The Abused Mate

Chapter 18- Lena's POV

I woke up to the smell of antiseptic and saw the tile ceiling above me. I was in a hospital room, I moved my head to the side to look around the room and noticed I had company.

He had his head next to me on the bed and I could tell by his breathing that he was asleep. I looked around the room again noticing a few other chairs before I noticed the IV drip to my right. I looked back to Dylan and studied his features from his tousled hair to his jawline. I reached out and slowly ran my fingers through the edges of his hair. He wasn't as heavily built as other Alpha's I've seen but his build suited him, even sitting I could tell he was over six foot.

He stirred, sitting up making my hand fall back on the bed and looked up at me sleepily, I gave him a small smile when his eyes met mine.

"Hey." he sat up straighter and had just stood up when the door opened again.

The doctor took one look at me before leaving the room in a hurry returning shortly with another doctor and Duke.

After both doctors had come in and checked my vitals and had unwrapped my arm before putting it in a sling they informed that if I was ready with it that I was cleared to get out. I turned to Dylan and his father who had stayed while I was being checked over, I asked them if I could move into the big house. Duke nodded in agreement and took the phone out of his pocket. They left the room after a change of clothes had been placed on the bed so I could change.

It felt so good to leave the hospital that I was practically counting the hours till I could shift again as I was still healing. As we walked I noticed that many of the pack members that were out had stopped what they were doing and were watching us walk by. We received "Alpha's" and head bows as acknowledgment to my newest status as their future Alpha. When we reached the big house I turned to Dylan and told him about my cousins who were still at my old pack. I was relieved to hear that he already knew about them and that there was going to be a group sent out to retrieve them and that they could be here by tomorrow afternoon.

When we entered the house we were greeted by two women, one I realized must be Dylan's mother and the other I could tell might be a relative.

"Do you need anything dear? Something to eat? Drink?" she asked walking forward.

"No I'm alright thank you Mrs. ---? I stopped realizing that I didn't know what her name was.

"You can call me Carol. None of that Alpha stuff coming from you since you will be one as well once Dylan takes over his fathers role as Alpha." she said. 

"I'm Lexi, Dylan's older sister." the other women said walking up and giving me a hug while also making sure not to hurt my broken arm.

I realized the rest of his family had appeared as well as his friends and his Beta. I waited while they introduced themselves and either shook hands or gave hugs. When they had gone their separate ways Carol appeared again and suggested we go shopping after breakfast tomorrow to which I agreed as I wanted a distraction from everything that had happened. We agreed on going into town after breakfast along with Lexi to get me new clothes and anything else I needed.

We mingled and I was introduced to several other pack members including his Beta Bryan and his fathers Beta John, neither had mates but they didn't seem bothered.

Several hours passed before dinner was ready, the lower pack ranks left and it was just Dylan's parents, Lexi, John, Bryan, and Dylan and I. We sat and ate and talked but avoided the subject of my past, Duke left to solidify the rescue of my cousins. Carol waved us away from across the room and I was confused until I realized that she was motioning for us to leave without being bothered again.

"Well this is it." Dylan said shutting his door behind us.

"It's cozy and warm, I like it." I said sitting on the bed.

Dylan went to the closet and came back with a large baseball t-shirt. "I know you don't have any pajamas, but this is the biggest shirt I have." he said handing it to me.

"This will do thank you." I said taking it and heading to the connected bathroom to change. When I came back out Dylan was arranging pillows. "It's looks like you're trying to make this romantic? I said coming to the side of the bed.
"What's all this for?" I asked coming around the side of the bed.

"I didn't know how many pillows you wanted." he said. "I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay here or have your own room while you got accustomed to being here."

"Please don't take it the wrong way but if you don't mind I would like to stay in my own room for a few days. I have things that I need to deal with on my own at the moment." I said.

"Hey it's alright, take your time I'm here if you need me. You can take the spare room at the end of the hall, third door on the left. There's a bathroom right next to your room as well."  he told me following as I walked down the hall with the pillows and blanket.

He waited several minutes before leaving and closing the door behind him. I was arranging the pillows when I heard him head downstairs.

"Don't overthink this, we need time to heal, both mentally and physically. We went through something that no one should ever experience and we can't bounce back so quickly. He's understanding but we still need to let him know that we're trying. Give it a few days before spending some time with him, not asking you to spend the night but a few hours with just him. It'll be good for his wolf too, I could feel his unease." Lea spoke after several hours of silence. I mentally agreed with her.

After I had finished making the bed I turned to go turn the light switch off when I noticed a small book shelf. I examined the shelf's and found several books before choosing one that I wanted to read. Settling back in the bed I cracked the cover and enjoyed the smell of the old book as I read the inside cover about the author.

I got so caught up in the book that I didn't realize that a couple hours had already passed and the house had fallen silent. I got up placing the book on the table by the door before the turning the light off and heading back to bed. I was exhausted and fell asleep within a few minutes to a dreamless sleep.