I started to argue, but he was already lifting me up, and it hurt so badly that it took my breath away.But I bit back a yelp, because then I’d have been tucked right back into bed, and I didn’t want to be in bed.I also didn’t want the indignity of being carried through the house like a damned invalid, but I put up with it.
“Lia!”The clan gathered around as soon as they saw me, touching me—my hair, my face, my shoulder—as if to reassure themselves that I was really there.
Cyrus had mostly kept them out of the bedroom, wanting me to sleep.I’d woken up a few times to faces peering in at me and whispers in the hall, and some of the guys had tried to tag along when he brought my meals.But for the most part, they’d obeyed their Alpha.
But it had clearly taken a toll.Now he stopped in the hallway to the kitchen, letting them have a moment to get it out of their systems, and I immediately felt better.And so did they, I guessed, because everyone was suddenly talking at once.
“You went to HQ without us?”That, of course, was Sophie, the wavy red hair in a high, bouncy ponytail today, which didn’t match her expression.It looked like the outburst had been building for days.
“You look like shit,” that was Lee, his dreads also in a ponytail, if a more restrained one, and his sharp, dark eyes looking me over.I had a flash from my latest dream, seeing him slumped against a wall in the darkness with his face agonized, but then it broke and left me dizzy again.
“What do you expect?She took on three Relics at once!”That was Jason, the tall, skinny guy with the Adam’s apple and the Carrot Top snarl perched precariously on his head.Like all Weres, his hair grew faster than he could easily manage, which had resulted in a man bun of epic proportions today.He was one of those who’d had the Relic potion and had been with us on that awful night.
Only he wasn’t looking like he thought it had been awful.
“It was epic.You were epic!”he informed me, his eyes shining.“There must have been, like, fifty of them—”
“There were not fifty,” Cyrus said dryly.
“Fifty!”Jason repeated.“And we carved themup!”
Nothing unites a pack like fighting together, I thought.
Or maybe not.
“She was stupid,” that was from a little way down the corridor, where I saw a tousle-headed blond with a three-day beard and crutches parked in the doorway to the kitchen.Noah.I teared up seeing him upright and fine, just fine, except for needing a little help.
“You look good,” I croaked.
“You don’t!”he hobbled this way, pushing through the crowd to get me in a hug that threatened to break something.
His face was buried in my chest, but Cyrus didn’t say a word.Noah had the look of a small child running to his mother, scared and wanting reassurance, even though he was in his late teens.And when he lifted his face, it was wet.
“You were stupid!”he yelled at me, astonishingly loudly.“You could havedied!You were stupid, and you should have left me!”
“I’ll never leave you,” I said before I thought, an immediate knee-jerk reaction.And wasn’t sure if that had been the right call or not when he sobbed and abruptly turned and limped back the other way, shoving the door to the backyard open so hard that it slammed against the house.
“He never had anybody do that for him,” Lee said quietly, as I frowned after him.“He never thought—none of us thought—anybody ever would.”
I transferred my stare to him, not knowing what to say.
“Oh, that’s great.And what am I?”Cyrus asked, breaking the tension.
“’Cept for you,” Lee said, ducking his head.“But we already knew you were crazy.”
“I wondered what you were doing with him,” Luis told me.“Now we know.You’re bothloco.”
“I’ll have you know I’m a catch,” Cyrus said.
“Sure you are, bro.”
“None of which changes the fact that nobody would have almost died if you guys hadn’t left us here!”Sophie said, looking harassed.“We could have helped!”
“Nobody said you couldn’t go,” Andy reminded her, his brown hair sticking up as if he’d also just rolled out of bed.
“Nobody told us about it, either!I was in theshower!And you just barreled out of here without a word, then the next thing I know, you’re coming back all covered in blood, Noah has to be carried in, and Lia looks like… well, likethat—”
She flapped an accusing hand at me and kept on talking.Based on experience, that could go on for some time, but Cyrus handled it the way he usually did.He just started walking, which didn’t stop the flow of conversation but left it behind pretty fast.
