Chapter Seven
Gage
Gage was a mess. He wanted so badly to climb into Mia's bedroom window, crawl into her bed, and hold her close. Instead, he was sitting in his parents' bedroom along side his mother and brother waiting to see if his father pulled through. He'd been gutted and dumped in the bayou. A gator had taken a nice chunk out of him before he'd managed to kill it and drag himself onto a patch of dry ground where he'd been found by another Pard member. Shifters had damn good healing but that didn't mean they were impervious to damage. Or death. “Someone wanna enlighten me? What da hell happened?” Normally his mother would have berated him for his language but he noticed she just looked at him with dazed eyes.
“It seems our papa decided workin' for organized crime was a good way to take care of his family. Only, he got on someone's bad side and dey decided to teach him a lesson. He's lucky dey didn't go after one of us. Or mama.”
Landry Delacroix had the good sense to look ashamed even through the pain he was in. That shame deepened when his Alpha stepped into the room. His gaze lowered and he swallowed.
“What were you tinkin', Landry? Is dis da lesson you want to teach your boys? Dat it's okay to become a criminal when tings get rough? I know I haven't been Alpha for long, but I would have helped you, even before, if you'd come to me. You know dat.” Caine shook his head at him.
“I have no excuse for what I did. When dey approached me at da diner, I know I should have said no but da money was good and I let it go to my head.” Landry Delacroix wasn't a man to shy away from the consequences of his actions. He knew he'd hurt his family, but even more importantly, he'd lost the respect of his sons. He could see it in their eyes.
Caroline Delacroix looked at her husband. “You were a damned fool, Landry, but you were only tryin' to take care of us. I can't be too angry wit' you. You need to rest.” She looked at her sons and at Caine. “Ever'one, out.” She motioned them towards the bedroom door. She knew that just because he'd awakened didn't mean he was going to be all right. He was weak, he'd lost a lot of blood, and there was a lot of internal damage his body needed to repair. It would be hours still before they would know if he would survive the brutal attack.
“I need to go check on Mia.” The instant they were out of the bedroom Gage headed for the front door.
“Mia? What happened to her?” Caine and Caroline both asked the same thing, almost in unison.
Gage froze. What should he tell them? Did he dare break her confidence by spilling the beans? He opened his mouth to say something but Remy beat him too it.
“Her date to prom slipped her someting dat messed her up a bit, made her weak. I had to stop Gage from nearly beatin' him to death in da parking lot.”
“Is she okay?” Caroline watched her youngest son. It was clear to her that he was in love with Mia, but she had the feeling it went deeper than that.
“I don't know.” He really didn't. He wasn't sure how much Cole had done before he'd gotten there so he had no idea what state she was in. “Dat's why I need to go check on her.” He didn't wait to hear anything else. He was practically running by the time he got outside. The sun was just lightening the sky when he reached her window. It didn't even register that he'd been awake all night, waiting at his father's bedside for him to open his eyes.
Mia
She'd slept fitfully for several hours but as the sun began to rise, streaking the sky in soft pink, deep red, and fiery orange, she'd awakened. She lay there curled in a ball as silent tears slipped down her cheeks. With the morning came the memories of the night before and she felt sick to her stomach. She could still feel Cole's hand's on her, feel his fingers inside her, and it made her cry even harder. Her body shook with the silent sobs. The sudden tapping at her window startled her and she stifled a scream.
Mia lifted her gaze to the window and her eyes widened. For a brief moment she though Cole had found a way to get to the compound, but then her mind cleared and she realized it was Gage tapping on it. She wrapped her blanket around herself and scooted over to the window to open it. “Gage? What are you doin' here?” Her voice came out in a strangled whisper.
“Checkin' on you.” He climbed through the window and knelt on the floor in front of her. “I was worried. I didn't know if you'd still be asleep or not, but I had to come make sure you were okay.” He saw her red, puffy eyes, and reached for her on instinct. When she flinched he froze. “Mia. You know I'd never hurt you, right?”
Mia heard the pain in his voice and it nearly broke her heart. “I know. I'm sorry,” she whispered. She scooted off the bed where she was sitting until she was kneeling next to him. “I never said thank you, for gettin' me out of dere.” She couldn't seem to bring herself to talk above a whisper.
Gage moved cautiously and wrapped her in a hug. “You don't need to thank me, Mia. As soon as I knew you were in trouble, I couldn't get to you fast enough.”
Mia frowned. “How did you know what was happenin'? How did you know where we were?”
“Dat fuckin' prick, Todd, da kid who was takin' photos of prom, he saw Cole put someting in your drink but he didn't say anyting right away. I could have killed him for not speakin' up sooner.”
“He saw it...and didn't do anyting?” That made her feel almost as sick to her stomach as she felt remembering Cole's hands on her.
“He'll regret dat, cher, trust me on dat.”
There was something in his voice that sent a shiver down her back. “Don't do someting stupid and get yourself in trouble. It's not worth it.” I'm not worth it she added silently.
“Don't you worry yourself about dat.” He'd do whatever he had to in order to make sure the kid realized he fucked up by not speaking up right away.
“Damn it, Gage, I mean it. If you get yourself in trouble I'll never speak to you again!” She gave him a look that said she was serious.
Gage decided to not argue with her. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. “You should try to get some more sleep. You still look tired.”
“I'm afraid. When I close my eyes, I can't stop tinkin' about what happened, or what could have happened, if you hadn't shown up.”
“Would it help if I stayed?”
Mia thought about it. “Yeah. I tink it would.”
Gage helped her get back in bed then settled on the floor with his back resting against the side of her bed. “Den I'll stay right here.” If anyone in her family came in, he'd come up with an explanation for his presence.
“Okay.” She curled up on her side. At first she wasn't sure it was going to do any good, but then her eyes started to feel heavy and before she knew it she was asleep.
Gage
Gage wasn't exactly sure when he fell asleep or for how long he'd slept. He was awakened when a hand gripped his shoulder and shook it.
“Gage Delacroix, what on earth are you doin' in here?”
It took a moment for Gage's brain to wake up enough to realize Mia's mother was shaking him awake. Her whispered words confused him for a moment before his mind cleared of the cobwebs and he was able to respond. “I came to check on her earlier and she asked me to stay.”
Eliza glanced at her sleeping daughter before she motioned for him to follow her. She wasn't going to let him brush off her concern now.
Gage knew what was coming. He followed Mia's mother into the hall and then to the living room. When she turned to him he wasn't prepared for the fear he saw in her eyes.
“What happened at da prom? Don't give me anymore of dis 'It's not my place' business. Someting bad must have happened for me to find you asleep in her room.”
Gage hoped Mia would forgive him for telling her mother what he knew. “Her date to da prom drugged her. When I got to his car...I'm not sure what he did, how far he got, but I heard her tell him no and to stop and...I lost it. If Remy hadn't shown up when he did, I probably woulda killed him. When I came to check on her, she'd been cryin'. She said she was afraid to go to sleep because ever'time she closed her eyes she saw what he did to her, and what he'd planned on doin'. I offered to stay, if it would help her sleep.”
It wasn't as bad as she'd feared but it was still bad enough. Her daughter was sexually assaulted. “We had dat boy in our home and all dat time he was plannin' on hurtin' her?”
“Mia's prom date hurt her?”
They both turned to look at Julius. Neither of them had heard him come down the hall.
“Tell me you beat da shit outta him for it?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“Good. Is Mia gonna press charges?”
“I dunno.” Gage wondered about that himself.
“What good would it do? He'll get off and I'll have to deal wit' all da threats and nasty looks from others.”
All three turned at Mia's voice. “Mia, cher, he needs to pay for...whatever he did to you.” Eliza couldn't force her daughter to do it but she could strongly encourage her.
“But don't you get it, mama? He wouldn't pay for anyting. We see it on da news all da time. Women are sexually assaulted, abused, raped, and da men who do it get away wit' it. Dey turn it all around and make it all da woman's fault.” Mia shook her head. “I can't go through dat.”
Gage went to her and carefully took her hands in his. “Den you won't have to. No one is goin' to make you do anyting you don't want to do, Mia. Not now, not ever.” The look on his face said if her family tried to push her into it he'd go off on them.
“Thank you.” She smiled faintly at Gage. “You look like you didn't get much sleep, go home and get some. I'm fine.”
He eyed her. “You sure?” At her nod he let go of her hands. “Okay. You know if you need anyting, I'm here, right?”
“I know, Gage.”
He nodded one last time and left. He wasn't so sure she really was okay but he had to give her space. It went against his every instinct but he walked out the front door and headed home.
Caroline Delacroix was sitting at the kitchen table when her son came in. She'd been awake since her husband was brought home half dead and she was exhausted, but she couldn't rest just yet. “I'm glad you're home. We need to talk.”
Gage wasn't expecting to find anyone awake but he resigned himself to whatever his mother had to say and took a seat across from her. “What's on your mind, mama? It's not papa, is it? He didn't get worse, did he?”
“No, no, it's got no'ting to do wit' your papa. It's about you and Mia Lafluer.”
Gage frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How do you feel about her, son?”
Anyone else, Gage might have brushed them off, but not his mama. “I don't know. I tink maybe I love her. When I found out she was in danger...I almost lost control of my leopard. Dat's never happened to me before.”
Caroline nodded. “Dat's what I thought. I tink Mia is your mate.”
Gage blinked at her. “Why do you tink dat?”
“You're protective of her, you're drawn to her. You've been dat way for years, always preferrin' her company over anyone else's. And she makes you crazy, yeah?”
Gage nodded. “Yeah. But I don't tink she feels da same, mama. If we were really mates, she would, right?”
“Or maybe she does and just doesn't understand what she's feelin'. I suppose time will tell. I'm gonna go check on your papa.” She got up and gave his shoulder a squeeze as she passed him.
Gage thought about what she said. Could it be true? If it was, what was he going to do about it? As exhaustion pulled at him, he made his way to his room and collapsed on his bed. It wasn't going to do him any good to think about it right now when she was reeling from Cole's assault. Thinking about Cole made Gage want to beat the shit out of him again and he had to push the anger away in order to get some much needed sleep.