"All we can do now is wait. I'd give anything to see that grin again," Rheia admitted, laying her head on Alice's shoulder.

Alice took her hand. "Me too, my love, me too."

*****

The first thing Colton became aware of was the fact that the inside of his mouth was dry. The second thing he became aware of was that the inside of his mouth tasted like ass. He peeled his eyes open and saw Rheia standing over him. He grinned up at her. "Hey beautiful." His voice was so faint he could barely hear it.

Rheia burst into tears. Colton turned his head, looking around the room. Wasn't there anyone close by that could help his mate?

"It's okay, sweetheart," he whispered harshly.

She just continued to cry, great heaving sobs that were wildly out of control. Taking a deep breath he mustered all his strength and tried to sit up. That got her attention.

"What in the hell are you doing? Lay back down!" Her tears slowed down and she was in command mode. Colton preferred her ordering him around to crying uncontrollably. "Water?" he croaked.

"Of course." Rheia picked up a large insulated mug with a bendy straw and held it for him. He managed to spill a good portion of it, but what he did manage to swallow felt heavenly. Every second he was awake, he felt his strength returning.

"Thanks, my love, I feel a lot better. What happened anyway? The last thing I remember is being in the woods calling Aiden an asshole."

Rheia stared. "What happened? What happened! What happened was you almost died!" she waved his cup about.

"I'm getting better."

She blinked at him. "Did you just quote Monty Python?"

He did, but the look on her face had him second guessing admitting to it. "Maybe."

"Your mother was right, I want to smack the hell out of you and hold you close at the same time." Wearily she sat down in the chair next to him and laid her head on his stomach.

"You look like hell," he said, stroking her hair.

"It's your fault. You had to go be super dog and attack the feral and get bitten."

"I'm not a dog. What does the feral bite have to do with anything?"

"The bite poisoned your blood and tissue causing you to rot."

Colton sucked in his breath. "I was rotting?"

"Yes, Gavriel had to donate blood and tissue to counteract the rapid decay to give your body a fighting chance. Oh, by the way, he said we're tied to him for eternity now." She yawned.

"If I had to pick a vampire to be tied to, he would be it," Colton admitted.

"You told me to tell you, when you hurt me. Well this, you getting hurt and almost dying, hurt me. It almost destroyed me." Rheia turned her face and buried her face in his side.

"You know that this is part of my job. Do you want me to give up being in Alpha?"

Rheia sat up and shook her head. "No, but next time, let the men with projectile weapons kill the bad guy. Don't go after him with your fucking teeth!"

Colton grinned. "I hear and I obey."

Rheia gave him a sly smile. "You're in a good mood now, wait until your mother comes in. She's pissed at you, you know."

Colton racked his brain; her birthday wasn't until next year.

Rheia stared at him in astonishment. "You really have no idea why she's upset, do you?"

Colton shook his head.

"When were you planning on telling your parents you were mated and had a child?" Rheia asked.

Colton felt his stomach flip. "She's going to kill me." 

"You'll live. Thank God, you'll live." She squeezed his hand.

Colton played with her fingers. "I saw you, in the darkness. At first I thought I was just dreaming again, but it was really you. It was weird because it was just like my dream. At first all I saw were your eyes, because you were wearing the mask and you were so anxious and worried. Then I saw your whole face and you were crying, and all I could smell was sickness and death."

"Before I met you, I had dreams with those images constantly, I thought they were telling me that you were sick and dying. I didn't realize it meant that I would almost die. If you hadn't been here, we would have lost Adam. Without you and Adam, I wouldn't have made it either. You saved me."

Rheia brought his hand to her lips and kissed him gently. "You're the one who saved me. Penny was the only light in my life until you. I'd closed my heart off to any potential love because I was afraid to lose them, like I lost my parents. You bulldozed right past all of my hesitations and simply loved me. You helped both Penny and me to smile again and to laugh. You're the one who healed my soul."

Colton growled. "We're a good match, huh? Gods, I want you so bad right now."

Rheia looked down the line of his body to where his erection was tenting the blankets. "Unbelievable. You were dying not two hours ago and now you're up and at 'em."

Colton wiggled his hips and leered at her. "I have my priorities in order."

"Colton!" Colton heard his mother's voice coming down the hall. He stared down at his cock and tried to think of anything to make it go down.

Rheia was chortling beside him and refused to see the horror of the situation. He cursed his disobedient dick and in a last ditch effort grabbed the pillow from behind his head and placed it in his lap. He slammed back on the mattress, jarring his injured shoulder.

"Motherfucker!" he growled.