Mia sipped her milk and tried to keep her mind blank. Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would face what happened. Right now, she didn't want to think. If she thought too hard she would start crying and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop. She curled up on her bed and hugged a stuffed bear she'd had since she was little. She'd always used it to comfort herself when she was little and she hoped it would help now. It took a lot longer for her to fall asleep than she wanted it to and when she did finally doze off it was to a fitful sleep filled with dark dreams.
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 fingersinsideher, 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 itshe 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.”
