Chapter <b>301 </b>


    “Alright,” I said with a nod. “I’ll have Hunter track one down. I can’t promise we’ll find one quickly, or that they’ll be legitimate, but I’ll try.”


    “Thank you.” Liam released my wrist and slumped back against his pillows. “I appreciate it more than you know.” <fn4760> Latest content published on fin?novel</fn4760>


    I nodded and turned to leave, but Liam called out one more time before I could reach the door.


    “Alexander?”


    “What’s up?”


    around.


    “Keep Ste close,” he said. “Even if she pushes you away, even if she acts like she doesn’t want you Keep her close. She might want to open up eventually, and when she does…” He paused, and there was that mysterious flicker in his gaze again. “You’ll be shocked when you find out what she has to say.”


    The words sent a chill down my spine. What the hell did that mean? What could Ste possibly need to tell me that would be shocking?


    But Liam had already closed his eyes, clearly exhausted from our conversation. I left without pressing for more information, figuring that the medication really was making him a bit loopy and that I probably shouldn’t dwell too much on… whatever the hell that was.


    Still, as I walked down the hospital corridor, I pulled out my phone and texted my Beta. He was as confused as I was when I told him to track down a “reputable” witch, but he didn’t argue.


    Once I was finished, I slipped my phone back into my pocket and stopped walking. I looked around in confusion, wondering how I had wound up where I currently found myself–standing in the entryway to the hospital cafeteria, which was in theplete opposite direction of the parking lot.


    Shaking my head, I turned to leave, figuring I had taken a wrong turn while distracted on my phone. But then I spotted Ste sitting <i>by </i>herself near the window, nursing a steaming cup of crappy hospital coffee.


    A single tear was glistening on her cheek. Or so I thought before she jerked her head up and spotted me and quickly wiped it away.


    I considered leaving her alone, but she looked incredibly small and helpless and sad at the moment, and my mind couldn’t help but wander back to Liam’s warnings. Ramblings of a medicated man or not, right now, it seemed like he might have been onto something.


    I couldn’t just leave her there looking like that, so I approached.


    “May I?” I asked, gesturing to the seat across from her.


    She hesitated, almost looking at me warily, but then nodded. I sat down in the stic chair and neither of us spoke for a moment. If I looked at her for too long, then I would see E staring back at me–E, from the night of our date, close enough to kiss–so I kept my gaze trained on the curls of steaming up from her coffee.


    Finally, I cleared my throat and said, “Are you alright? You looked like you were crying just now.”


    Her jaw ticked. “I’m fine. I wasn’t crying.” She smiled, although it was clearly forced, and stood. “I was just leaving, actually.”


    My wolf whined as she turned to leave.


    “Wait.” On a whim, I reached out and caught her arm before she could walk away. “I wanted to ask you something.”


    She stiffened under my touch but didn’t pull away. “What is it?”


    “Lucien has a checkup tomorrow with Dr. Evelyn,” I said, releasing her. “I was wondering if you’d like toe with me. As his nanny, I think it would be good for you to hear what the doctor has to say about his condition.”