Very, very different.
I turn to the tall Alpha slightly. “What about you? How are you doing?”
He pulls a face. “I might need a few stitches, but it’s nothing big. Nothing to worry about.”
Well, if he says that with that look on his face, of course, I’m going to worry.
A bag falls between us, making all of us jump.
Derrick lets out a low laugh as he meets my eyes in the rear-view mirror. “See if you can clean yourselves up a little. We don’t all need to look like we’ve just walked through a meat grinder.”
I feel like I did, though, I feel like I’ve been through a meat grinder. And in my case, it’s mostly mental, not physical. I’m sure most of the others that went on the raid tonight feel much worse.
After a few moments of digging around in the bag, Vera pulls out a pack of wet wipes, opens it and puts it between us. Then she takes a wipe and turns in my lap to face me. She reaches up and drags the wipe over my face, the cool sensation feels good.
Though, when she pulls the wipe away after only one swipe, it’s covered in a colour I don’t want to think too much about.
Gross.
She lets out a soft laugh. “It’s probably a good idea to clean up, at least a little.” Then she turns the wipe and goes over my face again in slow and careful motions, trying to get as much of the gunk off as possible.
I slide my arms around her waist and try to relax. It’s not like we can do anything right now, just cleaning up and waiting until we arrive.
From the corner of my eyes, I watch as Caleb helps Luca put on a pheromone blocking mask, and then I notice the soothing pheromones Vera is releasing. No wonder I was starting to feel so calm.
“Vera, you don’t have to...” I reach up, trying to stop her movements, but when she looks at me, her eyes are full of tears. Her pheromones are as much a way for her to calm down as her trying to get the rest of us to relax. “Thank you.”
I put my hands on her waist, rubbing circles, trying to soothe her too.
We’re all dealing with the situation in our own way.
All trying to deal with what happened tonight, with not knowing how Mathew is doing, with everything that we’ve been through.
We’re all trying to deal with fear in our own ways.
6
Caleb
The place Derrick takes us to seems to be part of a set of buildings at the edge of the city. It doesn’t look like a farm, but also, it doesn’t look like a house.
“Two of the doc’s mates are vets. This is a vet clinic during normal working hours. He’s a doc at the nearby hospital who sometimes helps us out when things get a little dicey.” Derrick drives past the main buildings and parks around the back.
Timothy is already waiting for us, leaning against a car, exhaustion obvious in his whole body.
As soon as I slide the side door of the van open, Timothy comes over, his face tight but not grim. “Mathew’s inside. He’s getting stitched up right now. He should be fine.”
I wish I could run inside immediately, be with Mathew, be at his side, but I need to get the rest of my mates out of the van first.
The trip over here was long enough that our muscles have gotten stiff and Vera nearly falls off Jorge’s lap when she tries to get up.
I quickly catch her, putting her on her feet. The moment she feels steady ground, she’s off, rushing inside, Luca closely behind her.
Jorge takes a little longer to get out of the van and when he meets my gaze, the worry in his eyes makes my heart ache. Then he nods and we follow Vera and Luca.
As soon as we open the door, the scent of disinfectant greets us. The small building has a waiting area and a couple of rooms to one side.
Riley, Vera and Luca are waiting in front of one of the doors, impatient.
