Masked

CHAPTER 44 | revelation

Abbotsford Regional Hospital, Abbotsford

He was numb. He'd found her only to possibly lose her again.

The doctors at the ER had taken Parker straight into surgery. Daniel, unsure of what to do in a hospital, followed Alice and John's lead and trailed them to a secluded waiting room. The ticking of the clock on the wall became louder and louder as they waited in silence, each of them fighting with their own demons.

He slumped his shoulders in defeat. How did I not know?

Morgan burst into the waiting room a short while later. Worry lines etched his features. He looked from Daniel to Alice. "What's happening, is she okay?"

"She has pneumonia, four broken ribs, and a collapsed lung," Alice said. Her eyes were filled with tears that threatened to spill. "They've taken her into surgery." She placed a hand over her mouth. "What if I made it worse by doing CPR?"

John pulled Alice to him and made a shushing noise. "She wouldn't have made it to the hospital. It's because of you she has a chance."

"Is she going to be all right?" Morgan said.

Alice shook her head. "They couldn't say." Her lower lip quivered, and she broke down in tears.

Pain ripped through Daniel's body. Parker might not pull through. But she had to. He wouldn't allow her to leave him this soon after he'd found her.

Unable to sit still any longer, he rose and paced the room. He reached for his phone. He needed updates from the team trying to keep a lid on the Wildfire outbreak, though the muted TV tuned into a news program only served to reinforce that the epidemic had now truly spilled into the Human world.

He placed half a dozen calls arranging for reinforcements to be sent to the most heavily affected areas, then turned his attention to dealing with a few pressing business matters—anything to keep his mind off what was going on behind those doors.

Time passed with excruciating slowness, and they continued to wait. On more than one occasion, Morgan had to physically restrain him from storming through the hospital and demanding to know what was going on.

After what felt like a lifetime, the door opened, and a doctor in hospital scrubs approached them. The doctor hesitated when the three large men descended on him. He cleared his throat and focused on Alice. "We had a couple of complications, but we've managed to insert a chest tube to reinflate her lung. She is stable, and we are taking her up to ICU shortly. Ms. Johnson should make a full recovery."

Alice breathed a sigh of relief before firing questions at the surgeon.

Daniel heard nothing beyond the words 'full recovery'. A feeling of unadulterated relief swept through his body. His muscles, which had been rigid for hours, let go, and oxygen and blood flowed freely. He took a deep breath. The number of emotions that had coursed through his body in the past few hours were more than he had experienced in his two and a half centuries of living. He was confused and at a loss, with the full ramifications yet to sink in.

Alice was quietly crying against John's chest. The large man, confused as to what his mate was weeping about, kept on repeating, "Didn't you hear him say she was going to be okay?"

Off to one side of the room, Morgan took a moment to collect himself. He then pulled out his phone. Daniel assumed the call was to Clara, who would be beside herself with worry.

Now that he knew Parker would be fine, his state of shock lifted. He wandered over to the window that looked onto the courtyard below and reined in his emotions. His pack expected him to be strong.

I should never have let her near that bastard in the first place.

He jumped when Morgan placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "She's going to be okay. Luna wouldn't have given you a mate that wasn't strong."

His head turned to face Morgan. Grey, mirthful eyes met his, a hint of a smile twitching at the sides of his mouth.

There was no point in denying it from his old friend and mentor. "How did you know Parker is my mate?"

Morgan chuckled as he looked out the window. "You just told me."

Both he and Morgan stood side-by-side, gazing on the world below, deep in thought.

Morgan broke the silence. "So, when you rejected that prisoner as your mate and chose Parker, didn't it enter your thoughts that it was Parker all along? Why did you assume it was the other woman? Who, by the way, turns out to be Elise's daughter."

He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "Is nothing sacred?" He was still coming to terms that Parker was his mate—not the unknown prisoner.

"Don't blame Simon," Morgan said. "He's back at Elise's estate making every excuse under the sun to keep her away from you."

"He's what?"

"She was insisting on coming with me to the hospital. Simon was acting rather strange, making up ridiculous excuses as to why he needed her there. He could see I was about to take her, so he had no choice but to tell me what happened in the prison cell."

Morgan burst out laughing. "Poor Simon. He must be running out of excuses by now."

Daniel gazed out the window and sifted through the events of the past few weeks. "I keep asking myself how, all this time, I had no idea she was my mate. You cannot imagine the shock when Simon stepped through the doorway with her."

Morgan half turned to face him. "Don't be so hard on yourself. She masked her scent. We all knew it, we just chose never to call her on it." He patted Daniel on the shoulder. "You, my friend, have had a very unique experience. You chose her because your heart and mind told you she was your other half—not because your primal side saw her as your mate."

He frowned, not understanding Morgan's meaning.

Morgan folded his arms and rocked back on the balls of his feet. "When we recognize our mates, our instinct takes over and we accept the bond. Just as we instantly fall in love with our children, and our grandchildren, we automatically fall in love with our mate. The harder task is that we need to learn to like and respect them. That isn't always a foregone conclusion. You have commenced at the opposite end—an enviable and unique position for one of our race."

"How am I going to tell her?" Daniel's heart thudded against his rib cage. "What if she rejects me?"

Morgan smiled. "You are way over-thinking it. Let's worry about getting her out of here first."

Morgan shook his head fromside to side and laughed. "Clara is going to be like a woman possessed. Not only does it turn out Parker hasthe wolf gene, but she also has a mate worthy of her." Morgan clapped him onthe back. "Oh, I don't envy you. Clara considers Parker a daughter. Put a step out of place, and you will find she is the mother-in-law from hell."