Chapter 23 Chapter 23 Riley spent the next couple hours dozing on and off in her room, feeling worse as the time went on. Her chest hurt, her head pounded and her stomach churned. With nothing to do but feel terrible, Riley continued to replay her last confrontation with Kent. He was completely out of line, but she felt guilty. She had asked Patrick not to tell Kent about her illness and now she had put him in a bad position. She knew that if she had just been upfront with Kent, there wouldn't have been the fight with Patrick. A knock at the door pulled Riley out of her thoughts. She climbed slowly out of bed and opened the door to find a beautiful woman with long blonde hair pulled up in a bun. She smiled, her bright green eyes lighting up. She was also clearly very pregnant. "Hi," she said, holding out her hand, "my name is Lana. I'm Patrick's mate. He asked me to stop by and talk to you." Riley shook her hand and forced a smile. "Thanks for coming. I really appreciate it." Lana followed Riley into the room and set her bag on Riley's bed. "Patrick tells me you haven't been feeling well for a couple days now. He also told me that I am not to talk to the alpha about what we discuss." Riley nodded. "Not that I would," Lana added. "Patient confidentiality is very important to me. Not even the alpha is above that." "Good," Riley murmured, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Tell me what's been going on," Lana said, sitting in one of the armchairs. Riley described her symptoms, going over when they started, how they seemed to come and go suddenly and were starting to affect her wolf. She went over her back to back assignments and lack of rest as well. When she finished, Lana opened her bag and checked all of Riley's vitals. Lana put her stethoscope around her neck when she was done. "Everything seems ok. Your heart rate is slightly elevated, but nothing that abnormal. Is there anything that makes the symptoms better or worse?" Riley shook her head. "Not that I can think of." "Any chance that you could be pregnant?" "No" She shook her head again. "Do you have a mate?" Riley paused, debating how to answer that question. Lana c****d her head to the side. "You would know if you had a mate." Riley sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" Becres? Lana nodded. "Of course I'm a doctor. It's my job to maintain my patient's confidentiality." "The alpha is my mate" Lana opened her mouth but closed it, her eyes widening slightly "My alpha? Alpha Kent?" Riley nodded slowly, watching Lana. Lana blinked. "Does Kent know?" 1/4 "Just don't," he cut her off, pinching the bridge of his nose, turning away from her slightly. She could tell he was trying to calm down. "You should go," Riley said to Lana. Lana nodded, leaning in slightly to whisper to Riley, "You should just tell him. It'll be easier." She turned to Kent. "If you'll excuse me, Alpha." Kent nodded in her direction, not looking up. Riley waited until she heard the elevator doors before she spoke. "Can we talk?" He stared at her for a long moment before he shook his head. "No." He waved a hand dismissively at her. "Go talk to someone else. You clearly prefer to talk to anyone who isn't me." "Don't act like that," Riley snapped. "I'm trying to tell you what's been going on." "I don't care," he yelled, throwing his hands up. "I don't care what you're doing or who you're talking to or what you're not telling me. I don't f*****g care. I want you to leave me alone. I want you to get the hell out of my life. As soon as this rogue issue is over, I'm going to reject you." He turned, storming past her to the hallway. Riley felt rooted to the spot as he walked away, Rose howling in her head. She closed her eyes, trying to tell herself that it was for the best. She didn't want a mate. She didn't want to be with Kent. But then why did it hurt so bad? She turned, intending to go back to her room, but everything tilted sideways. She staggered, losing her balance. She fell sideways, her forehead striking a side table as she toppled. 1 Comments Get Bonus (Ad) >