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Throbbing pain in his head woke Gawain up. When he tried to open his eyes, the brightness surrounding him nearly blinded him.
What the hell happened?
He tried to remember what could have happened to cause him to feel like the drum section of a marching band was parading through his head. Yet, he couldn’t recall...
Koen.
I have a mate.
Not even the excitement of that realization could dampen the sheer agony that had him fearing his head was about to split open. Too afraid to try and open his eyes again, Gawain gently felt around him with both hands, hoping to recognize by touch where he was or, more importantly, if his mate was nearby.
That proved harder than he had realized as his arms, while they worked, felt as if there were weights strapped to them, making it challenging for him to move more than an inch at a time. What in the hell happened to him?
Every time he attempted to think, the pounding only got worse. As much as he’d like to know where he was and how he got there, Gawain wasn’t sure it was worth it.
That’s when he felt it. The fingers of his left hand brushed along warm skin. Not just any warm skin either. The tingle that radiated along his hand and into his arm let him know his mate was right there beside him.
That answered the most important question he’d had. His mate was there with him. By the heat coming off of him, he was alive. Anything else didn’t matter.
Relaxing, he let the darkness of sleep surround him, taking away the throbbing that seemed to get harder with each beat.
***
“ARE YOU SURE THEY’RE both okay?” a deep and commanding voice said somewhere nearby. “They been unconscious for six days. As shifters, I expected them to have healed a lot faster than that.”
There was a noise that Gawain thought sounded like a snort, or some kind of a sound of disbelief. “Like you’d know the answer to that,” another voice answered with an amused lilt to his tone. “In all the time I’ve known you, I can count on one hand the amount of times you’ve helped in the medical suite.”
Medical suite? That was an odd name. Gawain was used to doctors’ offices or hospitals, but he’d never heard anyone refer to something called a medical suite. What was he even doing there?
“They both were as close to death as two people could get,” the second voice said. “I think six days is the least they’ll need to recover.”
Death? Gawain squeezed the hand he was holding a little tighter and calmed.
My mate.
How he’d even known he was holding Koen’s hand, he wasn’t sure, but Gawain was glad if the pair in the room were talking about them, that his mate was beside him.
“Did he just move?” the first voice asked.
“Gawain,” the second voice said. “If you’re awake can you open your eyes. Saber, turn off the lights so it’s not so bright in here.”
Saber. Fuck.
He’d never met him, but there was no way the man, who had killed Refugio in a challenge for the Council Chief seat, being there could be a good sign. Gawain had done too many terrible things for Saber to ever let him...
Wait a minute. If he was in a medical suite, and was feeling better than the first time he’d woken up, did that mean they were helping him? As if the switch that he heard click slightly was directly tied to his brain, a rush of memories came cascading back to him.
He’d been shot and poisoned. Koen had killed Decimus, then nearly killed himself to try and save him.
His eyes popped open. “Koen,” he kind of managed to croak out around his too dry throat and mouth.
“It’s okay, Gawain,” the second voice, that ended up belonging to a guy in a white lab coat, said. “Koen hasn’t woken up yet, but he’ll be okay.”
Gawain turned in the direction he saw the man, who was probably a doctor, gesture. His hand was still holding his mate’s tightly. The tension in his body decreased slightly as he watched Koen’s chest rise and fall for several moments.
“Here,” the doctor said as he held out a cup of water with a straw sticking out of it. “Only take small sips. You’ve been unconscious for a while and if you drink too quickly you’ll likely cause your stomach to rebel.”
All it took was the barest amount in his mouth for his stomach to churn in protest. Pulling back from the straw, he let the moisture soak into the dryness of his mouth, erasing some of the gunk that currently had taken up residence there.
When it was time to swallow, he almost feared doing so, for he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hold it down. But then it hit the desert conditions of his throat and Gawain nearly sighed with pleasure as the liquid poured over every inch, giving the passageway relief.
“Thank you,” he whispered, still unable to get his vocal cords to function properly. He would need a lot more water than he’d taken and maybe using his voice a bit more.
“My name is Nole Hayward. I’m the doctor here in Miracle, as well as Alpha Edrick’s mate.” His head nodded toward the door.
Gawain’s eyes traveled there to find a third man in the room who hadn’t spoken earlier. He stood with his back to the door in a casual pose, but Gawain could tell there was nothing casual about the man. He might not be trying to appear threatening, but there was little doubt the alpha was always ready against an attack.
“And this man,” Nole gestured toward another man, who was leaning against a counter. “Is Saber Thorsen.”
Gawain would have found it funny, if Nole hadn’t mentioned he was in Miracle, the place where Koen had been trying to take him since they met, in order to be brought in front of the Council, that both men were doing their best to look as nonchalant as possible.
Like they’d all decided to try and put him, Gawain York, former Councilman who had committed egregious acts by voting for the deaths of so many, at ease. He wouldn’t have believed it if he wasn’t witnessing it for himself. It also put him on high alert, because there was no way he wasn’t going to be made to pay for his sins.
“Are you here to arrest me?” Gawain said, although many of the words were barely even a whisper as his throat dried up with every syllable.
Nole held out the cup again. Considering how bad his stomach reacted the last time, Gawain almost refused, but his mouth and throat were crying out for the relief the water would bring.
Saber chuckled. “Is that what you think? That we saved your life to arrest you?”
Gawain chose to not mention he’d seen Decimus save people only to cause them more torture before killing them. Bringing up his past sins probably wasn’t in his best interest at the moment.
“If you’re not going to arrest me, what are you going to do with me.” It was paramount that he know. He was now bonded with his Koen. He wasn’t quite sure how that had happened, but his very soul was linked to the man next to him in a way Gawain had never known possible.
He couldn’t read his mate’s thoughts, but he could feel him, and not just the physical touch of his hand holding Koen’s. There had been a peace radiating from Koen moments before, but now there was a building agitation that Gawain was fairly sure stemmed from the conversation he was having with Saber.
His mate might not be awake, but it was obvious from the energy radiating from him that he was listening. For a moment, he’d considered putting an end to their discussion so his mate could rest, but he figured neither of them would be happy until they knew what Saber’s plan for him was.
“I guess that’s up to you.” Saber’s glance went to Koen. “And your mate.”
He wasn’t sure what kind of game Saber was playing but Gawain didn’t have the strength for it. His body was worn out and even now he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open. “Please just spell it out,” Gawain asked. “I’m not going to be able to stay awake much longer and I’d prefer to know my fate.”
Gawain squeezed Koen’s hand again, once more needing to know his mate was right there with him. When he had been laying on that castle floor and Koen had slumped over him, Gawain had felt his mate’s life force fading. It had killed him to know that Koen had been willing to sacrifice himself to save someone as worthless as he.
As far as he was concerned, nothing was more important than making sure whatever punishment they had planned for him didn’t affect his mate. Death would have been the most fitting sentence, but not when it meant Koen would die, too. Now that they were bonded Gawain would make a deal with the devil to keep him alive.
Saber nodded at his request. “I’ve been doing my research on you and Decimus since we discovered he was behind the various groups attacking us, as well as the plan to blow up Miracle.”
Gawain had nearly forgotten about that bit of stupidity. “Please tell me you listened when I called to tell you about the bombing plot.”
The moment he’d left the castle and was far enough away from one of the guards who could overhear him, Gawain pulled out his phone and called a place called The Mousetrap in Miracle. He had no idea who’d he’d talked to, nor had he taken the time to tell them who he was.
“Yes, we did.” Saber pushed up from the counter and stood next to Gawain’s bed. “Thanks to you we found all three bombs you knew about, as well as two more, since you had told Jari you thought Decimus hadn’t told you everything. We also managed to catch the men who had brought them to our town.”
Alpha Erick then pushed away from the door and came to stand at Gawain’s feet. “We owe you the lives of this town, because there was enough ordinance to pretty much wipe out the majority of people who live here.”
Gawain let out a long breath of relief. He’d feared he’d been too late as Decimus rarely told him what was happening until it was after the fact.
“Because of that, and the other good deeds you have done over the years, we are prepared to suggest a full pardon to the current Council from all crimes you were complicit in while on the former Council.” He saw Saber’s mouth move, even heard the words, but no matter how he tried to make sense of them, Gawain couldn’t.
No way did he just hear what he thought he did, right? Gawain had been party to some of the most horrific extermination of shifter groups in their history. He may not have actually killed anyone, but he might as well have.
The shock he was feeling must have shown on his face, for Saber grinned at him. “Like I said, we’ve done our homework on you recently. What happened while you were on the Council was horrific, no one is disputing that, but you’ve also tried to make up for it in your own way. For that, and for alerting us even though you were putting yourself at risk, we feel a pardon is the only way to go. You will need to appear before the Council and plead your case, but with me, Chadwick, and Alpha Edrick on your side, I don’t expect any problems.”
Gawain closed his eyes. He might as well since he had to be dreaming. Right?
