Queen of Death

Chapter 34

Hunter

~ one month later ~

Solana dying broke us. I watched it happen but I didn't believe it. I still don't.

When I saw Sol fall to the floor that day I linked Ace, desperate for help. Seconds felt like hours while Griffin and I beat against the glass and steel. Beating our hands bloody against any surface between her and us, screaming for her to get up.

Ace arrived and we finally teleported into the room and brought her back to the Grove. Griffin looked as broken as I felt. For him, it gave him flashbacks of four years ago when he found her in a similar state. He tried to heal her but he was shaking so violently when we landed in the hospital, his dad, Xander, grabbed him and teleported him out of the room immediately.

That was by far the worst day of my life. Ace and I held vigil in her room as the healers and doctors did their best. Eli and Dean took turns making sure Tate didn't disappear or do something in the heat of the moment that he couldn't take back. We all wanted to fall apart, but Ace's wolf held fiercely on to us.

"They're waiting for us." Ace's voice thunders gently through our bedroom — Solana's bedroom. Her scent is everywhere and it makes not having her by my side unbearable. But it's been a month now, and it's time for us to go home.

We teleport down to the hospital's family room where Solana's family is already waiting to see us off.

"Decided to shower?" Cole greets me with a tight hug and slap on the back.

"Fuck off, man," I respond but my words lack any true conviction and he knows it. "It's been a rough month."

Cole concedes with a tight smile, backing away so the rest of the family can come say goodbye.

Rohanor, one of Sol's dads, is the next to approach us. "Thank you for everything you did to protect our daughter," he shakes Ace's hand firmly.

"We obviously regret that we couldn't do more," he says, the guilt of that day resurfacing instantly.

"You are not to blame for what happened. Unfortunately defiance runs in the family," he growls, throwing a very pointed look at Queen Magnolia.

Magnolia flashes them a saccharine sweet smile right back at them, then turns to address us as a pack. "I hope it goes without saying that you are welcome guests in the Grove anytime."

"You honor us," Ace bows his head at the neck and we all follow suit. She may not be our queen but it is still an honor to be welcomed into her home with open arms.

We finish saying goodbye to the rest of her family. Her sister and other brother, Griffin and his parents, and of course my parents.

"Text me every once in a while, yeah?" My mother looks at me through glassy eyes. "Just so I know you're okay."

"I will, mom, I promise," we share a hug and she pecks a kiss on my forehead, having to stand on her tiptoes to do so.

When we've said our goodbyes we file out of the family room. Ace stalks through the halls and stops when we reach the hospital room Solana had been in. Seeing this room...every memory of that day plays out in front of me like watching a movie. The bed she was in now cleaned and cleared of the blood that soaked the sheets, the stools Ace and I sat in at her bedside, praying to the Gods that she'd be okay, and then the monitor in the corner of the room that showed the flatline of her heart.

Ace's wolf tries to soothe us with his aura, he knows how hard it is for us to come back to this space.

"Alright. Let's go home."

We follow Ace once more out of the triage room to the opposite end of the wing where there are larger patient suites. Ace's wolf is doing a good job keeping us calm and collected, otherwise I'd be bursting out of my skin with the need to be home.

Rounding the corner by the nurse's desk we can hear a bit of a commotion. The usually quiet ward is bustling with harried nurses.

"I'm perfectly capable of peeing on my own. I don't need a fucking entourage just to use the bathroom." An irritated voice complains about the hospital protocol.

"You're not used to being on your feet, we don't want you hurting yourself." A nurse tries to placate her patient.

"I'm going to hurt you if you don't get the hell out of my way."

Tate's mouth quirks up into a smirk as he shakes his head in amusement.

"Is this a bad time?" Ace interrupts the ladies with two perfunctory knocks on the open door.

"Not at all Mr. Harrington. Maybe you can talk some sense into her." The nurse flusters.

Ace sighs but a small smile forms at the corner of his mouth, a very rare sight these days. "Has everything been cleared with Dr. Ember?"

"Yes, sir. She's all yours," the nurse says emphatically, patting Ace on the shoulder in mock solidarity on her way past him.

When the nurse is out of earshot Ace speaks up. "Solana," he purrs and Sol melts like butter on the spot, all her anger and frustration gone with just the rumble of his voice.

"Alpha," she taunts him with an impish grin. Too impish for his liking.

"You know she's just trying to do her job, which happens to be making sure you're healthy." He gently scolds her.

"I didn't realize walking 10 feet to the bathroom is now considered a perilous journey," she mutters under her breath. "It's not like anyone has died from going to the bathroom."

A collective growl reverberates through the room. She died, I have no idea which God to thank for her return but the fact remains that her heart stopped beating and none of us want to think about it let alone joke about it happening again.

"That's not funny, Solana," Ace hisses.

Sol ignores him and taps her finger against her mouth pretending to think. "Actually, I'm wrong. There was that one guy, Elvis something or other..."

Ace shuts her up with a bruising kiss. When they pull apart he shakes his head bemused. "What am I going to do with you, Princess?"

Sol's brilliant, flaming green eyes flare with wicked intent. "I have a few ideas, but you'll need to take me home first." She tucks herself into Ace's chest, purring for him and for us, helping to calm us all.

We all breathe a collective sigh of relief, shedding some of the weight that has burdened us for the past few weeks. Dean and Eli gather her things quickly and then we all huddle around Ace, ready to teleport out.

"Where to, my Queen?" Ace purrs in her ear.

She pulls us all in a little closer and sighs contentedly. "Take us home."