Page 26 of Seen Knot Heard

I step on and settle in the spare seat next to the wheel.

A few minutes later, Kyle joins me. He starts the engine, the rumble vibrating through my bones as we back away from the dock. “Where am I dropping you off?”

“Mosswood.” It’s closer than the docks in Pinecrest. I pull out my phone to text my bondmate. “I’ll meet up with Dominic and catch a ride with him later.”

Kyle pats my shoulder. “You got it.”

The wind whips through my hair as we speed across the water, Misty Pines fading into the distance behind us.

Please let this visit to the hospital be different from the others.

Chapter Nine

Chloe

Harsh light stabs through my eyelids as consciousness crawls back to me.

I blink awake, disoriented. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, dry and swollen, while the sterile burn of antiseptic fills my nostrils.

Where am I? What happened?

The fluorescent lights buzz faintly, casting stark shadows over the room. The thin curtain by the window filters the sunlight, leaving me cold. Every surface gleams, polished to sterility, and a heart monitor beeps from a stand beside my bed.

When I lift my hand to brush away the hair clinging to my sweaty forehead, a sharp sting comes from the IV taped to the back of my hand. Wincing, I drop it back to the hospital blanket that covers me. My body aches, muscles sore and bones heavy. Memories slip through my mind, fragmented and hazy.

I was at Louie’s penthouse… The feverish rush of my Heat… Then all-consuming cold…

A figure in blue scrubs materializes at my bedside, and the nurse’s kind eyes meet mine. “Glad to have you back with us.”

I wet my cracked lips, forcing the words past my raw throat. “Where am I?”

“You’re in a private hospital room, sweetie. Recovering after you overdosed on suppressants.” Concern underlies her gentle tone. “Got your regular and your emergency mixed up, did you?”

My pulse quickens as my memory returns in a rush, and the monitors beep faster.

Louie. He must have found me collapsed in my room and brought me here. Oh god, what did he do to me while I was unconscious?

Panic rises like bile, and I try to assess my body, but everything hurts too much to pinpoint anything specific.

The nurse bustles around, adjusting my IV line.

I reach out to her. “Please, help?—”

The door swings open, and I jerk my hand back as my head snaps in its direction.

Louie strides into my room like he owns it, his dark-blond hair slicked back from his handsome face, and his blue eyes, cold as the Arctic, fix on me. “Ah, you’re finally awake.”

He saunters over to my bedside, exuding an air of Alpha dominance, and my instincts scream at me to dive under the covers to hide.

“Darling, you need to take better care of yourself.” He pulls up a chair, planting himself within my personal space. “Scared me half to death.”

I curl up to make myself smaller.

“You’re so clumsy with your suppressants,” he continues, tone filled with concern while his hard stare dares me to refute his statement. “We’ll make sure your pills are marked more clearly going forward. We don’t want something like this happening again, now do we?”

Fear courses through me like ice, numbing my limbs. I shake my head, mute.

The nurse gives me a concerned frown, but she leaves the room to give us privacy.

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