Bear with Me (#2, Completed)

46. No more running Pt. 1

SCARLETT

When my eyes snapped open again, I was no longer in the forest. Instead of the cold ground, there was a comfy mattress beneath me, and soft bed sheets caressed my exposed skin as I rolled around in the bed.

It didn't take me long to figure out where I was because I knew this room, intimately. It was Callum's bedroom.

Our bedroom...home.

The realisation brought a smile to my face, but that only lasted until I remembered everything that had happened. Watching Callum fight at the Alpha challenge. Catriona kidnapping me. Fergus and Callum's brawl. The revelations that followed, and the way that Catriona's bear tore into me before everything went dark.

Instinctively, I lifted my t-shirt to check the damage that she had inflicted but, to my surprise, there was nothing. Not even a scratch. Everything had healed perfectly, leaving no trace of the brutal attack that I had survived.

"You took on our healing abilities with Mahon." Callum's soothing voice reached me before the smell of fresh coffee tickled my senses.

There he was, standing by the door with a steaming cup of my favourite morning drink, looking as dashing as always, even after everything he had just been through.

My mind was full of countless questions about what he just said, but none of them mattered. Not right now, at least. Because all I could think about was him.

My mate.

How I ever thought I could live without him, even for a single day, was beyond me. I couldn't. I didn't want to. And I didn't have to because I was going to fight with everything I had to make sure that I spent my days until the end with him by my side.

My eyes followed his every move as he slowly made his way over to me and sat on the edge of the bed, prompting me to prop a pillow against the headboard of the bed and lean back. 

His proximity made my body hum, my lips begging me to caress his. It felt like there was an invisible tornado of emotion inside me, one that kept growing until it could no longer be contained, engulfing both of us. 

The bond that tethered us roared, pulling our souls closer, back where they belonged- together.

"Hi," he murmured. A smile jotted across his lips, making my heart somersault. His soft gaze tangled with mine while he passed me the coffee. "This feels like a deja-vu."

My fingers wrapped around his free hand, driven by the need to touch him, to feel him. 

"You mean me nearly dying and waking up with my handsome saviour nearby?" At least now I could joke about it all.

"Something like that," he smirked, yet I could feel a shred of anguish in his voice.

My belly became a sinking stone when I thought about it. I couldn't imagine what all those moments had been like for him, not when my mind was not able to handle even the mere thought of ever losing him—more than anything, I wished that I could take those painful memories away, to help him forget. I could only hope that maybe with time, I was going to be able to.

"Is she..." I wasn't sure how to finish my sentence as one thought kept nagging me. I wanted to know what happened, but I also didn't want to make him go through everything all over again.

"Catriona?"

I nodded back in response.

When his arms enveloped me, I finally let go of the breath that I didn't even realise I was holding; my body lulled by the pulse of his beating heart as I nestled my head against his chest.