“Hey, how you holding up?” Logan asks, his New York accent bleeding through.
“I’m okay overall.” She continues to play cards with Mateo. He’s looking over Logan, clearly understanding the situation.
“Honey, why don’t we pick this up later? I think we’re gonna grab some real food for everyone. I know all of us are tired of hospital food,” Mateo tells her as he stands up. Thea frowns a little at that. After a quick goodbye, Sophie and her mates are gone and it’s just us and Logan.
Dread slowly fills the bond from her. Logan pulls up a chair next to her bed. “Thea, I hate to ask but can you give me a statement of what happened from when you were taken until we got there?”
“No,” she says firmly, coldness overtaking her expression.
“No you can’t or no you don’t want to?” Logan asks and Thea looks at him when he says the latter. He sighs. “We can’t put this to rest until we have your statement. Once we do then it’s really all over.”
From my spot along the wall, I can see her clenching her fists in her lap. Then she sits straighter, reaching for Parker’s glove and Ben’s scarf that are on her bed. She needs their scents. From what she’s said, theirs make her feel different forms of safety.
“I’ll say it once and then I don’t want to discuss it again,” she says lowly. Logan agrees and she begins telling us what happened. I know based on what we felt in the bond some of it would be upsetting to hear. Preparing for that, I keep taking deep breaths. Micah is handling it the worst out of all of us. He keeps fidgeting and moving around the room.
When she describes that first night when he made her change in front of him. Most of us let out a growl. Some of us were better at pushing it down. However, when she gets to that second day and her plan to escape, fear and shame fill the bond. Ben, who’s had his head down for most of this from his seat across the room, gets up and climbs in bed with her. She grabs onto him like he’s her one lifeline. I was stupid to think she felt so light after everything. She was just pushing this all down like she did her grief for Connor.
“…I kissed him…a lot so he’d believe I was on his side. When we stopped, I asked to get some water from the kitchen and he let me without coming with me. That was my chance to get a weapon I could use to escape…” she continues on, not looking anywhere but at her lap, until she gets to the part where she stabs him. “…after I did it, I tried to turn and run as fast as I could but he managed to trip up my feet. That’s how I fell and hit my head on the dresser. He yanked me up by my hair and it made me scream out. He started choking me and saying all kinds of things and that’s when you came in. The rest is kind of a blur, after I hit my head I didn’t feel right.”
Overwhelming grief and shame flood the bond. “I’m so sorry to all of you for doing that. I didn’t want to, I swear. I just wanted to escape,” she whimpers, nearly hyperventilating. Eli moves quickly to her side, tilting her head up to look at him. Ben is holding her so tightly I’m surprised it isn’t hurting her.
“Look at me and feel all of us in the bond. Do you think any of us are mad at you for what happened?” Eli says fiercely.
Thea’s chin wobbles but no tears are falling yet. “No, but…” she begins but Eli puts a finger to her lips.
“No buts. Look at each one of us. Not one of us are mad at you.”
“He’s right, Wildcat. I know you can’t feel what I think yet but not one part of me is upset at you for anything you did. How can any of us be mad at you for doing what you needed to do to survive? I’m mad that bastard got off so easy,” Micah growls out before adding on with a softer expression, “I’m so fucking proud of you for fighting back. You got your licks in and gave everything back to him. Proving again you’re a Wildcat that shouldn’t be underestimated.”He smirks at her.
A single tear falls from her eye and the tension in her body melts into Ben’s embrace.Logan quietly stands and moves aside as the rest of our pack circles around her. Hopefully it’s enough for her to scent us all and bring her some comfort. I never would have thought our scents were so important outside of her heat. I know they can be comforting—but to help alleviate her pain? There’s a lot we don’t know about scent matches and thankfully, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out together.
45
THEA
The large house comes into view, covered in snow just as I left it. Micah, Jake, and Liam were the ones to drive me back. The hospital is about an hour away, though from where they found me it was two hours. I found out later that Eli was able to shave that time down by at least half an hour. We’re probably lucky we didn’t crash. A little anxiety runs through me at coming home. It’s not like a switch flipped and I suddenly feel better about everything. I didn’t think that would happen once the stalker threat was gone, or maybe I did without realizing, based on how I’m feeling now.
Sophie and her pack stayed at the hotel close to the hospital for now. She didn’t say when they’d be heading back to Florida. I can’t even process that on top of everything else. The rest of the guys came home ahead of us to set things up. Based on the tests they had me do yesterday after Logan left, they advised I don’t attempt stairs for a while especially by myself. So the guys are converting a spare room on the first floor into a bedroom for me. I would complain about them going overboard but how I felt during the tests reinforced I’m not one hundred percent yet. Though with Liam being my live-in nurse I’ll definitely getbetter faster if I can help it. I just know his worrying will get old fast. I joked about him being my nurse at the hospital and Eli immediately suggested we get him a nurse’s outfit, which earned him a slap upside the head from said “nurse.”
I smile to myself at the memory. I really do love my pack. I know I wouldn’t have survived this without them. I was fighting for them, to get back to them. The sudden stop of the car pulls me out of my thoughts.
Home.
Liam guides me out of the car and holds me tight to him as we take the few porch steps to the front door. I lean into him, taking in more of his scent. It helps the pain flaring from the exertion of the stairs. I hear Micah and Jake behind us, carrying the bags and my prescriptions we picked up on the way home. Walking into the house and the mix of all our scents signals I’m really home.
Liam helps me to the living room. I’m surprised he doesn’t want me immediately in bed resting. When we turn the corner to the large living room, the banner catches my eye before everyone shouts, “Welcome home!”
All my guys are here, with Sophie and the dads, and Taz and his team. I willnotcry, but damn this is getting me close again.
Taz is the first to approach us and quickly scoops me up in a bear hug. “Don’t scare me like that again lil sis,” he whispers in my ear.
Returning his hug as tight as I can, I reply, “I’ll try.”
A smack sounds and Harrison says, “Put her down you arse, she’s still recovering.” Taz does and looks up, rubbing the back of his head. I doubt it hurt that much. Micah wraps his arm around me possessively. His, honestly, most of the guys, dislike of Taz has been made clear time and again.
“I’m okay. Thank you all for welcoming me home. It means a lot.” I try not to get choked up about it.
“Of course. It’s also our goodbye for ya. We’ll also be leaving tomorrow.” Taz looks conflicted. I know he can’t wait to get out of this town. He is not made for small town life that’s for sure.
