Wounded Shifter

5. Disturbing Revelations

Ezra startled awake. His nose was immediately assaulted with the stinging, sterile scent of a hospital. His heart began racing. Will they know? No one should know anything-

In his state he didn't notice someone in the room with him, until their smaller hand squeezed his knocking him out of his funk and into reality as he registered their- her voice.

"Z, it's okay." Anya was calming him down.

What sick trick of God is responsible for this? He'd like to know so he could kiss it. Wait, no, that's not-

"Z, do you need more time?" Anya's thumb was rubbing circles into the back of his hand.

"With you always." He gritted out through his dry throat.

She let go of his hand and held a straw to his lips.

"Drink." She ordered, he didn't care whether or not it was poison the point was as he gladly guzzled the cool liquid the straw gave him access to because it was in Anya's hands.

Once he likely drained the drink, Anya took his hand again to help him keep calm for something Ezra didn't see coming.

"They're sending in a psychiatrist for an evaluation. Since I'm still your emergency contact, do you want me to stay for it?" Their eyes met before he looked away in shame.

"Can I not?" He was beginning to feel dizzy.

"Given how malnourished you are, they aren't giving you much of a choice." She squeezed his hand, grounding him again before she continued. "I can stay, if you need me to. The guys have the kids, the cubs, they'll be safe."

"You can stay, but don't-" Ezra breathed in a fortifying breath. "Don't change how you're treating me because of what you might hear."

"Even if it could absolve your guilty verdict before the court?" There wasn't an excuse for what he did.

"I am guilty." Even as he said this there was a clawing deep within him from his bear, the furry bastard was telling him to listen to his mate rather indignantly.

"Well, just talk to whoever they're sending in and then we'll see." She said.

Before he could argue that point, a knock sounded on the door and someone walked in with a clipboard and the calm scent of lavender that just barely survived the hospital smell. The sweater encased person had taken a seat at the foot of his bed on the opposite side of Anya and sent a kind smile at him as they clicked their pen.

"Hello Mr. Ross, I'm Dana. Do you think you can tell me how you're doing today?" She wrote down his answer before continuing. "Do you think you can tell me your story, preferably from where things took a turn?"

If she knew of the mess between him and his mate she didn't comment on it.

"Our son Ajax had just been born, I, after some convincing, had gone out with a group of friends to celebrate. I only remember having one drink and next thing I know I'm coming to in the alley behind the bar we had went to feeling all wrong." He started, refusing to look anywhere other than at Anya's hand that he clutched onto like a lifeline.

~~~~~

Anya felt her stomach drop as Ezra spoke. How could she miss the obvious signs? She worked with people who went through ordeals like his and yet she was blind to it.

"Nine months later, I got a call and was sent a picture of Denis as a new-born. In the call, Ms Wilder had became adamant that I pay for his necessities for something I don't remember. She also made it clear that if I don't give into any of her demands then she'd go after Anya and Ajax."

She felt sick for being used like that against him.

"That's when it started, I'd miss a meal or two a week after she started demanding things other than financial support. She heard through the grapevine that we were expecting again and in all the hormonal hullabaloo things tended to go unnoticed. And then things really hit the fan after I was rightfully kicked out. I wouldn't eat more than I needed to live after that, not that everything stayed down either."

"And where have you been these past six years?" Dana asked, the undertone in her calm professional tone told her that the woman wanted to rain hellfire on the person that drove a bear like Ezra to this.

"I've been in the woods around my family's ranch. I've helped keep the horses safe from a distance and kept an eye on my cubs. It was the least I could do." Anya stopped herself from latching on to the man, Lord knows just how he'd react to affectionate touch.

"After that night, why didn't you approach the authorities or even your mate, she specializes in these sorts of cases and could've helped."

"Why would the police believe me when I'm at least three times the bulk of Miss Wilder? I wasn't going to risk Anya's health like that." He said like it was obvious.

He squeezed her hand before he continued.

"It wasn't just Ms Wilder I was worried about retribution from. She has some associates that would sooner turn me and my cubs into rugs than allow her to be rightfully done away with. One of their mutual friends in the sheriff's office reached out to me after I had begun gathering information to turn over when Ajax was three and made it painfully clear that whatever Ms Wilder had in store for me was nothing compared to what they'd do."

"Do I have permission to share that last bit with a Mr. Grant? Word is he's a P.I. looking for information on a certain group of people." Dana said looking at Anya for confirmation on that fact.

"He is." She said around a lump in her throat. "He's working with Sam and the guys to gather information that he plans on turning in to the feds."

"Then I'll tell him myself, thanks Dana." Ezra pulled his hand away from hers as he said this.

After a few more questions Dana left the two alone in a growing silence.

"I can't keep treating you like you're the bane of my existence anymore." Anya said, breaking the silence that began to feel a tad bit to heavy. "That day, I was coming home from an appointment since things felt heavier compared to when I was carrying Ajax. I was going to tell you that we were going to have twins. I lost one. The nurses told me that usually it happens during the first trimester and not in the middle of the second, three months later Amalie was born premature. She wasn't breathing at first. I thought, I thought that that was what I got for not being a good enough mate. Then when she started crying, I reached for you. And then I was told that I had begun bleeding something bad and my only thought was that I hoped she had your eyes even if they hurt to look at for a while."

"Why are you telling me this?" Ezra's voice was hoarse again his eyes a bit more wet than they were before.

"Because I wanted to be in your arms the moment I was in the hospital from losing Amalie's twin. I was ready to do whatever I had to do to keep you by my side. Then, Sam sat down with me after Amalie was put down for a nap and told me that it wasn't my fault that any of this happened that I was the best mate any man could ask for."

"Because you are. I'm the defective one." He interrupted her.

"No, you aren't. This isn't your fault, none of this mess is Z." Her hand clenched on the railing of the hospital bed he was on.

"I can't believe that just yet An, I failed you in so many different ways. I need to prove myself to you that I'm worthy of a second chance."

"You silly bear, you are."

Before she knew it she was in his arms as he silently sobbed into her neck. So Anya let the man be, rubbing circles on his bony back and carding her fingers through his scraggly hair. Comforting him the best she could as her mind raced through various therapists and councilors knowing that they couldn't just pick up where they had left off like it was nothing and if it helped Ezra believe that he isn't to be blamed for everything going to shit then that would be a bonus.