Chapter 9

BELLA

I feel something warm and solid behind my back.

Slowly I regain consciousness. I yawn and open my eyes, squinting against the stubborn ray of light that'd pierced through the drapes to make an attempt at blinding me.

Groggy, I start to turn to my other side, but I am met with that huge, immovable wall. It's so warm, too, I realize and let out a satisfied breath, burrowing deeper into it. I line my body with the hard mass, but when my butt meets something hard, my eyes fly open.

I snap around.

I gasp.

Behind me is Caeser.

He's shirtless.

And a quick peek under the covers tells me he's completely naked.

When a a noise between a groan and a purr sounds above me, I look up. He's awake. And his flinty grey eyes are filled with amusement.

He's laughing at me!

My cheeks burn and without thinking, I shoot out of the covers, ignoring the pricks of pain I feel. He pulls himself up to a sitting position, allowing for a distracting view of broad, muscled chest. My head snaps down, a breath of relief escaping me when I see I'm still clothed.

He watches me, immediately clocking my thoughts. "Make no mistake, Bella," he starts, a morning rasp accompanying his words. "When I f*ck you, you're not going to have any doubts about it the next day."

An embarrassing gasp leaves me. Ears burning, I swerve around and hightail it to the bathroom, his dark laughter following me all the way.

Soon after, I hear a knock on the door.

"I'll be leaving now. Amber is going to stop by for your checkup." He lingers by the door before I hear his footfalls draw away. I released my breath, but I was not aware I was holding it.

Removing my gown, I run a bath, the kind I see them do on television when I'd been been opportune to watch. After pouring in a moderate amount of gel, a citrus scent overpowers the bathroom. I breathe in deeply, catching a note of Caeser's scent.

Gingerly, I ease myself in, lying back slowly. My eyes slip close and I just lie there for a long time, simply soaking. My shoulders relax gradually and I realize they'd been tense.

I can't remember the last time I'd had a shower like this.

Back at Blood Moon, what consisted of my shower routine was cold water and a wooden scoop. Soap if I was lucky.

I start to wash off when it occurs to me I've wasted enough time in the shower. After draining the water, I rinse off and wrap a towel around myself.

As if on cue, a rap of knocks is heard. "Coming," I yell.

Quickly, I shrug on some clothes. I rush over and open the door, seeing Amber on the other side. "Hello," I say, smiling.

She beams. "Heyyy. You look wonderful this morning."

"Thank you," I tell her, meaning it. I don't get compliments often. "You look great too," I say.

She waves me off. "Please, I stayed up all night cleaning a patient's vomit."

My nose scrunches up. "Does that...happen often?"

"More than you think." She sets in fully and I see she's with a trolley. "Marina said I could bring up your food."

"Please, join me. I can't finish everything," I offer.

Her voice is relieved. "Thought you'd never ask!"

We share a laugh and I marvel at how relaxed I feel in her presence. I join in lifting the plates onto the table. When we're through, we take our seats, digging in.

She talks around a mouthful of pancakes, "Oh, my God. I swear, Black moon makes the best food in the entire world."

I'm helpless to agree. "They do."

"What is your pack good for?"

It's suddenly hard to swallow. I shrug, it's stiff. Finishing the food in my mouth, I say, "Not much."

"Not much?" she echoes. "Surely every pack at least has their strengths."

I think hard. "Um, we're good runners." It's surprisingly true.

"Wow. I'd love to meet them."

My breath stills.

Amber looks at me. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah. I'm sure you'll...love them."

Once we're done eating, she helps me reapply the balm. "You're healing pretty quick," she comments. "That's a good sign."

My breaths grow easy as she kneads my back, melting away some tight knots. But the next question she asks has my eyes flying open.

"Wait, did you sleep here?"

"Yes..."

"That's... Odd."

I blink, growing alert. "Odd?"

"He doesn't let anyone into his personal space. That's a welcome change--also one that has been a long time coming."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she presses. "He's not getting any younger. He's almost thirty and hasn't found his mate yet. Every potential Luna has either ran away or gotten killed."

I tense up. "Killed?"

"Don't worry," she soothes. "Caeser won't let anything happen to you."

When she's done, she helps me up, supporting my weight as she leads the way to a cozy arrangement of sofas.

She settles me on a chair gently. "I can't wait till you're completely healed. I'm going to take you exploring round the pack. It's so huge, we couldn't cover half of it in a day. There's so much to see. Can't wait to take you to Ginny Square!"

My heart pounds with anticipation. I couldn't wait to take her up on her offer as well. I am presented with a remote. I stare down at it questioningly.

"Since you're the sick one, you get to call the shots. Go on, put anything. I'll watch," she says with a smile.

My chest constricts. A burn rises up my neck and I look away. "I... I can't operate a TV remote."

When next I look at her, her face is clear of judgment. "Don't worry. I'll teach you."

And that's how we spend the greater half of the day. We're laughing at a scene when the door is thrown open. We both look up to see Caeser's furious face. The lightness in the room suddenly disappears.

I sit up straighter. Amber speaks from beside me, "Alpha, is ev--"

"Leave us," he orders.