Days had gone by and Seth was making slow recovery. With each passing day, he got a bit stronger, his face became a little more flushed and I never left his side. The moment he had opened his eyes I had collapsed on his chest, sobbing tears of relief and worry only to be pried away by the doctors. Luckily, Wolford had a fully equipped hospital wing and we were able to care for him there. Normal hospitals were dangerous for our kind. We healed at an alarmingly fast pace and our blood was slightly different form that of statics, different enough to cause alarm to anyone who didn't know about our existence. By five day's time, Seth was allowed to be taken back to his normal room, but under strict conditions. He wasn't allowed to be alone or go outside. He had lost part of his spleen and broken four ribs in several places, adding to the fact that he had had an internal bleeding, more than one concussion and almost lost his left front paw. If not for the fact that he was a shifter, Seth more than surely would have died.
Days were now spent sitting on his bed talking, reading, laughing and when we were alone, cuddling. Seth was worried half out of his mind that he wouldn't be able to accompany me on my first shift which was a mere week away, but with every complaint came a soft caress and a reassuring smile, that told him everything was alright and would be just fine. Seth had to shift a couple of times a day, and though it was exhausting and painful, after he recovered from the initial shock his bruises were a little less noticeable as were the multiple gashes and scratches etched on his skin. My mind wandered often, since Seth slept so much and I was not willing to part from him. Most of the time no books, TV or internet was enough to keep my mind from drifting back to that horrible day, the emptiness I had felt in the back of my mind and the physical pain that had coursed through me when they had told me Seth was gone for good. The memory would make my skin turn to goosebumps and I would usually climb in bed next to Seth and let his heartbeat calm me down. One time, I woke him with uncontrollable shaking from my body. He awoke startled, pulling me tight, confusion and fear wafting from him into the air. "Hey," he whispered softly, sleep drenching his voice, "are you okay? What's wrong?" He asked tilting my face upwards from his chest so our eyes could meet. As sunlight met forest my tremors stopped and I was able to breathe again. "Promise to never leave me again Seth. Please." I whimpered softly, feeling if I spoke too loudly I would collapse again. Seconds passed. Minutes passed. I don't know if hours passed, maybe they did, and yet our gazes did not break, and without any warning, any notice, he gently leaned down and his lips met mine. Implosion. That was the word that came to mind. I felt like my body imploded, I felt like in the dim lighting of Seth's bedroom a million lights exploded around us, my stomach fluttered, my heart doubled its pace and all I could see and smell and feel was Seth. He filled my senses and I felt a thrill impossible to compare to anything. Our first kiss was everything I had expected and even more. As we slowly broke apart I smiled, noticing that Seth had a dazed expression filling his face, more than surely mimicking my own. "You, Ana, are the sole reason that I am here, that I came back. It was your face I saw when I passed into the void, when I knew that there was no going back. It was your voice that guided me and urged me back, your smile that gave me strength to return and the power to fight and overcome. I will never leave you, and trust me when I say that if I do, I will find a way, I will do the impossible to come back to you. There is nowhere else I would rather be." My throat formed a tight knot as I tried to hold back the avalanche of tears and emotions that coursed through my body. I was rendered speechless and all I could do was kiss him again, if only to try to convey to him the depth of my feelings and how much he meant in my day-to-day life.
Ever since that day the bond between Seth and I changed. If it used to be a tendril of light binding us together, now it was a rope composed of millions of tendrils, each one representing what we had gone through, what we were going through and what was yet to come for both of us as mates. Yet there was one that loomed over me as worrying as could be; my first shift was days away, yet Seth was not one hundred percent healed and the Tahiti pack was turning bolder with each passing day, showing up almost three times a week with threatening growls and leaving their savage scent all over the place. The fear was almost palpable in the air with each passing hour that closed the gap between the present moment and when we would have to go outside for my shift, playing easy bait for one of the most dangerous beings ever to roam the forest.