Page 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

T he longer Simon was gone, the more restless Yael became. Simon had said he'd be gone for a couple of hours. "It's been over four hours now."

Nash sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone as if he hadn't had a care in the world. Eryn and Casper sat on the floor as if they were a part of Lola and Bitty's pack. None of them seemed worried.

As much as that should have soothed Yael, the pit in his stomach grew bigger the more time passed without Simon coming home.

What made it worse was the emotion Yael felt but also didn't feel. Some of his emotions hadn't been his own, but it had taken until that moment for him to sort out what belonged to him and what belonged to Simon. Partially bonding had been great, but it left him off kilter in some ways too.

"All’s quiet outside." Nash met Yael's gaze. "The same can't be said for inside."

Yael rolled his eyes. "What are you doing? Taking notes."

"Sending Skippy a message." Nash flipped his phone around and Yael saw the text message app open with Skip at the top and a message that hadn't been sent yet at the bottom.

"Can you ask him to message me? Please." Yael sent three messages and called twice, all going without an answer.

Nash frowned. "He hasn't messaged you yet?"

Yael shook his head. "No."

Nash focused on his phone again. A second later, he put it up to his ear and left the room. Yael heard him talking from the other room, but all he did was ask questions about Simon.

When he came back into the room again, he still frowned. "Skippy was injured."

Of all the things Nash could have said, that was the last thing Yael expected from him.

Yael panicked. He could feel it building in his chest, making his heart hurt. The tightness turned to pain until he felt as though he was having a heart attack.

Eryn stood and went to him. "Whoa."

Yael couldn't breathe.

"In and out, Mama Bear. In." Eryn mimicked the breath he wanted Yael to take. "Good. Now out."

Yael focused on Eryn. They breathed together a few more times before Eryn took charge of the situation.

Eryn turned to Nash. "We’re going to him. You can stay here or come with. Cas, honey, would you mind staying with the dogs?"

"On two conditions." Casper tried to harden his expression, but it didn't work.

"Anything for you." Eryn's expression softened whenever he looked at Casper.

"No." Casper pointed at Eryn. "No. Do you hear me?"

Eryn sighed. "We'll talk about it later."

"My two conditions are that someone needs to fill me in, and you stop calling me anything other than my actual name." Casper held up a finger. "And you take no for an answer. But that's not a condition so much as a promise that if you don't, you won't like the consequences."

Eryn’s jaw muscles ticked out his irritation. "Fine. Let's go."

Eryn led him out of the house.

Yael grabbed his keys out of his pocket and handed them to Eryn

Nash cursed and grabbed the keys from Eryn. "Lock up behind us, Cas."

They were in Yael's car and on the way through town by the time Yael came out of his stupor. "What happened?"

"I don't know much. Daruss said Skip, Gavin and the sheriff were on their way to the club when someone shot at Skip."

Yael heard his heart beat in his head and the sound of his own breath. "He got shot?"

Nash spoke, but Yael couldn't hear him. Not over the loudness of his blood pumping through his body.

Eryn drew him into his arms, holding him close. He kept repeating something as though it were a mantra, but it sounded tinny against Eryn's chest, as if he shouted through a box. The words were lost in the echo, but the meaning was still there.

"I can't lose him. Not now that we found each other." Every good thing in Yael's life he'd had to fight for. It seemed he always would. But did the gods have to make Simon fight as hard too? Couldn't they spare him?

"He didn't get shot, Mama Bear. Not shot."

Yael wiped his eyes and met Eryn's gaze. "He wasn't shot?"

"Daruss said it’s a head wound. Pretty severe," Nash answered. Yael sensed Nash had spoken those words before. "He's at the club right now, but they're getting ready to move him to Enzo's house. He can treat him there. Skip is in excellent hands."

Knowing the doctor was with him calmed Yael's fear a bit, which left room for something else entirely.

"Who hurt my mate?" Yael growled. His eyes shifted and his fangs dropped. He'd never been able to shift his hands before, but they shifted at the thought of fighting for his mate.

Nash grinned. "Gods, you and Skip are perfect for each other. He never turns down an opportunity to punch something either."

"Actually, Yael doesn't like fighting. He's just very protective of the people he loves. Like a Mama Bear." Eryn would know. Yael had moved mountains to protect him, and he would continue to do so for the rest of Eryn's life.

"Who was it?"

"A couple of guys Skippy fought with recently. At Draco's Bar. But you're too late. The sheriff took them out." Nash smiled at him through the rearview mirror as though he were amused at Yael's reaction. "We're heading over to the doctor's house."

Yael nodded. "Wherever Simon is, that's where I want to be."

"Got it."

****

As soon as the car stopped, Yael was out and running for the front door of a house big enough to fit three of his own. It was one and a half times bigger than Simon's house.

When he stepped onto the front porch, the door opened. Daruss moved aside to let him inside. He led Yael through the house and down a hall, stopping in front of a closed door. As soon as Daruss opened it, Yael saw Simon with his head bandaged and his eyes closed.

Yael covered his mouth when the need to scream came. His hands shook.

The doctor came out into the hall. "My name is Enzo. Do you remember meeting me at the club the other day?"

Yael nodded but didn't take his eyes off Simon.

"He has a severe head injury. With injuries like his, it's difficult to know the extent of the damage. I don't have the proper equipment to get pictures of his brain. Until he wakes up, we won't know."

"Can I go in?" Yael crossed his arms over his middle to hold himself together.

"Of course. I'd like to keep him here at least until he wakes up and I can assess the damage to his brain."

Yael nodded and went into the room. At first, he took Simon's hand. Then someone pushed a chair up to the bed for him. He muttered a thank you.

He knew other people were in the room with him. Eryn sat near the door, and Daruss was somewhere inside as well. He could hear them talking, but he didn't pay attention to anything but Simon.

The physical distance became too much, so he climbed on the bed, laid next to Simon, and waited for him to wake up.