Page 96 of Knotting Autumn

Our HEA

As soon as he was allowed to, Sawyer curled around Cole’s sleeping form and glared at anyone who approached except for the healer. It might have technically been rude, but I was too relieved to find it anything but comforting. Sinking into an armchair in the corner, I laid my head back and let my body relax for the first time in days.

There was still risk and plenty of things to figure out, but Hunter was handled. The trauma of the last week eased, leaving nothing but exhaustion and a fierce loyalty to my mates.

Thorne checked in on us, but then had to return to meeting with the pack leadership. He mentioned casually that a number of wolves had fled once they found out that he had defeated Hunter.

After a few hours of treatment to flush out the drugs Hunter had dosed Cole with, he finally roused. His eyes opened groggily. Sawyer’s sharp intake of breath alerted me, and I moved to stand beside the hospital bed.

“Hey,” Cole said hoarsely.

Sawyer’s arms tightened around him, and Cole smiled weakly.

“You had us so scared,” I said, my voice rising.

Cole flinched. “I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Sawyer insisted, the words muffled against Cole’s shoulder.

Chewing on my lip, I settled on the foot of the bed. “We were so worried for you. What did he do to you?”

Cole’s eyes unfocused for a moment but sharpened again. “I had a vision of Hunter hurting Sawyer. Killing him. I was trying to prevent it. I thought I could get Sawyer to leave, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Oh,” I said softly, the sound lost under the animalistic growl rolling from Sawyer’s chest. “That didn’t happen, so maybe you did prevent it. We are all fine.”

“I’m sorry,” Cole said again, breaking, his inhale jagged.

“We’re okay, Hunter is out of power, Thorne is in charge. It’s all good.”

Cole’s fingers hooked into my waistband, dragging me forward. Sniffling, I curled over him, balancing on the edge of the tiny bed already filled with two tall and muscly werewolves.

Going purely off animalistic urges, I nuzzled against his neck, on the side not bandaged. His arm tightened around me, pressing me tighter against him.

This was how Thorne found us a time later. He came in, spoke quietly with the nurse and then roused us.

“We can go back home now, to our cabin. Are you good to walk, Cole?”

It took a few minutes to make our way back to Cole and Thorne’s home, as Cole was still slow and shuffling, and none of us was willing to let each other go. Hands clasped, arms wrapped around each other, we stumbled through the hallway, out the back of the pack house, and through the trees to our home.

It felt like home, and maybe that was trauma bonding, but my heart leapt when we walked back inside, all four of us for the very first time.

“We’re going to need a bigger bed,” Thorne mumbled.

We made a trail of exhausted ducklings after Sawyer as he led Cole to his room. All four of us made a tight fit in the king bed, and the sun had hardly set, but Cole needed sleep and the rest of us couldn’t bear to leave his side.

Sawyer curled around Cole’s back, nuzzling into the nape of his neck, as I nestled against his chest, Thorne fitting against my back. We stayed like that as dusk turned to night.

Cole and Sawyer slept, but I needed a bathroom and food. As I tried to wiggle away, Thorne shifted, climbing off the bed to give me room.

“I’m hungry,” I whispered.

Silently, he nodded, placing a soothing hand on my lower back as we slipped out of the room. Our bare feet were silent over the scratched wood floors on our way to the kitchen.

A long sigh left my lungs as I turned to lean against the kitchen counter. “I’m so fucking relieved, I can’t even imagine how you feel.”

Instead of answering, Thorne eased me onto the counter and pressed between my legs, wrapping his arms around my ribcage and burying his face in my chest. My ankles hooked at his lower back as I squeezed him tightly against me.

“You were perfect,” I murmured. “I knew everyone would follow you.”