The Assistant (sequel to The Beta's Mate)
So That's What Love Feels Like

Her eyes felt so heavy. Heavy and gritty. As if they were very dry. There was also a lot of heat coming from the hand holding hers. It was large and a little rough. Like it did a lot of manual labor. Somehow, she knew it wasn’t Donovan’s hand. It was too large. And too, Donovan’s hands were soft. He had never done a hard day’s labor in his life. He had felt too good for it. As she turned her head to where the hand holding hers was, a moan escaped her. She heard a gasp and a soft cry. Then, she felt the soft touch that could only be her mom. She wanted to smile, but it just took to much effort.

“Dylan, she’s trying to wake up. Go get the doctor. I want her here when she wakes up, completely.”

Miranda drifted for a while longer. Wincing suddenly, because someone had rudely flashed a bright light in her eyes. Groaning, she tried to turn her head away.

“Ma’am, I need you to be still. I need to see how your pupils react to the light.” The light was flashed again, sending sharp pains throughout her head. When the painful exam was finished, the same female voice started speaking to her again. “Ma’am, can you open your eyes for me? I know you can hear me, but I need you to open your eyes so that I can evaluate how well you are healing?” While gentle, the voice held a superior tone, as if they were speaking to a child.

Miranda focused on trying to open her eyes and not on her sore neck or dry throat. Slowly, she turned her head toward where the voice was coming from. “Water.” The word croaked out of her throat that felt like sand paper.

Suddenly, a straw was placed against her lips. “Easy, sweetheart. Just a little at a time. We don’t want you to get sick.” This time the voice was male. It was deep and rough, and reminded her of smooth whiskey and the cigars her dad used to smoke. She knew instinctively that the voice belonged to the man that had been holding her hand. She knew she was frowning, because she felt him gently rub the bridge of her nose. She was determined to see this man. Fighting her body, she forced her eyes open. It took a minute or two for her eyes to focus. When they did, the first person she saw was a massive man. He was ruggedly beautiful with light brown hair, deep brown eyes and strong bone structure. The weight of his gaze carried so many emotions that she had to look elsewhere. There standing next to him was her mom. She smiled.

“Mom....What’s wrong with my voice?” Elizabeth went to here daughter and grasped her hand. “Miranda, where Donovan strangled you,” The big man actually growled, “Honey, where Donovan strangled you, it may have damaged your vocal cords. We have to wait and see when the swelling goes down. The doctor wants you to stay quiet and talk as little as possible for the next 24 hours. After that, well, we will have to wait. I’m sorry, honey. I should have moved you in with me. Donovan dare not come on pack lands. You would have been safe and he would have been stopped before he got to you. The enforcers would have made sure of that!”

Miranda frowned as her mother talked. Pack lands, enforcers. What was her mother talking about. Miranda began to think and put two and two together. The overly warm hand, the growling, pack lands, enforcers. Her mom was talking about werewolves. She had thought them a myth. An unproven and unfounded something that crypto-zoologists raved about. However, standing before her was proof. She wanted to know how long her mom had know about them.

“How long?” She croaked.

The man answered. “How long what?”

“How long has my mom known about you guys? You are werewolves, aren’t you?” She whispered harshly.

“I’ve known about them for almost as long as I knew you dad. Royce, then Dylan, worked with your dad and they would have poker night occasionally. I found out during your father’s illness. Dylan came to me and asked if there was anything he or the pack could do for us?”

Dylan picked up his mate’s hand to calm her, having felt her distress. “Miranda, there are a lot of things that we need to talk about. But for right now, close your eyes and get some rest. If you want something to eat or if you need to go to the bathroom, please, let one of us know.” Dylan frowned. He knew that he had his work cut out for him. Miranda’s eyes were drifting closed when the doctor came back into the room.

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So Miranda and Dylan have met. So it’s so short. It’s a filler to set up the rest of the book. I don't know how long it will be. I would really like to hear your thought on this chapter.