Calista had been eagerly waiting for the return of her mate and her son. Thor had called her and let her know they’d have Damian’s injured soul-mate with them, but she wasn’t expecting to see her Wolf when they arrived.

Thor was met by Jordan’s parents as soon as they got closer to the Pack hospital. Thor assured Jude and his mate that their son was doing much better, with the exception of calling for someone named Mindy. Jordan’s parents shook their heads. They had no idea who that was. Maverick glanced at Damian, and they smiled at each other as they listened in on the conversation. They knew who she was, and they knew Jordan had fallen extremely hard for her, even if he didn’t come right out and say it.

After welcoming everyone back, and watching Damian’s mate and Jordan get moved into Trinity’s medical center, Calista quickly offered to help clear the guest house for her son and his mate, so they’d have a comfortable place to stay once she was released.

Damian didn’t want to say it out loud, but it felt good to be back with the Pack he knew as his home. But he also knew it was temporary. He knew his father was right: there couldn’t be two Alphas, and he and his mate needed their own space, their own Pack. They would hopefully be starting their own family once she was completely healed.

The afternoon became a blur with all the activity in the infirmary. Damian was encouraged to go get some rest while his mate was sleeping. He’d put up a good fight, but Trinity, Thor, and Calista all finally convinced him it was in his mate’s best interest since she’d be released later than night. They convinced Damian that if he was going to watch over her all night, he needed to be well-rested. Begrudgingly, he agreed, and left with his mother to get settled into the guest house.

Calista glanced at her son, then took the pan of food he’d been holding. “Tell me all about her,” she said as she put the food in the refrigerator.

“I don’t have much to tell, honestly.”

“Oh, come on. You have to have something you can share with me. I know some things your father was able to share, but I want to know what she’s like. Is she nice? I mean, I’m sure she is, she’s your mate and the Goddess is very fair. But how did you finally meet? What’s she look like in her human form?”

“Seriously, Mother, the only thing I know is she risked her life to save us. I tried to stop her, but she did it anyway. That’s how we met. I knew she was near a few times, but never met her before that day.”

Damian looked out the window and noticed the sun beginning to set. He couldn’t believe it had gotten so late so quickly.

When he and his mother left the infirmary earlier, both his mate and Jordan were doing much better. Jordan’s parents were bedside, talking to him a mile a minute. They were hailing him as a hero for taking the bullet that saved his friends. And, even though Damian had wanted to correct them that his mate was the hero, he didn’t. He knew his friend was entitled to being lauded as well.

Then Damian realized he hadn’t seen Maverick since the morning, when they arrived. He wondered if he’d already talked to Chuck and was preparing to begin learning how to build a house. Fortunately for Maverick, the house they were replacing was small.

“You haven’t heard a thing I’ve said,” his mother said. “I’m going to leave. Get some rest, please. If you need anything, you know where we are.”

“Thanks, Mother.”

“Be still my heart. I’m shocked. You actually said thank you instead of a smart-ass reply.” Calista giggled.

“I can give you a smart-ass comment, if you want one.” Damian smirked, then winked at his mother.

“Another day, sweetie. I’ll see you later.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek, gave him a hug, then turned and left.

 

 

When Damian woke, the light shining through the window from the street lights was the only thing that broke up the darkness in his home. It was too quiet, too. He glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly eight-thirty. He’d slept for nearly two hours. He jumped up from the bed and pulled on his clothes, rushed out the front door, and made his way back to the hospital.

Within an hour of arriving his mate was ready to be released with one stipulation. Trinity was going to spend the night with them. Damian’s mate hadn’t eaten solid food. Her only source of nourishment was from the IV Harley had given her and the one she received after getting settled in the Pack hospital.

After returning to the house, Damian and Trinity helped get his mate moved from the gurney, which was wide enough to accommodate her, to the extra-wide king-sized bed. Trinity hooked up an IV to make sure she stayed hydrated through the night and had a low-dose muscle relaxant to keep her pain at a minimum.

“When do you think she’ll be able to shift?” Damian asked.

“It’s hard to say. With her not eating, it could be quite a while. She has to eat to regain her strength so she can shift. And when she does, the scar on her stomach will heal much quicker. Maybe since she’s going to be here with you, you can encourage her to begin eating something. Anything.”

“We’ve got food in the refrigerator. I could see if she’ll eat that.”

“Damian, she’s a Wolf right now. She doesn’t want a casserole or sausage. If she eats anything, it’s going to be raw meat. If you don’t have raw, unprocessed, uncooked meat in the refrigerator, you’ll need to hunt for her. Something small. A rabbit. Or a chipmunk, maybe. And with any luck at all, she’ll take at least one or two bites. Something to get her back on track.”

Trinity fiddled with the tubing, making sure it wasn’t twisted anywhere. “Did you hear Jordan should be going home tomorrow afternoon?” Trinity asked.

“No.”

“Yep. His parents are taking him in, and they’ve been trying to convince him not to leave again. They heard about both shootings, and are terrified something will happen to him and he won’t survive. I told them it was a unique situation, but they refused to listen to me. Anyway, he’ll be at their place when he leaves tomorrow afternoon. You may want to see him in the morning before he gets discharged.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I’ll make sure to stop by in the morning. Have you seen Maverick? He disappeared not long after we got back.”

“I haven’t. His parents may have gotten to him, too. I’m sure he’ll show up tomorrow. It was quite the ordeal you guys went through. Fortunately no one else was hurt.”

Damian shook his head. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d be going back to, or what he’d do if his two Betas decided they weren’t going back to their new Pack with him.

“Get some rest, Damian, while she’s sleeping. I’ll see you in the morning. Good-night.”

“Good-night, Trinity. Thank you for everything.”

Damian sat in the chair, watching his mate, until his eyes got so heavy he could no longer fight the urge to close them. He eased into the bed beside her, staring at her until he eventually surrendered to his exhaustion.