#Chapter 40 Tender Lies

Eugene has been healing in the pack hospital but his room is far from Reese’s. I take turns spending time with both men, though neither of them has woken up. Mara is in the same state, her health slowly trickling down worse and worse until I fear she will be in the same constant state of numbness like Reese.
It’s hard to see Eugene like this.
It was harder after the battle, having the warriors run him to the hospital while I helped Gabriel with the lesser wounded wolves up top. He was so happy to see that I was unhurt, and he seemed to have a glowing respect for the physician in his effort to protect me. I know I owe Eugene my life, but I still couldn’t bring myself to tell him I loved him.
He will continue fighting to have those words be true, even when I know they’re not. I feel so conflicted but it’s hard to focus on anything other than the small vial I had found on the battlefield. It was looped around a rope, large enough to circle a rogue’s neck, as if they were bringing it to battle; whatever it is.
“My dear,” that familiar voice rings out.
I jump at hearing Gabriel behind me, wiping my eyes quickly before I tuck the vial and the mystery liquid inside of it between my knees. I only turn slightly, seeing the King Alpha lean against the doorway in Eugene’s room.
“I checked upstairs where Reese was, but the nurses said you would probably be down here,” he hums, his voice even toned. “Is everything okay with our favorite physician?”
“A few cuts,” I groan. “They say his wolf should heal most of it but it’s going to hurt to reset his wrist bone so they put him to sleep.” My hands tremble in my lap, the vial between my knees feeling so heavy in my mind right now. “Everyone else is okay, right?”
“We just finished count on pups and warriors,” he says. “There are hundreds of us in the Royal pack and thankfully everyone is accounted for now. I just finished reuniting the last pup with her family. She was a little shaken up, but she’s brave.”
I force a grin. “A young little warrior.”
“Just like our children will be,” he says, those words sending a shockwave down my spine. “Just like their mother will be. You were very brave out there, my dear.”
“No I wasn’t,” I reply, sidestepping the remark about us having pups together. “If Eugene hadn’t been there, I would have been put up against five rogues. He saved my life.”
“He certainly did,” Gabriel replies, his hand pressing gently on top of my shoulder. “That is more of a reason to let him rest. He wouldn’t want you up here, crying over him. He’s going to heal, my dear. You should come back to the palace.”
I shake my head, feeling my panic only intensify with those words.
“I want to be here when he wakes up, Gabriel. You can go back to the palace and rest but I am staying right here, even if it take all night.”
He pulls my chair to the side, forcing me to face him.
“My Queen, my Luna,” he says, his words simple but his tone sharp. “You have been up here without sleep and the nurses tell me you haven’t had anything to drink or eat since the fight.”
My stomach growls, as if siding with my husband. Traitor.
“I feel fine, Gabriel, I swear.”
“It wasn’t much of an offer,” he groans, hiking me out of my seat suddenly and throwing me over his broad shoulder.
I slap at his back, trying to prompt him to drop me, but he refuses. Instead, I take a more petulant route and cling to the doorway, my wet eyes stuck on Eugene’s uncertain condition. What if he doesn’t wake up? What if there is an infection and the nurses don’t see it? He was the best doctor here so who will look after him now?
Gabriel growls a noise and finally release me to the floor, my butt landing hard on the tile. I growl a noise, sitting at his feet like an unruly pup, folding my arms over my chest as I stare at his daunting, towering presence.
“I said I’m staying here, Gabriel.”
“If you want to ignore your needs, then I will fulfill them, my dear.”
I stand abruptly, pushing past him and back into the room with Eugene. I don’t make it far, Gabriel grabbing at my arm and twirling me back to face him, my chest pressed against his. I huff a breath, wishing this was over already, the vial left behind in my seat and making me anxious.
The King Alpha notices it, glancing backwards for a moment, his eyes trained on that vial with semi-cloudy liquid inside of it.
“What is that, my dear?”
I shake my head, attempting to pull free of his hold on my arm but he doesn’t oblige. “It’s nothing, just something I found on the battlefield. I thought maybe it could be—” I stop, my lips sealed as Gabriel watches me ever so carefully.
“Continue that sentence,” he snaps, his Alpha aura leaking out ever so much.
I want to fight it, but my wolf cannot. “I thought it could be the poison that was used on Reese and Mara.”
His brows knit at my response. “So you weren’t going to say anything about it to me?”
“You’re the one who doesn’t believe Alicia hurt Reese, or Mara—or even that she killed Olivia in the first place! Why would I tell you anything just to have you shut me down?”
He is furious in his eyes, but his lips quiver slightly in a wounded manner.
“I don’t want to tell you anything, Gabriel, if I know it means you will just brush it off like some kind of pathetic conspiracy. Why would I want to trust you? Why would I want to be married to you? It only means you’ll never believe a word out of my mouth again!”
He finally drops his grip on my arm, his hand curling into a tight fist behind his hip.
“You really want a divorce, don’t you? Over that stupid obsession you have!”
I flinch at his volume, damn near making me gasp in fear. He is still my Alpha and hearing him furious usually means trouble for whoever is at the edge of his intensity. “If you can’t believe me, then why should you even think about having pups with me?”
I’ve wounded him bad now, I can see it in his sad eyes.
“Really, my dear? That’s how you feel?”
I nod, brazen but afraid. “Y—Yes, Gabriel. In fact—” I say, choking on the air already in my lungs, just needing to push him so far he will finally leave me alone for good, “—you were right before. You were right—I love another man.”
He flinches, that false confession enough to finally free me of his company today. “I’m going for a run, my dear. When I come back, you better be at the palace.”
“Or what?” I breathe, worried of his anger.
“Or I’m starting a damn war with that Alpha lover you seem so obsessed with.”
Alpha Herold? My wolf wonders. I don’t see how he could think that, considering I hate Herold with every fiber of my existence.
Gabriel snarls as he leaves. “I’m going to sort this out with that damn wolf himself,” he mutters. “Alpha Connor Jenkins.”