Bloodlines: Fated Mates (Book 6 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 43

Ian woke slowly and opened his eyes. Memories from yesterday filtered through his mind. Wow. He was still blown away by all that had happened.

He glanced down at Aria, who was cuddled up against him. She was still asleep. He hoped she'd slept well. He knew she'd been worried about him. Worried he'd stop breathing again in the middle of the night.

He guessed he'd been fine though. The curtain was open, and no one else was in the room. He glanced around, looking for a clock, and spotted one on the wall. It was still early, but it looked like he'd slept for way more than twelve hours. He felt good though. Really good.

The exhaustion and soreness he'd experienced yesterday were long gone and he felt like he could do a hundred pushups right then. Though Aria would probably kill him if he did.

He'd seen the concerned look on her face yesterday several times. He wouldn't do anything to upset her, especially after he already had. Not intentionally, but it still blew his mind that he'd had a stroke. It was the reason why he'd agreed to sleep in the clinic. For her peace of mind, his own, and because he was too tired to discuss it. He realized he'd probably slept for more than twenty-four hours total.

He looked up as the clinic door opened and a man he didn't remember seeing before walked in. The man walked over to the desk and sat a cup on it, then turned to him. He gave Ian a smile and approached him quietly. "Hi Ian. I'm Dr. Ben Gray. How are you feeling?"

"Hi. I'm feeling great."

"Good. We still have no idea why you had a stroke. I honestly don't have all the equipment here to do more testing because it's not something I'm worried about happening with our pack," Ben said.

"I understand. I'm hoping I won't have to worry about it myself much longer. Daniel had said I would be inducted into the pack this weekend," Ian said. It felt kind of weird calling the Alpha King by his first name.

"Yeah, I think he's having an induction ceremony for you tonight. And maybe Abby. I'm not 100% sure what's going on with her. First time I saw her was at dinner yesterday," Ben said.

"She was attacked by a bear," Ian said.

Ben's eyes widened. "Bad?"

"From what I've heard. I wasn't there," Ian told him.

Ben nodded slowly, rubbing at his stubble. "I haven't heard a word about her so far. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Not like this place really gets used that much. Usually the only thing we're doing down here is delivering pups."

Ian smiled at him, his gaze darting down to Aria. Would she want to have pups with him? It wasn't something they had discussed. They really hadn't discussed much of anything yet, or at least not about their future. They hadn't had time.

"Well, I'm going to unhook you and then I will leave you two alone, and head back up to my apartment." Ben flipped off a machine and began to unhook Ian from it.

"Thank for this," Ian said quietly.

"Of course. I'll see you later, Ian." Ben smiled at him.

"Thank you, doctor," he said.

"Stay alive until tonight," Ben joked and left the clinic.

"I plan to," Ian smiled.

The door closed behind Ben and Ian turned his attention back to Aria. She hadn't moved and he wrapped his arms around her and snuggled into her. He breathed in her scent deeply, burying his face in her neck.

"Ian?"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up," he said, with a frown.

"I don't mind. I'm glad you're okay."