Page 58 of The Return
“Stay in the house. Take a hot bath, then get some rest. I’ll see you soon.”
We disconnected, and I stood. My lungs still ached, but that was irrelevant at the moment.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Lance snapped at me as he entered the room.
“I have to go. I promise to take it easy, and if I feel ill, I’ll come back to the hospital.”
He narrowed his eyes.
“Someone tried to kill my mate. I can’t stay away from him when he could be in danger.”
“Corey? No. No one in the pack would do that. They love him.”
“Someone doesn’t. They set the fire deliberately.”
Lance paled. “No, it can’t be. Alpha, we adore Corey. No one would hurt him.”
“I hope not, but I’m going to find out. First, though, he needs to be sure I’m healthy and whole, and I can’t do that sitting here.” I drew in a deep breath and didn’t cough this time. “See? All better.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. Symptoms can still come back.” He sighed. “I know I can’t stop you. I wouldn’t stop either, especially if it was Sawyer. Just remember your promise, okay?”
“I will. And take care of Sawyer for me, will you? Anyone who risked his life, however foolishly, is a hero in my book. He needs someone equally amazing to make sure he stops and smells the roses once in a while.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I want to do that. I want to drag him kicking and screaming off to picnics. I want us to go to Mallet Bluff and watch the sunrise. Hell, I’d be happy holding his hand and letting people know he’s mine.”
“Don’t give up on that. If you ever need to talk—”
“I’ll go to Corey.”
That was what I’d been hoping to hear. The pack knew who they needed to talk to about relationships and stuff. Or maybe they thought I wasn’t in tune with my softer side.
“Good man.” I headed for the door, then stopped and glanced over my shoulder. “Tell Sawyer I said he’s off for four weeks to recuperate. I’ll call the station and have Jones fill in until he’s back on his feet.”
“He’s not going to like that.”
“Yeah, well. I’m trusting you to make that time off more… interesting.”
Lance’s cheeks pinked. “Thank you, Alpha.”
And then I was out the door and down the hall. I called a cab to come get me. I promised to make it worth it to whomever took me to the pack house. They said it would be no problem, but my dad always told me not to take advantage of my privilege. It wasn’t even ten minutes later that a car pulled up. I opened the door and got in.
“Good afternoon, Alpha,” Vincent Aramelli said as he pulled away from the curb.
“Hey, Vince.”
“You okay?” His nose wrinkled. “You smell a little… charbroiled.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Better than Corey’s shop.”
“I heard the sirens. Is he okay?”
“Yeah. He will be.” I’d make sure of it.
CHAPTER16
COREY
“Why isn’t he here yet?”I demanded. My heart was hurting, thinking about him being in the hospital and not being there to hold his hand.
