Page 45 of Jasper

“Hell no,” Lucius said. “We came here together and we’re not leaving anyone behind. We’ll stay as long as it takes.”

He was humbled to the core by his friends.

“Hey, her friend’s mom was really hurt,” Jasper said. “Can someone ask Finn to find her? I’m sure Melody will want to know that she’s okay, and her friend too.”

“On it,” Alfie said and ducked away.

“We’re going to help secure the prisoners in the prison,” Lucius said. “The high-ranked males have a big job ahead of them setting the pack back to rights. Are you sure you don’t want to stick around and help? Like rejoin?”

“Absolutely not,” he said. “Melody and I already decided to stay at the park. After this, I definitely don’t want to stay here.”

“I get that,” Lucius said. “Holler if you need anything.”

“Thanks, man.”

When he was alone with his mate, he dropped his head to the stiff mattress and let out a bone-deep sigh.

“Melody, please wake up so we can get the hell out of here. I just want to get you home where I can keep you safe. I messed up before, but I won’t let anything like this ever happen to you again, I swear.”

He paused as his eyes flooded with tears and emotion clawed at him.

“Shit, baby,” he said, scrubbing at his wet cheeks. “I love you so much. I can’t live without you, so I need you to be okay. Come back to me. Please.”

Please.

The world wasfuzzy and gray when Melody opened her eyes. She couldn’t remember how much time had passed since she’d closed them and…had she died? She felt like she’d died. There had been so much pain and so much blood, she’d felt her life slipping away.

But she was looking at a wall in a house with gold-framed pictures in a line above a desk. As her vision sharpened, she recognized the female in the pictures as Reese, the pack healer.

Sitting up abruptly, she called out her mate’s name, worry for him overriding the aches in her body.

Running feet echoed in the hall, and then her mate came through the doorway. He was at her side a moment later, holding her gently and growling softly.

“You’re awake.”

“And you’re okay,” she said as happy tears stung her eyes. “I’ve passed out like three times recently. That’s the most I ever want to pass out in a day again.”

He chuckled lightly and leaned back to kiss her. “You’ve been out of it for almost a day.”

“Really? Geez.”

“Reese said it was part of the healing process with the poultice she made; because it was forcing your natural healingabilities to accelerate, it naturally kept you asleep so you weren’t dealing with the pain of that process.”

She was wearing a hospital gown. Lifting the gown that covered the part of her body that still ached a bit, she saw that her torso was wrapped with white cotton that had a strange herbal smell to it. It reminded her a bit of the way the air smelled salty at the beach and also when her mom hung a bunch of eucalyptus in the shower so the room always smelled heavily of it when the hot water was running.

“How do you feel?” Jasper asked.

“Okay. Alive.” She smiled at him. “It hurts a little, like a dull ache.”

“If it’s still aching, it means you’re not entirely done healing yet, so maybe another hour or two,” Reese said as she walked into the room.

“Thanks, Reese,” Melody said.

She handed Melody a coffee mug. Melody sniffed at the steam from the clear liquid and arched a brow at the healer. “It’s a medicinal tea for the lingering aches. I put some honey in it, but it should taste lemony.”

Melody took a sip and hummed. “It’s good.” She sighed and looked at Jasper. “You’re okay?”

He glanced at Reese, who excused herself. When they were alone, he gave her a long look and snarled. “You nearly died pushing me out of the way, Melody.”

---