Tish POV
I am fiddling with the cuff around my wrist. I have to pee, and the nurse hasn't been in here for hours. Glancing around the room, I try to find something sharp to pick the lock with. The small, locked supply cabinet is just out of my reach, but I have to try.
Glancing toward the door, I make sure no one is coming and slide out of bed. I stretch my body as far away from the bed as I am able. My fingers barely graze the keypad on the cabinet, but the cuff is biting at my wrist. Pulling my lip between my teeth, I try to think of a new plan.
This bed isn't a regular hospital bed. It is bolted to the ground, or at least it appears to be. Gripping the railing, I yank on it, trying to scoot it across the floor. It does not budge. I stomp my feet like a toddler. I have to pee so bad it is starting to get painful.
"Did you really think you could move the bed?" Kaden's voice comes from the door.
I don't have time to be excited or pissed off about his presence. "Do you have the keys?"
He dangles them in front of my face. I try to rip them out of his hands, but he holds them out of my reach. "We need to talk," he says gruffly.
"Please, Kaden," I beg as I dance from foot to foot. "I have to pee."
Kaden frowns but unlocks me from my prison. I race to the bathroom and will myself to pee, but I know Kaden is outside of the door waiting for me.
"Can you not listen?" I yell out.
"We need to talk," he calls back.
"Can it wait until I am done in here? You are giving me stage fright," I scream back.
Silence falls between us, and I am finally able to pee. It feels so good that I groan loudly.
"What are you doing in there?" Kaden yells back.
"Peeing," I call back.
"Why is it taking you so long?" He demands.
"Because I have been holding it for hours," I snap at him. "I guess I am not a high enough priority prisoner to earn bathroom breaks."
"About that," he yells through the door. "You aren't going to be captive anymore."
I wash my hands and open the door. Kaden's steely blue eyes are staring at me. They are full of regret. He looks down at the wrist that has been cuffed to the bed. There is a thick bruise around it. He tries to touch me, but I pull my hand away from him. The last thing I want to feel is the tingles from the mate bond on my skin. I am mad, and I want to stay that way.
"I am assuming you saw my memories," I attempt to push past him.
"I did," he replies awkwardly.
"And?" I turn to face him.
"I shouldn't have doubted you," he says in a low voice. "But with your history, you were the most logical suspect."
"My history," I say through gritted teeth. His words sting. "You know when your father brought me to the South Pack, he said it was a place that accepted everyone, despite their past."
"And my father is gone," Kaden groans. "I have to be the Alpha of this pack."
"That's fair enough," I reply. "But do not doubt me ever again."
I push through the door and make my way to the hospital corridors. I am given strange looks, but no one stops me. I approach the nurse's station with my head held high.
"Could you please direct me to Alpha Kai?" I ask.
A nurse looks up from her computer, and her mouth drops open. I am sure I look a mess. I have been trapped in that hospital room for God knows how long. I haven't showered. I know I stink. But I am determined to see Kai.
"Luna," the nurse says quietly. "It is not safe for you to see Alpha Kai. He is not himself."
"I am aware of what he is like," I snap at her. "Take me to him."
She glances over my shoulder, and I know Kaden is standing behind me. Her eyes glaze over, and I know she is speaking to him through the mind link. I snap my fingers in front of her face.
"Hey," I get her attention. "I don't need his permission. Take me to Kai."
The nurse lets out a frustrated sigh but gets up from her seat. She is grumbling under her breath the whole time she leads me through the hospital. We go up several floors and she gestures for me to step from the elevator. I do, and Kaden is waiting for me just outside.
He holds out his hand for me, and I take it. I get the feeling that we will need each other when we get to Kai's room. We stop outside of a door that has just a small window. Kaden squeezes my hand, and I peer inside.
I see him. He looks the same but different at the same time. It is as if he can sense me, and his eyes dart to the window. They are hollow. It is like he is looking straight through me.
"Let me in," I tell Kaden.
"Tish," he sighs. "It isn't safe."
"Let me in." My words are clipped.
Kaden unlocks the door and steps into the room with me. He stands in the corner, ready to protect me if necessary. But I am not afraid.
Kai doesn't move as I approach him. His whole body is trembling, and he refuses to look into my eyes.
"Hey," I say as I tilt his chin to look at me.
"Tish?" He whispers my name in question. "I killed you. Are you a ghost?"
I rest my palm against his face, and he leans into the touch. The tingles from the mate bond seem to be stronger between us, and the mark on my neck begins to throb.
"Do I feel like a ghost?" I smile.
"You feel…" he stops. "Real."
Tears from his eyes drop down my hand, and he looks at me with clarity in his eyes. We are both crying silently as we look into each other's eyes.
"They said you poisoned me," he whimpers.
"It wasn't me," I choke back a sob. "I swear it wasn't me."
"I knew it wasn't you," he growls. "I told them you love me."
"I do love you," I tell him.
Suddenly, he lunges for me. A scream leaves my lips, and Kai tackles me to the ground. I prepare for him to attack me, but he doesn't. He pins me beneath him and stares down at me with glowing blue eyes.
Kaden is snarling in the corner, ready to attack his brother. But I am giggling. It is as if I can feel the dirty thoughts running through Kai's mind.
"Now is not the time," I whisper.
"Promise me you will come back to visit me," he says before he puts a kiss on the tip of my nose.
"I will be here every day," I promise him.