“I’m okay,” I sigh.
I know my back probably looks ugly at the moment. It’s been stinging for a while, and I feel the fabric sticky with the blood. At least Nora healed my biggest injury for now. It’s probably going to take a while before it stops being so painful every time I move my abdomen.
“You’re really pale. Maybe you should– Hey, hey! Elena!”
I don’t know what happened. I feel the earth move under me, and my legs become numb. Someone catches me before I fall to the ground. Voices gather around me.
“Okay, time out for you, babe.”
I wake up on a couch.It takes me a moment to recognize Clark’s house. It’s full daylight too, I probably slept for a while.I’m feeling very weird, a bit… numb. Did they give me some drugs? I push away the blanket that was covering me, and struggle to sit up.
“Oh!”
In front of me, in the kitchen, Liam noticed me, and almost drops his sandwich to run to my side. He has a medical eye patch and a lot of bandages covering half of his head, but at least he looks fine.
“Selena? How are you feeling? Nate, she’s awake!”
Liam gives up his spot to my mate, who comes down the stairs in his human form with jeans on, replacing Liam and crouching down next to me. I frown, seeing his bare shoulder. And no arm attached to it. Nate holds my hand, looking worried.
“Are you okay? Clark said you collapsed.”
“Nate, your arm…”
He shakes his head.
“It was a small price to pay. Who cares about my arm. How are you feeling?”
“Like crap. I wish I’d forgotten… Do you have any news on Estelle? And everyone? How long was I passed out?”
“She’s okay, all the kids are. They’re still at Nora’s house with William and Neal’s wives. You just slept for a few hours, Sunshine, you can rest more. Nora is resting upstairs too, she tried to help everyone as much as she could, she’s exhausted.”
“Nate, what about the others? Your brother, Danny, Boyan?”
“Damian and Boyan were taken to the hospital, they needed some X-rays, but they’ll be fine. Daniel and Tonia went with them to help the medical staff, the emergency room was overwhelmed. Clark lent us his house for you to rest.”
I nod.
“What about Sylviana?”
“She went to her house, she said she needed to be alone for a while,” replies Liam.
“We agreed to gather at Nora’s house in a couple of hours.”
“Okay.”
Nate sighs and sits next to me on the couch. I’m only too happy to be able to cuddle with him for a bit. All the events from last night feel so… I don’t know, impossible. Even while I’m resting like this, I can’t get those images out of my head. Nate only has one arm to hug me with. Liam looks too tired to joke around, and I hear many people outside, doing whatever needs to be done.
I can’t believe it’s over. I’m still on edge, as if something was about to happen. My body is tired, but my mind won’t relax. I thought I was a fighter, but after the fight is over, what am I supposed to be?
I miss Reagan. I know she would have found a way to get me back on my feet, whip me into finding the willpower to do something. It was already hard to have lost my mentor, but now… A part of me died with Levi. Losing my cousins, my uncle, too, it’s like I barely have any roots anymore. Somehow, learning the truth about our parents’ death didn’t close any wounds, it just made the scars more meaningful for Nora and I. So, how do we move on from here?
“I love you,” I whisper to Nate.
His fingers stroke my hair lovingly, and I feel his lips against my temple.
“I love you too, my sunshine.”
I close my eyes, enjoying those words like the best medicine in the world. I’ll be okay. I still have my family. I have my mate, my baby. I have Nora, Danny, Boyan. I still have a family, in my heart.