Chapter 6

I'm sitting in the hospital room next to Lizzie as she gets some much-needed sleep. Nathan is keeping watch at the door to ensure that nobody other than the medical staff comes to check on her. I don't trust a single person in this pack, especially after hearing about the awful pain they put her through. Every so often already, a random she-wolf would try to come in saying that Lizzie is her friend or some shit, and every time Nathan or I have to escort them out of the building. She swears that Doctor William and grandma Lisa, whoever that is, are the only decent and kind people in this entire place. If that's true, then I plan to speak with them about joining us when we leave.

"Mmmm..." I hear Lizzie start to stir.

I inch forward in my chair to see if she's uncomfortable or in any pain. I reach about and hold her hand and begin rubbing soothing circles into her wrist. She immediately settles back down into sleep. I take the moment to just marvel at her beauty. She's petite in size, certainly malnourished. It's obvious that her wolf has healed any physical scars across her body, leaving her skin clear and pale. Her blonde hair is tied up in a messy bun with cute little wispy curls framing her face. I resist the urge to run my fingers across her smooth jawline and across her pink plump lips, for fear of waking her. She's utterly breathtakingly exquisite.

"Mmmm..." I hear her stir again. This time she moves her head around before blinking her eyes open.

"Hi, Love, did you sleep well?" I ask her. She gives a yawn.

"How long have I been out?" She asks softly. Sleep still in her eyes.

"Close to about eight hours," I tell her.

"I'm so sorry." She says as she shakes out her hair and rubs her eyes. I can't help but gaze at her as she tries to sit up. I get up and place a few pillows behind her to help support her.

"Thank you," She says sincerely.

"You're welcome,"

"This bed is so comfortable, that was probably the best eight hours of sleep I've had in years." She says with a gesture at the hospital bed.

"It's in my experience that those beds are the opposite of comfortable." I furrow my eyebrows at her, trying to figure out if she's being serious.

"It's better than the shit I've been sleeping on for the past ten years." She explains as she drinks some water out of the cup that I had filled for her a while ago in case she woke up and needed it.

"Lizzie, be honest with me. Do you have a bed?" I ask her, fearing that I already know the answer.

"Well... I um... I have a small cot." She says lamely.

"Excuse me, a what?" I ask her, hoping I misheard her.

"A cot." She pinches the bridge of her nose. I can tell that she's being serious. My blood starts to boil once more as I think about how she has lived the last ten years. I'm about to say something when we hear a knock on the door before Doctor William walks in.

"Good evening Lizzie, how are you feeling?" He asks her as he checks her vitals and makes competent notes on his clipboard.

"I feel better than I ever have before." She smiles genuinely at us. Her smile makes my heart backflips and Theo practically prances around in joy.

"That's good to hear. I'm going to do a quick physical exam; would you mind lifting your shirt just a bit so I can check your ribs?" He glances at me as he asks the last part. I see Lizzie look over at me and I pause for half a second before giving a nod. I stand up and turn around to face the wall. I focus on keeping myself calm and my breathing, even so, Theo doesn't kill the doctor. Just the thought of him looking at her bare skin is angering Theo.

"It's his job, Theo. Calm down!" I direct at him.

"Not okay." That is all he tells me before settling down in the back of my mind.

"Well, your ribs and collarbone seem to have healed up nicely. A bit tender still to the touch though. Even though your immune system is weak and recovering, you're incredible healing capabilities have amplified since gaining your wolf." I hear him telling her.

"You can turn around now Luke," Lizzie says to me. I turn around and take my seat once more by her bedside.

"Doctor, when can Lizzie be released?" I ask him.

"I think I'm comfortable with releasing her today, as long as she takes an easy the next twenty-four hours or so. Her wolf will need time to rest after this ordeal." He explains as he makes some more notes on his clipboard.

"I can promise you that she'll take it easy," I tell him.

"Very well, if you will come with me Alpha Luke, we can start her release papers." He tells me.

"Love, I will be right back," I tell her and kiss the back of her hand once more. As I walk out the door, I signal for Nathan to go inside.

"Nathan, watch her like a hawk. Even one hair on her perfect head gets screwed up and you're running thirty miles every morning for the foreseeable future." I tell him in my Alpha tone.

"I'm on it Alpha." He salutes me, a bit sarcastically, before going into her room.

I wait for the door to latch close before following Doctor William down the hall towards the nurse's station. The smell of antiseptic and cleaning solution as well as the clinical white walls is a direct contrast to the rest of the pack houses here that look like they are almost falling apart.

Good, the doctor doesn't mess around with his hospital, I muse to myself. I watch as he goes to the computer and prints a few pieces of paper. He gathers them up from the printer and swings around the counter and starts laying them out. But I stop him before he can go into detail about them.

"Listen doc, I'm about to ask you something, and I want you to think about it before you answer me." lean my back against the counter and I tell him.

"Alright," He says with confusion all over his face.

"Lizzie says that you're one of two individuals here that are decent, kind, and really worth anything. My question to you is, are you happy here?" I run my hands through my hair and look over at him.

"I beg your pardon?" He asks taken aback.

"Are you happy here?" I repeat myself. "Because if you're not. I'm willing to offer you a permanent place in my pack at our state-of-the-art pack hospital." I finish explaining.

"Are you serious?" He asks as I watch as confusion turns to joy on the old man's face.

"I'm dead serious."

"Yes! Please! Oh, thank the heavens. Yes, I will happily leave this filthy place and join your pack. Can my wife come too?" He says with excitement.

"Of course! it's settled then, you'll both leave with us." I tell him as I awkwardly shove my hands in my jeans pockets.

"Alpha, if it's okay to ask, who is the second person here that Lizzie spoke to you about?" He ass me curiously.

"I'm not sure, she calls her Grandma Lisa. Do you know of anyone here by that name?" I ask him.

"I sure do!" He tells me with a smile on his face. "She's my wife, my mate!" He gives a chuckle.

"Well, that's convenient." I let out a chuckle. "Do you have any children here that would like to come with?" I ask him.

"Nah, my daughter found her mate at the Evergreen Pack and moved there a few years back. It's just my wife and I." He tells me.

"I see, well I'm honored to have the pair of you join me and my pack." I reach out and shake his hand. He shakes mine just as firmly. "How long will it take you and Lisa to be ready to leave?" I ask him.

"We can be ready within a couple of hours." He says as he rubs his chin. "I'll give her a call after we finish up and tell her to pack just the essentials and some keepsakes." He tells me.

"Sounds good. Now, let's get this paperwork done so we can get the hell out of here." I tell him.

"Agreed." He tells me.

We go over all the documents and after I'm done signing a few, he files them away himself into the database. I watch him take his phone out to call Lisa as he starts gathering his things and placing them in an office box. With that completed, I make my way back down the hallway toward Lizzie's room. My good mood begins to dwindle as I start to hear voices coming from her room. The door has been flung open and I can see Nathan standing in his protective stance in front of Lizzie, who's huddled up by the headboard of the bed.

"Fuck off Emily! I don't have to deal with your bullshit anymore!" I hear Lizzie scream at one of the brunettes that had walked in.

"How dare you talk to us that way!" The girls screams back.

"What the hell is your problem? What did I ever do to you guys?" Lizzie screams at them. I watch as tears start to run down her face.

"You didn't need to do anything Elizabeth. We were told that you're less than trash so that's how you're to be treated. You don't deserve Luke Rawlins. In fact, trash like you don't even deserve a mate!" The brunette screams back.

"And you think you deserve Alpha Luke?" Nathan growls as he continues to be a barrier between these psychos and Lizzie. "Listen, devil's spawn, I don't care who the hell you think you are. You have been warned not once, not twice, but multiple times to keep your spray-tanned self away from the Luna." I hear Nathan growl at them in his Beta tone.

"She's not a Luna! She's a rogue! She's trash!" Another one of the brunettes screeches.

"She. Is. My. Mate." I make sure that I am enunciating each word clearly in my Alpha tone as I walk into the room. I've heard enough at this point. The girls all whip their heads around when they hear me. All of them go pale as ghosts when they see how pissed off I am.

"I suggest that unless your Alpha is looking for an outright war, you and your posse leave the Luna of the Clear Water Pack alone... now!" I boom at them. My Alpha tone gives them no choice but to file out and bare their necks in submission as they walk past me. Once they all clear out, I shut the door and lock it. Theo desperately wants to go rip their throats out, but so far I'm able to keep him at bay.

"I was gone for maybe five minutes. What the hell happened?" I look straight at Nathan.

"I should have locked the door, but I figured we would be fairly safe seeing as we are in the hospital. The whole group of them just walked right in and ambushed us. They were not prepared to see me though, so that took some wind out of their sails." Nathan explains.

"I see." I run my hands through my hair in frustration. "Let's get out of here."

"Can I please go get my stuff?" I hear Lizzie speak up from behind Nathan.

"Of course, Love." I walk around him and lift her hand up to kiss the back of her hand.

It takes us about thirty minutes to get out of the hospital, but when we do, it's practically dead of night. The moon was shining bright, providing all the light that we needed to find out way back to the pack house. As we make it through the front door of the pack house, a lot of people were still mulling around. Some gossiping, some watching television in the main area, some just fiddling on their phones, some glare at us, some smile, I just stare blankly ahead and let Lizzie guide the way. We make it to the staircase but instead of going up, Lizzie heads down.

"Lizzie, where are you going?" I ask her.

"My room," Is all she says as she continues down the staircase that leads towards the kitchens and cellars.

"You can't be serious?" I ask her incredulously.

"Yep. This is it." She says as she opens a small door. I take a look inside and look back at her.

"Love, this is a pantry."

"Well, it's been my pantry." She smarts off to me, which starts to really anger Theo.

"You've lived in this pantry for the past ten years?" I ask her. She nods in confirmation. "Lizzie, gather your belongings quickly please," I tell her as I pinch the bridge of my nose in concentration.

"Are you alright?" She asks concerned.

"Yes, I'm just fighting with Theo. He wants to burn this place to the ground. I'd really rather avoid a war though if we can help it." I explain to her as I continue to argue with Theo.

"Oh," She says before she ducks in.

It only takes her a couple of minutes to emerge with a pillow case containing the little clothing and personal items that she owns. I reach for her hand and sparks immediately erupt. Theo starts to cool off a bit with her touch which eases up my migraine. I pull her back through the pack house and out the front door to the front courtyard. Nathan already has the car waiting for us. I usher Lizzie into the back seat and place her pillowcase in the trunk.

"Alpha Luke!" I hear a familiar shout. I turn my head and see Doctor William and his wife Lisa running up the drive to where we are. Lisa immediately engulfs me in a hug. A hug that reminds me solemnly of my own grandmother.

"I can't thank you enough for taking us with you," Lisa tells me with tears in her eyes.

"It's my pleasure," I tell her. I look to where the doctor is standing holding two plain suitcases and a duffle bag. "Is that all you're bringing with you?" I ask the two of them.

"Yes, we don't need anything else. Our daughter took all of our family heirlooms with her to help make her new home feel like a home." Lisa explains with a shrug. I take their bags and load them up into the trunk.

"Alright, well there's just one last thing to do." I look at them expectantly. They exchange looks before giving a curt nod.

"I, Lisa Daniels, hereby remove myself as a member of Blood River Pack." She says as she draws a small knife from her pocket and pricks her finger just enough for a drop to fall on the ground, pack grounds.

"I, William Daniels, hereby remove myself as a member of Blood River Pack," William repeats and takes the knife to repeat the process of pricking his own finger to drop a single droplet of blood on the pack grounds.

We piled inside just as a loud howl can be heard from inside the pack house. The Alpha just felt the clean break of two members leaving. I hold onto Lizzie's hand as Nathan peels out of the driveway and speeds away before anyone can follow us.