Chapter 132

Raphael awoke to feeling his mate's warm, soft arms around his waist, her familiar body hugging his.

He tried to inhale her scent, he missed the smell of his mate when he shot his eyes open. He couldn't smell.

He tried to sit up but immediately felt weak and exhausted and laid back down, still absolutely confused about where he was. He could see a mask on his face and his breath was coming too quickly.

"Raph, woah, woah. Raph, honey. It's okay, it's okay, I know it's scary I know, but breathe, breathe." His mate's sweet voice appeared in his consciousness and he looked to try and find her.

Her round face appeared above his, "You're okay, relax… okay." She said calmly, he watched her brown eyes, they were shining and so warm.

He forced himself to calm down and slow his breathing. He tried to raise his arms but they felt strange and wouldn't obey his commands.

He looked up at her confused, "What is it?" She asked patiently. Her face was glowing in the cool light coming through the small window in the room.

"The mask." He said, his voice sounded funny with the mask on.

She smiled and carefully lifted it off of his face and his lungs filled with cooler air. He inhaled her sweet aroma and felt as his body relaxed.

He panted for a couple seconds, he felt so… weird.

"What was with the mask? And where are we?" He asked breathlessly. Why couldn't he catch his breath.

She put her finger to his lips, "Shh, okay? Don't talk, I'll explain everything. But first-"

She rolled off of him and stood on the ground next to the bed that he was laying on and he realized that she was wearing nothing but her underwear. He smiled, enjoying his wife's beautiful body.

She reached for a robe and quickly wrapped it around herself covering her skin. He mentally pouted.

"Hot chocolate or chicken soup?" She said finishing tying the knot on her robe.

He tilted his head at her confused.

She smiled stretching her soft, pink lips, oh he missed her so much. She looked so perfect right now.

"You were hypothermic so you need to eat or drink something warm." She said simply.

He smiled then looked down, 'I was hypothermic? How? When?'

He felt her lips on his temple and looked up to see her watching him lovingly, "Hot chocolate or chicken soup?"

He thought about it, his brain felt fuzzy.

"Why does my head feel weird?" He asked.

She giggled softly, "That's probably the morphine."

He looked at his log of an arm and sure enough there was IV line in it.

"Huh." He said, his eyes following the line up to the hanging bag on the stand next to him. He heard another peal of giggles and he looked back at her.

"I'll just get you some chicken soup, it's lunchtime anyway." She leaned forward and kissed his lips, "Don't go anywhere." She said with a bright smile then turned and headed out the door.

'She seems happy.' He thought happily. His mind wandered to the fact that she had said it was lunchtime. 'How long was I out?'

A few minutes passed and she soon reappeared through the door with a tray and a small bowl on it.

She set it down on a table and swung it over his lap as she moved the bed up readjusting his pillows.

After she was done she removed her robe and dressed in her pjs to come sit next to him. He tried to raise his arms again so he could eat, with the food right in front of him he realized how hungry he was, but his arms were still uncooperative.

He sighed frustratedly, what was wrong with him?

"It's okay, I'll help." She said softly as she picked up the spoon and brought it to his lips. He opened his mouth reluctantly. He felt humiliated even though his mate was the one helping him. He should be able to do this.

He swallowed and looked up at her waiting for her explanation.

She cleared her throat, "Well… we found you- where would you like me to start?"

He shrugged.

"Okay, I'll just start from the beginning…"

She explained her experience at Alpha Dart's and he knew he should feel worried and angry but he didn't, he just felt relaxed with her next to him, the warm, savoury soup on his tongue.

He could feel his wolf was nowhere in sight, like it was curled up in a ball sleeping in a corner.

Next she explained what happened in Montreal with Alpha Kratos, he also knew that he should be feeling upset over the fact that Kratos had asked his mate to undress, but he just felt sleepy.

"Then, my mark hurt out of nowhere and I asked why and Kratos said that it meant you were in trouble, Thresh had just received a call saying that you'd gone missing and we left immediately. The flight took almost twenty hours and you still hadn't been found…" Brooke looked down, her eyes said. He raised his hands sloppily and caressed her cheek. She smiled, but it faded when she told the rest of the story.

"When we got here it was morning but when we got to Crest Pack, it had been more than a day since you'd gone missing…" She swallowed and continued, "It was night when we arrived and we got to the Haven as soon as possible to try and find you. We got there, the cave where you'd gone missing, and I went inside and found the stones, the ones with the runes?"

He nodded, he knew what she was talking about.

"Yeah, and I gave it to Thresh who said he recognized them, and then he found a trail of runes along the trees down the slope. As soon as we passed out of the Haven I could sense you but I still couldn't find you. Thresh and the Gamma here found you…" Her eyes were so sad, he wished he could hug her.

"Could you hug me?" He asked. And she looked up at him with such a shocked and soft expression his mind went blank.

"Oh, of course baby." She said and wrapped her warm arms around his shoulders gently, he wanted to hold her tight yet she was holding him like he would break. He was confused.

She cleared her throat, "You were half covered in snow, facedown and… and you were severely hypothermic." She stopped and stared blankly at the bowl of soup, "You scared me so bad Raph." She whispered.

"I'm sorry." He said. He was trying to think of what had happened to him, his memory was fuzzy and he could only remember the stones.

"Oh, honey, it's not your fault." She said and rested her head on his chest. He drifted off into a pleasant sleep not soon after.