Chapter 4

Serena

"Who was that man with you?" Kieran demanded. "Why do you reek of him?" His voice was low, but the fury underneath it was impossible to miss.

I stared at him, and for a moment, I genuinely wondered if the beating had damaged my brain.

Then I remembered exactly who I was talking to, because of course it was only Alpha Kieran that would see me half-dead in a hospital bed, and somehow make it about another man.

I swallowed, wincing when even that tiny movement sent pain through my ribs.

"Did the nurses not tell you? His name is Muller and he saved my life." I stared at him like he was stupid. "He found me in the alley after Cole and the others attacked me. He carried me here when I was barely conscious."

"He touched you," he said, his nostrils flaring.

I almost laughed, but it came out as a painful wheeze instead.

"Yes, Kieran. He had to touch me. I was unconscious," he said, standing from where he had caged me, and took a few steps back.

His eyes shifted suddenly. For a second, they were green, then they changed to red, then back to green again. Kieran looked like he was barely holding himself together.

"He shouldn't have touched you." There was a tremor in his voice, like he was trying to stop himself from lashing out.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you insane?"

His eyes turned red again. "Don't test me."

"Don't test you?" My voice rose despite the pain. "I was beaten half to death, and you're standing here interrogating me about the man who saved my life?"

"He put his hands on you."

"Because you weren't there!" The words came out before I could stop them, and I could see Kieran's expression harden.

I did not regret that I had said that. If anything, I wanted to say more. To scream that the last full sentence he'd said to me was that I was a problem. I wanted him to know how ridiculous it was that I was his mate, and yet I was beaten up because of my "lower rank".

Kieran stepped towards me, and I instinctively pressed myself deeper into the mattress, even though there was nowhere to go.

"Leave." I found myself saying.

"You can't fucking tell me what to do," he responded, then he turned towards the door.

"Nurse!" A nurse hurried inside.

"Yes, Alpha?"

"Get rid of those clothes."

My brows furrowed.

"What?"

"Her clothes." He pointed towards the small plastic bag containing the torn clothes I'd been wearing when they brought me in. "Burn them."

The nurse looked between us nervously.

"You cannot be serious."

He didn't even look at me.

"Burn everything."

"Alpha, I—"

"Now."

The nurse immediately reached for the bag.

"Wait!"

I tried to sit up, but pain exploded through my ribs, and I gasped, grabbing my side.

"Those are my clothes!"

Kieran finally looked at me.

"You won't need them."

"I don't care if I need them! They're mine."

"They carry another man's scent."

"So?"

His expression darkened. "So I don't want it on you."

I stared at him.

"You don't get to decide what I wear."

His gaze sharpened.

"I do when you're under my protection."

"I'm not under your protection."

His jaw tightened.

"Serena."

"No." I looked at the nurse. "Please don't burn them."

The woman looked terrified. She glanced at Kieran, then at me, then back at Kieran, and I could see the look of defeat settle in her eyes. That was all the answer I needed before she disappeared through the door with the bag.

I sank back against the pillow, furious. "You are unbelievable."

Kieran didn't respond. He simply stood there, watching me, and somehow, that was worse.

Because underneath the anger in his eyes was a look that seemed dangerously close to fear.

The doctor came back with two nurses for rounds a few hours later, flipping through his chart with a frown.

I had fallen asleep not long ago and I had woken up feeling different. The pain was still there, but it wasn't nearly as unbearable as it had been in the morning.

I shifted carefully, expecting my ribs or my wrist to hurt. They did, but not as much. Even the throbbing in my skull had dulled to a manageable ache.

Raina stirred inside me.

I frowned.

"Good day Serena," the doctor greeted me.

"Good day."

He stared at me for several seconds.

Then he looked down at his clipboard, before finally letting his gaze rest solely on me. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I survived being hit by a truck."

The doctor cleared his throat and stepped closer.

"That's understandable, can you tell me where you feel any pain?"

"My ribs. A little in my head. My ankle. But they don't hurt that much."

"Serena, do you know how malnourished you are?"

Of course I knew, Lily and I had long since been surviving on scraps, but the way he asked felt like there was something wrong.

"Is something wrong?"

"Maybe not."

I raised my brows at him.

He sighed. "You came in with a skull fracture, several broken ribs, internal injuries, a fractured ankle and a broken wrist. Given your rank, I'd expect a recovery timeline of at least six to eight weeks." He tapped the chart against his palm, like it had personally offended him. "But your bloodwork from three hours ago and from just now don't match what they should, the fracture lines are already knitting and that doesn't happen normally."

I shrugged. "Maybe I just heal quickly."

"Nobody heals this quick," he said, more to himself than to me, scribbling something in the margin. "I'll want to run more tests."

"No you won't, because I won't be here long enough for you to run them. Actually, please let me have the bills."

"You can't—"

"Let me have it!" I snapped, and immediately one of the nurses handed it to me, like she had been waiting for me to ask. Of course. I took it, and when I saw the numbers, I let out a gasp.

Private suite, blood transfusion, antibiotics, surgery, scans… It was more money than Lily and I would see in three years, maybe even four.

"I'm discharging myself! How do you expect me to pay this?"

"The Alpha has already—"

"No." I heard what he was going to say before he finished saying it. I shoved the paper back at him.

"I can't owe him anything else."

The doctor looked uncomfortable.

"Serena, your treatment was authorized by—"

"I don't care."

I reached for the IV.

"Serena, don't—"

I ripped it out.

Pain shot through my hand.

"Ah!"

Blood immediately trickled down my wrist.

"Serena!" Kieran was suddenly beside me. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I'm leaving."

"You can barely stand."

"I will manage. I am not racking up a debt I can't pay so you can feel better about your guilt."

I pushed the blanket aside and swung my legs over the edge of the bed.

The floor came up beneath my feet.

For one glorious second, I thought I had it. Then my injured ankle buckled.

I gasped, but before I could fall, strong arms wrapped around my waist.

Kieran caught me.

Our bodies collided, and it felt like the world stopped.

Heat exploded through me. It rushed from the place where his hands touched me and spread through every part of my body. My body suddenly stopped aching. I sucked in a breath just as Kieran went completely still.

His arms tightened around me, and I could feel the change in his breath. It was like the mate bond had come alive.

Kieran slowly looked down at my ankle. "Are you okay?"

For one strange second, the man holding me wasn't the cold Alpha who had called me a problem. He was simply my mate, the person the Goddess had chosen for me, yet I hated how safe I felt in his arms.

So I pushed him away.

"I'm fine."

His expression hardened immediately.

"No, you're not."

"I said I'm fine."

"You nearly fell."

"And you caught me."

His eyes narrowed. "You're impossible."

"Good."

I reached for the crutches beside the bed. "I'd rather be impossible than controlled."

He looked like he wanted to argue. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. It was my wooden pendant.

"Your helper found it in the dirt," he said before I could ask and handed it over.

I reached for it. My fingers closed around it, relishing the familiar feeling of it. It was the only thing I had that could remind me of my father.

For a moment, I couldn't breathe.

"Thank you."

The words slipped out.

I immediately regretted them.

"She can leave now, right?"

"Yes, Alpha." The nurse came forward and helped me clean the blood on my arm.

After that, I grabbed the crutches and headed towards the door.

Kieran followed.

We walked through the hospital corridor in silence.

I could feel his presence behind me with every step.

The bond between us hummed faintly.

I hated it. I hated that my body responded to him. I hated that his touch had taken away my pain.

And most of all, I hated that some small, traitorous part of me still wanted to know what it would feel like if I stopped fighting it.

We reached the main hallway.

Then suddenly—

"Kieran!"

A woman's sob tore through the corridor.

I stopped just as Kieran froze beside me.

Footsteps thundered towards us.

Celeste appeared around the corner, tears streaming down her perfectly made-up face.

Her eyes immediately found Kieran.

Then they shifted to me.

Disgust was the first thing I registered.

"Kieran..." She rushed towards him. "You walked out on our date." She sobbed, throwing herself at him. "You turned your phone off! My father has been calling the packhouse for three hours demanding to know where the Alpha disappeared to. And you're here?! With this useless good-for-nothing omega trash!"