GABBY…
Clay didn’t move much as Winifred continued her work. She, Henry, and Sam were the only ones still in the room with us.
Henry watched me from across the room, pity in his gaze. He understood what I was going through better than anyone else. The terror of the moment when I’d felt his pain still gripped me.
A wash of love swept through me, not as comforting as it should have been. If not for all those humans suddenly coming to our aid…
A shaky exhale escaped me.
“Clay will be fine, Gabby,” Sam said.
“Will he?” I asked angrily. “Why are we doing this alone? There were werewolves not far from us. You could have called out to them and asked for help as soon as I told you the Urbat were coming.”
“We don’t want to risk more lives,” Winifred said, not looking up from her work.
“But it’s okay to risk mine and Clay’s and everyone else’s in the group? Why are we less important?”
“You’re not less important,” Sam said firmly.
I ignored him.
“If those humans wouldn’t have shown up, we’d all be dead, and everything we have done would be for nothing. Is that how you want this to end? You expose the existence of werewolves and Urbat to the entire world then die and leave the werewolves without a single leader or Elder?”
Winifred’s stitching paused.
“Because that almost happened. We can’t fight this alone, Winifred,” I said. “I know you heard Olivia say the same things Bethi’s been saying. The world will burn, and humans and werewolves alike will all die anyway if we fail. Who are you really protecting?”
Clay squeezed my hand, and I felt his worry and love brush my mind. He didn’t like it when I talked back to the Elders. Whether they liked what I had to say or not, though, they needed to hear my words.
“How did you know how to call those humans to come to our aid?” Winifred asked when she resumed her stitching.
My frustration boiled. Instead of addressing the real issue, why she didn’t call all the werewolves, she wanted to focus on that?
“I didn’t know. It just happened. I was desperate.” The scene played again in my mind, and I looked down at Clay’s beautiful, furry face. He watched me closely, his warm brown eyes missing nothing. His fingers squeezed my leg gently.
With the last knot tied off, Winifred straightened with a sigh.
“That’s more stitches than I would have liked to put in. But, given the uncertainty of what might happen next, a few extra will hold it better if you need to move.”
My heart sank at her words. More? I didn’t want any more. I wanted to leave and never look back. I wanted a place where Clay and I could hide from the world and just be us.
“Thank you, Winifred,” Clay said. “I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure you will. If you do need anything, either of you, let me know.”
I nodded numbly and watched her leave. Sam gave us a long look and picked up his bag.
“Henry, grab those pizza boxes. These two could use some quiet time.”
The door closed behind them, and Clay and I found ourselves alone for the first time in a very long time.
“What you’re feeling is killing me,” he said softly.
“I’m sorry.”
“No. I am. I’m sorry you’re suffering because of me.”
“Because of? No. We’re a team. We suffer together.” I leaned over him and gently brushed my lips to his. He tilted his head, giving me better access, and I deepened the kiss.
My heart thrummed excitedly, like it did every time he touched me. Only this time, I understood how close I’d come to never being able to kiss him again. To touch him. To make him mine in every way.
Reaching over him, I gently trailed my fingers down his bare, muscled chest. The hair tickled my fingertips. He groaned and lifted his hands to cup my face, turning a heartfelt kiss into a passionate one that curled my toes.
Clay owned me. He’d wormed his way into my life until he’d become such a part of it I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to live without him again. I poured all that feeling, all the desperation, into our kiss. He growled softly, and I knew he understood.
My head spun when I finally pulled away.
“I don’t want to wait any more,” I whispered. “Life is too short to hesitate.”
He groaned and tried to sit up. The effort ended with a grunt and him on his back next to me.
“Five hours,” he said. “The stitches will be set, then you’re mine.”
I grinned sadly and lay next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I doubted five hours would be enough to heal what they’d done to him. Not when he’d been holding his insides in with his arm on the way here. His lips were hidden, but I didn’t doubt they were pale, like his exposed arms. He’d lost a lot of blood.
I closed my eyes and sighed.
“Don’t leave me. If something happens where you think you won’t make it, take me with you,” I whispered. “I don’t want to live without you.”
“I love you, Gabrielle Winters. More than you can possibly know.”
JIM…
Everyone watched me as they waited for the decision of the Elders.
“Winifred just finished stitching Clay up. She thinks he will need at least two days to fully heal. She hasn’t yet checked on Isabelle,” I said.
“I think Isabelle is pretty badly bruised and will need a few days, too,” Michelle said. “I’ll use that time to see if I can figure out which desert I saw in those images.”
“That also gives Bethi time to keep dreaming of her answers. Let’s hope it’s enough,” Olivia said.
I glanced at Mom’s pale, worried face again. Dad still held her tight. Remembering the last time Michelle had touched her, I knew she probably wanted to rest. Michelle looked like she could use some time alone with Emmitt, too. At least, that’s what I told myself as I tried to ignore the burning need I had to touch Olivia. To spend time alone with her again.
“I’ll walk Olivia back to our room,” I said, holding out my hand.
Olivia glanced at it for a long moment before hesitantly reaching for it. Her cool fingers felt so fragile in mine. I carefully wrapped my hand around hers and gave a light reassuring squeeze. She’d just stood when Winifred walked into the room.
Winifred took one look at us and scowled.
“I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”
“Why not?” I asked. “I’m fine, now, aren’t I?”
Olivia made a small sound almost like a laugh, and I realized that I’d just asked why again. I almost grinned, but Winifred looked anything but amused as she continued to study me.
“At this moment, perhaps,” Winifred said, angering me. “But I’m worried you’ll make a mistake. We can’t afford to lose you to your stubbornness.”
Mom reached up to clasp Dad’s hand, and I wanted to growl in frustration at Winifred. I understood her concern; but I wasn’t Sam and Olivia wasn’t Winifred. We were different. Thrown together because of a different set of circumstances. Winifred knew that. But it didn’t change why she worried. She cared because she loved me. She loved all of us. How could I argue with that?
“Winifred, I saw them in the white room,” Michelle said, coming to my rescue. “He is going to spend time with her. They’ll even stay together in the same room overnight. Those images weren’t blurry.”
A surge of joy tried surfacing, and my chest cramped with pain. I quickly told myself my joy was because I’d have more time to learn about Olivia which would only help assure the safety of my people. That thought helped suppress the blossoming pain.
Olivia wasn’t as quick to stifle her reaction. Her fingers twitched in mine. I glanced at her, noting the flush rising to her cheeks.
“Excuse me,” she said softly. “I need to lay down for a bit.”
She pulled her hand from mine and started for the door. It opened before she reached it. Sam and Henry stood in the hall. Winifred went to Henry and took the pizza boxes he held.
“Thought we’d bring some of these here since this is where most of you are,” Sam said.
“Henry, can you walk Olivia to her room?” Winifred asked.
A growl almost rose at the idea of the pup around her. The pain in my chest hit me hard. Winifred noticed my wince because her gaze had never left me, not even when talking to Henry.
“Yes, Nana,” Henry said. Olivia moved toward him. He politely held out his arm and wrapped Olivia’s hand around it.
Everyone in the room watched me as they left.
“Are you hungry, Jim?” Winifred asked, holding out a box.
Hungry? Yes. But not for the pizza. Another pain hit me between the ribs.
“You’re not being smart about this,” Winifred said. “I don’t care what Michelle said. You shouldn’t spend any more time with Olivia than necessary.”
“I think we’ll just take that box and run,” Emmitt said, sliding out from behind Michelle. She stood, took the box from Winifred, and led the way out.
Just Winifred, Sam, Mom, Dad, and I remained in the room. They all watched me with varying degrees of concern.
I absently scratched my chest and sighed. At what point would they stop looking at me like a run-away pup? At what point would they trust that I truly did have the best interest of the pack and our people at heart?
“You told me to listen to my heart, and I am. With both ears. There’s a reason fate made her my Mate. We just don’t know why, yet. If I don’t spend time with her, how will we ever learn?”
“And, it has to be something important if Michelle saw him staying in the same room with her,” Mom added.
I winked at Mom. She might not be happy that I’d found Olivia after taking the oath, but she had wanted me to find a Mate since the first time I stole Dad’s car to hang out in town with human girls.
Winifred sighed.
“Just be careful.” She stepped aside and waved me out of the room. I quickly left and caught up with Henry just as he left Olivia’s room.
He took one look at me and shook his head.
“You look like you want to cuff me when I didn’t even do anything. I thought ‘be nice, but don’t trust’ was meant for her, not me,” he said.
“Sorry, Henry. I’m trying.”
I put my hand on the door, impatient to join her.
“I know. Good luck. And don’t forget what you told me,” he said before he walked away.
Don’t trust. I didn’t. Not blindly anyway. But I was starting to believe that Olivia was telling the truth. If Blake saw her as a tool like the rest of the girls and there was no true caring between the pair of them, she would have every reason to keep her emotions buried. Other than hiding those, she didn’t seem to be hiding anything else.
I opened the door and stepped inside.