Arranged

Chapter Twenty

07/23-25/2017

Kristin opened her eyes, squinting at the bright lights above her.

She looked around the white room that resembled a hospital and figured she was at her pack doctor.

But why?

She had been laying down on a bed, white sheets covering her.

Sitting up, she leaned her back against the head board, noticing that she wasn't alone in the room.

Ryder was sitting in a chair near her bed, dozing off.

She couldn't help but notice how tired he looked, especially for a wolf.

Her moving had woken him up, and his eyes immediately snapped to her.

"Kristin," Ryder's voice sounded relieved once he saw she was awake.

She was confused at his reaction.

Why was he here? And when was Ryder ever happy to see her?

Her tired eyes slowly moved to find him staring at her.

She fought the urge to make a snide remark about him staring, but she remained quiet.

"I'm sorry," he sighed, his eyes searching her own, "I'm sorry I brought you into this."

Kristin couldn't understand why he was apologizing to her, as she watched his forehead crease.

All she knew was that Ryder never apologized. For anything.
Yet here he was, apologizing for something she didn't understand.

What had happened?

She realized he was watching her closely, his eyes searching her face.

She reached out to snap her fingers in front of his face, "Hello?"

She laughed when she caught him by surprise.

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

He was looking at her like she was crazy.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, glancing down when she felt something in her arm.

"What the--" she started panicking, her hand moving to grab hold of the IV.

Ryder caught her hand, pulling it away from her arm.

"You can't touch that," he scolded her.

She chuckled, slipping her hand out of his hold and bringing it to his hair.

"I like your hair," she said, running her hand through it.

She didn't know why she was doing what she was doing, but she felt lighter somehow, almost care-free.

He gave her a weird look, before ducking away so she couldn't reach him.

"The doctor gave you something to calm you," he said, raising an eyebrow at her, "I didn't think it would be this strong though."