She hobbles, like fucking hobbles, to the closest wall, leaning against it for support. I stop behind her, not quite sure if she wants me to follow, if she wants help, or if she’s having an episode of some kind.
“Hey, what’s up?” I ask as she leans closer to the wall, her body hunching in on itself. My ego reads her uncomfortable posture as her wishing anyone else in the world had walked into that room, but the fucking voice of reason, the one that has been as dead inside me as my dick has been, wakes up.
“King said Puck. Puck would help me,” she says, her eyes squeezed tight, her voice breaking.
What she said hits me in the chest. “Yeah, that’s me,” I offer.
Her eyes squeeze tighter. “He never said anything about you, Colt. Why?”
“Puck.”
“Okay, sorry.” She grits her teeth as she takes another shaky breath, still keeping her fucking gorgeous eyes locked away from me. And you can plainly see she’s about to say more, but the next moment, instead of talking, her face contorts.
It’s lucky her eyes are shut because I freak the fuck out. “What’s wrong?”
She takes a few slow measured inhales and exhales before she talks quieter. “I need my medication and I think I left my bag on the seat back there.”
“I’ll get it. Then we can go,” I say. I want to reach out and comfort her, but she needs medication, not me.
I go and am back. Without a word of a lie it takes me four, maybe five seconds. Not fucking quick enough though. Crowding around her, demanding an explanation are Hayes and Talon.
And as clear as day I can read the waves of discomfort rolling off her. I can also understand what her hand up means as she insists on space. But they want answers and they want them now. And that shit doesn’t cut it with me.
“Read the situation, Talon, and take a fucking step back.” I slam them both back, spitting my words over my shoulder at him. Before the anger taking hold makes me nasty as fuck. “Hang on, are you reading Raney her rights? Fucking typical.”
“What! No!” he says.
I scoff at him. Not fucking concerned about him or Hayes because all my attention is on the way she’s swaying on her feet. Before anyone can say another word, I scoop her up into my arms as Talon rushes closer at the same time. “Talon, I will kick your fucking ass if you don’t move out of the way. Look at her! Someone in your department did this. She just told me she needs medication. I bet they didn’t even get her a glass of fucking water!”
Hayes, always the voice of reason, asks, “Raney? Are you hurt?”
She half fights against me, but I take a step away from their crowding, with her firmly in my arms. And she must be feeling bad because instead of fighting, I realise she was curling in on herself. Her head slumps against my chest as she whimpers in pain.
The noise she makes pierces something in my brain. I respond to Raney on a different level. Talon takes another step closer. My eyes lock on his mouth, which I know is about to start spewing all these fucking excuses, but I stop him with the noise that spills from mine.
I one hundred percent growl, shutting everything down. And it feels so fucking good. I let the rage of my alpha out because it feels just as right.
For the first time in my goddamn life, I stand up against Hayes and Talon. I push back against their presence with my own stronger presence. And then I do what I should have done years ago: I take Raney and leave.
She’s quieter, calmer almost as I juggle her weight to dig out my car keys. She doesn’t look at me. It doesn’t matter though because I can feel her. And back there, she relaxed in my arms.
Placing her gently on the back seat, she’s still quiet and withdrawn as I crowd around her before I pass over her bag. Her hand shakes when she tries to open it, but I lean down to help her, spilling the contents on her lap so we can find what she needs faster.
We move without talking or even looking at each other. I pass over some water as she tries unsuccessfully to open her pill bottle. Taking it out of her hand, I spill the tabs into her waiting palm. She takes a few before she points to a foil packet. I crack them open into her hand too, my brain taking in all the names. Later, I will see what they are for, but for now, I’m focussed on helping however I can.
She waves me away when she’s got what she needs, keeping her eyes closed, but now she’s shivering. Nabbing the blankets I bought to protect King’s bike, and let’s face it they’re generally better than the blankets available at five-star hotels, I wrap her up in a bundle before stretching around her to put her seatbelt on.
“Raney, are you still cold?” She shivers her answer. Ripping my hoodie off, I’m helping her arms slide in my sleeves before she can protest.
I triple check if she needs anything more before I move on to dealing with the issue behind us. It’s fucking weird, everything in my head is condensed to the simplest of thoughts—protect Raney. Shutting the door on her, so she’s safe and secure, I turn to face them.
I’m like mid spin and Hayes is there again, right up in my face and way too close to her for my liking.
“Fuck off,” I say clear as day, not budging an inch in case they try to open it on her.
Hayes looks wired. “Is she okay?”
But I look past him to Talon because he’s got something he needs to say. Apparently. I can feel his anxiety pushing down like the pressure before an electrical storm.
