“So there’s a man under there after all,” muttered Bellatrix from her seat near the bed. She shut the book she’d been reading and rapped her nails against it in a contemplative rhythm, staring at him as he entered the room, not flinching from a glare that had sent men three times her size running. Looking him over, his brother’s mate made a face, confessing, “I was starting to have my doubts.”
Fenrir just growled as he approached the foot of the bed and turned his focus onto the tiny female tucked under the plush comforter. She was so small compared to the king sized bed surrounding her. More pale than he’d ever seen her, and there was still no arguing that she looked better than she had two days ago, when he’d first brought them here.
Standing from her seat by the bed, Bella tapped her book to her fingertips and considered him for a moment. “You’ve eaten?” It was more a warning than a question.
Moving his gaze from Ari to glare at the witch sidelong, he huffed a displeased breath and nodded curtly. An hour ago, she’d chased him out of the room, wand in hand, threatening to magically remove him because ‘If you are going to behave like an animal then I will drag you outside where you belong, Fenrir Greyback.’ He hadn’t been allowed to reenter the room until he’d bathed and eaten.
Hair still damp from the shower he’d taken, Fenrir had nearly given the house elf a heart attack when he’d arrived in the kitchen growling about food. Likely terrified that he meant to snack on her tiny bones, she’d hurried to prepare a meal suitable for a man of his size and appetite. After two days not daring to stray from his kitten’s side for a second, the elf had rushed to give him seconds when he’d cleaned the first plate in only a few minutes.
Now that he was bathed, in a fresh pair of clothes, and fed, the commanding female seemed satisfied that he was “human enough” to be allowed near her patient again. Reading his question in his expression, Bella held her book to her chest and answered with a surprisingly soft, “No change since you left.” She started for the door and paused at his side to touch his arm. “She’s recovering nicely, Fenrir. It’s only a matter of time before she wakes. Let me know when she does. I won’t be far.” Her small hand squeezed his arm with surprising strength, an unexpectedly comforting touch.
Bella didn’t wait for his reply. She simply left and softly shut the door behind her as she went.
Alone with Arielle, his Kitten, his mate, Fenrir sighed a heavy exhale and clenched his teeth. There was nothing he wanted more in this world than for her to open her eyes and look at him. He wanted to her his name on her lips, to see that smile she only ever wore when she was looking at him. Fenrir needed her to wake up. He needed her to be okay. If he went another few days without her voice, her touch, that fearless way she looked at him…
Fenrir moved from the foot of the bed to claim the still warm seat that Bella had just vacated. He hunched forward and dragged his hair out of his face with another sigh. Weary hazel eyes cutting over to his mate, he reached out and took her small hand in his. Fenrir slumped forward, propping his elbows on his knees, and stared down at the tiny hand in his calloused palm. He grit his teeth as he thumbed absentminded patterns into her skin.
He wasn’t going to leave this spot again. Not until she was awake and he could see for himself that she was going to be alright. Nothing would move him from her side again. Not even Bellatrix, no matter how fiercely his brother’s mate glared at him.
