"I knew it!" I screamed throwing my arms around William and hugging him. "I'm so happy for you!" I cheered as he gently hugged me back. Evander cleared his throat behind me and I pull away. Oops. His hands instantly wrap around my waist protectively and I swat them away.

"Just please, bring her back to me," his sorrowful eyes dawned on her.

My lips parted to say something when Brandon walked in holding a wrapped sandwich and two bottles of water. "Here you go, Rie," places them on the table. I only drank half of the water before continuing my job on Everest.

At least now she looked less bloodied and bruised. "I'm going to wrap her cuts in gauze," I continued to talk William through everything I was doing seeing as it was helping him. After applying some of the creams on her gashes to help them heal faster I tightly wrap them in gauze.

I felt the gaze of Evander as I continued to cure her body.

Memories of when he was lying unconscious on a hospital bed as I took bullets out of his skin came back. All the emotions I was feeling, so oblivious as to what was going to happen. That day I thought of every possible twist and turn I could have gone through when Evander would have wakened up but the rollercoaster I've been on, still riding on, I would have never expected it.

At all.

"I know how you feel, Will. Feeling helpless while your mate lays unconscious on a bed with nothing you can do," I whispered, looking at her. I gave her some medicine that should make her wakeup soon and she should be in less pain than she was supposed to be in.

"You think? it's terrifying," he replied, his hands running down his face. His face falls when it dawned on him. "Wait- how would you- what?" He confusingly asks and I froze. Shit, I didn't mean for that to happen. "It's nothing, I've just seen it happen a lot," I lied, getting back to work.

All the X-rays that I've taken lay on the table beside us and as I ran through them, wondering how the hell she got in this position. "If she doesn't wake up by tonight, I'll take another set of pictures to make sure her body is healing. Even though she is unconscious it should be healing a little," I broke the silence.

"How are you feeling?" Evander asked, rubbing a hand down my arm soothingly. A sigh left my lips as I leaned into his touch. "Like I'm tired of doing X-rays and cleaning wounds," I mumbled, not knowing if he heard me or not. Evander let out a chuckle, letting me know that he heard me.

"Please eat? I don't need you knocked out in a hospital bed too," he softly spoke with the care and worry in his voice. I don't want to worry him. I sigh and step away from his grasp, turning to William who was too caught up holding the hand of his mate. "I'm going to take a break, I've done everything I can until she wakes up," I tell him.

His eyes met mine and I saw the dullness behind them. He only nods once," go ahead. I need you healthy to take care of her," he softly says, referring to his mate. I felt terrible for him. He's probably so shaken up. "Come on," Evander laces our fingers, shooting electricity as he does so. I picked up the water and sandwich with the other one before following him out.

The hospital was pretty deserted now. Everyone was probably having lunch. I was expecting Evander to stop at the benches but he doesn't stop walking, even when we walked out of the hospital. "Where are you taking me?" I asked for the first time. "Somewhere you can be at peace," he cryptically says.

We walked around the hospital and when I saw what was behind it, I froze. A gasp fell from my lips when I saw all the beautiful flowers.

It was a flower meadow, with so many ranges of flowers. So many different colors and sizes, I didn't know which flower to keep my eyes on. They all were so beautiful. "It's beautiful," I managed to say, not taking my eyes off the flowers for a second. His grip on my hand tightened, bringing my attention back to his face. "Not even close to how beautiful you are, Rie," he whispered, taking the breath away from me. How can he make my heart race so easily by being so cheesy?

"Aw, the brave doctor blushes," his smile broke into a playful grin. "Screw you," I huffed, darting my eyes to the bench and made my way to it. I flopped down on the bench, unfolding my sandwich when he sat down next to me.

_♤_

Evander pulled me to his chest after asking everyone to leave the staff room. It was nine in the night now and Evander hasn't left me since he got here around lunchtime with me. When I asked him about it he said something about not wanting to leave me alone with William and keeping me company.

Overall I found it cute and he's been an adorable puppy around me all day. He also assured me that my father was on a book spree at home with Brandon at his fingertips doing everything he asked. That was a relief because at the back of my head I was worried all morning about him being at the house without me.

"No," he pouted, pulling the ends of my coat back to the chair. "I need to go check on Will," I pointed out. He was dealing with this all on his own and I've checked on him a couple of times today to make sure he wasn't losing it. He probably left her side twice in all those hours. "His name is William, not Will," Evander protested, wrapping his arms around me.

I was about to say something when his body froze. "What's wrong?" I asked, tilting my head to study him. "Everest is awake," he mumbled in a state of disbelief. I did not question it since he was her alpha and he probably felt hr link open. That was all it took to have me bolting down the hallway and bursting through her room.

"I was just about to mindlink you," William sighed. My eyes darted to the startled girl, staring at William like he was a complete monster.

"William, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," I spoke, already getting the message that she was getting overwhelmed by seeing her mate for the first time right after she woke up from being unconscious for hours.

"What? Hell no," he growled.

"Please, William, only for ten minutes," I promised but it still was no help. "I'm not leaving her, don't test me, Rieka," William growled, using his alpha voice on me. My wolf submitted to him but I fought her off, even the shiver in my body told me to listen to him.

"I'm going to have to see her naked, do you really want her to do that with you here?" I challenged him with the lie. His eyes widened and he walked out the door without another word.

Finally, I allowed myself to look at her. "I'm sorry about him," I say. Her lips and eyebrow were slightly healed. She remained quiet, just observing me as I walked closer to her.

"I'm doctor Rieka Knight of the royal pack, can you tell me your name?" I introduced. It was a simple method of knowing if the trauma she received affected her memories.

"E-Everest," she choked out and I smile in relief. "Well you're a very lucky girl, Everest," I say and she flinches. "Can you tell me what happened to you?" I asked her. She seemed hesitant at first, just staring at me, not even blinking.

"I'm not supposed to be alive, he wanted me dead," she choked out into a silent sob. My heart went out for her and I just wanted to hug her. "No one is going to hurt you again. You have Alpha Evander and Alpha William to make sure of that," I assured her but I knew she was having trouble believing me.

"H-How did I get here?"

"Someone found you," I cryptically say, walking closer to the bed. When she flinches I stopped moving. "You can trust me, I only want to help," I whispered. The door behind me opens and I'm hit with his comforting scent.

"Everest, I'm so happy to see you're okay, you gave us all a scare," Evander strictly spoke, much different from the loose and relaxing voice he spoke to me with all day. "Alpha Rowan," she mumbled shockingly.

"How is she?" He whispered to me. "I-I don't know," I sighed.

"Can you go make sure Will is okay?" I asked him. A soft growl ripped from his throat at the mention of his shortened name. I stare at him, knowing that he couldn't control me before he left the room again.

Everest licked her dry lips, her eyes seeming brighter. "William..." she whispered his name. "Yes, I don't mean to scare you but King William is your mate, he hasn't left your side since he brought you here."

"He brought me here?" She disbelievingly says and I only confirm with a nod. "He can't be..." she whispered so softly that I barely heard her.

"How about I do my check up yeah? You were really damaged..."

"Yeah, no shit," she softly scoffed, humor in her voice. I sigh and got everything from the table to check her.

When I left the room, William was packing the floor of every inch the hallway had to offer. "He doesn't want to be okay," Evander told me from where he leaned himself on the wall. "She is healing, very slowly but surely," I assure him.

"She isn't going to want me, she is going to see the huge screw-up I am, she is going to hate me for getting to her too late, she almost died because of me, I-I..." he trailed off, looking around him like he was sorting through his tornado of thoughts in his head. "She probably hates me," he concluded.

"She doesn't hate you and I'm sure about that, you just need to be very gentle with her. I'm sure she's a strong young wolf but she is fragile right now," I try to comfort him without getting too close. My words probably really got to him since he stopped walking to look at her door with a small frown and creased forehead.

"She's strong. So strong because she came out alive," he corrected me. He was right but her state of mind was in danger at the moment.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" William asked with shock in his voice. "Tell me about it," Evander huffed below his breath but both of us heard him and chose to ignore him. "Because I'm actually a nice person and not a dick like you, no offense," I scoffed, turning around to go back into the room.

"Be nice," I warned Evander with a glare before disappearing behind the door.