Page 44 of The Alpha's Chosen Fate

Later, I clawed my way back to consciousness.The persistent cloud of medicine-induced grogginess still clung to my mind.

The room swam into focus, and there was Briggs, at my bedside.

"Why are you still here?"I croaked.

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees."I said I wasn’t leaving and I meant it."

"Why not?”

He stood abruptly, thankfully clothed now."You're my responsibility now."

“You mean prisoner.”

Grace entered the room, her arms full of bandages and salves.She looked between us and frowned."Alpha, perhaps it's best if you …"

"No."

Feebly, I turned pleading eyes to Grace."Please, tell him it’s not good for your patient to get riled up."

The healer regarded me for several more seconds before turning to Briggs."Ivy needs rest, Alpha.Your presence is agitating her."

Astonishingly, the big male relented.“I'll step outside for a bit, but I will return."

As he strode from the room, I sagged back against the pillows.Grace tended to my wounds.I barely registered her actions.

“Go back to sleep, Ivy.Rest will do you good.Once the worst of these has stopped oozing I’ll have you shift to speed things along.”

All I could do was nod, easily falling back back into slumber.Thankfully, I didn’t dream.

Throughout what felt like days when it was likely only hours, I drifted in and out of consciousness.Snippets of heated conversations reached my ears.

"Don’t ask me to leave her side again, Grace, because I won’t."Briggs's deep timbre echoed through the room.

"I’m sorry, Alpha, but your presence is only causing her more distress."Grace's calm voice held as much concern as it did frustration.

"She is my true mate.It's my duty to protect her, especially now when she's vulnerable."

I felt the ghostly touch of fingers stroking my hair, gently with care.

That’s nice, Rieka purred like a damned kitten.

Traitor, I grumbled.

It was the only thing I could think of to call her because she certainly wasn’t lying.

Chapter 13

Briggs

I sat and watched the shallow rise and fall of Ivy's chest as she lay bandaged in the healer's bed.The sight was nearly more than I could bear.

Images of her bloodied body in my arms played on repeat in my mind.It felt like weeks yet I’d carried her limp form here only yesterday.

Fear’s icy talons gripped my heart as I'd thought I might lose her.She wasn’t actually close to death, but she was in bad shape.

I should have killed those bitches for what they did.But wolves fought like this sometimes and death would have been too kind.

I wanted them to suffer.Besides, if their story was to be believed, my vicious little mate had lunged first.

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