Struggle for Love

Chapter 17 Comfort

When we walked in the hospital, the smell of antiseptic burned my nose but I quickly adjusted. We had to go up to the cardiac floor to get to Momma Beth's room. When we entered she was resting peacefully in bed. She was hooked up to an IV and had wires coming from her chest. As soon as Zeke saw her he gasp.

"Momma! She's dead!" He said loudly. Momma Beth's eyes shot open and looked around before landing on Zeke.

"I ain't dead... or at least I hope I'm not." She muttered the last bit. She turned her eyes to me before they began to fill with tears.

"Hey Wolfie girl." I felt my eyes stinging as I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around her. "Shhhhh... you hush now. No need to fuss over me." She said as she wiped the tears from my face.

"I'm so sorry Momma Beth. I should have never talked to you that way." I cried.

"Pish posh. Water under the bridge. You're here now. And who's this handsome young man? Hmmmmm... let me get a look at you, tiny wolf..." Zeke moved behind me, but peered around to look at Momma Beth.

"I ain't gonna bite you. Come here, now. I wanna get a good look at you." Zeke moved himself to where Momma Beth could see him.

"You're smaller than I thought you'd be. Thank God you look like your poor Momma. She was a beautiful woman, ya know." She told him. He moved closer to her.

"You knew my old Momma?" He asked in wonder.

"Oh, yes. I knew Tanya Creed. She was a beautiful soul. She just got mixed up with the wrong man is all. But here you are, so it wouldn't all bad." Momma Beth said. I was too shocked to say anything.

"Wow! Momma! She knows my old Momma." Zeke was in awe of the old woman.

"I sure did. Now, we gotta get you papers. Hmmm? What are we callin' you now?" She asked me.

"My new Momma saids my name is Ezekiel O'Brian." Zeke said proudly.

"Of course, it is little one. Of course it is. Now, Wolfie girl, you can't be livin' in the city with this boy. Alpha Black will be lookin' for him." Zachariah's eyes shot to me.

"River, where did yo-" he started but I cut him off.

"I'll tell you when we get home." I stated. He nodded.

"Don't worry Mr.Wolf. If Zeke here stays out of the city, he will be fine." Momma Beth smiled.

"Momma Beth, what did the doctors say happened?" I asked, changing the subject.

"They said I needed a stint so they put it in and now I'll be right as rain. I'll be home in a couple of days." She said, smiling. I knew she was holding back though.

"Momma Beth..." I pressed.

"Fine dammit! My blood pressure got too high and I almost had a heart attack. One of my arteries was clogged so they put a stint in to open er' back up. Happy?" She said, tapping her fingers on her other hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Momma Beth, did you take your blood pressure medicine?" I asked. She pressed her lips in a line. "Momma Beth!" I chastised.

"What? It makes me cough." It was like arguing with a toddler.

"Then ask for something different!" I scolded.

"Like what?" I knew what she was doing but I wasn't going to fight with her.

"Ask them to put you on Bystolic, Momma Beth. It's better. You know, I'll go talk to the doctor myself." I said getting up.

After speaking with the doctor and having her medication changed we decided we would let her get some rest, much to her protest.

We got home around five and started dinner. I was absolutely exhausted but I kept telling myself I'd get to sleep in a few hours. Sadie and I cooked roasted chicken with mash potatoes and gravy , and green beans. While we cooked Zachariah sat on the floor with Zeke doing puzzles and reading books. It seemed the little boy was quickly growing attached to the big, bad alpha.

When dinner was ready we all sat around the table. Zeke insisted we say a prayer of thanks to the Goddess before eating. Zachariah kept giving me looks, saying he hadn't forgot about the discussion we needed to still have about Zeke.

After dinner, Zachariah and Sadie cleaned up while I bathed Zeke and tucked him into bed. The little guy was thoroughly exhausted and had a hard time keeping his eyes opened.

"Momma?" He asked sleepily.

"Yes, tiny wolf?"

"Will you sing me a song?" I smiled and nodded.

"Stars shining bright above you

Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you"

Birds singing in the sycamore tree

Dream a little dream of me

Say "Night-ie night" and kiss me

Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me

While I'm alone and blue as can be

Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on, dear

Still craving your kiss

I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me

Stars fading but I linger on, dear

Still craving your kiss

I'm longing to linger till dawn, dear

Just saying this

Sweet dreams till sunbeams find you

Sweet dreams that leave all worries behind you

But in your dreams whatever they be

Dream a little dream of me"

I finished the song to find Zeke sleeping soundly. I got up carefully and left the room, closing the door silently behind me. I turned around and let out a small squeak.

"Dammit Zachariah! You scared me!" I whispered yelled at him. He had a goofy smile on his face.

"You have a nice singing voice." He said. I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand pulling him along behind me into my room.

"His name is Liam Black. Some fire fighters brought him into the hospital I was working at." Zachariah shook his head, registering what I said.

"What was he doing at a fire station?" He asked.

"His mother took him there. Apparently, Alpha Black was hunting the two of them. I guess she thought splitting up was their best option, but she didn't make it. Luckily, Zeke did." I told him.

"Why was Kevin hunting them though?" Zachariah asked.

"I don't know. All I know, is when he got to the hospital, he was covered in bruises. His wolf healing must have kicked in because there aren't as many now. But he still is covered in scars. X-rays showed multiple past breaks. He was seriously abused... the kicker, he saids his father did it." Zachariah's eyes widened before turning black and a deep growl rumbled in his chest.

"He's just a little pup." He growled. I sighed.

"I know. They were going to put him in foster care... with humans. What would would a human do with a wolf pup? They'd be lost and he would grow up isolated. So... I brought him home with me." I said as I fiddled with my fingers.

"I understand, now, River. Zeke needs to be with his own kind and protected." Zachariah grabbed my hand and rubbed circles on the back of hand with his thumb.

"River? Can I ask you something?" I was so focused on the sparks he was creating on my hand I could only mmmm at him.

"What happened with the vampire?" I went ridged.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He let out a breath.

"I know you had s*x with him, but what happened after that?" He asked still rubbing circles on the back of my hand.

"To be honest, nothing. He came around the apartment a couple of times but nothing came of it... he was nice. I was heartbroken and lonely." I looked up at him but he was staring at my hands.

"I'm so sorry, River. I thought you had rejected me... it felt like you rejected me. I just wanted a distraction. I shouldn't have done it though." He said. I didn't know what to say so we just sat in silence for awhile before he got up.

"I guess you're super tired. I'm going to head out." He turned to go out the door. Blue began to howl in my head. It was lonely and pained. I couldn't stand the sound of it.

"Zach?" He turned around. "Why don't you stay? It's getting late and I would feel terrible if something happened to you."

"River, it's 8:30." He said smirking. I could feel the heat growing in my cheeks but I said nothing.

"If you just want me to stay, all you have to do is ask." He said. I reached down deep for my courage.

"Zach, I just want you to stay with me tonight." I said quickly. He smiled at me.

"See, that wasn't so hard now was it?" I rolled my eyes at him. I went down stairs to tell Sadie good night then quickly came back upstairs to bed. Zachariah was laying in my bed and I couldn't tell if he was naked or just shirtless but the sight caused butterflies to spring up in my stomach. I took off my clothes and underlings before crawling under the covers. He grabbed his phone and started looking up different videos to watch. He settled on something called "Mousetrap Mondays". He lifted up his arm, a sign for me to snuggle. I scooted over close and draped my leg over him and lay my head on his chest. He was indeed naked.