Alpha's One Night Bride
Alpha’s One Night Bride – Chapter 91

“What the hell happened?!” Jonathan asked as he stared at me.

I could ask him the same thing, but I understood why he was worried and angry as soon as he saw me. I was covered in b***d; it wasn’t my b***d though. It was Dominic’s. I didn’t have the time to clean myself off and change before Jonathan came home. I just finished hiding Dominic’s body and my body was still trembling in fear of what had just happened.

“He was trying to kidnap our daughter,” I shot back in my defense. I mean, what else was he expecting me to do? Allow for someone to take Emee and bring her back to Greggory. Over my dead body would I ever allow for that to happen. “Greggory sent him to take Emee for whatever reason.”

Jonathan’s face fell.

“So, you killed Dominic?” Jonathan asked.

I rolled my eyes.

“I had to do what I could to protect Emee,” I told him; I was aware I sounded aggravated.

“We don’t kill other wolves, Arina,” Jonathan argued.

“What about Graham?” I nearly hissed; it wasn’t fair that he was fighting me on this.

“That was different,” Jonathan muttered.

“How? I did this to protect my daughter, Jonathan,” I told him.

He let out an exaggerated sigh and shook his head.

“Dominic is a follower; he was following orders. I’m fairly certain once you caught him, he was shaking in his boots. You could have given him a warning and let him go; he wouldn’t have attempted anything after that.”

“And if he did? Then what?” I asked, raising my tone again.

“Then, we deal with it. But we never resort to killing first, Arina. That’s not who we are,” Jonathan argued.

I pressed my lips together until they formed a thin line. I was beyond angry that he wasn’t taking my side on things. I just wanted to change the subject.

“What about you?” I asked, trying to calm myself down. “What happened at Moon-Valley?”

He went quiet, which worried me. I frowned and stared around his concerned face for a moment.

“Get cleaned up first, and then we will talk,” Jonathan said.

I didn’t like the sound of that.

“Or you could just tell me now,” I suggested.

“After,” Jonathan insisted.

I pouted.

“After what?” I asked.

“After you clean up…” Jonathan said again.

Now I gave him an exaggerated sigh. I didn’t argue though, I went into our bedroom and grabbed an old pair of jeans that were lying on the ground with one of Jonathan’s hoodies. I went into the bathroom and stripped naked as I turned on the shower.

I allowed the hot water to rinse away some of my stresses and worries. Not all though, I still worried for the safety of my daughter, and I worried about what it was Jonathan had to tell me. I watched as the b***d dripped from my body and surrounded my feet in a puddle; it started red but the more it went down the drain, the pinker it got. Soon, the water was clear again and I knew my body was clean of b***d.

I let the hot water rinse through my hair and massage my scalp. I sighed in relief as the warmth filled my body was reassurance and comfort.

After a little while, is stepped out of the shower and wrapped my body in a towel. I stared at my features in the fogged-up mirror. I hardly recognized myself. I wasn’t the same young girl I was when I left Ironclaw. I had aged beyond my years it seems. I had dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep I’ve been getting; I was beginning to get small wrinkles around my eyes as well and some around my mouth.

My blonde curly hair was getting darker to where it was basically dirty-blonde, and the curls were loosening into silky ringlets.

Staring at my face, I couldn’t remember the last time I smiled; like really smiled.

I pulled on the hoodie and my jeans; I threw my hair up in a tall bun on the top of my head and made my way out of the bathroom.

Jonathan was waiting for me on the couch; there was something about his silence that was unsettling. I could tell something was seriously wrong before he even spoke.

“What’s going on?” I asked him as I sat beside him.

“It’s Jessica,” he said slowly.

I shot up to my feet; my heart racing against my chest as I stared at him.

“What happened?” I asked loudly.

“She was hurt, really bad,” he told me.

My l*p started quivering, I didn’t like where this was going.

“Greggory?” I asked.

He nodded.

“She’s alive as of right now. But Arina, I was really bad and I’m not sure if…” he paused to try and gather his thoughts.

Tears were burning in my eyes at that point.

“Don’t say it…” I said in a broken whisper.

“She’s at Dr. Beverly’s office now,” he explained.

“Then let’s go,” I told him.

“My mom is already on her way to care for Emee. Once she gets here, we can go,” Jonathan said.

…

We got to Dr. Beverly’s office not long after Jess arrived. Dr. Beverly was already waiting for us in the waiting room when we arrived.

“How is she?” I asked instantly.

“She’s stable,” Dr. Beverly announced.

I breathed out the air I was holding in since we left home. Jessica being stable was a good thing; that meant she was going to be okay. Right?

“Is she going to live?” I asked.

Dr. Beverly was hesitant for a moment, which instantly got me worried again.

“It’s hard to tell for right now,” she admitted. “She’s in a coma and I’m not sure if she’s going to wake up from it.”

I gasped out the sob I’d been holding in.

“What?” I breathed, hardly audible.

“The most we can do for right now is hope and pray that she ends up okay,” she explained.

“Can I see her?” I asked, staring over at the office door.

Dr. Beverly nodded and motioned for us to enter the room.

Jessica was lying on the bed comfortably; her features were completely bruised, and Dr. Beverly had bandages going around her head for her head wound. She was hooked up to a couple of different IVs and her heart monitor was beeping slowly and softly in the corner of the room. She didn’t look like she was in a coma; she looked as though she was sleeping comfortably. She was even breathing on her own; I could see the slow movements of her chest with each breath she took.

I let out another sob as I stared at my best friend. I hated that this happened to her and there was nothing I could do about it. I shouldn’t have let her go back home to him. I felt I was at blame for this even though I knew I wasn’t.

Sitting next to her bedside was a boy I have never seen before; he had light brown hair and honey brown eyes; he couldn’t have been much older than 17 or 18. He was a good-looking guy with a muscular torso and a masculine scruffy face.

He was obviously a friend of Jessica’s, based on how he was staring at her with such admiration in his eyes. It was strange how she never mentioned meeting a new guy or a guy in general.

“Who are you?” I found myself asking.

He looked up at me, his eyes wide with surprise. He looked as though he has just seen a ghost.

“Spencer…” he said hesitantly. “I’m a…” he was at a loss of words.

“A friend,” Jonathan finished for him. “He’s a friend of Jessica’s.”

I looked over at Jonathan with questions in my eyes; how did he know this guy?

“I ran into him in Moon-Valley,” Jonathan answered my unspoken question. “We can trust him.”

“Oh,” I said, turning back to the Spencer guy. “It’s nice meeting you. I’m Arina.”

“Yeah… you too,” he said, still staring at me with dismay. I cocked my eyebrow up at him, confused as to why he was staring at me like that. “I’m sorry…” he finally said after a long pause. “I just… I know you… or at least I think I do.”

I frowned; I had never met him before in my life.

“You were a bit older, but you came to me in a dream. Told me I needed to go to Moon-Valley,” he told me.

He had a dream about me?

I looked up at Jonathan who looked as though he wanted to laugh; there was some kind of joke I wasn’t getting.

“It wasn’t Arina,” he told him, humor dancing in his eyes. “It was her mother, Emlin.”

My mouth dropped open; my mother came to him in his dreams? How did she know this guy?

“Apparently your mom has been watching over Spencer for some unknown reason,” Jonathan explained to me.

I looked back at Spencer; now I was in awe. His face reddened as he grew embarrassed.

“I’m so sorry,” he stammered. “You look just like her.”

“You saw her?” I breathed.

“In a dream,” he explained again. “She was beautiful. She told me I had business in Moon-Valley, and I needed to get there as soon as I could. I wasn’t sure what to expect… but then…” his voice trailed off he stared down at Jessica. “I met Jessica.”

Oh my goddess… he was Jessica’s mate.

But why was my mother guiding him in the first place? It didn’t make sense. Who was this guy to her?

“My mom passed away when I was 7,” I explained to him.

His eyes widened.

“Oh…” he whispered. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t be,” I told him kindly. “She’s much better off now. She’s happier. She’s the moon goddess.”

“The moon goddess?” He asked.

“It’s a long story,” I chuckled. “We can talk about it another time. For now, let’s just pray to her that Jessica makes it through this.”

He gave me a sheepish smile and turned back to Jessica.

“I would give my life to make sure Jessica lives…” he breathed.

I believed him.