by Dannika Dark
“Um, it’s going well.” I wasn’t sure if Thomas could hear her, so I switched to my right ear. “I’m going to be a little late. We’re making a detour, but don’t tell Austin.”
“Lips are sealed. So, is he nice? Naya really adores him and she’s hoping you’ll hit it off. Do you like him?”
I smiled at Thomas and he watched me with curiosity. “That remains to be seen. Tell Mom I love—”
When I glanced up the road, a deer crossed in front of the car and stopped, its eyes shining like two diamonds. In a split second, my world turned upside down and I screamed before I could finish my sentence.
Chapter 15
“Two pitchers for table seven!” Rosie shouted.
Howlers was slammed, and Denver was trying his best to keep his mind on orders instead of filling his mind with what that lowlife was doing with Maizy. It wasn’t hard to stay distracted with all the noise. Jericho’s band, Heat, had just finished up their last song. Izzy had left the kids at home so she could come up to Howlers and hang out.
Man, how Denver envied the chemistry between those two. He wiped down the bar and watched Jericho set his guitar on the stand and jump off the stage to take Izzy into his arms. Girls still loved him because he was unattainable, and Jericho didn’t give a damn about hiding his love for Izzy before, during, or after a show. The passion between those two was like a slow-burning fever.
Jericho eased onto the barstool and nibbled on her neck until she squealed and pulled away.
“What’ll it be?” Denver said coolly.
“How about a little Devil’s Eye?” Her green eyes danced with mischief. That was the house special made with magic—not a drink he recommended, because it made people do some dumb shit.
“Isabelle…” Jericho gave her a punishing glance.
She leaned toward him and licked her lips. “It’s gravy. The kids are at home and we have the night out. You’re driving, so there’s no reason why I can’t be a bad girl.”
Jericho’s pupils dilated as he looked at her with hungry eyes. “Whatever you want, Sexybelle.”
Denver began to mix the red drink and looked over his shoulder at Jericho. “What about you, dickhead? Coconut water with a pink straw?”
Jericho flicked a peanut at him. “What did you think of Maizy tonight? Holy shit, that was some dress Naya picked out for her date.”
Denver slid the drink in front of Izzy and leaned on the bar. “I’m surprised Naya didn’t put pasties on her nipples.”
“Thank the fuck she picked out one of her conservative dresses.”
Izzy almost spit out her drink laughing. “There wasn’t anything conservative about that slit down the front.”
Jericho grinned at Denver. “I’ll have a beer. Yeah, she’s at that ripe age of twenty-licious. Right, Denny?”
He bristled and pulled a longneck from the fridge. Nobody called him that except for Maizy. Jericho was busting his balls after catching Denver with an erection while Maizy was in the room.
Denver played it cool and set the drink in front of Jericho, an artificial smile easing across his stony expression. “I hardly noticed.”
“Strange,” Jericho remarked, taking a short sip. “I haven’t heard you refer to yourself as her watchdog for years… until tonight.”
“Just doing my job and putting a scare into him like the rest of the pack.”
Denver didn’t like the smug grin widening on Jericho’s face, so he bent over and pulled out a bag of soft peppermints for the customers.
Jericho set his bottle down and bobbed his head to the music. “Can’t say he looked too scared. You might need to brush up on your scary face.”
“Brother, you better pray you never see my scary face,” Denver said. He glanced at Izzy and noticed the drink working its magic. The rims of her eyes were red, and she had a faraway look. Devil’s Eye had a different effect on everyone, but it usually made people impulsive. Given her amorous behavior moments before, that was probably going to work out in Jericho’s favor.
Izzy was smooching on Jericho when her phone rang.
Denver swaggered over to a lovely young woman signaling him for another beer. As he turned around, he caught sight of Izzy shifting in the middle of the bar.
“Jericho!” he shouted, running back over. “Get her out of here. Goddammit, I knew I shouldn’t have given her that drink.”
Jericho looked down at Izzy’s wolf, who was snapping and growling, out of control. “One minute she’s on the phone and the next she shifted. What the fuck?”
Denver picked up her phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”
All he heard was unintelligible screaming.
“Who is this?” he said loudly.
“Jericho?”
“No, this is Denver.”
Silence, more crying. It was Lexi. Adrenaline rushed through his veins like racing fuel, causing his heart to speed up and his face to flush. Jericho struggled to get ahold of Izzy’s wolf, who’d almost attacked a man walking by.
“Lexi, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Maizy. Oh God… She was in an accident. I heard the whole thing.”
Everyone has that moment in life that changes them. It happens instantly, like a switch turning off. The world becomes dark, cold, and intangible, surrounding you with a blanket of dread that threatens to suffocate your desire to live. It’s the phone call you never want to get, but you always know in the back of your head it’s coming for you… someday.
He gripped the phone tightly. “Where?”
Suddenly Austin was on the phone. “Prince called. She’s being rushed to the hospital on Fifteenth. Get everyone up there. Now.”
The second the line went dead, Denver leapt over the bar and ran toward the door. “Izzy!” he shouted in the most powerful voice he could summon. While he wasn’t an alpha, she heeded his call and went tearing out the door ahead of him. Rosie shouted for him, but his mind was in another place—one that didn’t give explanations.
“What the hell’s going on?” Jericho yelled out.
When Denver reached the truck, he realized he didn’t have his keys. “Goddammit! Give me your keys,” he snarled, wresting them away from Jericho.
He ran toward the blue truck and skidded when Jericho pulled the back of his shirt, causing one of the sleeves to rip. Denver spun around and struck Jericho in the eye. “Maizy’s hurt! Get Izzy in the truck or I’m leaving you behind.”
“Shit. She doesn’t have her clothes,” he said, hauling her into the front cab.
The engine roared as Denver hauled ass out of the parking lot. “Fuck clothes.”
Who the hell cared about modesty when his Maizy was hurt? Jesus, she needed him. All Denver could hear was the blood rushing in his ears, creating a rhythmic sound like a banging drum.
Jericho had somehow managed to get Izzy to shift in the truck. She was hysterical, and he stripped off his shirt and slipped it over her head to give her something to wear.
“Maizy… Maizy…” Her voice was wrought with pain, tears streaming down her face.
That severed Denver from reality. The wails of a woman, the urgency of Austin’s voice, the need for the entire family to be there, and most of all… Maizy’s mortality.
Jericho made calls on his phone, talking in a low voice and spreading the news fast. Each time he retold the story to a new packmate, Denver would step on the gas harder and run another light.
They pulled up to the emergency room entrance and Denver leapt out without shutting the engine off. His legs propelled him forward, as if operating on batteries, and he charged through the doors and into the emergency room.
Austin rose up from a chair and gripped his shoulders. “Lynn was the first one here because she was close. She’s in there with Lexi talking to the doctors. Nothing you can do, so sit down.”
Ropes of muscle tightened as Denver pushed toward the doors. “I need to be in there,” he bit out.
“Wheeler!” Austin bellowed.
Whe
eler rushed him from behind and hooked his arms under Denver’s, pulling him back.
“It’s gonna take hell to hold me down.” Denver managed to push his way past Austin, even with Wheeler restraining him.
Someone behind a window was yelling at them, a baby was crying across the room, and Reno stepped in and gripped Denver by the neck.
Austin cradled his head and stared him down, throwing every ounce of raw alpha power into his voice. “Submit, Denver. Not here. I can’t have you going in and upsetting everyone; you could do more harm than good. Let the doctors take care of her. I don’t want one second of their time wasted because you’re going ballistic.”
“I need an update right this goddamn second, Aus. Get Lexi or someone out here to tell me what’s happening.”
Was he shouting? Was he growling? He didn’t even know. Denver’s thoughts clouded with anger, his heart pounded against his rib cage like a hammer, and a pain he hadn’t felt in decades constricted his chest and expelled the air from his lungs.
After a few moments, Lexi came out of the emergency room, her expression solemn. Austin cradled her close, offering his strength. They moved to an empty area of the room to speak privately.
“She has a head injury,” Lexi began, tears spilling past her lashes. “They’re inducing a coma.”
“What the hell for?” Austin snapped.
William collapsed in one of the vacant chairs, his face as pale as a ghost.
Lexi wiped her tangled hair away from her wet cheeks, her voice scratchy and weak. “They want to control the swelling and do more tests. The neurologist is talking to my mom.”
Denver wandered away from the group, his eyes downcast. He didn’t want to hear the rest. One more word and he was going to shut down all the way… or shift. He’d always been prepared to hear bad news about one of his brothers. After all, they’d done some stupid shit in their lives, like Jericho fighting a black bear by himself, or Reno on his many dangerous assignments as a PI. But not Maizy; never Maizy. It was too soon.
Images raced through his mind of little Maizy holding on to his neck and him telling her that he would always protect her.
“Even if I die?” she’d once asked.
“You’re not going to die, Peanut. Don’t be silly.”
All those years flashed before his eyes—all the time lost when she’d gone away to find herself. He could have visited her, but he hadn’t. He could have written to her, but he’d stopped. She came back home to reconnect, and yet he still kept pushing her away. Now he stood close to losing her forever.
Denver slammed his fist into the wall.
“Sir! I need you to take a seat or I’m calling security,” a woman called out.
Reno wrapped his arms around him and pushed him against the wall, his raspy voice calming Denver from behind. “There’s nothing you can do that’s gonna make this go away, and the more shit you throw around, the greater your chances are of getting locked up. I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you. Maizy needs her pack, and if this doesn’t end well, then you need to be there for Lynn and Lexi. Pull your shit together. We all care about her; we’re all hurting.”
Denver’s knees gave out when he heard Naya sobbing. He fell to the ground and pressed his forehead against the wall, overcome with anguish. He was on the brink of losing the most precious thing that had ever walked into his life.
***
Denver waited until the news came back that Maizy had been admitted to a room in the intensive care unit. The doctors were going to monitor her closely and run more tests in the morning once they got her stabilized. Lynn still had on her slacks and dressy blouse, but she’d taken off her jewelry in preparation of staying the night. Maddox was the one who’d driven her to the hospital after she got the call. He stayed a short while but hadn’t felt there was anything he could do since the pack had come together. After midnight, he headed home.
Each of them received a visitor pass, and the pack branched apart to find a quiet spot to relax. When the staff initially denied the pack entrance, Austin made a call to the Council. Whether the Council had an insider working there or hired a Vampire to charm the humans was unknown, but they made it happen, and the pack was granted full access. They began visiting Maizy in groups of two.
Denver decided not to go in because of how altered their expressions were when they came out. He stood guard in the hall, compelled to make certain no one got near her room who didn’t belong to the pack or have on hospital clothes. Watchdog instinct was kicking into full gear.
After the pack had visited her and Lynn walked out with the nurse, Lexi reached through the door and yanked him inside. Denver flinched when he caught sight of all the tubes taped to Maizy’s mouth, and he backed away.
“Where are you going!” she hissed.
He shook his head. “I can’t look at her like that.”
Lexi gripped his wrist. “She needs you. I don’t have a whole lot of faith in all the meds they’re giving her, and this family has the best medicine that’s out there. Love, loyalty, and support.”
“I can’t do it,” he said, his voice broken as he shook his head. The enormity of the pain swelling in his chest was beyond comprehension, and the only way to stop it from overtaking him was to shut down.
Lexi rubbed her eyes, red from crying and dark circles forming beneath them. She had tried putting her hair into a sloppy ponytail, but strands of it were hanging askew. “Denver, if anyone can pull her through this, it’s you. She’s always had a special bond with you and…” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat, blowing out a heavy breath. “Maybe it’ll help. Maybe she’ll hear your voice in the darkness and fight harder.”
Denver pressed his lips into a mulish line.
“You’re so stubborn! Did you care about her when you acted as her watchdog, or were you just doing a job?”
“I did everything I could to protect her, but I can’t protect her from life! She’s the one who went away.”
“My mother sent her away! I wasn’t any more thrilled about it than you were, but we can’t go back in time and change things. I’m sorry if that cut your duties short, but dammit, you keep looking for someone to blame. She got a chance at a better life—a chance to see the world.”
“The world?” he said incredulously. “Her whole world was right here!” He opened his arms wide. “Was her family not good enough?”
Lexi shoved at his chest. “Why won’t you hold her? That’s all I’m asking!”
“Because I’m afraid if I hold her, I’ll never let go!” His shout fell into fractured words that ripped open a dam of pain—the kind only love can bring.
He loved her, goddammit. Love. Not the kind of devotion a watchdog gives the person they’re caring for, not the love of a packmate. It was the kind of love that could break a man. Every moment since her return, it had become obvious to Denver that he loved her hard. He loved her in a way that terrified him because of what it would mean.
Losing her.
He should have sent Thomas home and made his claim, but he hadn’t. He’d let Maizy walk right out that door, and that’s why he was standing in this hospital facing the reality of losing the only person who defined him as a man.
Lexi wrapped her arms around him. “I can’t bear to see you cry. Please just make her better somehow.”
Was he crying? Denver snapped back to reality and realized with embarrassment that his face was wet. He lifted his T-shirt and wiped it dry. “You and your mom should get some rest. You’ll need to be thinking clearly when they run more tests tomorrow. I’ll watch over her.”
Lexi nodded. Sleep deprivation would do no one any good when faced with so many important decisions. He didn’t know if there was a sleeping facility in or near the building. Hell, maybe Austin had managed to get them their own room. The Breed had ways of getting what they needed in the human world, so it wasn’t worth dwelling on.
When she left the room, Denver dragged his eyes to the bed. Once he stopped focusing on t
he machines keeping her alive, his instincts took over. Maizy was barely recognizable with the bandage around her head. He walked to the right side of the bed and tried to find a way to touch her. She’d never looked so fragile.
He leaned over and stroked her cheek with his fingertips. She felt cold to the touch. “I’m right here, Peanut. I’m going to stay with you all night. I want you to rest and let us do all the work, you hear me? Nothing you need to worry about. The pack is all here, and Reno’s already complaining about the cafeteria being closed. That man needs his own machine,” he said with a smile. “Things are going to change when you wake up and get out of here. Between us, I mean. Maybe I screwed it up already, but I’m a stubborn man who never takes things as seriously as I should. You know that.”
As much as he wanted to crawl in that bed with her, there was no room. She needed the space; she needed the medicine and even the air going in through the tubes.
He dragged a chair to the edge of the bed and touched her delicate fingers. There were a few cuts on them, and he wondered what had happened in the car. Did she see it coming? Was it the passenger window she hit her head on or something that penetrated the windshield? Jesus.
He leaned in close, his voice soothing. “Remember that Peter Pan book you always had me read to you? That line about dying being an awfully big adventure is a load of bullshit. Just so you know. If you want to know why I’ve been such a jackass, maybe it can relate to a line in that book. The one about not saying good-bye, because good-bye means going away, and going away means forgetting. When you went away, I thought that meant you wanted to forget me like one of those old dolls in your room. I felt like part of your past and not your future.”
Denver continued stroking her slender fingers, images flashing in his mind of her swimming around him in the creek. Blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight, the way her dimples ensnared his attention when she laughed. She was so full of life, so eager to reconnect with him. Why couldn’t he have seen that? He was so fixated on their past and future that he’d ignored the present.
He stood up and stroked her cheek above the tape that secured her ventilator. Maybe somehow she’d feel his presence.
