Chương 57: Chapter 57
As James continued to read a collection of poems and stories by Edgar Allen Poe, I thought about how considerate he was. He cared for me in ways I had never known before; even his simplistic gestures, like carrying me up the stairs to our bed, making me a smoothie, and reading aloud to me, made me swoon.
I sat there listening to him and smiled at the love that exuded from him. If I were well enough, I would repay his devotion in unmentionable ways. The sun would be up in a few hours, but given everything that had happened tonight, I knew it would be a while before I fell asleep. I couldn't believe that they had sent werewolves to the hospital.
From James' description of the woman, I knew she wasn't from my pack, so my father obviously wasn't behind it, not that he cared anyway; I was a payday to him in the end. But I wasn't sure why they would come now. I vaguely recalled Layla's conversation, but so many days had passed, and so much had happened since then; the details were fuzzy.
I tried hard to think back to what she had said, but my concentration was broken by James' question. "What are you thinking about, Love?", he asked, his curiosity piqued. I took the whiteboard by my bedside and wrote, "I'm trying to remember what Layla said to me over a week ago." James' expression turned as he tried to recall as well.
"You told me something was off when she called you and that your mate was on his way.", James paused while he racked his brain, "That you should hide until the battle is over and choose your true mate." I nodded, and wrote, "I didn't know the werewolf you described so they have to be from another pack."
James set the book aside, assuming I was done listening to him read for the night. James added, "I think the werewolf scouts were maybe from your true mate's pack." A light went off in his head as he said the sentence. He ranted, "They were strong, too strong to be Omegas, they were Betas, Sylas was sure of that."
He walked over to me, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but there is only one Beta per pack, right?" I nodded in response. He asked hurriedly, "What does the Beta from your pack look like?" I took the whiteboard and started describing him after I wrote his name. He called the Trauma department and asked the staff, "When Kara's sister came to visit, you said her husband was with her. Did you catch his name by chance? Kara didn't realize her sister had gotten married."
He whispered, "They didn't get a name." He continued, "Can you tell me what he looked like?" He nodded as he listened to their response. He finished the call and turned to me, "It wasn't the Beta from your pack." He sighed, "We're in for a big fight. That's at least three packs. I assume they've got even more packs willing to help."
He continued, "Do you know any packs from up north?" I shook my head and wrote, "My father, the Alpha of my pack, kept me in the dark about many things, and everyone in the pack shunned me aside from Layla." I erased it to make room for my following sentence, "I did overhear them talk about Ulfric Draven once; he is the main leader of all the packs in the northeast."
James pondered for a while, "Do you know how many packs?" I shook my head again. I wished that I could be of more help, but I honestly didn't know much. He left the room and returned with an atlas, which he sat on the bed before sitting beside me. He thumbed through the pages until he found the section on the United States.
"Where are you from?", he asked. I pointed to a northern part of West Virginia near the Pennsylvania border. He said, "The female werewolf I smelled in the lobby smelled of maple trees, which grow most heavily in this region." He traced his finger in a rounded triangle from Maine to Minnesota to Kentucky and back up to Maine.
James sucked his teeth and pondered some more. He started to pace, and I watched his thought process. James left the room again and returned with a pen and pad; he looked at the map again and started listing the states. James counted 21 states that could be considered because of the range where maple trees grew.
He went back to pacing and then returned to his list; he added North Carolina and Tennesee to the list, bringing the total to 23. He studied the atlas some more, then crossed out Minnesota and Iowa. I looked at him, slightly confused. He nodded and said, "Those are in the center of the Midwest. I'm unsure how they determine Northeast, but West Virginia is technically the South, so it's not based on the actual maps.
I nodded, understanding what he meant. He added, "It's a rough estimate, but even if there were only one pack per state, that's still a lot of bodies they have on their side, and we took a big hit tonight." My puzzled face begged for an answer. He obliged, "Sylas said we lost 43 vampires tonight after he sent six after the two werewolves spying on you."
I wrote on the board, "I'm so sorry, James." Then I grabbed his hand gently to comfort him. He shed one bloody tear for his fallen comrades and said, "The others were progenies who turned to ash when their sires met their true death." That confirmed what we had read earlier was true, so the only way to get away from Sylas was for James to drain him.
I wiped his tear and hugged him tightly. It was almost sunrise, so I placed the book, his pen, and notepad on my nightstand. I got myself situated comfortably, elevated by the pillows, and patted the bed next to me. James stood and locked the door before he stripped his clothes, leaving only his boxers on, and he joined me on the bed.
He snuggled his head into my lap, and I ran my fingers through his hair. It was nice to be home with him next to me as we got ready for sleep. I stayed awake for a long time, encroached by the room's darkness, still stroking his hair. I eventually dozed off an hour or two later.
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