Chapter 55
Jacob.
God, my eyes feel like they've been glued shut.
And to top that off, I could only move one of my arms as well.
Where the heck is the other one?
And once I managed to prise my eyes open, I quickly saw where I was.
A hospital room.
And right next time me, a familiar girl with black hair sprawled everywhere was leaning on my other arm.
Ariel.
My beautiful mate had managed to survive all of this mess in the end.
She was here. She was with me.
I couldn't help it. I couldn't help but cry with joy that my mate was here by my side and seemingly well.
"Hi there. How are you feeling? ...You've been out for a while. We worried a lot about you."
I looked at Ariel.
"Especially her. You probably won't get a peep out of her for a while, so I better explain everything you need to know."
I just nodded, unable to say anything more.
"It's been two years since you went into a coma. Our pack won the battle and Luna Ariel has been leading us with the help of the Beta and your parents..."
I blanked out for the rest of it, staring in awe at my mate. She had dealt with so much and I felt incredibly sorry for her. I also felt insanely proud for leading our pack and still coming here every day to see me, even if she never got to hold me as she wanted.
"I better leave Alpha. It looks like our Luna is waking up. I'll come to check on you soon."
"Thank you," my voice was hoarse when I spoke.
Shortly after she left, Ariel woke up. She rubbed her eyes, yawning and stretching. With her off my arm, I managed to move it around a bit.
And that's what shocked her.
She looked down at my arm, then at my face. Then repeated. Twice.
"Oh my God..." She began to cry.
"Hey there," was all I could manage.
"JAKE?!" She threw herself into my arms, burying her head into my shoulder and crying out of happiness and relief.
"Yeah it's me, Ari. I'm here. I'm here baby girl." I began to cry too.
We lay like that, even when members of my family came in. It was such a relief to see everyone was okay. Including that my mother was out and about. They were all happy to see me, and continuously praised Ariel for her great work as a Luna despite me being in a coma.
Rob and Lexi soon followed, and I was beyond happy to see they had mated. The two of them deserved so much happiness, and I'm glad they found it in each other as mates.
We were all happy, and Rob soon left to check something with the pack. I asked him to give me a few updates here and there, and he proceeded to tell me he would conduct a meeting later that day to announce that I was awake. The whole pack had been on edge, so it would be good for them to have something to celebrate.
Everything was fine. A part of me wished I hadn't been away for so long, but I knew everything would be okay.
It was fine until that motherfucker Jackson came in. But for some reason, he was crying his eyes out.
"J-J-Jakey...." He sniffled. "OH JAKEY BEAR I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU NEED ANYTHING? OH JAKEY POO I'M SO SORRY I WASN'T THERE WHEN YOU WOKE UP!"
And then he did the unthinkable.
He. Kissed. Me.
Well... This is new.
BONK!
Jackson soon stopped kissing me, then beginning to yell in pain. I looked behind his head to see a seething Ariel.
"YOU BASTARD! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!"
I've never seen Ariel so mad before.
And if I'm honest...
I never want to see it again.
She's... scary.
"I TOLD YOU I WAS GONNA DO IT! BEAT THAT SUCKAAA!" He suddenly jumped up.
Things escalated to a worse state when they started chasing each other threatening to kill each other.
And then the biggest revelation came forward.
"I THOUGHT YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MATURE UNCLE HERE!"
"AS IF! YOU'RE STILL A TODDLER MY LITTLE NIECE!"
WHAT THE FUCK?!
I suppose that explains her wacky side. Drew chimed in.
Long time no see buddy.
Agreed. Shall we stop this childish bullshit?
Indeed.
"ALRIGHT! THAT'S ENOUGH!" I yelled in my Alpha voice.
In that second, all the commotion stopped. Ariel was immediately concerned that I'd strained myself and wanted to check me over. She stayed by me, worrying herself to near death and making sure I was calm.
"Everyone, I would like you to leave. Now."
I held Ari tightly in my arms, reluctant to let her go for even a second.
But there are times when one has the urge to pee, and she was still there when I got back.
"I missed you so much, Jake. Please, don't ever do that to me again."
I breathed in her neck to smell her sweet scent that I'd missed so much.
"Never, Ariel. I'm never going anywhere again. I'm sorry that I was gone for so long."
We kissed for the first time in two years, and I've never felt more alive than I have at that moment. When we split, breathless as ever, it felt like my entire world was right in front of me. She leaned her forehead against mine, her smile sending pleasant shockwaves to my heart. I smiled right back at her, pulling her onto the bed with me to cuddle.
We lay like that together, my head resting in the curve of her neck while breathing in her heavenly scent. She wrapped her arms around me, drawing random patterns on my back to ensure my comfort.
"Ari?" I continued to nuzzle her neck.
"Mmm?" She murmured groggily.
"Can I mark you again soon?"
Okay. Done. Hard question number one out of the way.
Except she paused.
Well...
Shit.
"... When you're out of the hospital. Now shushhhh, I very sleepy." She moved her head back onto my chest, soon falling asleep on me.
"Thank you, Ari. Goodnight." I kissed her forehead, more than happy with her answer.
"Goodnight baby."
I won't lie, but I'm pretty sure my heart swooned at that point...
A few days later...
Man, I've never had such a peaceful sleep in all my life.
And I've been saying that every day for the past few days because for every single one of those days, I've been waking up next to Ariel. Like today.
We finally got to mark each other again last night. I may have been overjoyed and proud to wear her mark the first time, but this means so much more to me now. It's a symbol of all of the things we've been through, and we managed to overcome every single one of them.
And right there, as she lay in my arms, still asleep...
Something just wasn't right.
So Drew and I smelled the air.
She's in heat. Drew growled.
Upon hearing that information, I got up and locked the door, linking Rob with this information. He agreed to look after the pack for me without any issues. I then instructed all males to stay away from the room for their Luna's safety. I heard Ariel whimpering without me being there, so I quickly crawled back into bed with her.
"Jake?" She whimpered after a while of being in my arms.
"Yeah?"
"I... I... I need..."
"I know, baby. I know."
I then proceeded to give her exactly what her body desired. Of course, I would worship her like a goddess. You aren't a real man if you can't even treat your woman in bed right. I refused to let her do anything, she was my queen. My Luna. And she deserved to not even lift a finger.
And when we finished, breathless from the ecstasy we had previously undergone, Ariel had something she wanted to say.
"Jacob, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for two years now. But obviously, I never got to tell you because of the coma and stuff."
"There's been something I've been wanting to tell you as well Ariel."
She paused, and I sensed her nervousness. Was it bad news? It couldn't be, right?
"Jake, I... I-I-I love you. I really do. God, I love you so-"
I cut her off, kissing her passionately. I was overjoyed. She was in love with me? She loved me! Me! She was mine and no one else's. Forever.
"I love you too Ari. So so much. I promise that I'll make up for the two years that I spent away from you. I can't ever let you go again, my cookie thief."
She laughed at the nickname I first called her all those years ago, and I fell in love with her laugh all over again. Everything about her just made me fall in love with her over and over again. She's my soulmate, my lover, my life. I can't lose her ever again. She means everything to me. She's my whole world and I can't live without her.
We fell asleep just like that, satisfied and whispering "I love you" at every available opportunity.
C'est la vie. This is the power of mates.
AM CRYING LMAO
Sorry for not updating yesterday guys.
I decided to sleep instead of finishing this.
So yesterday was my last day of college... I am crying inside. Handed a teacher an easter egg and we both started crying. Been there for 3 years man.
And I'm majorly stressed because we still don't know how we will get grades and stuff lmao.
Boris is an idiot.
I just wanna go to uni lmao.
I have so much work to do over the next 4 weeks, so I'll try and work in updates where I can. :)
Love you all immensely, and I give my extra love if you or someone you know has the virus or has sadly passed away due to it. Or just if someone else you know has died.
My auntie died last night and I found out through a group chat (': And she wasn't that great, but still iconic since she was the only gay family member I had (not counting my pansexual bro).
RIP my social life. And my job.
Byeeeeeeeeee :)