Return Of The Bad Boy Alpha

Naomi

The ride to the Royal Hospital is a silent one. I am lost in my thoughts and my wolf's sorrow. Luna Janice keeps glancing at me from the front seat but says nothing. I sigh and look out the window. It's dark, so I don't see much.

We finally arrive at the Royal Hospital, and there is a well-dressed man with short brown hair standing outside. Darryl looks back at me. "That is King Kerry," He speaks as we get out of the car. We walk towards the King, and we all bow. I had seen pictures of the King but had never seen him in person. "Alpha Bowie," King Kerry says and shakes hands with Darryl.

"It's just Darryl now, your majesty," Darryl responds. "How is my son?"

King Kerry eyed Darryl and then turned his attention to the rest of us. His eyes lingered on me, and I felt self-conscious and hid behind Phoebe. "You must be Naomi," He says to me, and I freeze. "You are as beautiful as Magnus described." My eyes widened as Magnus's parents and Phoebe all looked at me.

I gulped and found I couldn't speak. "Yes, your majesty, this is Naomi Monroe, Magnus's mate," Darryl interjects.

"Anyways, come with me, Alpha," King Kerry said and beckoned the rest of us, and we followed him into the hospital. I stayed behind Phoebe and looked at the floor to avoid the stares from everyone we passed. We went into an elevator and down another long hallway. We entered another room. There is a beautiful red-headed woman who I recognize as Queen Moira. She rises from her seat and steps towards us.

"Alpha and Luna Bowie," She says to Magnus's parents. "I am so sorry we have to meet under this circumstance." She says sadly.

"Your majesty," Darryl bows her. "Is my son-" He trails off.

"No, Darryl," King Kerry chimes in. "His condition is stable but serious."

"What exactly happened?" Darryl asks.

I am still standing behind Phoebe, eyeing the situation. The Queen's eyes land on me, and I felt self-conscious again. She steps towards me while the King is speaking with Darryl and Janice. "Are you Naomi?"

I nod. "Yes," I reply quietly.

"You know Magnus saved my life," She speaks softly. "I would be dead had it not been for him."

"I'm glad to hear that," I respond.

"The Squad went down to two small southern packs having problems with vampires. It turns out it was a lot of vampires," The King is explaining to Darryl and Janice. "The squad managed to fight off the vampires but were ambushed by a pack of rogues working with the vampires. They managed to surround Magnus, and he was shot with silver bullets."

Janice gasps and covers her mouth as tears spring out of her eyes. Phoebe hugs her mother. "My Magnus," Janice sobs into Phoebe's shoulder.

Tears of my own prick at my eyes, but I try hard not to let them fall. The King looks at me. "He nearly died twice on the way here and once on the table," King Kerry says.

The more he talks, the worse I feel for disregarding my second chance, mate. I am just not like other females who fall right into the arms of their mate. A mate scorned me once, and it has been hard for me to accept a second one.

"But the doctors believe that Magnus will survive and fully recover, especially since his mate is here," He says towards me.

"What am I supposed to do?" I ask.

Phoebe glares at me. "Do you even f*****g care?" She yells at me.

"Phoebe!" Her father barks at her. The former alpha looks at me. "If Naomi didn't care, she wouldn't have come, right?" He looks at me, and I nod.

"Yes, Sir," I mumble. "I just wanted to," I trail off as tears fall from my eyes. "I am not good at stuff like this."

Janice wraps her arms around me. "It's okay, Naomi. But you being here will help Magnus recover. Having his mate near will speed up his healing." "H-how long do I have to stay?" I ask. I am worried about leaving the Archive that long.

"Could be a week or two," King Kerry responds. "You two aren't marked, so it could take longer. But without you, it would take months."

I sigh. "What about the Archive?"

"That's what you are worried about?" Phoebe yells.

"Phoebe Marie Bowie, calm down," Her mother admonishes her. "The Archive will be fine, Naomi."

A male doctor steps into the room and bows to the King and Queen. He looks at the rest of us. "You must be Major Bowie's parents."

"Yes," Darryl steps towards the doctor. "I am Darryl, and this is my mate Janice," He tells the doctor.

"Major Bowie is awake and responsive." The doctor tells them. "His recovery will be slow. But we expect him to recover."

"Can we go see him?" Janice asks.

"Just a few at a time." The doctor replies.

Janice looks at me. "Darryl and I will go in first, okay?"

I nod at her. "Okay," I mumble.

Darryl and Janice follow the doctor out of the room. I sit on a chair in the corner and stare into space. Phoebe slumps beside me. "Look, I am sorry I got mad. You know I love you, but I also love my brother. It just angers me that you seem so callous about what happened."

"I'm not Phoebe. You know I have trouble with stuff like this. I still don't know how I feel about being with Magnus, but I love him. My wolf craves him. I crave him. I wouldn't have had s*x with him if I didn't."

Phoebe cringes. "Yuck, I don't need to hear about that. You are a quirky weirdo, and that's why I like you." I roll my eyes at her. "I'm not ready to lose my big brother, Naomi." She says with tears in her eyes. "Magnus will be fine," I tell her while patting her arm. "He is strong. He has a strong wolf."

Phoebe sniffles, "I know."

The King steps towards us and looks down at me. "You know I told Magnus that we have an open position in the Royal Archives."

I nodded, "Yes, he told me, your majesty."

"Are you interested in it? We could use someone like you." King Kerry sits across from us.

"I-I don't know yet. I am reluctant to leave my pack," I respond, trying not to look at the ground. I don't like looking people in the eye, but I don't want to disrespect the King.

"I suppose that is understandable. Leaving one's old pack behind is difficult, but that is life," King Kerry says to me. "Moira was reluctant to move to the palace and become Queen. But I showed her that life here wasn't so bad and that I loved her. She eventually came around."

I glanced over at the Queen, sitting a few seats away. She smiles softly. "And I don't regret a minute of being here," She says to King Kerry.

"I just, I don't know," I sigh.

King Kerry stands up. "The Goddess doesn't give second chances lightly, Naomi. She felt you were worthy of a second chance, mate," He speaks, and I look up at him. "Magnus and I are good friends. We talked a few times over the last few days." "Did he tell you terrible I am?" I nearly spat out.

"No, quite the opposite," King Kerry chuckles lightly. "Think about coming to the Royal Archive. If not that, then we'll find something worthy of your intelligence," He smiles and stands up. "The Queen and I have to go back to the palace. Our son, Emery, is most likely tormenting the sitters."

"Thank you for coming here, Naomi," Queen Moira touches my shoulder. "Magnus is important to us." She and King Kerry clasp hands and walk out of the waiting room.

I hug myself and look at the ground. A few minutes later, Darryl walks into the waiting room. "Magnus is asking for you," He says to me.

"Oh, I see how it is," Phoebe snorts. "He'd rather see her than his own sister."

"Phoebe," Darryl drawls. "Naomi?"

I stand up with a deep breath. "Okay," I glance at Phoebe. "I'll give him shit about seeing me before you," I smile at my friend.

"You better."

I follow Darryl down the hall and into a room. Ruby becomes restless as my eyes lay on my stricken mate. He is sitting up on the bed, and I cringe at the tubes and wires coming in and out of his body and the multiple bandages covering his bare chest. His mother, Janice, is sitting beside him, speaking softly to him. His green eyes land on me, and for a moment, everything goes silent.

"Janice, let's give them a moment," Darryl says to his mate.

She rises from her seat and kisses Magnus on the forehead. "We'll be in the waiting room."All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

"Okay, Mom," Magnus responds with a raspy voice. His parents leave the room, and I remain just inside the doorway. I am not sure what to do next. "Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

I take a deep breath and step towards him. I sit in the chair Janice had been occupying, and he stretches his hand out to me. I touch it, and he shudders from the sparks of our bond. I look into his eyes. Tears flood my eyes. "I'm so sorry," I blubber out. "I am sorry you got stuck with me for a mate."

"Naomi," he whispers and squeezes my hand. "I am not angry with you."

"But I kicked you out of my apartment right after we had sex," I blurt out, and he lets out a soft laugh.

"Yeah, that sucked, I agree." He remarks. "But I should have discussed things with you better. I should be more understanding of you."

"Yes, you should. But I should also quit trying to push you away." I sniffle, and he reaches his hand up and wipes the tears from my cheeks.

"We have forever to figure things out." He smiles softly.

"You want forever with me?" I ask him. "Boring ass me?"

He nods. "Yes, I love you, Naomi. We'll figure this shit out together. Alright?"

I lean towards him, and he smiles. I manage to smile. "Are you in pain?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "Nah, those vampires got me good, but I'm still here."

"But are you in pain, you idiot?" I laugh.

"Only a little bit, and it's dissipating with you near," He responds.

I lean in further, and our lips meet. The sparks from our connection make me shudder with pleasure as Ruby howls happily in my head. "Ruby is glad to see you."

"Kairos is trying to get out of my head," Magnus snorts. We deepen our kiss, and the next thing, I am lying beside him on the bed while we carefully make out.

"Sorry to interrupt," I hear Phoebe say and pull away from Magnus. I get off the bed and return to my seat.

"Your timing is as perfect as Max's," Magnus says to his sister.

"It's a Bowie thing," Phoebe steps toward the bed. "Anyways, visiting hours are almost over, and I wanted to see you before we went to the palace." She reaches for Magnus's hand. "I'm glad to see you, little sister," Magnus smiles at her.

"How are you feeling?" She asks.

"I feel fine," He replies. "I gave those filthy vampires hell," He smirks.

"I bet you did. I wish I could have seen it." Phoebe laughs. Phoebe wrinkles her nose and looks around the room. "Did someone spill honey in here?" She asks.

Magnus and I both shake our heads. "No, I don't think so," Magnus chuckles.

"I smell honey all of a sudden," Phoebe says.

A huge man walks into the room. I see Phoebe stiffen, and her eyes go wide. The man steps towards Phoebe and pulls her to his chest. "Mine," He growls.

Magnus's eyes widen, "Are you fucking kidding me? My sister is your mate?"

The man holding Phoebe looks at Magnus, "Your sister, Major?"

"Yes," Magnus replies as Phoebe tries to get away from the man. "Let go of her."

"She's mine," The man growls. It's a strange growl, not like a wolf at all.

"Let go of my sister, Brutus," Magnus says slowly.

Brutus sighs and lets go of Phoebe. She moves over next to me. "What the fuck?" Phoebe finally speaks.

"Phoebe, this is my third in command, Lieutenant Brutus Julian," Magnus says. "Brutus, this is my little sister Phoebe. Harm one hair on her body, and I will end you," Magnus snarls.

Brutus stiffens. "I wouldn't dream of harming her, Major."

Darryl walks into the room with Janice and eyes Brutus. "Phoebe, we have to go." Phoebe runs over to her father and clings to him, causing Brutus to growl again. Darryl glares at Brutus. "Who the hell is this?" "Pops, this is Brutus, my third in command in the Elite Force and Phoebe's mate, apparently."

Darryl looks Brutus up and down. "Well, shit." He extends a hand to Brutus. "I am Darryl Bowie, former alpha of Ghost River, and this is my mate and Phoebe's mother, Janice."

Janice steps forward. "You are a big male, aren't you."

"Yes, ma'am." Brutus smiles at Janice. "Major Mags is my friend," He looks at Phoebe. "I'm sorry if I scared you. I have two animals in my head going nuts for you."

Phoebe looks at him with narrowed eyes. "Two animals?"

"I am a bear/wolf hybrid. I have a wolf and bear in my head, and they both want you," He laughs.

"Um, okay," Phoebe speaks. "That's weird."

"Phoebe, we have to go," Darryl says to her, "You can come with Brutus. Just don't scare my daughter, or I'll have your head."

Brutus turns to Magnus. "Sorry to cut the visit short, bro."

"Do what you have to, Brutus," Magnus laughs.

I stand up and prepare to leave. "No, you stay here, Naomi," Janice says to me.

"What?"

"Magnus needs you close by. The hospital is going to switch Magnus to a larger bed so you can sleep beside him," She explains, and I shift uncomfortably. "Unless you don't want to?" "I want to. I just-" I trail off. "Okay, I need my luggage."

"I'll retrieve it from the car and have someone bring it up. We'll be back tomorrow." Janice explains. She leans into me. "Thank you for being here for Magnus. I really appreciate it."

I smile at her. She and Darryl say their goodbyes to Magnus and then leave. I sit beside Magnus. The doctor from earlier comes in. "We are going to switch you to a large bed, Major," He looks at me. "I'll have to ask you to step out for a minute, miss."

I squeeze Magnus's hand and stand up. "I'll be right back." I step out of the room. A couple of orderlies and a nurse pushed another bed into the room, and I watched from the doorway as they moved Magnus to the other bed and then walked out. The doctor beckoned me into the room.

"You need to stay here as long as it takes to get Major Bowie well enough to go home. Skin-to-skin contact works best, but no sex. He isn't strong enough for that yet," The doctor explains, and my eyes go wide. He chuckles. "Marking each other will speed things up as well. So think about that. Anyways, goodnight. If you need anything, just ring the bell," He points to a button on the wall.

I sit on the bed, and an orderly brings in my bag. "I am going to change into my pajamas," I tell Magnus.

"Okay," He replies to me.

I hurry into the bathroom, do my night routine, throw on my SpongeBob nightgown, and walk out. Magnus chuckles. "What? Are you laughing at SpongeBob?"

"Yes," He replies.

I lay beside him and lay my head next to his. "How do we do this?"

"Just lay there. I can feel our bond working already," he replies.

I lay on my side, looking at him. "Can I touch you?"

Magnus laughs. "Yes, you won't hurt me."I scoot closer to him until we are touching. I reach out and touch his face. He kisses my fingers, and I lean towards him. We kiss for a moment, and I wind up lying my head on the crook of his neck. "Thank you," he whispers. "For what?" I ask him.

"For being you," He kisses the top of my head.

My eyes feel heavy, and we both slowly fall asleep, and I dream about a future with Magnus.