***
The pain within Jeremy at that very moment…hearing that heartfelt plea from his mate, was like nothing he’d ever felt. He couldn't fault Ryan for not wanting anything to do with his wolf side. He’d done that to him. He had to somehow fix it…make it better…help Ryan accept what he had become because there was no going back.
‘I’m sorry Ryan but I can’t. No one can. I’m so sorry.’
Ryan didn’t say a word after that. He just kept quiet and laid his head down. His life was over. How could he even go back to work? What if in the middle of teaching he shifted into a wolf?
‘I’ll guide you.’ Jeremy said quietly, listening to Ryan’s inner thoughts. He didn’t know how to shield himself yet so everything he thought about was open to Jeremy as they were linked. Ryan didn’t acknowledge his words.
What if he not only shifted in the middle of a lecture, but he actually hurt one of his students? What if his shifting caused a stampede and people got hurt in the process? That was all the life he knew…teaching. Was it over?
‘No, it’s not over.’ Jeremy answered. ‘I’ll take care of you.’
‘Get the fuck out of my head, you psycho.’ Ryan growled, attempting to stand but he howled in pain and fell back down. Fuck! He hoped his foot wasn’t broken.
Jeremy couldn’t take it anymore. He growled as he shifted back into his human form. He’d had it. He just couldn’t stand the fact that Ryan was in pain. He had to pull his leg out. Ryan could do whatever he wanted to do to him, Jeremy didn’t care. He went to where Ryan’s leg was stuck, ignoring his frenzied growls.
“You can bite me if you want,” Jeremy growled. “I’m doing this.” With that, he reached into the hole and grabbed hold of Ryan’s leg. Then he slowly pulled it out, wincing at Ryan’s howl of pain. “It’s broken,” Jeremy said grimly. “You need a doc…No, don’t shift.” Jeremy gasped when he felt Ryan begin to shift back. “You’ll be in too much pain if you’re in your human form.”
‘At least the pain would be from an injury and not from another person inflicting it.’ Ryan spat through their link. ‘God, I hate you so much.’
“Oh fuck.” Jeremy gasped as he took a step back as though Ryan had punched him. His hand went to his chest which had suddenly tightened painfully. Earlier, he’d thought Ryan implying he wanted no part of his wolf form was painful. But Jeremy realized that Ryan telling him he hated him was even worse. He rubbed his chest as he fell to his knees. It definitely didn’t help matters that Ryan was at that particular moment thinking how the world would be a better place with people like Jeremy out of it. ‘Ryan please…’ Jeremy gasped through their link.
‘What the fuck have I done now?’ Ryan snapped.
Jeremy looked at him and slowly shook his head. “Nothing.” He said quietly as he got to his feet. Then without another word, he hulked out till he became a wolf-man. In that form the alpha, who was covered in red fur, was almost nine-foot-tall and had ten times the strength of his wolf. Ryan whimpered in fear. ‘I’m going to carry you now.’ Was all the warning Ryan got before Jeremy was lifting him up as though he weighed nothing.
And throughout the trip back to Jeremy’s house, the alpha’s heart was breaking. His mate hated him and with good reason too. If only he could turn back time, he couldn’t help but wish. Ryan on the other hand didn’t know what to think. Being held in Jeremy’s arms so tenderly was definitely not what he’d expected from the cruel man. One would have thought in that scary imposing form, Jeremy would be even more cruel and wicked but on the contrary, Ryan had never felt safer in his life. He was totally confused so he just closed his eyes and enjoyed being held.
In the pack hospital, three doctors and four nurses ran around trying to make Ryan comfortable. Although news hadn’t gotten to them that Ryan was their alpha’s mate, they knew that for the alpha to change to that form and carry an injured wolf himself, when he could have asked the warriors or any of the others to bring the wolf in, Ryan was obviously very important. And even if they hadn’t seen their hulked-out alpha carry in the injured wolf, the fact that the injured wolf had been taken to one of the executive rooms…which was reserved for only alphas and top-ranking wolves, also showed how important the wolf was. The alpha’s agitated pacing on the corridors of the hospital at that very moment was enough to put everyone on edge.
Upon entering the hospital, Ryan was immediately given a shot of something strong to take care of his pain at Jeremy’s insistence. In no time at all his leg was set and his eyes were drifting shut with drowsiness thanks to the morphine that had been pumped into him. Just before he drifted off, he saw Jeremy standing in his line of vision, watching him. He was in dark jeans and a black t-shirt that fitted to his body like a second skin. And those eyes… ‘Damn, he’s hot’ was Ryan’s last thought before he drifted off to sleep.
Jeremy heard Ryan as their link was still opened. But rather than feel thrilled that his mate found him attractive, he rather felt sad because he knew it was the morphine talking. Ryan despised him.
“How long is he going to be out?” Jeremy asked Dr. Sanders, the lead doctor.
“About four hours Alpha.”
“Keep me posted on anything that happens,” Jeremy said as he turned and headed for the door. “I’ll be back.” He needed good counsel. And the alpha knew exactly who to talk to.