Page 18 of Aching for His Mate (The Wolves of Luven #5)

Iota’s good mood lasted until about noon, when he heard something crash downstairs and Domitia relay a string of curses.

“Are you okay?” he yelled. He pushed up from the bed and hobbled toward the door.

“I’m fine! Don’t get out of bed! I broke a glass. I just need to clean it up.”

“Don’t cut yourself!” Iota called. “I’m coming to help!”

“Get your ass back in bed, Iota!” she scolded. “I’m not kidding! If I see you down here, I’ll be mad as hell. Let me clean up the glass, then I’ll come back up and entertain you.”

“I don’t need entertainment,” he called back. “I need my mate not to have to do everything for herself,” he huffed quietly. Goddess, he was so useless! Maybe he should ask her to have Lambda come down and help him down the stairs a couple times a day so he could help with some of the household chores. Obviously, she liked cooking, but no one liked cleaning. No one liked picking up broken glass while trying not to cut themselves.

Iota stayed on his feet for a while, testing out how long he could stand without holding onto the wall or bed. It wasn’t as bad as he thought. His muscles felt unused more than sore, and the stitch in his abdomen was calming down. He could walk.

As luck had it, he had to pee and didn’t want to bother Domitia. Nor would she bound up the stairs and catch him in the hallway. It was the perfect time to test out walking to the bathroom alone. The last two times she hadn’t even held onto him. He could do this.

Iota took a tentative step away from the bed, waiting for a creak in the floor to have Domitia hollering at him, but it didn’t come. He took another step and another, keeping his right arm outstretched towards the wall in case he stumbled. He made it to the threshold and paused, catching his breath.

So far, so good. He may have been abnormally winded from walking from his bed to the doorway, but he did it. Iota turned toward the hall as he kept one hand on the doorway for support. He took another step into the hallway and the room swirled and—

His knees gave out. He hit the ground hard, unable to stifled a groan as he did.

“What was that?” Domitia called.

Iota tried to shuffle back into the room, scooting along on his hands and knees. If he could get into bed before she got up here maybe he could convince her—

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Domitia’s voice was low and beyond pissed. “Why are you on the ground?”

“I…fell walking to the bathroom.”

Domitia exhaled, her hands on her hips. She took two steps toward him, then squatted beside him and extended her hands. “Well, come on then. I’ll walk you there.” She pulled him to his feet, then stood behind him with her hand on his back. “Go slow.”

Iota nodded and did what she said. They made their way slowly down the hall, into the bathroom. He could have waited at least another half hour before he needed to go, a fact that now had him feeling like an absolute fool. Domitia was downstairs cleaning up glass by herself, and now she was walking her idiot mate down the hall, afraid he might fall again.

He was a terrible mate.

He washed his hands and opened the door slowly. Domitia grabbed onto his forearm and led him back to bed, pulled the covers back, and got him situated.

“I need you to be a better patient.”

“I’m sorry. I will be.”

Domitia nodded. “You better be. I am going to finish cleaning up the glass and then I’ll be back. And if I find out you out of bed—”

“You won’t. I promise.”

“Good.” She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be back soon. Try to keep your promise.”

Iota nodded, knowing he’d never break a promise to Domitia. Even if she didn’t come back up for three hours, he’d be sitting in bed like a good little wolf, waiting for his mate to return.