“She’s in a coma.”
Her lip trembled. Pain and fear seeped from her pores. “I’m sorry.” Tears dripped down the corners of her eyes. “I couldn’t protect her.”
“Stop it, little pup. You had your hands full.” He pushed her blonde hair back away from her face. Gone were the bruises and cuts. All she had left were internal injuries, which took longer to heal.
His mother grasped her hand on the other side of the bed. “How do you feel?”
“Some pain inside, but otherwise okay.”
Aric sighed in relief. He scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Did you recognize any of the men who attacked you?”
She shook her head and winced. “No. I’ve never seen them before.”
William showed up at that moment, followed by a young nurse. “I see you’re finally awake.”
“How long did it take me to heal?” Ellie glanced around the bed. She pressed a button on the remote by her hand and lifted to a sitting position.
“Three days. You would have healed sooner if not for the fact you shifted and that slows down the progress.”
Ellie rubbed a shaky hand over her side and winced.
“Do you feel a lot of pain still?” William asked. “Might be best for you to shift for a few hours now that you can hold it.”
She nodded.
Aric headed for the door. “While you rest, I’m going to check on Jordan.”
“I’ll come with you.” William followed behind him. “We checked her new scan and the swelling is gone. We can pull her out of the coma and see if we can wake her up.”
Aric entered Jordan’s room. The bruising on her face and body had been changing colors and was currently a brownish yellow.
“What about her other injuries?”
William checked her chart. “There’s no easy cure for a human.” He glanced at Aric with a frown. “She just needs time.”
It was two more days before Jordan’s eyes finally opened. By then Ellie was back to normal. Her wounds had healed. Aric sat at a corner of the room while Ellie and Emma spoke.
“I thought Nic and Karla would have joined us,” Emma said while holding Jordan’s hand in hers.
“No, they were here yesterday and had an after school program to attend.”
Emma slapped her forehead. “That’s right. Thankfully I backed out, or else I’d have to have been there too.”
Jordan groaned. Everyone stopped and glanced at the bed. Her face was creased in pain.
Aric rushed to her side, gripping her right hand in his. “Jordan?”
She blinked several times before he saw her focus on him. Pain dulled her eyes.
“Ellie?”
“I’m right here, love.” Ellie’s voice was thick with tears.
Jordan licked her lips and cleared her throat. “I’ve seen the guy that hit you before.”
This was unbelievable. It was exactly what Aric and his brothers had been trying to find out.
He sat on the edge of the bed and cupped her jaw. “Who was it, sweetheart?”
She leaned into his touch. His heart was heavy with the knowledge she was in pain and there was little he could do.
Jordan let go of his hand and lifted her hand to rub her fingers over his overgrown beard. Her touch sent peace through the beast that had been pacing since he’d found her unconscious.
“It was one of the men that came to your house the day I was chased by the white wolves. One of the guys I saw out the window that arrived with Caleb. The one with the blond hair.”
Aric lost it.
Chapter Ten
He could tell Jordan was in pain, and it only added to the fuel sparking the anger inside him. There was no stopping the storm of rage pumping through his veins. A frenzy of every possible violent thought rushed his head. Revenge filled his mind. For Ellie. For Jordan. For daring to touch someone in his family and think there’d be no repercussions. At first, he’d been surprised that one of Caleb’s men had dared cross the line and hurt one of the Wolfe pack, but with the chaos in the neighboring pack he shouldn’t be surprised.
Fur pushed at his skin. The wolf wanted out.
Ellie rushed by his side. “Aric, you need to calm the wolf.”
“One of Caleb’s men was in on this,” he ground out, his voice so rough it sounded like churned gravel. “I’m going to find them.”
Jordan winced. He scented her concern before she spoke. “You can’t go alone. There were four of them.”
At that moment, his brothers rushed into the room. Mason, Nathan, and Jake marched up to the bed, their gazes locked on him. “He won’t be alone. We’re going with him.”
Aric turned to Jordan. He wanted to touch her face and hold her, but his fingers had turned into claws, and he wouldn’t hurt her. She grabbed the front of his T-shirt and pulled him toward her.