“You’d rather she sufferneedlessly than let me help her? Fuck off.” Damian’s pissed off voice drops to join the hushed argument happening on the other side of the bedroom door. Rolling over to go back to sleep, I find Bo’s spot cold beside me, and a note in his place wishing me good morning and a reminder to text him if I need anything or if Slade’s being an obtuse idiot again.
The next thing I know, said brother is storming into the room with Damian hot on his heels. “Sorry we woke you,” he apologizes as I sit up, more confused than annoyed, but both can easily be remedied by some answers and caffeine.
“What’s going on?”
Schooling his features, he explains, “Damian’s still insisting that he’s able to mend your leg, yet won’t offer an explanation.”
Scowling, Damian snaps back, “Toyou.This is Sabrina’s call, not yours. You don’t get to shoot it down as a possibility because you don’t like the thought of me being the one to help her.”
Tilting my head, I look between them, both of their attention rapt on my face in a preternaturally still, unnerving way that makes me squirm. “How?”
Damian’s mop of messy, dark hair falls into his face, obscuring one of his hypnotic, red-ringed, silver eyes. “I have a special knack for this sort of thing, an ability to manipulate the feral energy we wield in a different way.”
Unconsciously, my gaze flits to Slade’s, where even though he’s attempting to conceal it, it’s clear that the entire ordeal has him on edge. I’m about to open my mouth to refuse, to tell Damian not to worry about it so that Slade can relax, but the more I think about it, the more I keep coming back to the fact that they don’t trust these three at all. If Damian’s telling the truth and can help me, it’ll go a long way in easing some of the tension around here, or these next few weeks are going to be stressful and miserable for everyone. Wewantthem on our side when we make the trip across the country; not thinking they’re on some warped, righteous crusade to save me.
Blowing out a long breath, I mentally prepare myself for whatever fallout may come from my choice, understanding now why making decisions in this place causes Bo to become nauseous. “Hey, if you think you can make me less of a burden around here, feel free to give it a shot.”
“You’re not a burden,” they refute in tandem, and my lip twitches before I bite back my amusement.
“Fine, let me rephrase. I don’t like being so reliant on other people that I need help to make it down the stairs without breaking my neck. So if you have something that’ll speed up the healing process, I’m all for it, because I’m going stir crazy laying around all of the time. Slade can sit with me though, right?”
Damian nods before a slow smile takes over his face as if he’s suddenly concocted a plan to steal Christmas. “Of course. If he wants, he can even help.”
Slade narrows his eyes as he slides in behind me on the bed so that I can lean back against him, his suspicion ramping up my nerves until I begin to second guess my decision. “What do you mean?”
Damian chooses to speak to me instead, blatantly giving Slade the cold shoulder. “You know how Kaige did that thing that made you relax?”
I nod. “Like Slade does, I’m familiar.”
He huffs, but agrees, sitting on the edge of the mattress. “It’s an alpha thing. For lack of better phrasing, we can communicate with the wolf in your chest in two ways. Whether that’s to convince it that everything’s alright and soothe it, which is typically reserved for women and children, or to pull some of the volatile energy plaguing it, forcing it into submission.”
Craning my neck uncomfortably, I look at Slade for confirmation who clarifies, “It’s how we keep people in line. We pull some of the feral energy from them and absorb it as our own. Brings them to heel while also getting a boost in strength, which is what makes us a force to be reckoned with, if we so choose, though it doesn’t come without cost, so we use the ability sparingly.”
I turn back to Damian. “Like you did with Adrian.”
He smirks. “As good of an excuse as any; the trip here with him tested all of our nerves, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t ready to jump at the chance when you offered.” Clearing his throat, he scoots closer, kneeling beside me and sitting on his heels. “Anyway, it’s our wolves that give us our expedited healing. So in a nutshell, I’ll send yours a boost of energy instead of draining it, while at the same time coaxing it to relax and channel that extra energy into mending your leg.”
“You can reverse it?” Slade asks in a hushed whisper. His tone is closed off enough that I can’t get a read on if he’s surprised or upset, but based on the way his fingers tighten on my side, I’m guessing the latter.
Damian seems to pick up on it too, but rather than make another jab about how much better of a choice any of the three of them are instead of the men I’ve chosen, he relents, “Kaige and Hunter can’t either, and trust me, they’ve tried plenty since finding out that I had the ability. We’re born and raised to take power and hold onto it unless releasing it through force, so I doubt many have even considered experimenting with peacefully giving it away, or ever had a reason to. I only can because one of my fathers taught me when I was a kid before my wolf was strong enough to dig his heels in, I think. These fuckers don’t want to give up their power to anyone, even us.”
Slade nods, though he doesn’t say anything. Without any more protest, Damian settles a hand on my collar bone and I squirm beneath his touch, gripping the hem of my shirt. At the last minute, he sighs, reluctantly asking, “You want to chip in on this one, or no? I don’t blame you if not; it’s not a good feeling when the shoe’s on the other foot.”
Ah, therein lies the diabolical plan behind the smile. He was looking forward to using Slade as a battery pack and leaving him weak.
I swear, how men get anything done when they spend so much time measuring their dicks against one another is a miracle.
Slade’s voice has a hard edge as he declares, “If it’ll actually help her, of course I will.” He extends a hand in offering, wrist up. “But if you’re lying, I’ll take immense satisfaction in returning the favor.”
Latching onto his arm, Damian closes his eyes, drawing in a deep breath. As he exhales, I arch up with a gasp, the back of my head resting on Slade’s shoulder. A warm rush pours in from beneath his palm, swiftly spreading throughout my body until there’s nowhere I can feel that doesn’t have a trace ofDamiantouching it. It’s all-consuming, and I shut my eyes, sinking into the overwhelming sensations. The rush of energy is mixed with a calming wave similar to what Kaige and Slade have done before to settle me down, though this time, there’s a strange cross between numbness, and my nerve endings prickling with electricity; sort of like standing after your leg falls asleep. It’s everything and nothing, and I scrunch up my face as another harsh wave assaults my system.
The skin on my leg begins to gradually grow warmer and more irritating until it’s practically on fire. The itching is so intense that I‘m only vaguely aware of Slade capturing my hands as I buck against him, desperate to gouge at the skin. Damian only presses more firmly against my collar as I squirm and writhe, a pathetic cry slipping past my lips as I struggle between them.
“I’ve got you, shh.” Slade rambles endlessly as I start jerking in earnest, fire licking at my flesh. “Do you know why I call you mon soleil, love? You give me a reason to wake up in the morning. You’re the sun in my life, the light it was missing all this time, and without you, my life is bleak and miserable.”
Fighting against him as the small fire turns into an all-out inferno, I grit out, “That’s cheesy as hell, shut up.”
“Do you really want me too?” he asks with a chuckle, though his strained tone betrays his nerves.
