Talked about me.
I tried to open my mouth, tried to let them know I was here, but the words got stuck in my throat. My tongue had turned into a thick wad of cotton in my mouth. Frustration started to bubble up in me.
Then a dark head snapped up, a hand flying up to stop someone from talking a second before he shoved past several adults.
"Skye." Remy's voice was more soothing than all the cool water in the world could be on my desert dry throat. "Hey, babe. There you are."
His hand grabbed mine, infinitely gentle as he lifted it and pressed his mouth to it. Blinking, I realized there were actual tears in his eyes. A sensation of panic fluttered in my chest.
I swallowed roughly, flinching at the rough sensation. A straw appeared in front of my mouth and I greedily sucked in mouthfuls, taking the time to realize the other people in the room were the campus doctor who treated Katy, Elias, Gabe, and my mother.
Mom smoothed my hair away from my face, her voice catching on a sob. "Jesus, baby." She pressed her forehead to mine.
I let the straw go and cleared my throat, still wincing at the pain. "What ... What happened?"
Gabe pulled my mom back gently, giving the doctor space to move in. He flashed a light in my eyes, softly prodding at different parts of me.
"Skye, do you know where you are?" he asked, his blue eyes intelligent and keen as he waited for my answer.
My eyes went to the nametag at his chest. Dr. Lupin.
A snort escaped me before I could stop it. How appropriate.
His brows went up. "Skye?"
Remy smirked at me, his hand squeezing around mine. He knew exactly what I was thinking. "She's laughing at your name."
Dr. Lupin rolled his eyes. Clearly this wasn't the first time someone commented on his name. Probably wouldn't be the last either.
"Right," he said with a sigh. "Do you know where you are?"
"The school infirmary," I murmured, my eyes moving around the room slowly.
"And do you remember what happened before?" he asked carefully, making a note on the chart in his hand.
I frowned, the thoughts jumbled.
But then everything snapped into picture perfect place.
"Rhodes!" I gasped, my eyes going frantically to Remy.
He settled a hand on my shoulder, easing me back against the bed. "He's fine, babe. Whatever Sierra drugged him with just knocked him out, but he's fine. He's back at the cabin."
My breathing went ragged as I kept flipping through the memories. I looked at him again and felt as my chin started to tremble. "Cassian?"
"Dead," Remy replied softly, no remorse in his eyes.
"Dead?" I echoed.
"You tackled him and you both went over the cliff. The fall ... broke his spine," Remy told me quietly. "He died instantly."
Dr. Lupin cleared his throat, catching my attention. He passed the clipboard to Elias, who offered me a small, encouraging smile. "How do you feel right now, Skye? How's your pain?"
"Everything hurts, but considering I fell off a mountain, that's to be expected, right?" I still could only whisper my words, anything more made my head pound.
He moved to the foot of my bed, lifting the covers off my bare feet. "Can you flex your right foot?"
Not sure what he was getting at, I pushed down with my right foot.
"Excellent. And your left?"
I repeated the motion with the opposite foot, arching a brow.
He straightened and looked at me, folding the covers back over my toes. "Can you raise each of your arms?"
By the time I got to the second arm, I felt like I was a puppet. "Anything else?"
Dr. Lupin was frowning when he looked at me, but then his gaze went to Mom and Gabe. "I can't explain it, but it appears all motor functions are working. She's alert and talking. There doesn't seem to be any cognitive impairment."
With a cry of relief, my mom hugged Gabe and then Elias.
I looked at Remy, confused as hell, but he looked as relieved as the adults.
"What's going on?" I asked, my voice tiny.
"Skye," Dr. Lupin started as Mom grabbed my other hand, "you've been unconscious for almost three weeks."
"What?" I whispered, stunned. That couldn't be right. It felt like I had just been fighting with Cassian on the mountain.
"You and Cassian both went over the side of the mountain," Remy said slowly, his voice rough with emotion. Regret and anguish filled his gorgeous eyes, making my heart wrench painfully in my chest, "You were barely breathing when I got to you."
"You broke all four of your legs," Dr. Lupin added. "You had a skull fracture, dislocated your jaw, and that's not counting the bite on your shoulder that went down to the bone. For what you went through ... I honestly didn't think you would make it out of the first surgery."
"I had surgery?"
"Five," Dr. Lupin told me. "The only reason you're still here is you've been too unstable to move."
"That," Elias added, finally joining the conversation, "and we weren't sure how to explain transporting an overly large wolf across state lines if stopped."
I looked down at my hand wrapped in Remy's and frowned. I had been a wolf when I went over. I didn't remember shifting back.
Elias sat down in a small rolling chair and wheeled it to my side. "You didn't shift back into human form until a few days ago."
"When I was unconscious?" I asked, still confused as hell.
"The best explanation is that your wolf sustained the injuries, letting you heal that way because, well, had you been human, you absolutely would have died," Dr. Lupin said bluntly.
I flinched, and Remy sucked in a sharp breath.
"Doctor," Gabe murmured gently, clearly trying to steer him away from that topic.
"It's true," Elias said, his eyes bright and kind. He pulled off his spectacles, folding them and dropping them into the front pocket of his button down. "Our human bodies are infinitely more fragile than our wolf's. Usually once a shifter body is unconscious, the wolf recedes and the dominant human form takes over. The human mind must cognitively allow the wolf to exist. It's why you were able to suppress your wolf for so long. And then you had to learn to summon her all over."
"So why didn't I shift back?" I asked slowly.
Elias smiled. "I can only think your wolf knew shifting back would be disastrous. The bite severed what would have been your human subclavian artery. You would have bled out before we even got you back to the school to treat you."
Mom moaned low in her throat, burying her face against my hand.
"But I didn't shift back. My wolf ... didn't go away?" First, I couldn't get her to come out and now she wanted equal body time?
"I truly believe it had more to do with the fact that Remy stayed in wolf form with you the entire time," Elias said breathlessly, his eyes bright.
My gaze shot to Remy. "You what?"
He shrugged, clearly as confused as I was. "I don't know. But I could still ... feel you when I was a wolf. So, I stayed shifted. I didn't shift back until you did."
"We have barely begun to tap the surface of what a bonded wolf can do. We know it increases their years of living amongst other things. Why can't it help the healing process, too?" Elias murmured.
"There's no science to prove that," Dr. Lupin added, clearly only willing to give Elias so much latitude with his theory.
"Why else would Remington feel the compulsion to stay in wolf form and stay at her side?" Elias countered, spinning in the chair to face him.
"We can debate this later," Gabe interrupted. "Skye probably needs rest now."
"Apparently I've been resting for three weeks," I muttered, not wanting to admit I was already getting sleepy.
"He's right, honey," Mom said, smoothing my hair back again. "Get some sleep."
Dr. Lupin and Elias moved to the door.
"I'm glad to see you're awake and doing well, Ms. Markham," Elias said, smiling once again at me.
"Thanks, Elias."
/> Dr. Lupin cleared his throat. "Don't visit too long. Skye does need rest." His gaze moved to Remy, growing serious. "You need rest, too. Now that Skye has started to recover, it might be time to return to your cabin where you can get a good night's sleep."
Remy nodded, but I could see from the set of his jaw he didn't plan on going anywhere.
As they left, I looked back at my mom, taking in her messy ponytail and simple jeans and flannel shirt.
"How long have you been here?" I asked her, still amazed she was here.
Mom glanced back at Gabe. "We flew out within hours of finding out what happened. Mallory came, too. She left last week to be with the twins."
"They definitely need adult supervision," Remy cracked, winking at me.
I wheezed out a small laugh, but my ribs ached with the movement.
"Easy," he admonished, settling a hand against my stomach. "Take it easy."
"You came, too?" I asked Gabe, amazed he would come out here.
Gabe nodded. "Of course. You're family, Skye. And with everything that happened, I needed to have a few meetings. Things are going to change around GPA now."
A tendril of worry wound its way inside me. "Like what?"
Gabe smiled. "Nothing that matters now. Get some rest. We can talk about everything soon. As soon as you're cleared for travel, you'll fly back to Blackwater with us."
"But school-"
"We basically missed the last part of the semester, babe," Remy said wryly. "Winter break starts in five days anyway and we would be going home then anyway."
That shut me up.
"If you two wanted to skip finals so badly, next time ask for a note or fake the flu," Gabe said lightly, his eyes sparkling. "No need to literally jump off a cliff."
Remy rolled his eyes as I tried to hold in a laugh. "Ha, ha, Dad."
Mom squeezed my hand once more and let me go. "I'll be back in the morning, okay? But if you need anything-"
"You'll come running," I finished.
"I love you."
I grinned. "I love you more."
Her eyes narrowed. "I love you most." She looked at Remy. "Make sure she rests?"
"I promise," he swore, his eyes warm as he looked at me.
Gabe and Mom headed out, closing the door behind them. And then it was just Remy and me.
Finally.
"Rem-"
"Me first?" he begged, his eyes pleading.
I nodded slowly. "One condition."
He raised his brows, waiting.
With a grunt and a grimace, I pushed back a few inches.
Remy shot to his feet. "Skye-"
I patted the now empty space. "If we're doing this, I want you right next to me."
His eyes slid shut for a second before he moved, gently easing into the bed beside me. He worked an arm under me until I was resting my head on his shoulder, his other arm wrapped loosely around my waist.
"Better," I murmured, inhaling his scent.
I stiffened.
"What? Did I hurt you?" he asked quickly.
"How bad do I smell?" I demanded. Three weeks in a bed with no shower didn't sound like I wanted him this close.
He chuckled, the sound soothing. "You smell amazing."
"Liar," I muttered.
Dipping his head, he sniffed my hair. "You smell like you. I love that smell."
Okay, as far as compliments went, that was pretty solid.
"I'm sorry," he started after a second. "I'm so sorry for what I said. I was scared and worried ... I should have handled things differently."
"Maybe if I hadn't acted like a brat," I countered, fully ready to admit my role in this mess, "you wouldn't have said what you said. Jesus, and when I said this was like Long Mesa - I did not mean that. You, Blackwater ... it's nothing like that place."
"I know you didn't mean it," he replied with a sigh.
I pulled back to look him in the eye. "I still shouldn't have said it."
"And I shouldn't have ordered you to do something."
"So, next time," I said slowly, "you ask my opinion and I think before I speak? And maybe then I won't end up in a coma?"
He winced. "Not funny, Skye. Seeing you go over that cliff ... I thought I lost you. I've never been that scared in my life."
"Sorry," I murmured, wrapping my arm around his torso and squeezing as much as my muscles would allow.
"Never do that again," he demanded. "Please."
"I promise I will never shove Cassian off a cliff again," I vowed, but then sobered. "He's really dead?"
"He's really dead," Remy answered. "I'm a little pissed I didn't get to beat the shit out of him first, but the end result was what I wanted."
"I've killed two people," I said softly as the realization slammed into me.
"Yeah," Remy said, his arms going tight around me. "Both times to protect someone in your pack. You're not a killer, Skye."
"You sound pretty sure about that."
"I've never been more sure." He never wavered once, conviction strong in his tone. His confidence gave me confidence.
"What happened to Trace?" I had almost forgotten about his appearance at the end.
"He's gone."
I reared back. "He's dead?"
"No," Remy said with a dark chuckle. "But he probably wishes he was. He took off. The entire Norwood pack did, actually. A couple of other packs, too. They cleared out before you even made it into surgery."
"Wow," I whispered. "What does that mean for the school?"
"That next semester we won't have as many people here?" he guessed with a halfhearted shrug. "I don't know. Odds of them coming back are slim."
Something was flashing in the back of my mind, a memory I couldn't quite grasp.
"Rhodes is really okay?" I pressed, snuggling into his side. The heat radiating from his body was sinking into my bones, making me lethargic and drowsy.
His fingers played with the ends of my hair. "He's really okay. He feels like shit, but he's fine."
"It wasn't his fault!" I protested.
"He still blamed himself for buying Sierra's act."
"Sierra! Where is that bitch?"
“She took off with the Norwood pack as best as well can tell. Her parents are a wreck about it. They came out last week to collect the rest of her things, but she's gone."
Gone.
Gone.
"Rem," I said slowly, a memory starting to form. "When I was on the cliff, Cassian said something. Something about the missing shifters."
Remy went still beneath me before pushing himself up partially to look down at me. "What do you mean?"
I swallowed, trying to focus. "He said ... My uncle and grandfather have some kind of alliance with the Norwood pack. He mentioned something about a facility?" I frowned, my head throbbing as I forced myself to remember.
"A facility?"
"Yeah. Some place where they were working on a cure for the fertility issue? He said they were going to visit it in a couple weeks." I gasped. "You need to get someone to follow my uncle. If he goes, then you can follow him and see where they are!"
"I'll tell my dad," Remy said, then hesitated, "but if they were planning a visit a couple weeks ago, then odds are it already happened. That's if it even happened after Cassian died."
"Has ... has my uncle made contact?" I asked, kind of terrified to know the answer.
Remy gave a small nod. "Yeah. He contacted my dad. Made some big production about Blackwater stealing females from the Long Mesa pack. Apparently, he's going to bring it to the Council at the Summit for a formal inquisition."
My fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt, fisting it. "What does that mean?"
"I don't know," he whispered. "Technically you all left on your own free will and we offered sanctuary, but it wasn’t done through the proper channels.”
I bit my lip. He was right; pack law had specific ways of requesting a pack transfer. Mom and I had completely disregarded them all. There were sanctum laws in place, but th
ose were difficult to enforce.
“The Council could start asking questions. Want to interview you and your mom to make sure we didn't kidnap you or something."
"I'll happily tell anyone who will listen what those assholes did to me, to my mom. To Bella. Cassian didn't even care, you know? He was practically joking about it when we were alone on the mountain." I shuddered in revulsion, remembering how he taunted me.
Remy went oddly silent beside me. So much so that I finally looked to make sure he wasn't sleeping. He wasn't. He was wide awake, his expression fierce and wary at the same time.
"What?" I asked, lifting my head.
He visibly swallowed, glancing down for a second. "This changes nothing, okay?"
That didn't sound good.
"Okay," I replied, dragging out the word.
"When I got to where you two were, I saw..." He trailed off, his eyes glittering with something dark. "Your clothes were shredded. Skye, if he-"
I quickly covered his lips with my fingers. "Because I shifted suddenly. He didn't - nothing like that happened."
"It wouldn't matter to me if it did," he emphasized gently, his fingers trailing across the curve of my jaw.
"But it didn't," I promised, leaning into his touch. "He said some crazy shit, I shifted, he shifted, and ... you know the rest."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing that matters," I answered honestly. "Nothing that was true."
His eyes drifted to my lips, and I read his intention and closed my mouth.
"No toothbrush in three weeks," I reminded him through tight lips.
He laughed, a deep belly laugh that made his eyes crinkle at the corners. "I don't care. I haven't kissed you in three weeks."
"Three weeks is a long time," I admitted, my eyes falling to his full mouth.
"Okay, maybe not exactly three weeks," he relented. "I might have tried kissing you once to see if you would wake up."
"Like Sleeping Beauty?" I giggled.
"Yes," he grumbled. "And if you tell Katy..."
"You'll what?" I challenged, still smiling.
"Nothing," he replied softly, his eyes sweeping across my face. "I'd do nothing. You own me, Skye Markham. I'm yours."
"One condition," I countered with a whisper.
"Okay." He smirked at me.
"You can be mine if I can be yours." My heart flipped in my chest as his brown eyes melted.
Sanctum (Blackwater Pack Book 1) Page 40
