Caden insisted on curling up in the back seat with a blanket, which left little room for me. This attention forced me to sit up front with Caspian. I turned my body away from him and watched the greenery outside the window. Caden was shortly asleep again and Caspian drove in silence, no radio, no music, just utter silence.
I know I said I wanted to meet Caden's pack, but this was a little quicker than I thought and I also didn't realize how intimidating they all were. I did believe Dante was very sweet, just looked very scary and Ronan sounded caring. Caspian on the other hand wasn't even trying to start a conversation with me.
Everyone else had put in effort to make sure I was comfortable and made me feel as if I was a part of the pack. Caspian wasn't putting in any effort. Did he not like me? Did he not approve of the bond Caden and I share?
I tried to quiet down my jumpy thoughts. He was probably just worried about his actual pack mate that he's known for years rather than some girl he just met.
I finally gathered up the courage to look at him. My eyes were instantly drawn to the lip and nostril piercing that reflecting the meek sunlight from this hour. Were they there this entire time and I was too distracted to notice? Damn they were hot.
What was wrong with me? The one alpha I officially met was in the hospital and I'm fawning over all the others. Pull yourself together, Odette. Focus on Caden and Dante. They were already too much trouble for me, no way can I heap two more alphas onto my plate. But, it is nice to admire them from afar.
Caspian glanced at me, quietly letting me know he noticed my staring. My head snapped in the other direction and tried to focus on the trees again.
Soon, the forest became dotted with houses as we drove through some town. Caspian kept driving through the town and onto another lonely road with no other cars. "Where is the hospital?" I hesitantly asked not sure if he was going to answer.
"The city. Thirty minutes." His gruff voice scraped my insides, making me want to keep him talking, which might be a problem because he didn't seem like a big talker.
I drew in a deep breath, knowing I was about to make a fool out of myself and decided to start off slow, "so what exactly happened to Dante?"
"Shot three times." He answered casually without blinking an eye.
I was stunned. Three times! How does someone survive that? "Oh." I sputtered, not sure what else to say.
The seriousness of the situation finally hit me now that I had a moment to think and wasn't worrying about Caden. If I hadn't insisted on seeing everyone, then we wouldn't have been in the restaurant, Dante wouldn't have left to investigate...
I didn't let myself finish that thought, already feeling the prickling behind my eyes. I faced the window again hoping Caspian would stay silent like he was the entire ride.
"Dante will be fine. He's survived much worse and he's an alpha don't forget."
I cursed myself. Of course he could sense my emotion heightening, he could probably smell my tears too. I just hummed in response, hoping he would stop talking so I could collect myself.
Thankfully he did until we pulled into the hospital. It was large and white exactly as I had expected. I had never been inside a hospital before and wasn't excited for this to be my first visit.
Caspian turned around and shook Caden awake. Then, he got out of the car and opened both of our doors. I thanked him quietly and latched onto Caden's arm suddenly needing support. Caden seemed to need the comfort as much as me and we walked together into the place that would decide Dante's fate.
As soon as we walked in, the strong smell of rubbing alcohol hit my nose. I could not image how strong it was for all the other full wolves in this place. Looking around, I realized the entire place was filled with only wolves, which would make sense. Why would we go to a human hospital and ask them to patch up another species?
Caspian walked right past the front desk and took the stairwell up to floor three. On the way up we passed a group of male alphas and I moved to Caden's other side still wary of alphas. I held my breath as they walked past, minding their own business and completely unaware of the effect they had on me.
Caden pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead, reassuring me. Caspian walked down the hallway and stopped at a door towards the end of the hall. I tried to look inside the window, but there was something up, blocking viewers from looking in.
"Oh. Hey guys." I glanced behind me to see another drained facial expression. His voice was familiar and I connected it to Ronan's voice over the phone.
Caden released his hold on me to cling onto Ronan. Ronan patted his head and I looked away, giving them some privacy.
The familiar soft voice made me turn back around, "I'm glad you came, Odette."
I smiled and nodded at him. As Ronan came closer I slowly inhaled, trying to pick up his scent unsure how strong it would be. To my surprise it was very light. It reminded me of burning marshmallows over the fire pit for s'mores. It was a smoky smell with a hint of vanilla.
But, it was light, too light. Was he trying to suppress it? Even if he was it's not normal for an alpha's smell to be so watered down. And why did Caspian have no scent attached to him? This was all so confusing.
A small voice in my head questioned if they were all wolves. I shut it down real fast. What else could they be?
The door to Dante's room opened and I stepped back letting the doctors walk out. They all filed right past me until one stopped in front of me and introduced himself, "Hello, you all must be the rest of the pack. My name is Dr. Pott. I am glad to say that Dante will pull through. I'm not yet sure if he will make a full recovery. However, after knowing everything else he has bounced back from. This injury should be no different. We were able to stabilize him. You may see him one at a time and a nurse will check in every now and then to check in on him. He should be waking up soon and press the red button on his left side if Dante needs anything."
The doctor hurriedly left, probably having far more patients to attend to. I stepped away from the door, assuming someone else would like to go in first. Everyone was all looking at me as if expecting me to go in first. "Umm, would anyone like to go in first." I asked, making it clear I wasn't going to be the first one.
Ronan pushed Caden in first whispering something into his ear. He shut the door behind him and I was left alone with two alphas or two completely different species. Caspian was sitting down in one of the seats and I decided to join him instead of awkwardly standing by the door.
After a few minutes Caden shoved the door open excited. "Dante woke up!"
Ronan disregarded the one at a time rule and ran into the room. I glanced at Caspian to see him completely unfazed looking back at me. I blushed and looked away.
A nurse came rushing into the room and a few minutes went by before she left, looking at us intently and instructed us that no more than two were allowed. I nodded and she left just as quickly as she had came.
I had just gotten comfortable in my chair again when Caden burst out of the room, the shimmer in his eyes was back. "Come in, Dante been asking about you."
I got up, trying not to become too excited by this news. Just because he asked about me doesn't mean he wants me to be a part of the pack. Maybe he just has a little crush. Another part of me felt bad he asked for me first instead of his actual pack mate, Caspian.
I stepped through preparing myself to see a wilted Dante, hooked up to multiple machines. I was shocked to find him standing in the middle of the room stretching his arms above his head. Before I could remark on how odd this was, Caden beat me to it and forced Dante back into his bed.
Dante grabbed my arm firmly and dragged me to his bed with him. After arranging himself and I in his lumpy hospital bed, he grabbed my face in between his two hands. He inspected me as if I was the one on deaths door. After a few silent moments he grinned, showing off his sharp canines, "I'm glad you're okay, omega. I was worried about you."
I stared wide eyed at this crazy man, "worried about me? You're the one in the hospital. You just had two surgeries!"
Dante huffed dismissing my rant, "what? I can't be worried about my pretty little omega?"
I blushed fiercely at that statement, and Dante flashed his teeth before he pulled me closer to him and practically shoved my face into his neck. I was about to protest because he just got out of surgery, but then his chest started vibrating. The soft rumbling in his throat combined with the soothing vibrations made me shut my mouth.
I had felt the effect of Dante's purr before when it was aimed at Caden but never when it was aimed at me. My body turned to jelly, he could have asked me anything at this time and I would have complied. I would have told him any secret if he asked, I was completely under his spell.
My mind and heart weren't the only things ready to submit to him, I physically had to hold myself back from grinding on him. Saying I was wet was putting it lightly, I was drenched.
Dante leaned down and licked my ear, "you smell so good when you are aroused."
I jerked away from him, trying to get away before I made a bad decision, but didn't get far because he pulled me back towards him, "shhh, go to sleep little mate."
He just called me his mate. But, I can't be his actual mate, only omegas can have those. Does this mean he wants me to be a part of his pack? His purring started up, stronger than before, making me melt into him and close my eyes.