He dropped onto a black leather chair and covered his face with his hands. There was no way he could go on if she didn’t return from that coma. He loved her. The revelation felt more like tearing a hole into his heart. One woman. She was it. And now she was in a bed, tubes inside her nose and mouth, fighting to survive.
“I need to do something,” he growled.
A soft hand caressed the back of his head. “Baby, she’ll be fine.”
The conviction in his mother’s voice made some of the pressure inside his heart lessen. He raised his face from his hands and turned to her.
“She will be fine.”
“I––”
“Listen to me very carefully, Aric. You’ve been given a gift. A mate. One you love deeply from the look in your eyes. And you can’t let doubt enter your mind now. You must believe it with every fiber of your being that things will be okay. She will be fine. Jordan is a fighter. You know it. We know.”
He nodded. It was one of the things he loved about her. She didn’t cry or wait on someone to help her, she tried to save herself. He knew she’d make a fantastic leader when his time came.
“Jordan needs time. I suggest we talk about how we can help her while she’s laying prone in this place,” his mom said.
“What do you suggest?” He had lost all track of everything other than Jordan.
“I will go to her house and ensure it’s clean, tidy, and any plants are taken care of.”
He swallowed hard. “That’s not necessary, I can do it.”
“No, you can’t. You’ll be here. You know that your wolf won’t go more than a few hundred yards away from the mate he needs to protect.”
She was right. Even as they spoke, he had the urge to rush the private room Jordan was in and watch everything being done to her.
His father took a seat across from him. “We’ll send a group of enforcers to search them out.”
His brothers nodded.
“I hope when Ellie wakes she can give us some kind of lead on the attackers and if they said anything about why they targeted them.”
Aric pinched the bridge of his nose and tried not to think of the finger prints he’d seen on Jordan’s neck. Two large handprints had covered her throat from the attempt at strangling her.
“We’ll need to give Caleb a call.” His mother rubbed her cheek on his side. “He’ll want to know about Ellie.”
“I already did. He’s on his way.” Nathan popped a can of soda from a table in the waiting area. He filled a glass with ice and brought the soda-filled glass to his mother.
She smiled and took the glass. His mother didn’t drink soda. But she’d always been careful to not hurt their feelings, so she placed the glass on a table by her chair.
“This is the third time something happened to Jordan. But we took care of the white wolves.”
“Yes, but what if this wasn’t the whites? There are rogues in the area. Most of them packless and uncaring of hurting humans.”
Jake drank from his own soda can. “But Ellie isn’t a human.”
“No, but some of them see it as some kind of traitorous act for shifters and humans to mingle. Apparently, they’re supposed to be lower in the food chain than we are.”
“There are shifters that actually think that way?” Nathan asked with disgust, taking a seat next to Mason.
“More than you know,” his mother answered.
“And in our pack?” Mason asked the question. “Aric has already declared his intent to mate with a human. Will it cause any kind of problem amongst our people?”
“Not while I’m Alpha.” Their father stated in a rough commanding voice. He fisted his hands. “This is my pack. Anyone with a problem can take it up with me.”
Although older, his father still had the strength, stamina, and viciousness required to lead the pack. There was no doubt he was the top wolf. And while Aric, Mason, Nathan and Jake had all gotten the Alpha from him, they were in no rush to take over.
“They won’t. Anyone with an issue will have to go through our family.” His mother’s voice was soft but deadly. He knew the tone. Her wolf was ready to rush out and defend her cubs.
But all Aric could think of was how Jordan needed to get better so they could finally mate. After these scares against her, he wasn’t taking any chances. He knew once they mated, she’d become stronger. Though her body may not accept the change to their kind, she would be more than just a weak human.
He spent the next two days rotating between time spent in Ellie’s room and the rest in Jordan’s. If she wasn’t taking care of Jordan’s home, his mother was there with him.
“She’s holding steady, son.” She patted his shoulder.
Returning from Jordan’s room, she joined him next to Ellie’s bed. She’d shifted into her human shape the day before, which made her injuries take longer to heal. But they hadn’t been able to talk her into shifting. In her unconscious human state, they couldn’t reach her. Caleb had shown up. Aric had seen the pain in his friend’s eyes. Then he’d seen the fury. He’d stayed for long hours before he’d been called away due to issues in his pack.
Aric was about to say something, but stopped. Ellie’s eyes fluttered open. They moved closer to the bed.
She cleared her throat. “Jordan?”