Caelan’s POV
The elevator doors began to close, and she was still kissing me.
Her mouth was a clumsy, desperate demand against mine, carrying all the urgency and heat the drug had awakened in her.
I held her with one arm and pressed the close button with the other, catching a glimpse of the man in the hallway scrambling to his feet and lunging toward us.
The doors shut.
Ryan would deal with him.
I didn’t need to worry about that.
When we reached the parking garage, Ryan was standing several meters from the car, looking thoroughly awkward, as though he assumed I’d already taken care of everything inside the elevator.
I lowered the window.
“What are you standing around for? Drive.”
He startled, then quickly climbed into the driver’s seat.
I settled into the back with Mira in my arms.
She curled against me, her fingers clutching my shirt as if it were a lifeline.
Her faint scent mingled with the feverish heat coursing through her body, washing over me in waves.
“Sir, are we heading back to the villa?” Ryan glanced at me through the rearview mirror.
“Hospital.” I said it flatly.
He hesitated but didn’t dare ask questions.
The car turned and merged into the night.
On the way, I called Devin and told him to meet us at the hospital.
The bastard laughed on the other end, clearly enjoying himself.
“I’m a surgeon. You want me to treat a woman who’s been drugged? What exactly do you expect me to do? She’s already in your arms. Don’t tell me you can’t handle it.”
I didn’t take the bait.
I simply didn’t want to take advantage of her.
At the very least, not while she was unconscious and unable to make her own decisions.
Otherwise, what would it make me if I took her to bed in this state?
I had no interest in forcing anything, and I certainly didn’t want her to see me as nothing more than a way to survive the drug.
By the time we reached the hospital, Devin was already waiting in the corridor, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking like a man who had arrived just in time for a show.
I handed Mira over to the doctor, and she was taken into the examination room.
Once the door closed, Devin sauntered over.
“So,” he said, drawing out the word, “you dragged me out in the middle of the night to treat your little girlfriend?”
”She’s not my girlfriend.”
”Oh?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Then what do you call kissing her the whole way here and calling me out specially?”
I didn’t answer.
I leaned against the opposite wall, my gaze fixed on the closed examination-room door.
From inside came Mira’s faint whimpers, the doctor’s soothing voice, and the muted sounds of medical equipment being prepared.
Devin followed my gaze, his teasing expression fading.
“Are you serious?”
”About what?”
”About her.” He tipped his chin toward the examination room.
“I know you better than anyone. In all the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you care about a woman like this. You rushed out in the middle of the night for her and carried her all the way here yourself.”
My gaze remained fixed on the door.
My fingers brushed absently against the edge of my cuff.
“She’s different.”
”How?”
”She saved my life.” I paused before adding, “And…”
The words died on my tongue.
When she’d kissed me in the car that night, my inner wolf had recognized her.
She was my Fated Mate.
But saying it aloud would mean admitting something I wasn’t ready to face.
With my current identity and everything happening within the Silvercrest Pack, I couldn’t claim her yet.
Devin saw that I wasn’t going to continue and didn’t press.
He simply clapped me on the shoulder.
“All right. As long as you know what you’re doing.”
“The sedative has taken effect, and she’s asleep now. The examination confirms that she hasn’t been marked, and there are no signs of physical trauma. She’ll need to rest for at least two days while the drug leaves her system.”
Devin let out a low whistle.
“Lucky you.”
I shot him a look.
“Get lost.”
He grinned but didn’t push his luck.
I walked into the examination room.
Mira lay on the hospital bed, most of the flush gone from her cheeks.
Her breathing was steady, her dark lashes casting faint shadows beneath her eyes.
One hand still gripped the edge of the blanket, as though even in sleep, she needed something to hold on to.
I pulled a chair beside the bed and sat down.
The night deepened outside the window, and the footsteps in the corridor gradually faded.
Devin lingered for a while before finally leaving.
He poked his head through the doorway to say goodbye, and I merely nodded.
The IV drip counted down drop by drop.
Sometime after two in the morning, the bag emptied, and the night nurse removed the needle.
Mira didn’t wake.
She shifted slightly, nuzzling her cheek against the pillow and mumbling something too soft for me to make out.
I couldn’t understand what she said, but I noticed the faint crease between her brows and the fingers that still hadn’t released the blanket.
Ryan’s voice came softly from the corridor.
“Sir, should we take Miss Mooncrest back to the villa now? The doctor said she won’t wake until tomorrow.”
I bent down and lifted her from the bed.
Instinctively, she turned her face into my chest, and the hand that had been gripping the blanket curled into the front of my shirt instead.
The movement was so natural that it was almost as though she’d done it a thousand times before.
“Bring the car around.”
The roads were empty in the dead of night, and Ryan drove smoothly.
I looked down at the woman in my arms, her breathing warm and even against my shirt.
Streetlights passed one after another, casting alternating bands of light and shadow across her face.
“Sir,” Ryan glanced at me through the mirror, “should we look into this Elias tomorrow?”
”Investigate him.
I want to know everything about his relationship with Mira.”
”Should I make him disappear?”
The car entered a stretch of road without streetlights, and the interior fell dark for a moment.
My fingers brushed the chestnut strands scattered across Mira’s cheek, tucking a loose strand behind her ear.
“No. I won’t risk exposing my identity over someone like him. Keep everything low-profile.”
Ryan nodded solemnly.
After all, my identity as the Alpha of Silvercrest Pack was one of the Pack’s most closely guarded secrets.
Very few people had ever seen my true face, and even fewer knew that the man currently known as Cale was actually Caelan Silvercrest.
The car stopped in front of the villa.
Ryan watched as I personally carried Mira out of the car, then hesitated.
“Sir, your gunshot wound hasn’t healed yet. Taking care of Miss Mooncrest alone might be… inconvenient.”
I’d only just arrived in the area when I’d been shot, so I’d been staying at a private hospital with dedicated doctors and nurses.
The villa had been arranged so hastily that there wasn’t even a servant yet.
From Ryan’s hesitant expression, I knew exactly what he was worried about.
In his eyes, I was a man accustomed to being waited on, someone who had never personally taken care of another person’s daily needs.
The idea of me caring for an unconscious woman probably seemed completely out of character.
I simply carried her toward the front steps and said without looking back, “Lock the car.”
Mira’s POV
The next morning.
I woke with a splitting headache.
Sunlight filtered through a gap in the curtains and fell across unfamiliar sheets.
I looked around.
The room was impeccably decorated, luxurious without being ostentatious.
Every piece of furniture seemed carefully chosen.
Was this Cale’s home?
I’d called him, he’d come for me, I’d clung to him and refused to let go, and I’d even kissed him in front of Elias…
Then everything after that was a blur.
I quickly checked my clothes.
Everything was still in place.
I lifted the blanket and carefully moved my body.
There was no soreness or discomfort anywhere.
I let out a quiet breath of relief, but another feeling surfaced, one I couldn’t quite put into words.
He had really only taken me to the hospital.
He hadn’t done anything else.
I’d been drugged and completely out of control.
I’d pressed myself against him and refused to let go.
I must have looked utterly shameless.
Yet he hadn’t taken advantage of me.
I pressed my warm palms against my cheeks, my heart beating strangely fast.
He was a decent man.
Men like that were rare, especially after everything I’d experienced.
I got out of bed, folded the blankets, and pushed open the bedroom door into the living room.
The villa was a step above even Mooncrest Manor, both in its decor and its location.
Mooncrest Manor was already one of the finest residences in the Pack.
If Cale lived somewhere like this, why had I never heard his name in any of the Pack’s social circles?
Cale was already awake.
He sat on the sofa with a laptop balanced on his knees, the screen displaying red and green stock charts.
A phone was held to his ear, and his voice was calm and decisive as he discussed financial matters I could barely follow.
He looked completely at ease against the cushions, yet the authority in his voice made it sound as though he were giving orders on a battlefield.
I walked over and sat at the far end of the sofa, deliberately keeping my distance while I waited for him to finish his call.
The moment he noticed me, Cale ended the call without another word.
His gaze settled on me.
“Feeling better now?”
My face immediately heated.
Was he asking about last night?
About how I’d completely lost control, become helpless, and desperately clung to him because of the drug?
I lowered my head, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Mr. Cale, thank you for saving me last night. And for taking me to the hospital.”
He set the laptop aside and beckoned to me.
“Come here.”
I hesitated before walking over.
His arm slipped around my waist, and in the next second, I was sitting on his lap.
My lashes fluttered.
I instinctively wanted to push him away, but then I noticed the white gauze peeking out from beneath his unbuttoned collar.
I immediately froze, afraid that moving too suddenly might aggravate his gunshot wound.
My cheeks burned as I avoided his eyes.
He caught my chin between his fingers and tilted my face toward him.
His gaze was intent, his voice low and rough.
“Last night, in a situation like that, why did you call me?”
He paused, his thumb brushing lightly along my jaw.
“You could have called the police. You could have called your family or your friends. Why did you call me?”