Chapter 167

The steady beeping of a heart monitor woke my senses first. Then came the blinding brightness of fluorescent lights bouncing off of pure white walls and the stingingly sterile smell of floor cleaner. Finally, as my vision focused, I saw Andrew sitting back in a chair next to my bed, Jeffrey forever standing guard in the corner closest to the door.

“A-Andrew?” I croaked, my throat dry.

Andrew lifted his head from his hand.

“Crystal?”

His face brightened. Ignoring the wires and tubes attached to my wrists, he leapt at me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders in a tight hug. I started to laugh at the pure joy of this act but grimaced at the pain it caused my side.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” he asked, holding me at arm’s length as he examined me. Even with his concern for my pain, his happiness at having me alive shined through his eyes.

“Fine. Laughter. Hurt.”

“Do you want some water?” He reached for the glass before I even nodded my head. “Take small sips.”

I let him guide the straw to my lips and then take it away after I had gotten a few sips down. I sighed at the cool relief of the water and licked my lips with the renewed moisture of my tongue.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice still coarse but better than before. “What happened?”

Andrew sat back down in his chair, rubbing his jaw.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Chevalier stabbed me, I think…”

He nodded.

“Yeah, he did, with a silver knife. When you went down, Jeffrey shot him in the knee with a silver bullet to incapacitate him, then called the paramedics while he stabilized you.”

He seemed about to say something else but stopped himself.

“Where’s Chevalier now?” I asked.

Andrew hesitated.

“He’s in another part of this hospital.”

I stiffened. Andrew reached out and grabbed my arm.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “There are two police officers guarding his room at all times, and they take eight-hour shifts so that they’re always alert and ready for anything.”

I nodded, but I still did not relax. I knew that was the best that could be done about the situation, but that did not mean that I felt any easier about it.

Andrew ran his hand up and down my arm.

“Crystal, I am so glad that you are okay,” he began, “but I need to know exactly how things got to this point. Is it all right if we talk about what happened a bit more?”

I swallowed but nodded again.

“When did this all begin?”

I wasn’t sure what to tell Andrew. A part of me knew that I should tell him the whole truth, but another part of me was afraid of how he would react if he found out that I didn’t come to him the second that I knew that there was a threat to me. I put my hand on his, rubbing it for courage.

“I had felt as though someone were following me for about a week…”

Andrew’s grip on me tightened. I looked up to meet his eyes. He returned my gaze steadily, his jaw clenching.

He knew I was lying.

“What about before then?” he asked, his tone even and calm.

“Before?”

Andrew sighed.

“Jeffrey told me about what happened at your apartment, but I would like to hear your side of the story.”

I cringed. Of course, Jeffrey had already told him everything.

“A week ago, someone broke into my apartment,” I said. “Everything was askew, but only one of my scarves was missing.”

Andrew breathed in through his nostrils and out slowly through his mouth.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

I shrugged and tore my eyes away.

“I don’t know. I didn’t think that it was a big enough deal to worry you. It was only a missing scarf, after all.”

“Someone broke into your apartment, Crystal,” Andrew said, his voice now firm and forceful. “Of course that’s a big deal, no matter what was taken! Your safety was compromised.”

“But if it had just turned out to be a minor burglary—”

“But it didn’t, now did it?” Andrew’s voice rose, and his grip on my arm tightened until he left imprints in my flesh. “It was someone looking for your scent!”

I flinched. Andrew was right. I wasn’t sure if I should argue my point, let alone how.

“I didn’t want to bother—”

“You really think that it would have bothered me to ensure your safety?”

Andrew leapt out of his seat and started pacing.

“Now look at what happened! You almost died, all because you didn’t want to bother me over what might have just been a robbery?”

Tears streamed down my cheeks. My breaths came in shallow gasps as I clutched at the thin hospital bed sheets. The heart monitor started beeping erratically.

The change in the heart monitor immediately caught Andrew’s attention. He stopped pacing and turned to face me, fearing the worst.

“Crystal, what’s wrong?” he asked, rushing for me. His gaze darted toward Jeffrey, who hurried to position himself by the call button in case a nurse was needed.

I shook my head and wiped my tears away with the palms of my hands.

“You’re right,” I said through my breaths. “I almost got myself killed. I could have gotten Jeffrey killed.”

As I forced myself to take deep breaths, the beeping of the heart monitor returned to normal. Andrew’s body relaxed slightly, but he did not move from my side, nor did Jeffrey move from his position by the call button.

“I should have told you when Chevalier broke into my apartment,” I continued. “Maybe then it wouldn’t have gotten this far. I just…I don’t get…”

I leaned my head against Andrew’s arm as more tears gathered at the edges of my eyes.

“Why does this keep happening to me?”

One of Andrew’s hands stroked the back of my head. The other gently wiped the tears away from my cheeks.

“It comes with the territory when you’re involved with me,” he said. He seemed about to add something else, but he stopped.

“I just want to get away from it all,” I said, burying my face in his sleeve.

Andrew’s hand froze midway through stroking my hair. Then he resumed and said, “If that’s truly what you want, I might have a way to arrange that.”

I looked up at him, my eyes wide.

“Please, anything.”

“I have a house a few hours west of the city, from before I became Alpha King,” Andrew explained. “You can stay there until you recover from the silver poisoning. Jeffrey will join you, but otherwise, no one will know where you are—complete privacy.”

I wrapped my arms around Andrew’s arm and squeezed.

“Thank you, Andrew, thank you!”

Andrew laughed and hugged me close to his torso.

“You’re welcome, my love. I only need you to promise me one thing.”

I stiffened.

“What’s that?”

“Please, don’t ever hide information like a break-in from me again. If I’m going to be able to protect you, I need to know every possible threat to your safety, no matter how small you think it is.”

I nodded, burying my face farther into his suit.

“I promise.”