, Hayden comes to a sudden halt with a low growl. A dark red wolf is standing in front of us, fur standing on end as low growls vibrate through the wolf's body. Dangerous growls emanate from my mate's form as his body tenses in preparation for a shift if needed. My eyes travel from the angry wolf in front of me to the group of as equally angry wolves standing behind it. A niggling in the back of my brain slowly starts to form a headache. I know these wolves, somehow. Why do they look so familiar? My head pounds as I work my brain trying to remember where I know these wolves from.