Braiden It is the last day in quarantine. For both of us. With the mate bond forcing proximity, I spent most of my time with her in the hospital. Not that I was complaining. It was great. With nothing else to do, Ava and I spent our time talking and reading books, or she would draw. Often me. Having me pose in different positions for hours while she sketched me. I pretended I hated it, but I didn’t. Watching her while she did something she clearly enjoyed so much was as enjoyable for me. The little frown she would get when something didn’t look quite right. The slight blush that would suffuse her cheeks when she was drawing my lips. Everything about her was perfection. “I just need one more minute, and then I am done,” she says, erasing something on her current drawing before sketching it again. “There. Perfect!” Her joy is contagious. Even the hospital staff loved her. Not me, though. They are still scared of me because of the days Ava was not awake. I was an animal. Literally, as well. My eyes only returned to grey a day after Ava woke up. I get up from the chair and circle her to glimpse her latest drawing. Another one of me to add to the collection already piled up on the table beside her. “Don’t you get tired of drawing me?” I ask, circling her waist and pulling her toward me. “As tired as you get of holding me.” Touché. With us this close for five days, I have barely been able to ke ep my hands off her. And my dick has been constantly hard. But beyond touching, we have been banned from doing anything else. At least at the hospital. And even if Dr. Adams clears her to leave today, I cannot mark her. Which means we cannot mate. If we tried mating, I had no doubt my wolf would be unable to hold back. Fuck. I hated this. All my attempts to track down who had poisoned her were a dead end, though my mother and Selene were still under suspicion and were being closely watched. I could not even compel them to tell me the truth as that would raise alarm bells and scare off whoever put them up to this. They were not the only ones in volved. Someone else was pulling the strings, the same person who had written ‘You’re mine, Ava’ on the dead body we found. My suspicion was The Underground and the person going by the name ‘The Butcher.’ “My King, My Queen, I am sorry to interrupt,” Dr. Adams says, not looking sorry at all. “The good news is that you have the all clear. But you will need to see me weekly for a checkup.” Ava smiles and jumps up, placing her drawings with the others before gently slipping them into her folder. “Let’s go then. Dr. Adams, thank you for everything.” Ava grabs an already packed bag with her belongings and the get-well cards, slings her drawing bag over her shoulder, and grabs my hand. So quickly, I don’t get a chance to say anything to Dr. Adams. “My King, remember what I said about marking My Queen, and don’t forget to come see me next week!” Dr. Adams shouts as I am dragged from the room. I grab the bag from Ava, who smiles and speed walks out of the hospital.
“Oh my god. Fresh air. And sunshine. And flowers. Damn, aren’t you happy we can leave?” Ava has her hands out, palms up, and facing the sun. Her eyes close as she soaks it in and then smiles. Fuck, she is so pretty. Samuel, on cue, pulls up in front of us with Nick in the passenger seat. “My King, My Queen, your chariot awaits,” Nick says, climbing out and opening the back door for us. Two black SUVs idle nearby—the royal guards—necessary since we aren’t on pack land. When Ava was poisoned, Dr. Adams suggested transferring her from the small hospital in the pack to a larger one a few miles outside the borders. It had better technology to address the severity of Ava’s initial symptoms, and he was also concerned about containing the viruses. While the last couple of days had been a great distraction, leaving the hospital reminds me of the very real danger Ava is in. I would need to double my efforts to determine who was behind this. “Are you okay, Braiden?” Ava asks after we have been on the road for some time, the gentle squeeze of my arm drawing my gaze to her. “I’m fine. It’s you who needs to take it easy.” I smile, trying to reassure her, but she knows me too well already. “We will find whoever did this, Braiden. I’m certain. I have a session with Dr. Lewis tomorrow, and I’m sure, as is she, that we will make some progress.” I wish I had Ava’s confidence, but we were always one st ep behind. We would remain on the backfoot if we didn’t find the person or people helping The Underground from the inside. With Ava the clear target, I couldn’t be in that position for long. “Oh my word. What is this?” Ava exclaims as we pull up in front of the pack house. The pack members have gathered outside, balloons everywhere, and a welcome back banner hangs above the door of the pack house. Ava’s face is priceless. Shock. Awe. And then tears when she realizes that this is all for her. Samuel opens her door, and when she climbs out, she is bombarded with pack members welcoming their Queen back. All bow while Ava urges them not to as they hand her flowers and gifts. She is so overwhelmed by their concern and adoration that when her eyes search for mine through the crowd, tears shimmer in their d epths. “Okay, everyone. I think My Queen needs some rest,” I say loudly when I see Ava becoming tired. While she says that she is fine and the doctor has cleared her, I know it has taken its toll on her. The black marks under her eyes have not gone away. The paler-than-usual complexion has not entirely returned to normal. Her body was fighting harder than ever against the silver due to her recent infection. Necks bare, and a path clears as I approach Ava, her grateful smile confirming my concerns. “Thank you for all the flowers and gifts. It really means so much to me,” Ava says to the pack, the emotional tremble in her voice only apparent to me. The pack members bid her goodbye before they disperse. A content feeling spread through the pack at our arrival, settling the restless feeling that had permeated the bond with our absence. Ava stays rooted to the spot. She was never acc epted in her pack. For her, this was a big deal.
“I told you they love you. When we are mated, you will feel just how much.” I wrap my arms around her, pulling her tight against my chest. Her eyes meet mine, a sadness in them even though she slightly smiles. “Come. You need some rest.” I take Ava’s hand as we walk back to our home. Nick, Samuel, and some of the royal guards have already d eposited our bags and the gifts at home by the time we arrive. While everyone else has gone, Samuel stands at the door with a folder in his hands, his face telling me he has news. “Why don’t you go upstairs and shower while I wrap up some pack business? I won’t be long,” I say to Ava, ke eping the concern from my voice. She eyes me suspiciously but then turns on her heel and heads upstairs, the shower heard moments later. “The surveillance team tailing Sir Ravensborough sent an urgent r eport moments ago.” I am as surprised as Samuel. While I suspected he was in volved with The Underground, the team trailing him since the event had come back with nothing. He went about his business and then went home, nothing remotely suspicious occurring. I had begun to wonder if my instincts were wrong. “They followed him this morning. A detour from his usual route. He met with a man in a dingy bar off Route 19. Not a place someone of his status usually frequents. They then swapped cars, which was problematic as we had a tracker on his. He lost our tail a couple of miles outside of Blakley.” “Blakely?” I r epeat, the name ringing a bell. “Why does that name sound familiar?” “It would sound familiar, My King.” Samuel hands me a file. The first picture, after I flip it open, takes me back to when I was fourteen—a time I wish never to relive. There, in all its glory, stands the building I was rescued from. The building where Ava and I were held captive, along with countless other wolves. Where we were tortured and abused. Too caught up in my memories, and with seconds turning into minutes, I don’t even register Ava coming down the stairs. Samuel clears his throat, and I close the file just as Ava reaches us. “What?” Ava looks between Samuel and me before her eyes land on the folder in my hands. “What is it? What's in the folder?” After everything she has been through, would seeing this do her any good? Especially now when she was not at full strength. But wasn’t it the same as what we were trying to achieve with hypnosis? “Thank you, Samuel. We will chat in the morning.” Samuel dips his head at my dismissal and then leaves, the soft click of the front door echoing in the silence. “We have been tracking Sir Ravensborough. We lost him today. Close to a place called Blakley.” I watch her face trying to see if any of what I am saying registers or jogs any memories. “Blakley? I’m not sure where that is?” Ava says, shaking her head in confusion. I hand her the file, her eyes moving from me to it as I continue talking. “It was close to one of The Underground locations raided years ago...” She flips open the file, gasping when she sees the picture of the unassuming grey building. “I know this place...” she whispers, her finger touching the picture gingerly as she traces the edge of the building.
“It was where we were met. Beauty and Beastie,” I say this rather than saying this was where we were brutally abused and tested on like lab rats. “Beauty and Beastie,” she r epeats quietly, reverently. After a few moments, her shoulders straighten, and she flips the file closed. “I want to go there. Tomorrow.”