All Chapters of Mate Rebound : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Elara's POV~When Damien said he would get Mara, the legendary healer of the Vellex Pack, to save my father, I was filled with gratitude. They all knew of her — her miracles, her knack for yanking life from death’s clutches. But I had also heard that her temper was as ferocious as her ability, and that worried me. What if she refused to help? What if Damien doesn’t convince her in time? I was sitting in the waiting area of the hospital with my mother, her hands shaking in mine, filling the silence with sobs. The clock on the wall ticked down relentlessly; every blink of the second hand was a reminder of the doctor’s words: four hours. My father was in that theatre fighting for his life, and all I could do was wait, my heart battled with both hope and fear.The hospital hall was suffocating, the fluorescents too bright, the air heavy with antiseptic and despair. I replayed Damien’s words, the way he’d held me, the way he’d vowed he would save my father, his gray eyes blazing with deter

Elara's POV~The hospital room was silent except for the constant beep of the monitor keeping track of my father’s heartbeat. I sat next to his bed, my hand laid lightly on his, his skin warm but too pale still. Not that he was awake yet, but the doctors and Mara, had assured us he was healing. The poison was out, and the bullet wound healed by his werewolf ability and Mara’s expertise. I watched his chest rise and fall slowly, the relief fighting with the fear that wouldn’t just go. He’d been so close to death, and the thought of losing him — losing the father I’d struggled so hard to save in this new life — made my throat hard.I pulled the blanket up over him, wrapping it around his shoulders, my hands moving slowly and deliberately. Each second I spent here, taking care of him, was a mini triumph, a rebellion against the death that was attempting to steal him away from me. But as I smoothed the fabric, my mind wandered to Damien. I couldn’t stop thinking about him — his determinat

Damien’s POV~I leaned against the cold hospital wall, my arms crossed, trying to still myself against the storm turning in my chest.I knew that Gideon would make it out okay, Mara’s expertise had brought him back from the edge and the fact we’d won should have made him feel lighter. But it didn’t. Elara’s decision to allow Julian’s healer, Torren, to go in first haunted me. Her hug, if it could even be called that after Mara’s victory stayed in my head. But now that cold distance, the way she avoided my eyes, hurt. It had been a reflection of the betrayal of my previous life when I killed her with my own hands.I balled my hands into fists as I struggled to keep my wolf at bay.I was haunted by the memory of that other life, Elara’s lifeless body the pool of blood beneath her and the warm gun in my hand. I’d awoken from that nightmare with a chance to rectify my sins. I’d promised to defend her, to compensate, and yet, here I was, standing outside of her world, watching her fade.

Elara’s POV~Dad seemed stronger this morning, his cheeks were less swollen, and his eyes somewhat brighter. Yet there was still such a frailty to him that it twisted my heart.I held onto my notebook whose well-worn pages contained remnants of my former life and clues I’d assembled in this one. I’d come to see how he was, but also to dig for answers — answers about the shooting, about the poison, about the shadows that had followed me through two lifetimes. My parents’ deaths had been passed off as an accident in my past life, but I’d eavesdropped on their whispers of liquid silver, just like the poison that most recently almost claimed Dad. I couldn’t leave it alone, not when every instinct told me that the truth was close by somewhere.Dad,” I said, wrapping my hands around his hand and placing my notebook on my lap. “You look better today.” I smiled, but my heart raced with the question I was about to ask.His hand squeezed mine gently and he laughed feebly. “Better’s relative, ki

Caspian’s POV~I was sitting in my father’s study, the smell of old leather and cigar smoke wrapping around me. The room was a place where Vellex Pack tactics were plotted. Father was seated at the table’s head with his broad back bent over a map of our territory, pointing to the jagged line where the Bloodhound Pack had been taunting our borders. His voice was rumbling, listing new defenses — patrols, surveillance, but I kept thinking back, to the hospital scene days before.“Caspian,” Savire barked, pulling me back. His gray eyes, which were so much like mine, squinted. “You’re distracted. If you’re not here to work, then you’re of no good to me.”I sat back and raked my fingers through my hair. “I’m here, Dad. Just … thinking about the shooting. The attack on Gideon was not random. It has Julian written all over it.” I was concerned about the shooting, yeah, but it was Damien’s focus on Elara that wore me down. I respected her, but Damien’s obsession was distracting him from the jo