Page 65 of Just One Bite

Chapter Fifty-Four

Olivia

The heat is gone, then I’m floating. There’s no pain. No fear. Just bliss. I’m the safest I’ve ever been.

“It will be okay, honey.” My mom’s voice is there, and it’s like she’s running her hands through my hair. “Everything will work out.”

Parker’s voice is close by. Barely audible.

“Don’t fucking touch her,” he snarls.

“They’re going to help her. Come on.” It’s Gavin, I think. “You need help too.”

“I have a pulse … We need to move her.”

“He’s lost a lot of blood.” Parker is bleeding?

I don’t feel anything in this space, only a growing desire to get back to him. There are so many voices I don't recognize wavering in and out.

“Help him up. We need to keep a connection on their skin. Stay close.”

Parker is hurt. He’s waiting for me.

Soon there’s a faint beeping and the sound of a heartbeat in an echoing room. My heartbeat. I can't tell how long it's been. I want to open my eyes, but my body won't let me.

“Sir, you can’t be in here, you need to rest.”

“I’m her linked mate. I have to heal her," Parker says, his breathing labored.

“He can stay,” another person says.

Then my skin is warm, so much warmer than before.

It only feels like seconds, maybe minutes, before I hear his voice again, but it could’ve been longer. It’s louder this time.

“You’re being such stubborn pain in the ass. You gotta wake up. Come back to me, baby.” I feel Parker's fingers tracing circles on my arm, up my shoulder, and to the tip of my ear.

I will. I think it, trying to tell him through our bond. The room almost feels solid around me before it disappears again.

"I hope you're dreaming of me." His voice echoes close.

The sun greets me as my eyes fall open. The sheets are pressed, and the smell of linen is overpowered by something much more prominent. I’m being held. There’s an arm around my waist, and I lean into the scent of him. He’s dirty. Sweaty. But mine.

“Parker,” I say, turning to face him.

He jolts up and places a hand on my cheek. “Tell me you’re okay. Do you remember what happened?”

“ You’re here. You’re safe ,” he says, in my head.

“I’m okay. You were hurt?”

“Flesh wound.”

“You’re going to overwhelm her,” Eva says, and I realize we’re not alone.

“I remember.” I fall into him. “You saved me.”

Then he’s kissing me everywhere: lips, nose, cheeks, teeth. The kiss of a mate is enough to ease the tension lingering in my chest. I don’t hurt anywhere.

“Just to remind you both, we’re in the hospital. We. As in your sisters and many nurses are present, so maybe wait to fully make up in the bedroom.”

Emma.

I sit up and take everything in. I must be in a hospital in the city because it’s all white marble and white linens. The windows are open, showing the city below and the fresh scent of pollen signals me to flowers of all different colors around the room.

“What is all of this?” I stare at the flowers covering my bedside tables and overflowing onto the floor, making out a name on the biggest one. Darien. Next to his name is the photo of my mother and Parker's mother.

“I’ll show her.” Emma places her phone horizontally for me to watch something.

It’s a video, and I instantly recognize the wallpaper from the train car.

The camera pans to a shower, and Parker is holding me in his arms and whispering to me. It shows him from the chest up, rocking me while the water covers us. There’s blood smeared on his face and in his hair, with what looks like a bullet wound on his shoulder.

“Please don’t leave me, baby.”

He rests his cheek on my head as he sobs. “Stay with me please. Stay with me. Stay with me.”

I reach for him in horror, and he wraps an arm around my waist for comfort.

“The entire school has seen this?!”

“Yeah, and they love you for it.”

“Who filmed this?”

“It was your phone. Aster found it in the room I grabbed you from, and it was already recording,” Parker says.

“The conversations you recorded of Cane and the footage Aster got were more than enough to expose Cane. You and Parker are front-page news. Again.”

It’s coming back now. It seemed futile at the time to record. I’d managed to wrestle my phone from my pocket when he was interrupted by one of his pack members.

“Wait, Aster helped you?” I turn to him.

“It’s a long story. I can tell you about it. Are you hungry?”

I am. My stomach is hollow. “Yeah.”

“I’ll get you something,” he says, getting up to move, but I grab his arm. I’m not ready for him to be out of my sight yet.

“We’ll go get it. You both need to eat,” Eva says, leaning toward me. “Parker’s been refusing food.”

“I think the only reason he took water was because the nurse promised you’d wake up,” Emma says.

“I had to be sure I’d be right behind you if you didn’t wake up,” Parker says.

Emma and Eva give an exasperated eye roll.

“Kidding.”

“ Not kidding ,” he pushes into my mind.

They flutter out of the room, and I reach for Parker’s forearm.

“How long was I out?”

“Two days.” He palms my cheek. “Felt like forever.”

I get lost in his lips. The taste of his tongue on mine and the serene calm from knowing everything is okay now. I lift his shirt to run my fingers over the bandages.

“You were shot?”

“Three times. Cane used enchanted bullets, so healing is a little slower. But I’m okay.”

Tears well in my eyes. It’s relief. Happiness and sadness. This should have never happened. But it’s done. We hold each other until there’s a knock at the door, and we reluctantly separate. Two familiar faces emerge.

My father and Parker’s. My father is slightly shorter and rounder than Parker’s, and when they stand next to each other, I see the stark differences. Even with their similar brown hair. My dad’s features are much softer than Mr. Owens’s.

I wobble to my elbows to sit up.

“No need to sit up, honey. We’ve been in and out. Already met. Did the introductions and such. ”

“Oh. Good.” I turn to Parker. “You already met my father?”

“Parker almost took my head off when I tried to come in your room.”

Parker rubs the back of his neck, giving me a sheepish grin. “I was a little on edge while you were asleep.”

“In his defense, Dad tried to barge in during the middle of the night.” Emma skips in, with Eva and Zant in tow. He’s holding the plates of food. He winks at me and gives me a little wave while dodging the vases of flowers.

Parker’s father stands with his hands in his trouser pockets.

“Thanks for coming,” I say, not sure what else to offer.

“You don’t need to worry about anything. I’ve invested in security detail for you and your sisters from now on. Now that you’re bonded, I’ll make ensure nothing like this happens again.”

“And Cane is …”

“Cane will face trial along with his father for the involvement. Octavia too. She was bewitched by Cane, so it’s unclear how much she knew. There’s still an investigation going on.”

I lean into Parker in relief. I think it will be months before I can process everything that has happened.

“I should be apologizing to you. Cane’s father … I’ve worked under him for many years. I never thought he held malice toward my family. But …” He looks at Parker, then back to me. “He was originally arranged to marry Parker's mother before she met me."

"Woah, you never told me that," Parker says.

"I never thought the identity of who was important. The separation was messy, but we believed it to be settled. Parker’s mother worked closely with him at some points in her career with no issue.

But I believe there might have been a history of jealousy I hadn’t picked up on.

I knew he had ill feelings for myself, but I never imagined he’d passed down all that hatred to my son … and you, Olivia. I am deeply sorry.”

Parker’s dad offers me his hand, and I take it in acceptance.

"I have every intention of making this up to you and your family over time for my serious slack of judgement."

In my peripheral, Parker is smiling. Maybe there’s room for them to patch up old wounds, and me …

My father grabs my hand after a few minutes. “You scared me, kid. ”

“You know I try not to.”

“You’re one tough cookie. I can’t wait to come see your ballet.”

What will happen now that the director's daughter was involved in this? Hopefully, they'll still let me dance. I decide not to worry. Things have a way of working out, and as I squeeze Parker's hand and he squeezes back I know I have the most important thing.

“You’ll come see?”

“Yes. In fact, I had a talk with the dean this morning. I think it may be time I stepped back into teaching. Doxlothia needs me.”

"Really?"

His eyes brim with tears before he hugs me. "It feels right. Your mother would approve. Plus, I'll get to see you all more often."

It’s been years since I’ve hugged my father like this. My family once felt so small and broken, but now I'm surrounded by love, and Parker is too.

"For the record, I like him." He motions to Parker, who's talking to his father and gorging himself on the food.

I smile as my mom’s optimistic words echo in my mind.

“Everything will be okay. It will all work out.”