Page 107 of Knot All That Glitters: Part 2

The nurse eyes all of us, like she doesn’t quite believe us, but our mating scars are on full display, so she has no reason to doubt us. After a moment, her lips purse and she gives a tight nod. “Very well, you may enter.”

My feet don’t move. I can’t bring them to lift. Tic sighs and presses into my lower back, urging me forward. In no time at all, we’re standing outside her door and my fingers are twisting in the hem of Tic’s sweater nervously.

Without giving me a chance to protest, Hale opens the door and Tic pushes me inside. The door clicks shut behind me.

My already tear-filled eyes find her, my best friend in the world, laying pale and weak in the hospital bed. Her eyes are closed, her left leg encased in a cast from hip to toe. She has on one of those awful hospital gowns with a pink cardigan over top.

Ren has always, always been vibrant, like a little ray of energy and sunshine. This version of her is… faded. More like the sun shining through a cloud cover.

And it’s my fault.

“Stop looking at me like that,” Ren grouses. Her voice is weak and wispy but doesn’t hide her displeasure. Neither does her glare when she opens her kaleidoscope eyes.

“Like what?” I make my feet move to the side of her bed, make my legs bend to perch on the edge next to her uninjured leg.

“Like you’re worried I’m going to keel over at any moment. I’m fine.”

My stomach sinks. Surely her doctor told her. Surely he didn’t leave it up to Moira or me to carry out this unpleasanttask. But if she doesn’t know, I can’t let her remain ignorant of the reality of her situation. She needs to know.

“Babe.” I reach for her hand, lacing our fingers together. “I don’t know how to tell you-”

Florence sighs and presses her head back into her pillow wearily, her eyes slipping closed. “I know, Haves. I already know. The doctor told me. I’ll never dance again. I’ll be lucky if I walk again without a limp.” She sounds so fucking matter of fact about it. So unlike herself.

Tears fill my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I choke out. “So fucking sorry, Ren. I should have-”

“Should have what?” She pins me with a surprisingly sharp look, given that she must be high as a kite on pain meds right now. “Should have what? Put yourself in more danger than you already were? Never gotten yourself away from your monster of a father?” Her fingers tighten around mine. “I don’t blame you. This didn’t happen because of you. This happened because of him. He’s the asshole who did this. You’re the amazing woman who saved me.”

“It never should have happened.”

“But it did. It happened, Haves. The only thing we can do is move forward.” God, this woman. This amazing, strong,fiercewoman.

“How did I get so lucky to have you as my best friend?”

She sniffs disdainfully, even as a small smile curls her lips. “Lucky is the right word, for sure. Especially since I can see your healed mating bites and you didn’t even fucking tell me!”

My hand drifts up and presses against Creed’s bite. “It just sort of happened and then we… um… we were distracted-”

“By fucking.”

My cheeks heat, but I don’t deny it. “And I was going to tell you, I texted, and that’s when I got the message from—”

I trail off because she knows the rest.

“I want details.”

I glance over my shoulder at the door. “I don’t think you do, actually.”

She scowls at me, motions with her free arm at her cast. “I deserve every gory little detail, Haven. Give them to me. I need to live vicariously through you, since I doubt I’ll ever find a pack, let alone my fated mates.” She remembers that, huh?

I sigh and shift to stretch out next to her, being careful to not bump her leg. “Fine. I’ll tell you everything. If only to get you to stop with the guilt trip.”

“Oh, goody.” She snuggles down against her pillows and looks at me expectantly. “Proceed.”

So I tell her everything. From them not being a pack since my heat, to the bonds clicking into place again, to me being their fated mate for their new pack, to Hale urging me to bite him so I could feel secure in knowing that they do want me, that I am theirs. I gloss over a lot of the sex and the knotting, but I tell her how the bonds felt clicking into place, how they feel now. Like coming home. Like I’m where I’m always meant to be.

By the time I’m finished, she’s drowsy and almost asleep, but her mouth is curled in a sweet smile. “I’m so fucking happy for you, babe. You deserve all of that and more.”

My eyes sting as I pull her into my body, press a kiss to her forehead. “You deserve it, too. I’m going to make it my mission to find you your fated pack, Ren. I promise. You’ll be as happy as I am someday.”

---