Normally an angered panther could’ve broken down the door, no problem. But this one was injured and seemed to trust him. In any other situation, Dylan would've run after the attackers but leaving Flora by herself was a no-go. The animal tilted her head to the side as if asking why they weren’t going after them.
“They didn’t come to kill you; they came to take you. Getting you alone could be part of their plan and I can’t risk you getting hurt again,” Dylan explained, shaking his head and breathing heavily. Being concerned for someone else during a fight was always difficult, but Flora going up against another skilled panther terrified the hell out of Dylan.
Taking on two people at once hadn't been a problem for him before, but a lack of recent training must have impacted him more than he thought. This time, there was so much more on the line. He didn’t care about getting scratched or taking punches. Flora being stabbed and attacked weighed heavy on him. She shouldn’t have even had to fight at all, let alone be injured. His whole job was to protect her, and he didn’t.
Stabs of failure hit Dylan’s gut as he stared at the only being he was supposed to protect, freely bleeding on the ground. She wouldn’t die. He knew the placement and depth of the repeated stabs were precisely executed not to kill her.
Ignoring that growing guilt, Dylan quickly locked up the room, checking windows, doors, and closets before turning around to the injured panther. Her eyes paced the room, her nose twitching from all the different scents in the room. The minute Dylan finished locking up, the panther visually relaxed. Circling around herself, she assessed her wound. She looked up at him, now kneeling in front of her.
“I need you to shift for me, Flora,” Dylan whispered, petting her side and touching his nose with hers. He let the tear that had welled behind his eye drop. She was hurt because of him.
“Please, Flora.”
Getting her to shift a few times would help the enhanced healing process kick into high gear. Her panther stared directly at him. She licked his cheek and shifted back to her human form. Since she'd feel her wound after shifting, the wince on Flora’s face was no surprise. Seeing the blood and wound still on her side, Flora’s body naturally shifted back into her panther. After doing that a few more times, her body completely healed up.
Flora lay on the floor, naked. No scar, no more bleeding, and no more pain. Dylan quickly pulled a blanket off the couch and wrapped it around her. Nudity wasn’t a big deal in the Shifter world, but Dylan didn’t know where Flora stood at that moment. He laid her on the bed, tucking the comforter tight around her.
He couldn’t stop staring. He wouldn’t heal unless she did. Breathe unless she did. He was captured by her; he needed her. For now, she needed as much rest as she could get after shifting so many times. Determining she was safe and well within his eyesight, he started to clean their hotel room. Picking up all the knives around the room, he put them away, knowing he’d have to pay for the holes left in the walls and furniture. The room was destroyed and covered in blood splatters.
Rattled up, he paced around the room, keeping his wolf at bay as Flora slept. He spent the rest of the night packing and cleaning. They had to move. Staying in the room they were attacked in would not be safe. Uncertainties filled Dylan. He felt incompetent.
Except this was bigger than a job. This was about Flora’s safety. Dylan leaned against the counter, gripping it to the point it cracked. He needed help. This wasn’t an obsessed stalker; this was a team of at least two criminals that wanted Flora captive. Two showed up tonight, but who knew how many people were working with the Brays.
He stalked toward Flora. It was time to go.
“Flora, do you want to take a shower before we leave?” Dylan asked, not really wanting to wake her. Rubbing her arm, he watched her turn towards him, tears running down her face. It crushed him.
“I’m sorry,” she let out a sob, her arm gripping his for dear life. Shocked, Dylan leaned in, his other hand coming up to hold the side of her face. He tried to wipe all the tears as they fell.
“How could you possibly be sorry? If anything, I should be the one saying sorry.”
“Because you could’ve been hurt,” she said, her tears streaming more freely.
“Yet, I’m not. Thanks to your badass panther,” Dylan said. “I should’ve been better at protecting you, Flora; you shouldn’t have gotten hurt at all.”
As if a switch flipped inside her mind, Flora shot upright. Placing both her hands on each side of his face, sincerity in her eyes, she said “I’m fine, you did a great job. If you weren’t there, I would’ve been wherever they were trying to take me.”
“Well, I’ll have to stay by your side, then,” Dylan said, looking up into her piercing brown eyes. “So that doesn’t happen.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“Promise, kitty cat.”
Flora rushed for her bag before darting to the bathroom. The sound of the shower turning on made him laugh. Still a little shocked that she would feel sorry for the attack on her, he took a water bottle from the fridge. He needed a shower too, but leaving Flora alone and unprotected wasn’t going to happen. Until he got her to the safest place he knew, they would have to deal with the growing funk coming from Dylan’s body.
21
FLORA
“Dylan, for the love of God, please just take a shower. I promise not to answer the door for three minutes,” Flora commented, trying to push the funk of Dylan’s sweat and grime from the night before out of her nose. They were walking up to Flora’s apartment after a three-hour car ride from Moonlight City. She tried not to say anything the whole car ride back, but damn did that man stink.
“Flora, once we get to the Packhouse, I’ll take a shower.”
Flora needed to get more of her things before going to stay with his Pack. A hot, soothing shower was hard to leave, and convincing him to bathe would give her more time to stall. Going to the Enchanted Packhouse scared the hell out of her. The invitation from the Alpha himself wasn’t assuring enough. Pack culture was something she had no clue about. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to learn about something she knew she couldn’t be a part of.
Nerves built up in Flora’s spine at the thought, still on edge from the attack just hours before. She was trying to keep her nerves to herself, trying to appear at ease and calm, but Dylan noticed from a mile away. He pressed his hand against her back as they walked up to her apartment. That little gesture provided an insane amount of comfort in Flora’s mind. Breathing a little easier, she slowed her walk to be closer to him. Though being closer meant being closer to the smell of sweat. Dylan sure was sexy and sweaty earlier, but that sexy wore off when the man smelled like cow shit.
“It wouldn’t hurt showering here,” she mumbled, unlocking the door. Instead of waiting outside like she normally did, she followed Dylan’s every step inside. Ignoring her own shoe policy, she kept her sneakers on. She was scared she might need to make a run for it. Being left alone wasn’t high on her list of things to do unless it involved Dylan introducing himself to some soap and water.
