Chapter 30
Marko sat on a bed at the infirmary at Apex with Thea on his lap. When he’d gotten to the room, Pyper had ordered him to put Thea on the bed, but he couldn’t do it. He literally could not bring himself to remove his hands from her. Pyper had noticed and snorted before jerking her chin toward the bed. “If you’re gonna hold her, you’re gonna have to sit, you tall bastard.”
Thankfully, Thea didn’t complain. She didn’t do much of anything but sit in his arms and let Pyper get a better look at her leg before she was handed an ice pack with a, “It’s just a bad bruise. Goes all the way to the bone, so it’s gonna hurt for a good while. Try to stay off your leg.” Pyper canted her head. “And I’m gonna need a blood sample.”
“NO!” Marko snapped. “No more tests on her.”
Pyper smirked. “I meant from you, big boy. I need to see what changes have occurred since Thea brought you out of your…haze. You’ve been out of it for quite some time, and I haven’t been able to get any samples. I couldn’t get anywhere near you. None of us could.”
“Haze?” Thea asked looking between him and Pyper.
“It’s nothing,” he muttered and wondered if he was going to get away with the dismissal when Pyper’s eyes narrowed to mischievous little slits.
To her credit, Pyper turned and rifled through one of the drawers beneath the long counter in the room. “Don’t have what I need here.” She looked up. “I’ll be right back.”
Pyper left the room and finally alone with Thea, Marko instantly scented her heightened apprehension.
Since the day the helicopter crash and his subsequent change, his senses had grown more heightened. They were great before, but now they were off the chart. Hell, right now he could even hear Pyper humming two rooms down. The sound of her soft song was quieted though by the suddenly rapid beating of Thea’s heart.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Unsure what exactly she was apologizing for, and wanting to settle her, he simply replied, “Don’t be.”
“I shot you, Marko.”
“If you’re worried about the pain from that bullet, don’t be.” Unable to help himself, he mumbled, “You leaving hurt worse.”
“Me?” Her eyes rounded a moment as she looked up at him in clear shock. It only lasted a moment before her brows dipped in a frown. “You left me, remember?”
“No,” he answered. “I didn’t.”
“I woke up alone, Marko.”
Her words gutted him because he could only imagine what it had been like for her, especially after what she’d endured, to wake up in a strange place all alone. Standing, he settled her on the bed before burying a hand in his hair and pacing in front of her.
“ I was in a strange place and all full of mixed emotions.” She didn’t even stop her argument as Pyper silently re-entered. “My head was all messed up from the drugs, and my heart was all confused about…about what we had to do. And there I was alone. No explanation, no one to give me answers. Nothing. I was cast aside like a goddamn afterthought. And for someone who’s already endured that, having to live through it again was a nightmare. I was hurt, and yeah, sure, maybe I took off to feel sorry for myself for a minute, but the second I found out I was with child that all changed.”
Marko stopped pacing and faced her. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you, Thea. I had to go and get a bag together so I could stay with you in the suite at the main estate house. I couldn’t take you home, not to my cabin. Jenny needed to keep you close in case you went back into heat, but the infirmary was full. You were no longer critical, so we moved you upstairs. I only left to get clothes. Jenny was supposed to stay with you, but she got called to the infirmary on an emergency. This whole thing is one giant misunderstanding. I didn’t cast you aside. You were never an afterthought. Not to me.” His heart was pounding, his palms sweating. He felt ill. Something was off.
“Well, how was I supposed to know that?” Thea argued.
Pyper was studying him curiously now. “Marko?”
“You could have stayed around long enough,” he yelled. Goosebumps were rising all along his skin, and he could feel his incisors threatening to punch through his gums. “You ran. Just like everyone else. You didn’t even wait around for an explanation or to even give me a chance.”
“What do you mean like everyone else?”
“I’m broken!” he roared, and even though Thea flinched, he couldn’t hold himself back. “I’ve tried to keep my distance from you because I know I’m not good enough for you, Thea! The Megalya captured me, tortured me, and I lost control over my abilities. I’m not a regular Skin Walker. I’m less. That’s why I never conversed with you at the main gate. That’s why I never flirted back. No matter how fucking much I wanted to, I held back because you deserve a man who isn’t cursed with demons. You deserve a man who’s strong enough to control his inner beasts.” The more he talked, the more his chest heaved like he couldn’t catch his breath.
There was alarm in Pyper’s voice when she took a protective step closer to Thea. “Marko!”
“Don’t!” he snarled when Pyper’s hand closed around Thea’s arm.
“Marko?” Thea’s voice called his attention back to her, and now she was staring at him worriedly. A hand flattened over her belly, and it enraged him because she was acting like he was an actual threat to their child. Hell, maybe he was.
“He’s been feral, Thea,” Pyper explained. “I think he’s having a resurgence.” Pyper rushed the door and threw it open, bellowing into the hall, “BRONCO!”