Josephine's Secret

8. Peanut Butter

8. Peanut Butter: Archer's Pov

Chapter Goal (for an early update): 400 votes

QOTC- do y'all mind listing pet names that you think would fit well into the story?

*important author's note at the end

But the moment the door closes shut, the heart monitor goes flat and a long beep fills the air.

"Josephine!" my head immediately snaps to my mate, panic consuming me when I see that the heart monitor went flat.

"Ow." she winces, squeezing her eyes shut. I look down and see the little device that monitored her pulse is on the floor. The doctor busts through the door along with two nurses, causing my mate to wince again when the door slams shut.

"The pulse-oximeter fell off her finger." I inform them, getting up from my chair and picking up the little device off the floor. "Are there any tests that need to be done? Or can I talk to my pack member alone?"

"Nothing needs to be done at the moment, Alpha." a nurse shakes her head. "But we'll check on her hourly." With that, they leave the room and leave my mate and I alone.

"Are you okay, darling?" I ask, gently putting the pulse-oximeter back onto her finger. She slowly nods, her lips taking the form of a frown. "If you're still in pain, I can tell one of the nurses to give you more painkillers."

She shakes her head.

"Please speak to me." I plead, needing to hear her voice. "I'm not even angry that you avoided me, I just need to hear your voice."

"I-" she clears her throat and tries to speak again, but her voice still comes out coarse and scratchy. "Here," I hand her a glass of water and watch as she struggles to wrap her hands around the cup. As she slowly brings the cup closer to her lips, I see her hands shaking, nearly spilling the water. Not being able to see her struggle with such a simple task, I help her out and lift the cup so she can drink. "Thank you." she whispers after she finishes, silently watching as I toss the foam cup into a trash bin.

"You were in Heat." I state, recalling last night's events. "Is that why you were avoiding me?"

She nods. "Why didn't you tell me that you were in pain?"

She shrugs. "Where did you go when I visited your house? I didn't smell you when I showed up to drive you to school." I start being more specific with my questions, that's the only way to get her to answer. Anything else just gets a shrug, nod, or shake of the head.

"I didn't go anywhere." she denies. And by the confused look on her face, I know she isn't lying. "Alan and I were able to conceal my scent for the first few days of my Heat, but we weren't able to keep it up as it grew stronger. Is he okay?"

"He's fine." I can't prevent myself from growling at the mention of Alan. "Did he touch you while you were in Heat? Or try or even think about touching you?"

My mate shakes her head. "No matter how strong my Heat got, I know that Alan wouldn't touch me like that. He barricaded me in my room and made that I was taken care of; he couldn't do much since his touch would burn me, but he gave me food and water when I needed it."

"I trust you, Josephine." I make sure to remind her. "I just wanted to make sure that he didn't try anything since you were in Heat. I understand why you hid from me this past week; my wolf and I aren't too happy about what you did, but we understand why you hid from us."

Already knowing that I'm going to ask why she didn't call me when she was in danger, she says, "I tried mind-linking you, but they laced the air with silver... or wolfsbane, one of those. And your phone went straight to voicemail." It takes me a while to respond to her even though I know what I'm going to say. As sweet as it is to be able to hear her voice again, I can't help but notice the weakness in her voice as she speaks.