Healing the Bear (16 page)

Shit,
he’d obviously cut the line. He ran out into the living room, knowing that
Melanie often kept her cell phone there. He saw it on the coffee table. He
lifted and dialed, hoping that she’d be okay and maybe her nightmare would be
finally over.

****

Dane
paced up and down as he waited for the doctor to examine Melanie. It was taking
forever and he didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. He swallowed the
last of his coffee, grimacing because he hadn’t realized it was cold and had
grown bitter.

He
was about to pick up a magazine when he saw the doctor heading his way. He
stood, feeling sick and crossing his fingers behind his back.

“How’s
she doing?”

“Let’s
sit down,” said the doctor.

Not a good sign.

“She
has a concussion, four broken ribs, and a broken collarbone.”

Dane
made fists with both his hands. He should have killed that bastard.

“And her throat?”

“No
permanent damage to her windpipe, but she’ll be hoarse for a while.
Thebruising
is going to look a lot worse than it actually
is.”

“So
it’s a positive outlook for her?”

“Yes,
I think she put up one hell of a fight and that probably saved her.”

Dane
hung his head. It was the best news he’d heard.

The
doctor put his hand on top of Dane’s. “And don’t worry because the baby’s just
fine.”

Baby?
Had he heard right?

“She’s
pregnant?”

“Yes…I’m
guessing you didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Dane
shook his head. The doctor patted his hand. “She probably didn’t know yet
either. Probably only five weeks along.”

Five
weeks.
The night under the stars and moon.
They’d
conceived just like shifters always did.

“Can
I see her?”

“Sure,
a police officer and an FBI agent are with her now, but once they leave, I
think a visit from you is just what she needs. Room 245, down here, turn left,
and it’s the fifth room on the right hand side.”

Dane
stood. This was all some sort of miracle. He was having another baby and this
time with a human.

Chapter Twenty-One

Melanie
took a sip of water and grimaced. She’d barely been able to talk to the police
and FBI agent, but it looked like the man who’d attacked her was going to spill
the beans on who hired him. They had enough to charge Sam Farfield with
attempted murder this time around. He was going to be behind bars and maybe, no
promises, but she might be able to go back to her regularly scheduled life. Teaching
school, being a blonde…

She
looked up and saw Dane standing in the doorway.

“How
you feeling?” he asked.

“I’ve
had better days, but I’m alive.”

He
walked over to her, sat on the bed, and took her hand. He raised it to his lips
and kissed the back of it.

“They
say I might be able to go back to being a normal person again.”

He
rested his hand on her belly. She looked up at him. The doctor had told him
too. She had the biggest shock of her life when they’d told her she was
pregnant.

“So
you know?”

“About the baby?”
He nodded.

“I
had no idea because my periods have always been screwy. I didn’t think anything
about being late.”

He
leaned over and kissed her. “I’m excited.”

“Really?
I mean we’ve not been dating long.”

“Sometimes
you don’t have to. Sometimes you know from the second you meet someone that you
want to spend the rest of your life with them.”

She
rested her head back. “They said I might be able to go back to being Chloe Reed.”

“Nope,
never going to happen,” said Dane.

“And
why is that?”

“I’m
used to calling you Melanie. I love the name, and Melanie Reynolds sounds
perfect.”

“Reynolds…wait
a minute is that your clever way of asking me to marry you?”

Catching
the bride’s bouquet wasn’t just a myth.

“I
guess it is. So what do you think? And can we get a good deal on the Lodge for
the wedding? I think we need to go bigger and grander than even Lilly and
Christopher did.”

She
ran her hand down the side of his face.

“Sure.
I think we can.”

He
winked at her and she slid down into the bed. She was hurting, but for the
first time in forever she felt happy and safe knowing all the bad things were
behind her. She was getting married and having a baby.

Epilogue

“This
guy who apprehended the man who attacked Melanie,” said the head agent.

“Yeah,
what about him?”

“I’ve
been doing some digging around. In fact, I’ve been doing some background checks
on most of the guys he hangs out with. Something’s not right about them.”
He put his hands behind his back and leaned back on his chair until it made a
pinging sound.

“Like
what?”

“Sketchy
work and school records. It’s like they’ve all made up their past lives.”

“You
think it needs further investigation?”

“I
think it’s worth it just to see what we dig up.”

The
End

www.vanessadevereaux.com

Other Books by Vanessa
Devereaux
:

www.evernightpublishing.com/vanessa-devereaux

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