Chapter 178

“Breath Cole. Accept the mate’s bond. What you’re feeling will help to calm and relax you.”
Unfortunately, what I feel is unlike anything I’ve felt before making it uncomfortable and overwhelming. I finally let go of the breath I’m holding, attempting to get a basic rhythm back but this attempt only serves to make my ribs scream. I can’t help but whimper and squirm after taking my first full breath in a while. Major mistake, I tell myself.
“His ribs are bothering him.” Jessa speaks quietly.
“Are you able to read him as you are?” Alpha seems curious as to her abilities.
“Not really. I can feel where he has pain but that’s about it. I think it’s only because of the bond that I’m able to feel that.”
“Tell me what you can. It will give us a starting point until we can get more meaningful information from him.”
“His face, neck, ribs and wrist on his left side and both of his hands.”
“Cole, I’d like to get a soft cloth and start working on getting the blood off your face. Do you think you can roll over on your back?”
As much as I want to stay with my mate, I already know from the way my back has tightened that certain things will cause it to go into painful spasms that I can’t handle right now.
“Alpha?” I try again to find my voice.
“I….”
I stop a moment, nervous that I might upset one of them.
“I want to stay with Jessa but laying on my back right now would cause a lot of pain.”
My voice trembles as I attempt to make my discomfort with his plan known. He studies me a moment before speaking.
“How about going back to my original idea? Let’s set you up with a warm soak instead. It seems you have become more accepting of the medicated soaks we’ve been getting you in and it should help tone down some of the pain you’re in.”
I nod my head slowly as it does sound nice.
“Can you tell me anything about your back?”
Alpha asks cautiously about the very last thing I want anyone to know about. I close my eyes and sigh, shaking my head. I know it’s not the response that alpha wants but I learned the hard way not to talk about my biggest weakness.
Going through a second dye test at the Red Moon pack was just about as painful as healing from the whipping itself. It ruined any ability I once had to speak of the injury. I let go of alpha’s hand, bringing it to my face, protectively covering my eyes.
“It’s okay, Cole. Try to relax with us.”
Alpha states calmly as he tries to take my hand from my eyes. I pull out of his grip, fearful of the reprisal that no pack has spared me.
“It’s okay Cole. I’m not mad. That’s a big scar on your back and I didn’t expect it to be easy for you to talk about. Don’t fight me. I need you to answer something for me.”
I give up my fight and allow him to move my arm back to my side. I’m struggling to concentrate on my breathing as his desire to know about my back has spiked my anxiety.
“I promise it’s an easy question. Well the answer doesn’t need to be complex. Does it hurt you to lay on your back?”
I take several slow but shallow breaths before answering.
“Sometimes.”
I whisper simply knowing that my answer would produce more questions about when and why.
“Okay, so now I have two more.”
I whine slightly knowing that this is going to snowball in a bad way for me. Talking about my back in any way has never resulted in anything good.
“It’s not an area that Jessa called out and with the amount of scaring I’ve seen I do feel it’s important to ask, did you take any hits to your back during the spar with Lucas?”
I take my hand from alpha and use it to push myself up into a sitting position with my legs dangling over the edge. I take several slow but shallow breaths as I don’t want to explain how my black outs work but there’s no other way for him to understand the situation.
“I don’t think I took any hits directly to my back but the only hit I remember was the first one. He was aiming for my jaw but I ducked the first swing. I had just come back up and was looking for a way out when his second swing landed against the left side of my neck. The pain and choking from that hit caused me to go into a black out.”
“Jon said that you always black out during sparring lessons. That’s why Jamie was able to call him so he could help you.”
I nod my head as this is very true.
“At home, yes. I haven’t figured it out completely yet but what little sparring I’ve done at the first three packs I managed to maintain reality.”
“This is the first time you’ve blacked out outside of your own territory?”
“No. Some of the tests they did in the hospital caused me to black out.”
He nods his head slowly, thoughtfully as he ponders his next question.
“You’re doing a lot better than I expected answering my questions. It’s very important that you understand how much I appreciate that.”
I nod my head but keep my eyes to the ground.
“I need you to tell me Cole, is your back hurting you right now?”
I look up from the floor into his eyes, uncertain as to how truthful I’m allowed to be.
“What are you searching for, Cole?” Alpha’s whisper is nearly imperceptible.
“A trap.” I whisper nearly as quietly.
“It’s not a trap son. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s hurting you.”
I nod my head, finally willing myself to believe that he’s genuinely concerned about the pain I’m in.
“Yes, sir. My back is tight which causes mild pain. I’m not certain what aggravated it but laying on my back when it’s tight would cause a lot more pain than what’s there now.” I admit quietly to the floor.
“Okay. I need to know what else. Jessa didn’t pick up on your back and your stress is too high for a read to be painless so I need you to tell me what hurts.”
I sigh hard as telling any alpha about any pain I was in always resulted in being brutally made fun of. My entire life has been spent learning how to hide the pain I’m in and now this alpha wants to know what hurts after his son enacts revenge. I’m confused but too tired to keep fighting against him.
“Mouth, nose, jaw on my left side, neck and bottom two ribs on the left, both hands and left wrist.” I finally rattle off mechanically.
“So going back to my original idea. I believe a medicated bath would help reduce the pain you’re in and get you to relax as well. I think some time with Jessa during your soak would be beneficial too.”
I gasp hard.
“I….. I…..”
The idea of Jessa being in the room with me while I’m naked has put me in a panic. I know that most mates will kiss the first time they meet so the natural progression of things would have them having sex by the time they’re two months into their relationship but I can’t.
“I can’t be naked, it’s not proper.”
I finally spit out in a rush making my panic all the more evident.
“Easy there, Cole.”
Alpha tries to soothe as the touch of his hand on my chin freezes my movements.
“Breathe, real easy now. Just breathe for a moment.”
He’s holding my head still. One hand under the right side of my jaw the other high on the right side of my head.
“I didn’t think you would be entirely comfortable with Jessa seeing you naked. I believe the only person that has seen you naked while you’ve been awake is Demetri.” Dr. Pierce reenters the room.
I can hear the water running just inside the door she left open. She walks over to us with something draped over her arm and a clipboard in her hand.
“Demetri, I need you to take him to the back office, have him disrobe and chart any discoloration or swelling that you see.”
She hands him the clipboard as she talks.
“I’m going to add one more thing to the water so when you settle down into the tub Jessa won’t be able to see anything.”
She smiles at me gently as she holds a robe out for me to slip my arms into.
“Bubbles have always done marvelous things for relaxing the mind, body and soul.”
The Son of Red Fang
Detail
Share
Font Size
40
Bgcolor