Page 224 of The Alpha's Pen Pal

My eyes snapped open, and a whimper of relief escaped me when I saw his brown eyes staring at me—drowsy and blinking but awake.

“Wesley.” I sighed, jumping up from my seat and perching on the edge of the bed.

My hand moved to his face, and with a slow, pained movement, he covered my hand with his, closing his eyes at my touch.

“What happened?” he rasped out, then licked his lips and closed his mouth, fighting against the dryness. “What happened after the fight?” he managed to say.

“Here,” I murmured, reaching for the pitcher of water and the cup the nurses had left on the side table for when he woke up. “Drink this,” I said, handing him the cup.

He took it with a grateful and amused smile and drank several long sips, letting the water fill his mouth and ease his discomfort.

“I know I won, and I remember you running to me, but honestly, everything else is a blur,” he told me, setting the cup down once he’d drank enough.

“It was all chaos. The king was barking orders, and people were running around, but I wasn’t paying much attention to all of that. I just wanted,needed,to be with you and make sure you were all right. Your dad brought you here, and Dr. Russo fixed you up. They let me stay in the room while they operated, and Nolan stood right outside, just in case I had another panic attack.”

“But you didn’t,” he stated, his chest puffing out a smidge.

“I didn’t,” I repeated, my lips twitching at his pride in me. “You were my focus. Wanting you to be safe and healed kept me grounded and out of my head and the past.”

“You’re incredible, you know that?” he said, his hand covering mine on the bed. “Every day, you show me and everyone around you how strong you truly are. You prove to them there is more to you than meets the eye.”

“Save your romantic speeches for when you’re healed, and we’re home,” I teased, my cheeks heating and my eyes watering at his words.

But he shook his head at me, gripping and squeezing my hand. “No. I’ve almost lost you too many times. I won’t ever stop telling you and showing you how I feel, no matter where we are or what the situation is.”

The pink on my cheeks remained, and a small smile threatened to take over my face.

But a knock on the door interrupted us, followed by the king’s voice. “May I come in?” he asked.

I raised my brow at Wes in question, and he nodded.

“Yes,” I replied, turning my head in his direction.

He entered the room, and his commanding aura filled the space. Wesley attempted to sit up, and I lowered my head in deference to him, but he stopped both of us.

“Please,” he said, holding his hands out. “You need to heal,” he told Wesley. “Don’t strain yourself trying to follow protocols. We’re in private, and your health is more important than rank right now.”

He turned his gaze to me, his eyes filled with the same look of wonder and awe Wesley’s family and pack had looked at me with the day I read the story from the book. I refrained from squirming under that weighted gaze, refrained from letting him see how uncomfortable it made me.

“And you,” he said, his voice quiet but clear. “You never need to bow to me. You are above all of us.”

I swallowed and shook my head. “I’m not. I’m nothing special. Selene may be my mother, but I’m just a human. I’m powerless.”

“What could be more special to us than the daughter of our goddess? The daughter she promised she would send?” he countered. “It’s not about whether you have powers or magic. It’s about what you represent to us, what you give us. We have all waited for you for thousands of years, waited and hoped and prayed that you would come and Selene would choose us to protect and cherish you. You are a promise fulfilled and are a piece of the magic that created us. ‘Just human’ or not, you are still her daughter. You are a symbol of hope to all wolfkind.”

Wesley squeezed my hand again at the king’s words.

I sighed and rubbed my sweaty and shaking hands on my thighs. “Not everyone will see it that way. Pierce and Lennox have proved that already,” I reminded him. “They just saw me as an object, a prize, something they could use for personal gain. Something that would make them stronger and more powerful.”

“That isn’t true, though,” he said. “You only give strength to your mate, and that is true for any mated pair—your mate is meant to strengthen you and make you the best version of yourself.”

I chuckled a little at that, remembering what Selene—my mom—had told us about how I had changed Wesley’s path and made him less arrogant and kinder. I could feel Wesley’s amusement as well, and I knew he was remembering the same thing.

“But, as you said, others will not see it that way. They will only see you as Selene’s daughter, as something magical and powerful that will strengthen them, too. That’s why, as a direct descendant of Conan, the first lycan and our first king, I am offering you my protection, as Selene directed us to.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, I am offering you protection by whatever means needed. I am offering you this because it is the right thing to do. But also because each of us, when we took the throne, has had to take an extra, secret vow. A vow that should Selene’s daughter be born during our reign, we would aid her and her mate in whatever way necessary in order to keep her as safe as possible.”

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