But what she wanted more than anything was to know what happened. She wracked her brain; digging deep inside to try to remember what caused her to be in such a deep sleep.
Oh my God! She remembered; Jake choking her and then stabbing her; leaving her to die. She remembered being picked up off of her porch by Wes, but nothing more. Where did they take her? Why couldn’t she wake up? Was the baby ok? Please let the baby be ok!
“Brielle, don’t cry sweetheart. Remember what the doctor said; think positive. He said that Cassie can hear everything even if she hasn’t spoken or opened her eyes.” Cassie listened as Cole comforted Brielle. Well, at least she had some answers. She must be at the hospital.
“I know, but the doctor said they took her off of the sedation medications three days ago. She should be awake by now!”
“He also said that some patients who experience the trauma that she has suffered can take some time to wake up. Please don’t upset yourself.”
“I’ll try not to. I know the last thing she needs is to hear me weeping after all she has obviously gone through. I just wish she would have trusted me or Dani with what she was suffering. I hate that she went through even more abuse than what we knew about, and she went through it alone.”
“The important thing to remember now is that we all know and we can be there for her now. The police are looking for Jake and as soon as Cassie wakes up we will get her to a safe place where she can be protected from him from now on.” That was Luc speaking now. He had such a calming tone to his voice; just like Wes. That was one of the things that drew her to them. Their voices were hypnotic and they had a peaceful manner about them. They made her feel safe, which is something that she hadn’t felt in the years she was with Jake. Not even in the beginning had Jake made her feel that way Wes and Luc did.
“Brielle, why don’t you and I go out and fill the others in on how Cassie is doing, and let Wes and Luc have a few minutes with Cassie.”
“Yeah, ok, that’s a good idea. I am sure that Dani and the rest of them are wondering how Cassie is doing. Wes, Luc, if anything changes…”
“We will make sure we let you guys know. We know how important Cassie is to you all.” Luc reassured Brielle.
“Thank you. Cassie, listen to me. I love you; we all love you. You need to pull through this so we can take you home. Please wake up.”
Oh, Brielle! I am trying.
She heard the door shut and then each of her hands was lifted into a larger, warmer one. Luc and Wes each held onto her as they spoke.
“Cassie, I know that I have known you your whole life. But only recently did my soul begin to crave you; need you. Every time you are in a room my inner wolf is growling for me to lay claim to you. With each look you hold my heart; with each smile you claim my soul. I need you more than anything else in this world. Please, come back to us.” She had never heard Wes speak with such desperation. It tore her apart to know the turmoil he was going through because of her. If she were honest she would ditto that statement to him and Luc. She would have sooner if it weren’t for her fear of Jake and what he would do.
“Cassie, I have known you for mere months but time does not control my feelings. When you look at me I feel as if you are looking into my soul; my inner being. You hold the keys to my happiness and my future. I need you; Wes needs you. Without you there would be no reason for me to go on. I am so sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner. Believe me when I say that I will live with that guilt for the rest of my days. I had a feeling that something was going to happen and I should have acted sooner.”
“Luc, we already spoke of that. You aren’t to blame for anything that has happened. Cassie knows that as much as the rest of us. You need to let go of the guilt for yourself.” Wes had interrupted Luc, which was great, because if she could talk she would’ve done so herself. He was not responsible for the actions of others. And if it wasn’t for him they wouldn’t have Dani. Poor Luc; what torment he must have endured all these months. He needed comfort more than any of them.
The men were silent for a few moments but they needn’t speak because she felt everything they wanted to share with her; they loved her. She knew it as well as she knew her name. They loved her, cared for her and cherished her. She could feel their need to mate with her and even though she felt close to them she couldn’t go there; not yet. She needed time to get over her history with Jake. She needed to learn how to trust again; to learn who she was. Only then could she give herself to them for the remainder of their lives.
Chapter 8: Wes (At Luc’s place that night)
At Luc’s home that night they all sat around, silently; each of them deep in their own thoughts. His drifted to his childhood and the memories of running through the woods with the other boys/shifters in his pack. They were free and lived each day as if there wasn’t a care in the world. Him, Cole, Max, Ryan, Adrian and Jax all had fun times; learning to shift, shooting a bow and arrow, climbing trees and hunting. He was about 13 when he met Cole’s little sister for the first time. She was a cutie. She had blond hair and big, round blue eyes. She would follow them around with Dani and Brielle. At the time the boys considered it a torment. He laughed to himself; boy things changed when they hit puberty. Once they started maturing, he and the rest of the guys went girl crazy, and Cassie was not one of the girls he went after. She was the sister of one of his best buddies. That meant one thing: Off limits!
As the years passed his sightings of Cassie became more and more infrequent to the point of years passing before seeing her again. When he finally saw her months ago for the first time in 3 years he was smitten. She had grown up into a strikingly beautiful woman; a woman in a dangerous and violent relationship. Who knows how long she would have continued to suffer before she either left or ended up dead. He shuttered just thinking of the latter. Thank God that they had all met Luc. If it wasn’t for him they wouldn’t know the extent of the abuse Cassie had been suffering.
Speaking of Luc, they needed to get him out of this funk. He had a bad habit of carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and taking responsibility for the wrongdoings of everyone else. Wes could tell that, even though Luc was the younger son, he was the mature one; taking care of everyone else and their needs before his own. No wonder why the Guardians wanted him to be mated with Cassie; they both cared and felt deeply for others. Wes just wished that it wouldn’t cause Luc to torture himself with guilt over the things he couldn’t control. Luc reminded Wes of Cole in that aspect; feeling the guilt over their supposed failure. Well enough of that. Wes was going to make sure that Luc knew, without a doubt, that he was not to blame; but to thank.
“Listen Luc, I know you feel guilty. I understand that you think that you could have somehow prevented Jake from abusing Cassie and stabbing her; but you weren’t to blame at all. If you had not told us about your suspicions when you did, and forced us to take action, Cassie could very well be dead by now instead of asleep in the hospital.” Wes broke the silence.
“In my mind I know that, but in my heart I feel like I let her down. Ever since I met her I have had the instinct to protect her and I failed. If I had acted sooner she would be safe and protected at my place instead of the hospital.”
“Or, we could be heading to a funeral to say goodbye instead of visiting her at the hospital, if you had not spoken when you did. You don’t know that he wouldn’t have done something more terrible down the road. She has been suffering for some time now, in silence, and because of you we have a chance to keep her safe from now on.”
Wes watched in fascination as Luc seemed to mull over what he had just said. It was the truth; there was no telling what Cassie would have ended up enduring if they had not decided to take action when they did. Hearing what the doctor said when they brought her in caused Wes to become nauseous. He felt lower than scum for not having seen the signs sooner; wearing off season clothing, wearing sunglasses indoors, never wearing shorts even when working out, etc. The signs were there and none of them did a d
amn thing! They just thought it was Cassie being qwerky.
Luc interrupted his thoughts, “I know, logically, that what you say makes sense; but deep in here,” he pointed to his chest, “I can’t help but feel like I let her down. I just hope she comes around soon so we can all get her away from this place; away from him, and get on with all of our lives.”
“I hear you man. I am so thankful that Ryan is an RN; he will be able to provide at-home care for her when they discharge her.”
“You all don’t mind staying in hiding at my compound, do you?? At least until that bastard is apprehended? That is the only way I can guarantee her safety. My compound is heavily guarded and my security team is made up of a group of extremely loyal pack members. They will not allow anything to happen to her unless they, themselves, are injured while protecting her. They will work with all of us to keep her safe and shelter her from Jake finding her.” Luc was a very thorough leader and honorable friend. His only fault is that he cared too much for others and not enough about himself. Not that that is a fault, per se, but Wes felt that Luc needed to take better care of his self too. He didn’t want anything to happen to Luc any more than he wanted to lose his right arm.
“No, we don’t. I can honestly speak for all of us when I say that we appreciate you wanting to take care of all of us that way you are. Regardless of what you say or think we owe you more than we can ever repay.” Wes was thankful when Max spoke up. Hopefully Luc would soon see that they all wanted him and needed him around. One quick glance around the room and you could see everyone nodding their agreement. Even Brielle and Dani, who arrived shortly after the guys, were looking concerned at Luc as they listened at the conversation the men were having.
Brielle stood up after lying the babies down and took a seat between Cole and Max. She leaned forward and spoke softly to Luc, “Look, Luc. You will soon find, if you haven’t already, that our pack is our family. We are there for one another and we care for each other deeply. You saved me and Dani and for that we owe you our lives. You are our family now too. We stick together. We will all do whatever we can to help take care of you, and that means emotionally as well. It isn’t healthy for you to allow yourself to be eaten by this guilt; guilt that doesn’t belong to you. You are no more to blame for what happened than I am, or Dani is. Some people in this world are just plain sick, but that is where we come in to lift one another up. Let us do that for you, please. Trust us enough to lean on us. The Guardians brought you to Cassie for a reason, please allow yourself to stay strong enough, emotionally, to fulfill whatever destiny they have set forth for the three of you. Will you please do that?” Brielle pleaded with Luc with tears streaming down her beautiful face. She wasn’t the only one; each one of the men had tears in their eyes and Dani was leaning on Adrian’s shoulder for comfort. Brielle made a very strong point: They all needed to stay strong. The bad can only pull them down if there is a weak spot for it. If they stood strong then they could conquer anything.
Luc allowed his gaze to move around the room, making eye contact at each person. As he did that they each nodded to him; a sign of respect and deference. Max and Cole may be their pack leaders, but they acknowledged that Luc was one as well. They had just showed him the highest sign of respect and you could see the unshed tears in Luc’s eyes as he caught on to their gesture. They, as a pack, were looking to him for guidance. Wes was speechless.
Chapter 9: Luc
Luc was speechless. He didn’t know what to make of the words they had spoken; words of gratitude and trust. He had a hard time trusting, always had; his older brother made sure of that. Paul made sure that Luc knew that the only person you could trust or count on was oneself. Friends stabbed you in the back; girls betrayed you and family turned on you. How many times had he thought he found a great girl only to have her turn to his friend or brother? If you asked him, one time was too many but it happened more than that.
“Brielle, I appreciate your words and the sincerity behind them. I have always had a difficult time trusting others so will you all work with me as I learn?”
“Oh my goodness! Of course we will!” She jumped out of her seat, followed by Dani, and engulfed him in a warm embrace. He looked at Adrian, Cole and Max to see their reactions but all he saw there was love. Love. What an honest yet difficult word. But it was there, silently spoken in their eyes as they looked on.
Dani pulled away but didn’t let go of his arms. “Luc, I know that as soon as Cassie wakes up from her sleep she will tell you herself how thankful she is to you. I am so glad you are part of us. We will be here for you, always, whenever you need us. And sometimes when you don’t” she laughed.
“She’s right,” Cole said, “you have proven yourself to us. You are a keeper.”
The whole gang joined together in laughter at what Cole said. God, he was lucky to have made such great friends. Even though he had not known them long in this life he knew that they had somehow all known one another forever. The Guardians wouldn’t have led him to them if they weren’t somehow connected in some way. And he was not going to let this group of friends, his new family, down. He would do anything and everything he could from here on out to make sure they were safe and protected. He just couldn’t wait for Cassie to wake up so he could tell her how he felt. He knew the extreme depth of how he felt toward her may scare her at first so he was prepared to give her all the time she needed to come to terms with the fact that he was here for her and he was here to stay. He, along with Wes, would help Cassie conquer her fear of men and help her to learn how to trust again. It’s funny how the Guardians brought them all together; 3 broken souls to be joined together to create one bond.
His whole life he had been aware of the Guardians. They would often visit him and warn him of possible dangers. They taught him how to trust his instinct and accept that they had a plan for him, a destiny, they trusted in him to fulfill. Sometimes the plan was plain as could be and other times he had to piece together the information like a puzzle in order to get the entire story. In the instance of Cassie he was only given bits to go by and he almost put them together too late.
“So, you all want something to eat while we wait for word from Ryan on how Cassie is doing?” Brielle asked everyone in an attempt to change the subject.
“I could go for some grub,” Cole said as he rubbed his flat stomach, making everyone laugh.
“I am definitely hungry! I felt like I haven’t eaten in ages,” Dani replied and squeaked when Adrian tapped her behind. “What was that for?” she asked.
“I just fed you before we came here. Geesh, you’d think you were eating for 2 with what you put away,” Adrian laughed as he answered her question but then coughed when she landed a good punch to his stomach.
“Just so you know, I have always been a good eater and you should be thankful I am. I need to keep up my energy to satisfy you and Ryan.” She earned a round of laughter with that one. Brielle was nodding her head in agreement with her statement too.
“I am not really hungry but I would try to eat to keep up my strength. I want to make sure I stay healthy for when Cassie needs us,” he said once the laughter died down.
“Same here,” Wes added.
“Great! Well, I think Dani and I can scrounge something up to feed us. Come on girl,” she said, pulling Dani along behind her as she headed into the kitchen.
The guys watched the two women leave the room. Cole, Max and Adrian all had the look of peace and love on their faces. Seeing them with such emotion caused a twinge of jealousy to grab hold of Luc’s heart. He prayed that one day soon he, Cassie and Wes would have that; love, peace, contentment. They each had their obstacle they had to overcome to be where they were right now. Brielle was violently attacked when Cole found her, essentially saving her. Dani was struggling to let go of her independence in order to bond with her men, who each worked hard to rescue her from her stubborn self. Hopefully soon they would be able to sit around here, all together, knowing that he and Wes had helped Cassie c
onquer her fear of trusting.
It didn’t take long before Dani yelled for them all to head to the kitchen and eat. They had all been spending a lot of time at his place and he was grateful that Dani and Brielle had acquainted themselves with his kitchen right away. He wasn’t a good cook but they were excellent cooks and he enjoyed eating what they would make. Even though he didn’t have much of an appetite, due to his stress over Cassie, he knew he would enjoy the food.
They were each sitting around his table, eating the delicious pasta dish, when they were interrupted with a phone ringing. It was Adrian’s phone. They all stopped what they were doing so they could listen in on his conversation; hoping with bated breath that it was good news about Cassie.
“Ryan, thank goodness you finally called. We have been waiting. How is Cassie?”
Luc carefully watched Adrian’s facial features as he listened to Ryan’s reply on the other end. At first he had a worried, fearful expression on his face but it was quickly replaced with a look of relief and then joy.
“Hey everyone, Cassie is awake. She drank some broth and water and she is a little weak, but she is awake!” he told them all with excitement filling his voice.
Luc looked to Wes and they seemed to have read each others’ mind. They quickly stood up almost tipping their chairs in the process. Wes grabbed his keys and they ran to his car. Within minutes they were in the highway heading to the hospital.
Chapter 10: Cassie
“Thank you,” Cassie said as she handed her glass back to Ryan. She woke up from her sleep a short time ago and when she opened her eyes Ryan was there. He explained how he wanted to give everyone else a chance to clean up since the entire gang had been sitting vigil over the past few days she was here. Ryan just got off the phone with Adrian. He had called to let everyone know she was going to be ok.
Conquering Cassie: The Celestial Mating Series Book 3 Page 3
