by Maia Dylan
“This morning?” Chris asked.
“Ah, yeah.” Faith frowned slightly. “When I came to.”
Nodding, Chris stepped forward and clasped Faith’s hand. Trent stamped on his wolf’s paw to stop the growl it wanted to give, almost smiling at the teeth snapped in his direction.
“Faith, we have a lot to talk through and plenty of time to do it. You need to know a couple of things for right now. You are safe, you are healing, and no one here would harm a hair on your head. OK?”
Faith must have liked the sound of that, so she nodded.
“You also need to know that you have been here with us for ten days now.”
* * * *
“I’m sorry, what?” Faith asked even as her jaw dropped. Quite an achievement to do both at the same time! She looked at the doctor, who smiled calmly at her. “Ten days? I’ve been in this place for ten whole days?” Wow, Faith had no idea she could get that shrill. She looked at Tyler and Trent, who stood behind him, and saw they were both nodding. Holy shitballs!
She went to continue to ask questions but stopped when the appearance of the two brothers registered. They both looked tired and worried, and strain lines bracketed their eyes and mouths. There was stubble on their cheeks, which she had never seen before, and if she wasn’t mistaken, they both looked like they had dropped some weight.
Ten days had passed, huh, and from the looks of them, they had not left her side despite her ordering them out of her room. What did that mean?
“Faith, I know you don’t really want us to be here,” Ty spoke and hung his head a little. “But neither Trent nor I could leave you here alone. Hell, sweetheart, I wouldn’t even know where to go.” His gaze lifted to hers, and she was struck at just how desperate he looked. When she looked to Trent, she saw that same desperation. Faith wasn’t ready to look too much further into that look or analyze the emotions she felt swirling around inside her, so she pushed them aside for the moment.
“OK, ten days, huh?” Faith raised an eyebrow at the men in the room. “What’s a girl gotta do around here to get a cup of coffee and something to eat?” She was shocked as the two brothers practically fell over themselves and almost started a fistfight trying to get out the door to make that happen. When they had almost left the room in an explosion of curses, shoves, and promises of coffee and food, Faith barked a laugh, startling them into a sudden, silent stop.
Hell, it had been so long since she had laughed it had startled her a little, too, even more so when she realized her mouth was still turned up slightly in a smile. She watched as their expressions softened, and they looked at her with warmth in their eyes.
“I like that sound, baby.” Trent’s voice was low and masculine and did funny things to her insides.
“Me, too, sweet girl. We’ll do everything we can to make sure you make that sound as much as possible.” Ty’s eyes suddenly sparkled blue, and his voice dropped to a very sexy growl. “And other sounds of pleasure that we look forward to hearing on a very regular basis as well.”
Faith’s eyes widened at that, and her heart thumped a little quicker.
Ty pushed his brother out the door, and Trent went with a curse. She could hear the two of them calling each other names as they walked away.
Faith smiled at that. They were like two peas in a pod—two highly competitive peas in a pod.
Faith glanced up and spotted Sophia grinning madly at her, and the doctor standing with his arms crossed and an amused smirk on his face. “You know, Faith, that is the first time those two have sounded happy and acted like that in a long time.”
Faith frowned at that. Ty and Trent had always had a great relationship as brothers but more so as best friends. They were continually ragging on each other and trying to one-up each other, which had always made her laugh.
“What? They are always like that.”
Chris’s arms dropped to his sides, and his smile turned sad. “Not in the last two years, Faith. They had closed themselves off from each other and in some ways from the rest of us. It’s just good to see a semblance of them as they were before you dis—” The doctor stopped, and his face reddened slightly. “Well, just before. Now, let’s check you out a little while we wait for them to come back.”
Faith let the doctor take her vitals as she thought about what he had been saying. She thought he may have been about to say, “before you disappeared,” but surely that wasn’t right, was it? Why would her disappearance have affected the brothers so much? She was still trying to figure that one out when the door opened and the brothers came in. Ty held a steaming cup in one hand and a paper bag in the other. Trent came in carrying a food tray, which held a plate of what looked like pancakes with cream, bananas, and bacon. Oh hell yeah! Come to Mama.
“Gimme, gimme, gimme.” Faith threw her hands out, wiggling her fingers toward the plate of heaven and steaming cup of nirvana.
Both the brothers smiled and moved forward to place their offerings on her table, pushing it across the bed in front of her. Pancakes with bacon and caramelized bananas were her ultimate comfort food, the one thing she craved whenever she was feeling down and out of sorts. It warmed her heart that they remembered. She watched as Ty handed Sophia the paper bag in his hand and watched as the young girl, who had been shown more hate than love in her short life, took it hesitantly and opened it slowly, as if waiting for it to bite her.
“Oh yum!” Sophia squealed, and Faith grinned at the first real unadulterated joy she had ever seen on Sophia’s face. “Chocolate croissants! Yummy, yummy, yummy.”
Faith’s eyes filled, and she blinked to clear them. That something so small could bring such joy and wonder to that sweet little girl was a crime. When she lifted the cup to her mouth and took a sip of her coffee, perfectly made with just the right amount of sweetener, and if she was not mistaken, this was not skinny milk but the real full-fat deal, exactly how she preferred, her gaze rose to meet theirs.
“You remembered how I like my coffee?” she whispered.
The brothers’ gazes warmed even more as they moved closer to the bed, stopping just short of touching her, which disappointed her a little if she were to be truthful.
“Baby, we remember everything about you,” Trent said softly.
“We have a lot to talk about and explain to you, Faith.” Ty took a deep breath, and Faith lost herself in the emotions swirling around in his eyes. “But for right now, know that we are here for you, will always be here for you from now on. We do remember absolutely everything about the short time we had you in our lives, and will be forever fucking grateful to that twister for getting you back in Grey River and for the chance for us to have you in our lives again.”
Faith heard the sincerity in Ty’s voice, and something moved in her mind but disappeared when she tried to determine what it was. She didn’t really know what the future was going to throw her way, and she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to include Trent or Ty in whatever it was.
True, that may be the hurt in her talking, but it was real, and it was there, and it lay between them so large that Faith wasn’t sure they would ever be able to traverse it and come out the end as friends. She knew there wouldn’t be anything more than that between them, as they deserved someone whole, someone not broken that they could love, and that certainly wasn’t her.
If they were to come back together as friends in the future, Faith had to consign herself to the fact that they would eventually find someone that fit that description. A woman that would complete them in ways she could never do and be. Their mate, the one determined by the Fates to be theirs.
She had quickly come to realize that Grey River wasn’t like other towns, and the fact that it was a shifter town became apparent at the hospital pretty darn quick when she was working there. She had come to see that Ty and Trent were shifters just as quick and was told that they were the alphas that would one day take over the pack from their fathers. One of her friends had told her about what would happen when they finally met t
heir mate, the Quickening she called it. Once they had their mate in sight, nothing would stop them from claiming her and making her theirs.
Could she watch the only two men she had ever loved, and was beginning to think might still love, be with another woman without wanting to rip her spleen out through her belly button? Now that really was the question of the hour, wasn’t it?
Chapter 5
“Tell me again why I have to come to your place instead of going to your parents to help look after the children?” Faith asked for about the fiftieth time. Ty sighed as he glanced across the cab of his truck at the woman hunched against the passenger door before concentrating on the road ahead. Her arms were crossed, and even though her voice was strong and held more than a touch of annoyance, her body language screamed “defensive” and “self-protection.”
A further six days had passed since Faith had come back from wherever she had disappeared to in her head. She had made huge progress and was healing well physically from her ordeal. Rowena had been having intense daily sessions with her, and from what she had been able to tell him, Faith had made some fantastic progress.
Rowena hadn’t shared a lot of the details of what she and Faith had talked about each day, but she was extremely impressed with how Faith was managing to move past it. “Truthfully, guys,” she had said just that morning. “I have never had a patient so clearly able to compartmentalize the abuse and transition through the stages of psychological trauma as rapidly as Faith has been able to.”
“Stages?” Trent has asked.
“A survivor of abuse to the degree that Faith has endured will transition through three identified stages. The acute stage usually occurs immediately after the act. I believe because the abuse was ongoing, she experienced this while still in that compound.
“The second stage is the called the outer adjustment stage. This is where the victim would attempt to resume their normal lifestyle, but would suffer a profound internal turmoil that could manifest itself in a variety of ways to assist the survivor in coping with the long-term trauma of the abuse. I believe that, again, because of the continued abuse to her, the other women, and the children at that compound, her coping mechanism was to protect those children and to survive herself. Basically, that meant for her to be stronger psychologically than the abuser or the abuse itself.”
Tyler had liked the sound of that. If she were strong enough to deal with the abuse on such a visceral level, then there was hope for her to come out the other side of all this stronger for it.
“And the final stage is where I believe she is now.” Rowena’s tone became edged with excitement. “In this stage, the survivor recognizes the impact of the abuse and understands what coping tactics are assisting in their recovery and what are counterproductive. In this stage they will integrate the abuse into their lives so that it is no longer the central focus of their lives. Negative feelings like guilt and shame become resolved and they no longer blame themselves for the attack.”
Ty had fucking loved hearing that! He and Trent had noticed that she talked more openly and didn’t drop her gaze with them as much over the past six days. It was almost as if Faith was slowly slipping free of the bonds that the abuse had wrapped around her. When she had first come out of the catatonic state she had been in, whenever one of them would move closer to her, she had flinched away from them.
Now, they were able to sit beside her, take her hand, and pet her without so much as an eyelid bat. Hell, last night when he had left her room for the night, to head back to their place and make sure everything was ready for her, he had leant in and pressed a quick soft kiss to her lips. A kiss she had returned with a smile.
“As I told you, sweets, you need someone to look after you for the next few weeks at the very least. You heard what Chris said. You need to take it easy and not do anything that could tire you out, and that includes looking after six children. I know,” Ty rushed on when he sensed she was about to launch into a debate, “you would only be there to help Mom and the others, but I know you. You would push yourself and not ask for help. You would insist on taking over the care of those kids and rob my mother of the chance to practice her grandmothering skills.”
Ty almost heard Faith’s jaw snap together at that, and he fought not to grin at the funny expression on her face. Oh, how he longed for the day that barrier she had between them was down and he would be able to gauge her feelings though their bond.
“Coming back to our place means that you will get the rest you need and allow us to care for you like we need. It’s a win-win if you think about it that way.” Ty flashed her a quick grin that widened at the you-think-you’re-so-funny look she threw him as they turned into the drive that led up to their property.
As they crested the ridge of the driveway and the homestead came into view, Ty heard Faith’s gasp and pulled to a stop to let her absorb it. They had started building the place when they first met Faith. As they learned more about her, they started to shape the space as she dreamed it potentially could be.
The homestead was on a single level with the main living areas in the center of the house, which had huge floor-to-ceiling windows. There were two sleeping wings that came off that common area. One held four bedrooms and a family bathroom, and the other an opulent and lavish master suite. As that part of the house was built with only Faith in mind, it should really be called the mistress suite.
Outside there was a large verandah that ran around the entire house, offering small areas for outdoor entertaining and spaces to simply sit and enjoy each other’s company and the beautiful mountain ranges that ran the length of the skyline in front of the house. Tyler was extremely proud of what Trent and he had built, and even after Faith had disappeared and they believed that she had left them willingly, they had continued to build the place with her in mind. Turning in his seat, he watched her take everything in. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was. God, please let her like it.
“Oh Tyler.” Faith’s voice was breathy and filled with awe. “This is beautiful! If I had ever been asked to draw the perfect house, it would have looked exactly like this.”
Ty’s wolf preened at that, and Ty had to admit he felt his chest puff out a little at her words, too. Grinning like a fool, he continued up the drive to pull to a stop at the stairs that led to the front door. When he came to a stop, the front door flew open, and his brother came tearing down the stairs.
Trent pulled Faith’s door open so quickly, Faith almost toppled out at his feet. “Trent, you moron, calm the fuck down! She almost fell out!” Ty growled at his brother through their link. He saw him wince even as he steadied her.
“Sorry, baby! I am just so glad to finally have you out of that hospital and here with us that I wasn’t thinking.” Trent shrugged sheepishly, then pulled Faith out of the car and up into his arms.
Lucky bastard. Trent must have gotten that through the link, as he threw him a shit-eating grin over Faith’s shoulder.
“Trent! Be careful. I am not light, and you will throw your back out trying to lift something as heavy as me,” Faith admonished and struggled a little to be put down.
Ty felt his anger rise a little and watched his brother’s eyes narrow as her comments pissed him off, too.
“Faith, stop it.” Trent growled, and Faith immediately submitted and ceased struggling, going limp in his arms and settling against Trent. “That’s better. Now, you are not heavy. A little thing like you is nothing to lift. You have the perfect body, and if I could get away with carrying you everywhere you needed to go for the rest of your life, I would do so gladly, without complaint and certainly without any physical discomfort.” Trent grinned wryly. “Well, to be honest there is some slight discomfort from getting turned on because I finally have you in my arms.”
Ty barked a laugh at that, even as Faith gasped in shock.
“Now, come see the inside of the house. I am dying to know what you think.” With that Trent bounded up the stairs, their mate safe in his arms, shock
still registering on her face.
Ty continued to grin as he made his way to the back of his truck to get Faith’s meager possessions from the hospital. She had looked so sad and lost when she realized everything she had in the world fit into a small plastic bag. His grin widened as he thought about how surprised she would be when she looked into the walk-in wardrobe in the mistress suite, as it would from this point be known, and see all the stuff his mom had filled it with for her.
Anxious to be with his mate and wanting to capture her reactions to the house, Ty put on a burst of shifter strength and leapt to the top of the stairs in a single bound, following the sound of voices and wonder into the massive kitchen.
* * * *
“Oh my! This kitchen is a dream! Look at that oven, and that butler’s pantry! The things you could create in here!” Faith knew she was babbling but couldn’t seem to stop. They had everything a budding chef or foodie like her would need in a kitchen.
Man, she couldn’t wait to get her hands on that oven. She felt a baking spree coming on. Faith pushed against Trent a little, and with an unhappy growl, he let her stand on her own two feet. His hands were still at her waist, as if he didn’t want to lose the contact altogether. He was obviously worried that she would fall face-first onto the polished concrete floor.
Stepping away, she continued to covet the kitchen, thinking to herself that it had to be the best thing in the house, until she stepped into the lounge. This room was simply breath taking, with its oversized and comfy-looking chairs and couches, a whole wall dedicated to an inbuilt bookshelf, a huge fireplace that Faith could almost feel the fire and heat coming from in the winter, and the view! Good Lord, the view was like nothing else. Mountains, trees, and endless sky.
