His Arrogant Human Mate novel Chapter 51

I sighed, kissing Caroline's hand again before entwining our fingers. "Her parents were killed by rogues a long time ago, so she was taken into a pack and raised there."

The healer bobbed her head slowly, eyes shutting. "Yes. The spirits remember that loss. It was not part of her original destiny, they say. But fate is not so straight as one may believe. New paths are chosen each day."

"Was the death of her parents the path needed to bring her to me?" I tested.

Zara snorted, rolling her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, boy."

I slept at her bedside for the third night in a row, my head resting beside her hand, which was usually connected somehow with one of mine. The sensation of her hand tensing up woke me, but my first thought was that she was about to have a coughing attack. When my head snapped up, her eyes were wide and afraid and she was about to try and pull the tube from her throat.

My arm shot out and pinned her wrist to the hospital bed, making her let out a pitiful whine, her body squirming. "Good morning, beautiful," I hummed, trying to remain calm to benefit the both of us. "Listen to me, Caroline. The tube was helping you breathe. The doctors have to remove it. We'll get it out right now, okay? Just calm down. Don't touch it."

I pressed the call button for the nurse and doctor to come in, but it took them a couple minutes so they must have been asleep. I had to hold Caroline down, who was determined she could take it out herself. I held her close as they delicately pulled the tube from her throat, watching as her eyes filled with tears and she whimpered. I shushed her, pushing her hair from her forehead and kissing her face repeatedly. As it was removed, Cara began coughing, but it was a mild cough. Nothing like the attack she had been having the last couple days.

"Dominic-" she rasped, stopping when she heard how hoarse her voice was. Caroline's eyes widened in surprise and sadness.

"It's okay. Don't talk just yet. We'll get you some water and that might help. But then you have to eat, okay? Eating is most important right now because you've been asleep for a long time and missed a lot of calories."

"I've sat here the whole time, Caroline. It would soothe me and my wolf very much if you would let me take care of you."

The nurse cleared her throat from her place on the other side of the bed. She was checking all of Caroline's vitals. "It would also help your neck as well. Calm the disruption that your bond has had over the last couple of days," she explained. "Your vitals are all stabilizing, just as Zara predicted. You look much better, more alive. Alpha, you should be able to take her to her room as soon as you both are ready. I will take out the IV now and begin to unhook you from all of the machines. But she is more than welcome to stay another night."

I gazed down at my sweet girl, who I could tell was getting sleepy again. "Do you want to be in a real bed or in here?"

Caroline blinked slowly at me before thrusting her arms out. "Real bed." With a chuckle, I waited for all of her body parts to be unraveled from medical cords before scooping her up against my chest. "What happened to me?" she asked, burying her face in my neck. Her lashes tickled my skin, her soft breathing creating goosebumps across my flesh. The mark was definitely working hard now. The connection had been so close to severing that it was now strengthened and would be much more powerful until we completed the bond.