by Jen L. Grey
My eyes began to close, and my heart warmed after hearing Evan's confession.
"Yeah, I think they did it." Liam touched my cheek. "Mia, keep your eyes open."
"Shit, we gotta get back there fast." Evan's voice was scared, and the car seemed to be moving faster. "Keep her awake."
"Mia." Liam took a hand and shook my face. "Stay with me."
I'm here. Even though I spoke the words in my mind, they even sounded slurred to me.
"Stay awake, please. Baby, please." Liam's voice cracked as he kissed my lips. "I need you to look at me."
It broke my heart to hear his words. I didn't want him to be upset with me, but there was less pain in the dark. I just needed to rest for a minute.
Chapter Seven
"Mia." Liam's voice entered my unconsciousness, urging me back to him.
It had hurt so bad; I didn't want to go back. It was kind of nice here in the darkness. I felt peace, which had been hard to find lately.
Something dug deep inside me, breaking through my protective barrier. I wanted to retreat further into the darkness. The pain, the hurt was so excruciating.
Mia, please wake up. His voice almost sounded like it was broken.
Though he was too strong for that. If Mom and Dad could move on from their fated, surely he'd be fine without me.
Another stabbing pain hit me, and my stomach roiled even here.
I need you. Please, open those beautiful green eyes. Through our bond, I felt his grief. The bullet is out finally, but we need you to wake up.
If I thought I knew what pain was, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now. It felt as if a part of him was being ripped out. In a way, it was since I was the missing piece of his soul.
It was as if he was projecting into my mind; memories of our first kiss, our night of sex before he had disappeared, and then the day we claimed one another.
I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I love you. His words were broken, and the pain of potentially losing me was taking over.
I couldn't hurt him like that. I needed to be with him. Why should the council be allowed to strip one more thing away from someone? Not only did I have my fated mate, who was desperate to stand beside me, but I had to find justice for my father. If not, then he had died in vain.
There was no way I was taking the easy way and backing out now. I took another second to enjoy the darkness, the peace, the once again pain-free space between, only God knew where. There was no bright, shining light or fire and brimstone. Was I stuck in some kind of purgatory?
Dammit, Mia. Wake up now. His voice had turned desperate. No longer was he begging; he was commanding.
I braced myself and opened my eyes to find both Liam and Evan hovering over me.
"Her eyes are open." Evan breathed out a sigh of relief as his face smoothed back into its normal features.
I glanced around a room that didn't look familiar. It had the standard silver of the school colors, but there was a huge-ass, blood-red leather couch that I was lying on. The pain hit me again, so hard that I almost felt like I couldn't breathe. Where … am I? My stomach roiled as the pain somehow grew stronger.
You're in my and Evan's dorm room. Liam frowned as he glanced at Evan. "She's about to puke."
Now that he said the words, I realized that was exactly what was about to happen. I moved to sit up, but even more pain washed over me. I had barely moved an inch.
Evan ran into the kitchen right as bile from my stomach began traveling up my throat. I can't roll over. I was going to puke all over myself. Dear God, this was going to get nasty.
Let me help. Liam leaned over and gently grabbed my shoulder. As he tried to help me turn to my uninjured side, I began dry heaving.
Evan slid a garbage can underneath me, and though I heaved, nothing but phlegm and bile came out.
"Shit, she's dehydrated." Evan's pale eyes deepened to a silver. "Did they not feed you or at least get you something to drink?"
Tears dripped down from my eyes as the last heave left my body. I sagged into the couch as Liam helped prop me up on my side. I tried to talk, but the pain seemed to take over, demanding deep breaths. No, they didn't.
"Are you fucking serious?" Liam's loud voice startled me, making my shoulder throb. "In the last three days, they didn't give you anything? Maybe we should take her to the hospital or something.”
What? I'd been passed out for almost three days. It was a little crazy to believe. Every time I started to stir, they'd knocked my ass out again with some sort of inhalant sprayed into a handkerchief.
“You know we can’t. She’s a wolf, and it would make the humans suspicious. We both know our dads were behind this, so we can’t take her to the infirmary either. We have to get her to drink water." Evan stepped back and raced into the kitchen. I heard several cabinet doors open and close. He sounded like he was getting some medicine out as he filled a glass with water. Within seconds, he was heading back in. "She needs to sip the water slowly and take a pain pill. If we don't get both of those into her, she's going to get a lot worse."
"But you said she needed to wake up," Liam's voice growled. "Why would we put her back to sleep?"
"Because if we couldn't, she would be in a world of trouble. But we were able to get her to regain consciousness." He held the pill out to me, but it hurt so damn much that I couldn't move my arm. "Take a few sips of water and sleep."
"She's in so damn much pain. I can feel it through our bond." Liam took the pill from his hands and placed it against my lips. "Here."
I opened my mouth, ready for anything to ease the pain.
"Are you sure it won't upset her stomach further?" Liam brushed his fingertips along my cheek. "She's already in so much pain."
"It'll be fine. It'll help her sleep." Evan patted his friend on the arm. "I promise I would never hurt her."
Liam stared into his friend's eyes, searching for something. He must have found whatever it was he needed because he held up the glass of water to me that Evan had blessedly put a straw in.
Not wasting another second, I took a sip of the cool, refreshing liquid and didn't want to stop. I was so thirsty, but I didn't realize how much until this moment. The pain couldn't even prevent me from taking three large sips.
"Hey, easy there." Liam pulled the straw from my mouth. "You can't get too much water in your empty stomach or you'll throw up everything, making this whole thing a lot nastier."
He was right, but dammit … I was so thirsty, and the pain was all-encompassing.
"She needs some rest, and so do you." Evan stood and turned off the lights. "I'm sure she'll call for you if she needs you."
"No, I'm staying right here." Liam sat on the ground next to me and laid his head down to touch mine.
"Okay." Evan went to the front door and opened it. "I'm going to go check on the others and see what they found out. I'll be back soon."
"See you." Liam's eyes stayed on me as he waved his friend off.
As soon as the door shut, Liam turned his head so he was looking into my eyes. "I'm so damn sorry, Mia. If my father had anything to do with this..."
We're here together now. I hated to see him hurt this much. It was close to being worse than my own physical pain.
"That's not the point." He took my hand and lightly caressed my fingers.
It was so gentle I could barely feel it, almost as if he thought touching me too hard would make it all worse. I was amazed by how much he had changed in such a short period of time. He was the caring mate that I, at one time, thought he'd never be. I love you.
I love you too. He sighed and chewed on his bottom lip. Maybe by claiming you, I was being selfish. Look at what it's done to you.
Don't ever say that. His guilt crashing into me like waves through our bond was suffocating. This has all been worth it.
Being kidnapped, shot, and dragged through the wringer has been worth it for you? He arched an eyebrow, and the concern on his face made him look like a broken man.
If it hadn't been for Kai, we wouldn't have found you. He sighed and leaned over, kissing me on the forehead. Get some rest.
My eyes grew heavy, and thankfully the medicine was taking the edge off, dissipating the pain. What do you mean Kai found me?
He somehow caught your scent and found you. Liam gave me a sad smile. I guess I can't hate him much anymore. If it wasn't for him, there's no telling what would've happened to you.
I told you he's a good friend. I took in a deep breath that made my shoulder scream at me. I couldn't stay awake much longer. I was so damn tired. But he's not you. For some reason, it felt like he needed to know that. Ever since that party when I first laid eyes on you, it's always been you. My eyes closed as my head began to fade into sleep.
This will never happen again. I promise you. His voice could have been a whisper of my mind, and his lips on my forehead could've been my imagination. Either way, I had never felt safer than with him by my side.
"There is no way in hell I'm going to leave her." Liam's voice was only a whisper but stern.
My eyes began to flutter, and I found Mr. Hale standing at the door, talking to his son. His hair was slicked back, and he wore his usual black suit. His stance was confident but aloof. The only hint of his annoyance was the light flush that was evident in his cheeks. "Of course you will. This isn't an option. You will be taking your place on the council soon, and you need to visit some cities."
"Look at her." Liam's voice was rough. "She got shot. Did you find out who ordered those men to kidnap her?"
"No, absolutely not." His words were a little too hasty, and he averted his eyes to the ground as the faint smell of rotting eggs filled the air.
He was lying and acting guilty. That was the worst overreaction I'd ever seen. Even toddlers could do better than that.
"You mean Simon, Micah, and the council weren't able to get any information from them?" Liam crossed his arms and arched his eyebrow. "I have a very hard time believing that, especially with Mr. Rafferty involved."
The one time I'd seen Evan's father was during a football game. It had been when Liam was fighting our bond and I'd gone there on a date with Kai. Liam was messing up left and right on the field because he was more focused on me than the game, so I snuck off to the bathroom. That was when I saw Mr. Rafferty physically attack Evan, demanding that he steal the spotlight from Liam while he was distracted. So, I had to agree with Liam. His dad would've beat the shit out of them to get any answers he wanted.
"Are you calling me a liar?" His dad's blue eyes iced over.
"Well, there is still time." Liam pointed at me. "She was clearly the target, and no one had learned about our relationship yet, so you can't blame it on that."
"Who knows." Mr. Hale waved it off. "She's here obviously, and they died before we could get clear answers."
"All three of them?" Liam's shocked voice spoke volumes. "That's a little extreme."
My breath suddenly felt like it was knocked out of me. Yes, those three people had kidnapped me, but they weren't malicious, and the older guy was nervous the whole time. They were desperate to protect their family and friends, and now they were dead.
"As you suggested, Mr. Rafferty kept asking who hired them." Mr. Hale shrugged. "They kept insisting it was us, so he used more force. It wasn't our fault that they couldn't survive. They should've known better than to falsely accuse us, especially when we were the ones interrogating them."
"Yeah." Liam's voice was indifferent. It sounded similar to the cold Liam I'd known when we first met.
"Look, fall break is next week." His dad's eyes glowed as he tried forcing the alpha will on him. "You'll be going to visit several cities, starting Monday, with all the heirs. It'll give you time to feel better about her situation before you go."
"Okay." Liam nodded his head.
"Good." His dad blew out a breath he'd been holding in. "I had thought you'd be unreasonable and still fight me on this." He nodded his head, and I could feel his eyes land on me. "It's still not too late to change your mind."
"It's not happening." Liam's voice was deep, clear, and menacing. "If you mention it one more time, I won't be the well-behaved son you've always treasured."
"You know how I feel about threats." Mr. Hale narrowed his eyes at his son. "Just be ready to leave first thing Monday morning." He turned and headed out the door, slamming it behind him.
Liam turned around and met my eyes. "I'm sorry. Did he wake you?"
"No." I took a deep breath and winced, waiting for the mind-numbing pain. Only, it didn't come. It still hurt, but not like it had been. My body ached from lying on the couch on my side for so long, and I had to use the bathroom. "Do you think you could help me up?"
"Of course." He rushed over to me, holding me by my sides, and gently helped me sit up. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
I groaned as I sat, but once I got settled, it wasn't any worse than lying down. I glanced down at the couch and realized my blood coated it. It was hard to see since the couch was the same red color, but it was thick and a little darker. "I'm so sorry." I didn't mean to mess anything up.
"For what?" His eyes followed mine. "There is absolutely nothing for you to be sorry over. Dammit, Mia, you were shot.'’
"But that's a lot of blood." Damn, no wonder I had been so dizzy and out of it. "It might not come out."
"Then we buy a new couch." He sat next to me on the side without any blood and touched the top of my shoulder. "Can I see?"
He made it sound like buying a new couch wasn't a big deal. "Yeah, sure." I turned so he could see it.
As he moved my shirt, he had to cautiously peel it away from my skin. The blood had dried, causing the material to become stuck to my body.
"I think I need a shower." I felt gross and was hoping a shower might make me feel a little bit better. I was stiff all over. It had to be from sitting chained in that chair for days and then sleeping overnight on the couch.
"We need to be careful, but okay." He took my hand and led me to the hallway on the left of the couch. It wasn't long before we entered his room, which looked exactly like mine. The same bedding and everything. I sat on the bed, and his scent engulfed me.
He walked over to his closet and came out with a pair of my pajamas before heading straight to the shower to turn it on for me.
"How did you get those?" I asked as I pointed to the clothing and started moving ever so slowly into the huge marble bathroom.
"Evan snuck into your dorm and took a change of clothes for you." He put the clothes to the side of the large sink and grabbed two towels before stepping over to me. "Here, let me help you."
It didn’t take long for him to help pull the clothes from my body, and I stepped into a warm shower, letting it wash over me. Liam followed a few seconds later, naked.
“What are you doing?” Despite my injury, my heart picked up its pace. He was so damn sexy, and how he’d been nursing me made my heart feel things that were well beyond the mate bond. At this point, even if he wasn’t my mate, I’d have fallen in love with him anyway.
“Helping you get clean.” He grabbed the bar of soap and stood close. “You aren’t going to be able to move well.”
He was right, and he was the only person I felt comfortable seeing me this fragile. My spirit had been stripped down, revealing how weak I was.
I kept my injured shoulder out of the direct spray. Honestly, even with Liam’s help, it took a while for me to get clean, but soon I was stepping out.
Liam now focused on my body, and his eyes clouded over when he saw me. "You're so damn gorgeous." He reached down and picked up a clean white cotton wrap that was large enough to cover my bullet wound.
To be honest, the bullet wound itself wasn't that large, but damn, it hurt. He walked over and placed it, grabbing the gauze and tying it a
round my shoulder firmly. "I'm glad to see you're up and moving."
"Me too, but it's still painful. Is there a different pain pill I can have?" It'd be nice to be able to drink some water and stay awake for a while.
He quickly got dressed. "Yeah, let me help you. Evan just got back." He helped me get dressed and even brushed my hair for me.
A few minutes later, we headed out to the kitchen and found Evan sitting at the table.
Evan already had a pain pill out and a glass of water with toast sitting next to it.
I grabbed the pill and drank some water, washing it down. My stomach was a little upset, but not like it had been. I picked up the piece of toast and took a bite. "Thank you."
"No problem." Evan gave me a smile that didn't meet his eyes. “You’ll probably get sleepy soon, so plan on a nap or a lot of coffee.”
"What's wrong?" Liam pulled out the seat at the round table and helped me get situated. "Did you find something out?"
"Yeah." Evan picked up his own glass of water and took a large sip. "So... apparently, those three didn't last very long."
"Dad said that they wouldn't cooperate and essentially your dad tortured them to death." Liam sat next to me and scooted his chair closer.
"Well, that was a nice way of putting it." Evan huffed and shook his head. "Kai and Micah informed me that as soon as they got back here to campus, they placed the three men in the basement room and left to go find the council. When they came back minutes later, the three men were already dead."
"You mean the council didn't question them after all." Liam stilled next to me.
"According to Kai and Micah, they weren't questioned. There wasn’t enough time. They had been gone only five to ten minutes and never found the council." Evan ran a hand down his face. "The only logical explanation is that our dads were waiting in another room downstairs, and when Micah and Kai left to head to the council room to find them, they snuck in and killed them. Our dads had to have only wanted to bring them here to pretend to question them with the real intent of killing them on sight."
