Page 15 of His Forsaken Alpha

“Thank you,” Wynter responded robotically.

The surgeon glanced around. “Do you have family here with you?”

“Yes,” Wynter lied. He’d not even considered calling Wilder. His boy was getting mated—all while Warden lay dying. There was no way he was going to ruin Avery and Wilder’s special night. “They just went down to get me something to drink.”

Vaughn. I should call Vaughn.

What am I thinking? If he’s not at the ceremony, he’s probably fucking someone he met there.

Jamie. Jamie would’ve come.

Wynter realized just how alone he was in that moment and burst into tears. Perhaps it was the shock of it all, he didn’t know.

He had no one to turn to.

The doctor awkwardly comforted him. “It’ll be okay, Mr. Jaymes. Can I page your family?”

“No,”Wynter spat through his tears.

A nurse was suddenly at his side. “Mr. Jaymes, why don’t I take you in so you can say your goodbyes to your alpha in private?”

Wynter eyed the nurse and realized the surgeon was already gone. As he sobbed, he was led into a private room where Warden lay dead on a gurney, though he hadn’t agreed.

“I’ll leave you alone with your mate. I’ll direct your family here once they return.”

“They’re not here,” Wynter said, staring at Warden’s still, dead body. “My son got mated tonight. He has no idea his…” Wynter paused. “I won’t ruin their night.”

“I can call a chaplain for you. You shouldn’t be alone.”

“No thank you. I’d prefer to be alone.Please.”

“Okay.I’ll be right out in the hall at the station we just passed,” the nurse said before leaving. He hesitated at the door but was soon gone.

Wynter glared at his mate, keeping his distance, at first. How many things he wanted to say. So many wrongs that would never be righted. There was a long list written over Wynter’s soul, burned into it. Would speaking them aloud finally allow them to heal or only carve them out again? He neared Warden’s body and examined his tormentor’s face.

“How small you look, lying there on that bed,” Wynter whispered. “I suddenly can’t understand why I was ever afraid of you. Why I allowed you to dictate my every decision. Why I came back…” He paused, knowing why he’d come back, and it hadn’t been for Warden’s benefit.

Warden’s eyes opened, the orbs impossibly gray, and he turned his head to focus on Wynter. “I wish you’d never come back. I hated you for forcing me to touch your vile little body. You’re an absolutely disgusting littlewhore!”

Wynter blinked a few times, Warden’s corpse still. His mind was a fragile thing, on the best of days. On the worst? Apparently, he had delusions of the finest quality. He stared for long minutes to ensure Warden was truly gone, cold numbness circling his fingertips and toes as he relived all the past injustices in my head.

The life that had been stolen from him.

What could have been. What never was.

What was lost forever.

Whowas lost forever.

Wynter’s mind began to shut down, overloaded. He backed away, nearly falling, in his need to put space between him and his tormentor. Stumbling out into the hallway, he needed out ofthe hospital. He needed fresh air to breathe, not one filled with the cloying scent of sanitizer… and death.

Warden’s loss threatened to drag him down into the abyss. Once he could breathe, then he could figure things out, surely.

In a panic, he searched the hallway. He didn’t see the nurse he’d spoken to earlier. Alarms sounded in adjoining rooms, so they’d likely been called there. Farther down, a team of nurses raced into another room.

What did he do? He’d never been the one in charge before. Warden had handled everything. Before that, his parents. He’d neverneededto know how to handle anything.

A familiar voice whispered in his mind.You need the driver to come and take you home. You’ll be safe there.

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