Kael's POV
The Next Morning:
My heart was thudding against my ribs, I walked into the hospital corridor expecting the worst with machines, wires, perhaps even a priest in the hall.
Instead, when I opened the door to Hollen's room, I saw something I didn't dare hope for.
And there he was — propped up on the pillows, smiling like the cocky bastard he had always been. His face was pale and bruised, his shoulder bandaged, but his eyes were incisive. He was alive.
"Finally, Alpha," he rasped, his voice dry but sure, tinged with that same irreverent humor.
I froze. I felt my heart bang hard in my chest. Then I crossed the room in two strides and took his wrist, grounding myself in the solid weight of him.
"You motherfucker," I muttered. "You frightened the heck out of me."
He grimaced, then let out a soft laugh. "Wouldn't be the first time."
Bruises and stitches aside, his eyes were clear. He was also breathing fine.
He reached out to the table beside him and brandished a small brown envelope with nothing written on it. It was sealed shut.
"A gift," he said. "Open it later."
I frowned as I took it. "What's inside?"
"Yours answers," Hollen answered.
He smiled, shifting, becoming serious. "That car saved me, Kael. I should've been ripped in two by that blast, but thank God I had my seat belt on or rather I had some help from a special wolf."
"You're lucky," I muttered, smiling, getting his hint.
"You obviously love me so much you want to cry," he said pointedly, narrowing his eyes.
I rolled my eyes and scoffed. "Piss off."
And then he said, almost offhandedly, "Also…you didn't smell it, did you?
My brows drew together. "Smell what?"
"The poison," he said flatly. "Belladonna and wolfsbane, mixed with some strong-dose of methamphetamine. It was on your food."
I tensed, a gradual freeze spreading up my spine. "What?"
"I could hardly smell it myself, and I have the best nose in your inner circle," he continued. "It was covered. Hidden. Something masked the scent."
I stared at him. "Covered how?"
He hesitated, then said it. "Magic. Most likely Old dark magic or something. That's the only explanation."
I flinched.
"And how about that cat of yours?" he asked suddenly, his sharp eyes moved on mine. "Why didn't you bring her? I heard she's a cutie. I am yet to see her."
My heart skipped. It was a cold bolt of realization. I hadn't seen her since the accident.
And I'd forgotten. I'd let her fall through the cracks of my panic and pain and plans.
"I have to go," I blurted and backed away. "Thank you…for everything."
"Kael…wait!" Hollen called from behind me, but I was halfway down the hall.
I threw open the door of the hospital and hopped into my car, putting it into gear and speeding off down the road.
My mind was a series of shattered image flashes, Aurora's blue eyes, her defiant stance, the way she protected me without saying a thing.
"Shit!" I cursed and drove faster.
I arrived at the manor in minutes, heart pounding, lungs constricted. I ran down the hallways, calling her name like a lunatic.
I checked the office, kitchen, the study, balcony and even the sunspots where she would stretch and nap.
Yet, I couldn't find her.
Desperation clawed up my throat.
Not her too.
I couldn't lose her. Not now.
I flung open the front doors, charging into the garden, the morning air cool on my hot skin. Birds chirped. Flowers swayed with the wind. The world felt maddeningly typical.
Then I saw her.
She was tucked away in the garden behind a condo. The growing roses and lavender covered her perfectly.
Relief crashed through me. I knelt beside her, gasping for breath, my eyes stinging.
She looked peaceful and cute. Her fur lifted and deflated in a gentle beat. She was alive.
"You're okay," I said, wiping a fallen petal from her silky coat.
And then the memory returned. The plate she'd tipped over on the table. The glitter in her eye, I used to see. How she always showed up when I needed her comfort the most. I had felt her warm cuddle when I was asleep on the couch.
"I'm going out of my mind," I said under my breath.
"First I was dreaming you were some lady and now…"
She stirred and opened her eyes.
Her ice-blue eyes met mine. They had so many feelings, I couldn't believe that they could be expressed by a regular animal." The world shrank until it was only us two. I reached out, touching her fur.
Then it happened.
Her eyes glowed for a second and I saw a young lady again.
I blinked aggressively, doubting everything.
Had I imagined it? I wasn't sure.
She smiled.
Not a mere twitch of her whiskers. A real smile. It was pinprick, pale, and almost human-like.
I sat there, stunned. "Aurora…" I called.
She didn't speak. But she didn't need to.
When I looked into her eyes, I knew. She had saved me. Protected me. From poison. From betrayal. From myself.
"Aurora," my heart whispered silently.
The shimmering intensified for a moment, encircling her in a simple halo. My mind cried out for logic, but my heart knew already.
I reached out again. My fingers brushed against her fur. It was warm, real, and soft.
The instant tethered me, knitting me into an unknown truth I hadn't wanted to accept. She was magic.
"Stay with me," I whispered. "Don't ever leave me again."
She blinked, slowly and deliberately, and in that blink, I found understanding. Forgiveness. Maybe even…affection.
It felt like time had stopped.
I held her close, my heart hammering. Finally, I felt the storm within me subside.
Everything faded to the background.
I looked across the garden, a new fire in my chest.
Aurora stirred in my arms, tucking her head against my chest.
"I don't know what you are," I whispered into her fur, "but I know what you mean to me."
She blinked once. The shimmer came back, barely perceptible at this point, but definitely present.
And in that flash of light, I felt something I hadn't felt in so long.
It was hope.