CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- Tallulah -
The guys close ranks around me and cut my view off after the Alpha banishes Lana from the pack. Tremors go through their hands as they gently run them over me, in part to reassure themselves I’m still here with them. I terrified them by throwing myself into a fight. As for the other part, I’m not sure if they are trying to evaluate the damage or ingrain my shape into their minds.
It sinks in how foolish it was of me to accept her challenge. I let my bull-headed stubbornness decide my actions for me. But I couldn’t let her get away with it. Not the babies in danger, nor her slanderous words to me. A more reasonable part of me knew, if I didn’t accept, it’d show the rest of the pack I wouldn’t be a good future Luna.
Although, I’m kind of glad she lost her temper and shifted. If the Alpha had not added the condition, which limited her ability to fight, I wouldn’t be here now, to feel the arms of my mates around me. I only just found out about them, and I did stupid shit to jeopardise it.
Now dressed, Henrique commands, “You four, in my office. Now. Blaise, you make sure Lana finds her way out, without getting lost. I’ll call ahead and have Doctor Andro meet us there.” Then immediately turns on his heel, Rosalina and Leverette follow.
“Okay, guys, let’s do what your dad wants,” I mumble into Theo’s chest as the exhaustion goes through me. “Can someone contact my father? I don’t want him to worry when he hears about this.”
Kenji picks me up, and I wrap my one good arm around his neck. He places a tender kiss to my forehead and takes a deep breath. My ribs hurt, but I don’t mention it to them because I’m comfortable where I am. He walks us confidently across the yard, and Theo holds the door open for us. Once inside, Quimby shields my head with his hand when we step through doorways. Kenji wouldn’t bounce my head against the doorframes on purpose, but I appreciate Quimby’s gesture.
Moments later, I’m deposited into the seat situated in front of the desk where I spoke to the guys’ parents only yesterday. The only difference is today I’m not in the stupid wheelchair. It’s hard to believe it’s been only a day since the attack at the house. After everything that’s happened, it feels like a week.
Behind us, the door bursts open, and Doctor Andro flounces in with his medical bag. “We need to stop meeting like this, Tallulah.” He drops the bag on the floor with a huff and a frown. “I might be the only doctor here, but surely I should be able to get through a crossword without you getting into some sort of trouble.”
He crouches down and lifts my leg up to inspect if I did any more damage to it first, before he moves further up my body and tries to assess the rest of my injuries. “Well, at least the leg appears alright. From what I can tell from how you sit, I can’t say the same about your abdomen and shoulder, though. They’ll both likely need stitches. You’ll need to lie down, so I can assess them better and make sure she hasn’t damaged any internal organs.”
Doctor Andro briefly offers me a hand so I can stand without putting too much strain on my stomach. Henrique and Leverette make quick work of moving all the paperwork out the way, so we can use their desk to fix me up. Once situated, Rosalina brings over a blanket for me to use to protect my modesty while the doctor cuts away the rest of my cover up.
Shock shoots through me when Doctor Andro leans down and takes a sniff at my midsection and shoulder. Confused, I demand, “What are you doing?”
“I have the ability to sniff out if any of your organs have been damaged in your fight. The last thing I need is to stitch you up and then have to cut you open to fix whatever damage I may have missed.”
His explanation surprises me. “Oh… And is there?”
He takes his glasses off and rubs his nose with his wrist. “You’ve been lucky. None of them are deep enough to cause any serious damage. I’ll need to clean them, stitch you up, and you’ll have to wear a dressing for a few days.”
Hydrogen peroxide stinks the room when he soaks the gauze, causing several bouts of sneezing around the room. I barely manage to hold back a hiss when he begins to clean my wounds. When finished, a small pile of used gauze sits next to me, and under the strong smell of the antiseptic, there’s a metallic tinge of blood. He quickly threads the needle, and I cringe when it pierces through my side. It’s not the first time I’ve had stitches; it feels annoying more than anything else.
Across the room, the conversation between Henrique and the boys distracts me from my wounds. The words vampire, pack, and help stand out sharply, but what they mean or why we’d need to get vampires involved is beyond me. People who stayed at our house occasionally told stories of vampires. I assumed they were just that, stories, but now I realise, they may hold some truth. I’ll find out how true the stories are since Kenji tells his fathers they’ll be here soon.
My father yells my name as he bursts through the door. He stops short, and his eyes widen as he notices all the blood-soaked gauzes in a pile. “What in god’s name have you been doing?” He gestures at the doctor, still stitching up my side.
“I’m alright, the doc says it’s just a few stitches. No major injuries.”
“Like hell it is, young lady. Here you are, covered in blood after I get the call you’ve been in a fight! A challenge, no less!” I wince at the volume of his voice, but don’t bother to interrupt him. He’s worried and snapping back at him won’t help the situation or my head. “You’ll be the death of me, or you, at this rate!”
Even anxious and upset, Dad hovers close by as the doctor finishes stitching up the rest of my wounds. Finally, the doc sticks those irritating bandages to the wounds to stay clean and dry. He instructs me to keep them on for twenty-four hours and the stitches in for three days. Again, I’m annoyed because I didn’t get the better end of the gene pool to be able to selfheal.
Henrique draws my dad’s attention away from me. “Solomon, is the house in too bad a repair? We’ll be having visitors tomorrow. The pack may be upset when they realise why the vampires are here.”
Unable to hold back my question, I butt in. “Why are they coming? And why haven’t we met them before?”
Leverette turns towards me. “We would like to keep quiet on what we are asking the vampires to do for us, for now.” He lifts his chin in my dad’s direction. “And your father’s worried because you’re half human. We don’t know if the vampires will identify you as a food source. Werewolves, from what Zadimus explained, are an acquired taste.”
“Damn vamps! Why can’t they eat normal food like the rest of us?” Dad grumbles. He addresses Henrique, “The house won’t take me long to fix. So long as they know it won’t be perfect when they arrive.”
Henrique drums his fingers on the table in thought, then nods. “If you can clear the main living spaces, then we’ll be able to work around the rest. Make sure the dining area is cleared as best you can, though, because we’ll need that room the most over of the next couple of days to decide what our plan of action is.”
Dad walks closer to where I’m lay on the table to say his goodbyes, but I stop him by placing my hand awkwardly on his arm. He gets the point and leans in closer to me so I don’t have to speak too loudly.
I swallow the lump in my throat, “I’m sorry for yesterday. I was a brat.”
He gently kisses my head and whispers back, “I’m sorry, too, I shouldn’t have shouted at you.” He straightens and heads quickly for the door.
Before Dad makes an escape, Rosalina calls out, “Don’t forget to go into Leverette’s office, there’s some petty cash in the tin. Take it to Glenda at the blood bank, and she’ll set you up with the blood bags you’ll need.”
Dad curses up a blue streak before he leaves the room which only makes Rosalina laugh more.
The doctor follows Dad out the room a few minutes later. He put me on strict rest for the next couple of days. When I glance around the room, I spot Henrique looking at me with a scowl on his face, and I know I’m in trouble.
“What you did today was beyond stupid,” Henrique starts, and I wince. “But, I can’t deny that you proved yourself in front of the pack, and it will likely make things easier for you when the time comes for you to take over as Luna.”
My eyebrows almost jump into my hairline at his words. That was not what I was expecting from him. “I… I don’t understand. How?”
“Because as much as I wanted to kill her, you stood up for what you believed in despite any consequences that might have come your way for interfering. The pack will remember it, they’ll see you as a compassionate Luna who won’t always agree with her Alpha and won’t be a constant hard ass. It’ll be what they need when the time comes, and they’ll know you’ll be a good fit for the pack.”
Quimby hands me one of his t-shirts. I didn’t realise he ducked out of the room at some point to grab it. I take it, and with a little help, I manage to wrestle it on and cover myself up.
This time, Theo takes over and carries me.
Because of the stitches in my ribs, he can’t carry me bridal style. Instead, he hoists me in his arms with my legs wrapped around his hips. I rest my head on his shoulder and push my nose against his neck for the short walk, but quickly lift my head when I realise just how intimate a position we’re in.
His eyes darken, and I can only take a guess that mine are matching his. The friction of our movements causes both of us to quickly become turned on. Several times we’re both forced to stifle the groans from our movements. By the sniggers I clearly hear, Kenji and Quimby quickly cotton on to what’s happening. They’re enjoying the situation way too much. Flush with pleasure, I rest my forehead against Theo’s shoulder to hide my mortification.
Beyond embarrassed at not being able to control myself in front of Quimby and Kenji, I’m almost grateful to be finally placed on the sofa, although a devilish part of me wants to explore how far something like that could go with all four of us.
Quimby gives me a knowing wink. With a groan, I drop my head onto the sofa and shut my eyes in an effort to forget the throbbing pleasure of Theo. The sofa next to me dips slightly, and I lift my head enough to see Kenji take a seat the other side of me. I’m about to ask where Theo is, but stop when the shower turns on.
When I mutter under my breath about the unfairness of him able to have a cold shower and me told not have one until tomorrow, the guys chuckle on either side of me. “Can we put a film on or something, please? So I can throw a silent pity party without you two paying attention to it.”
They must recognise the quiet desperation in my voice because they don’t say anything further and quickly put a film on. Kenji turns me slightly until I lean up against his chest, and Quimby pulls my legs onto his lap. Barely halfway through the film, I fall asleep.
~
Fingers run across my forehead and jolt me awake. Theo brushes the hair out of my face. I blink a few times to clear my vision. “Hey, sleepy head, you hungry? Mum’s brought some food in.”
I nod and rub the sleep out of my eyes before Theo gently helps me sit up, mindful of my shoulder. This allows Kenji and Quimby to move from where they had been pinned underneath me. They both stand and stretch. When they both kiss my forehead, my eyes close of their own accord. Not really awake when Theo helps me to stand, I sway dangerously. He must decide it’s safer to carry me because he picks me up and takes me over to the table in the dining section of the living space.
He places me gently into my seat. I look around the table and spot Rosalina, her mates, and my guys. Disappointment fills me to not see my dad here, but he’s caught up with getting the house ready for the visitors.
We all quietly dig in and eat macaroni cheese with garlic bread and salad. I manage to eat most of it before I start to fight to keep my eyes open. Rosalina takes pity on me and asks Quimby to carry me to my room so I can sleep.
Quimby gently picks me up, and we make our way down the hallway to my room. Maybe I could walk, but I’m happy to let them pamper me for now. The door to my room already stands open, so he doesn’t need to wrestle with it and me. He steps inside and nudges the door shut with his foot before he sets me on the bed.
Instead of leaving, he grabs a load of clothes and some towels, and then shocks me when he picks me back up and takes me into the bathroom. Once he fills the sink up and places all the towels within easy reach, he turns to me with a cheeky smile on his face. “Would you like me to stay and help you wash?”
My face instantly heats, and I give a quick shake of my head. I have no trust in myself to tell him to go. He places a kiss on my head before he leaves the bathroom, the door softly pulled closed behind him.
Hastily, I scrub all the blood and dirt off me. My body aches, and I’ve never been more grateful to have the toilet directly next to the sink. I doubt my legs would’ve been able to support me long enough to scrub the filth from my body. Slowly, I manage to get myself somewhat dry and stand to pull on fresh clothes. My eyes close, and I sway slightly from fatigue, but a knock on the bathroom door jolts me awake before I face-plant.
Quimby wordlessly enters the bathroom and scoops me into his arms. The familiar tingles spread over my body as he carries me to bed. He helps me under the covers, and then takes off his shoes and shirt before he settles in next to me. Mindful of my injuries, his hand slips low to settle onto my hip, one of the few places I’m not hurt.
My body tingles from the connection, and it lulls me gently to sleep.