Alex became more awake and mobile as the day went on. She was keen to get back on her feet and to stretch her pained body. Her concussion made her unsteady at times and Aidan was only too pleased to put his arm around her waist and hold her hand when she started to fade in the hospital corridors.

There was a tremendous amount of visitors and well-wishers calling to her door throughout the day. Alice and Olivia arrived again with copious amounts of food which was annihilated this time around by those present.

Kit had taken a knee before her in a very dramatic fashion in the afternoon, pledging his loyalty to her as his Luna and promising to follow her lead and direction in the pack warrior training. Alex found herself very taken aback with this gesture, but accepted Kit at his word, hoping they could work together from now on.

With some persistence, Alex persuaded Ronan, Nolan and her father that they should leave her bedside and get back to work as things were sure to get busier with the Dax task force. They delayed as much as they could before accepting defeat and heading out.

It was late evening before Alex could convince Robbie that he needed to go back to his pack. Robbie's Beta was a woman named Sonya, and while Alex had no qualms in knowing the pack was in good hands with her, she needed everyone to stop looking at her with frightened panic in their eyes. She knew she had almost died but the focus needed to be on finding and destroying Dax and his network and not on her.

'I'm invincible,' Alex joked as she flexed her arms towards Robbie at the hospital entrance. Robbie laughed and shook his head.

'Well that's good,' he said as he pulled her towards him, 'because you are not allowed to go anywhere.' He squeezed her hard, making her groan loudly. He released her and kissed her forehead. Aidan was surprised when Robbie turned to him, extending his hand. He shook it and Robbie pulled him into a hug.

'Make sure you are deserving of your Luna,' he whispered quietly into Aidan's ear. Aidan nodded, grateful that he had shared his story and intentions with Robbie and the rest of the group. With a last kiss to Alex's cheek, Robbie jogged off into the night towards his car.

Alex turned to Aidan, 'So when am I going to mark you?' she asked seductively. Aidan almost choked with surprise. He coughed and spluttered, unable to answer coherently.

'Sexy', she remarked as she watched his discomfort.

'Let's see if Cain will discharge me tonight so I can sleep in my own bed,' Alex wiggled her eyebrows at a still spluttering Aidan, before marching off purposefully.

Cain refused outright to let Alex out of the hospital that night, reminding her that she had been on the brink of death less than 24 hours before. He did note however, that her bones were healing exceptionally well and her concussion was resolving nicely so there was every chance she could go back to her house the following day.

Aidan wrapped himself around her in the hospital bed again that night, but not before ringing Marcus to check in on the pack. He put the call on loud speaker so Alex could listen in as Marcus gave the report. There had been an elevated number of rogue captures but no attacks. The patrols and changeovers had been amended and additional patrols had been added. Laura had been maintaining the warrior training for the females and ever since Alex had been kidnapped and escaped with Kit, the number of women and girls joining the training had increased dramatically.

'I've tasked some of the guys who you trained at Black Mountain to help Laura with the training,' Marcus said proudly. 'And I guest star as often as I can to make sure everything is being done to your exacting specifications Luna,' he added with a laugh.

Alex was floored. She hadn't expected things to change so fast. 'We need to get home,' she said to Aidan as they finished the call to Marcus. Aidan's wolf howled appreciatively at Alex's use of the word 'home' to describe Lunar Ridge.

'We will Luna,' Aidan kissed her gently on the lips, electricity shooting through his body from the connection. Alex reciprocated a little more forcefully, pulling at his t-shirt to bring him closer to her. Aidan smiled into the kiss but pulled back slightly before an erection started directing his actions.

'Plenty of time to kiss me when we're out of here Luna,' and he wrapped his arms around her, snugging her into his chest. Alex huffed before relaxing into the embrace and falling asleep. Aidan watched her for a few moments; her long eyelashes, her full lips, her beautiful mark before he too, succumbed to exhaustion.

____________

There was a flurry of activity in Alex's hospital room the following morning. Cain and his staff were doing every check possible to ensure she was in good health before she could leave.

'To be honest, I'm shocked at how quickly you've recovered,' Cain said, shaking his head while checking Alex's chart. 'I know you're an Alpha but I planned on you being here for at least a week.'

It was true. Alex had healed to practically one hundred per cent after only 36 hours. Her arm and ribs were no longer broken; any bruising had disappeared and there was no trace of the savage bite marks and wounds inflicted on her. She felt stronger than ever and ready to get back to work, particularly now that Aidan and the pack at Lunar Ridge had become much more amenable to her and her methods.

Cain had insisted on her taking it easy for one more day before making the decision on when to travel back to her new pack. Things had calmed across the pack lands. There had been no more attacks by Dax or his rogues. Nolan and his team had been scouring the country for informants who could provide any intel on any of Dax's movements but so far, he seemed to have disappeared into the wind.

Alex was delighted to hear that Aidan had offered to set up a similar task force at Lunar Ridge to help Nolan with the additional workload. After hearing about the death of the Luna from East River and the kidnap of Alex, packs up and down the country had been offering assistance and warriors to the cause. Dax would be found one way or another and the only uncertainty was when.

Aidan opened the front door of Alex's house, standing back to let her walk in ahead of him.

'Ever the gentleman,' Alex mocked as she passed him.

Aidan closed the door gently and followed her into the kitchen. 'Do you want to have a lie down for a little while?' Aidan asked his mate. 'I can call you in the afternoon before it's time to go to Cain and Olivia's.'

Alex was busy taking a long drink from a glass of water and took a moment to answer. She looked him up and down, lingering at his crotch for a second before staring him dead in the eye.

'I want to get naked immediately and I want you to make me come until I pass out.'