Frostbite & bruises

Back in the brothers’ living room, she saw that Steve had already made Mads’ bed and blew the old man a kiss, which he accepted with a big grin.

Morgan quickly placed the overstuffed bag on the worktop of the small kitchen before walking over to a still sleeping Mads.

“Um, sir...” Morgan suddenly realised that she had no idea what the blind man’s name was.

She could see the corner of his mouth curl into a grin, but he remained silent.

“Um, I would like to examine Mads for a moment... Uhh... could you please move aside?”

The grin around his mouth widened and a gleam of pleasure appeared in his blind eyes.

“No problem Morgan,” he said and moved to the other side of the sofa, standing up and giving her space to crawl behind the table to join a still sleeping Mads.

“Shane...”

Surprised, Morgan looked at the man. “Excuse me?”

“Shane, the name is Shane. I’ve already mentioned my brother’s name, so you already know him...”

Unintentionally, Morgan began to smile. Underneath his wild beard and despite his rugged appearance, the man had a friendly face. “Nice to meet you, Shane, and thanks again for letting us stay.”

Morgan saw his smile fade at her words and she could well have kicked herself for that last remark.

“Yeah... about that...”

It was at that very moment that the door burst open and Nox walked in with a dark expression on his face.

“Nice that you two are getting along, but isn’t it about time you kept your promise, Morgan?”

Morgan’s eyes flew open at the remark and her heart started to beat like a madman. Surely he didn’t mean...?

“The food... ...that you were going to prepare...” The shocked look on the female’s face hadn’t gone unnoticed, a look that somehow annoyed Nox immensely.

What the hell was she thinking? He was no Perv! They’d made a deal, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t cash in right then and there, he wasn’t that much of a dick!

Relief crept across her face, and her cheeks began to blush as well, something that hadn’t escaped the attention of one of her children, Nox noticed.

“Are you OK, Mum?”

The eldest of the three children looked worriedly at her mother. The girl’s eyes slipped to Nox, taking him in suspiciously.

Nox’s eyes slid to his brother who listened to the whole conversation with a tense expression on his face, knowing full well that Shane despised him for the deal he made with the woman.

A small clicking sound behind him made him turn around. There was a small red light on the side of the door and it was blinking softly.

“What’s that?”

Nox turned his head back to see the woman looking at the red light with curiosity.

“Nothing you need to worry about!” He bit and saw that she blushed deep red at his sneer.

“Aiden!” Annoyed by his brothers rude behaviour Shane turned his head to the sound of his brothers voice.

“No need to act like an asshole!”

Nox looked at his brother with disdain.Had that fool still not learned not to trust just anyone? “Whatever… I’ll check the traps on the east side in the morning.” Then he disappeared into their sleeping quarters.

After checking the wounds on the elderly woman’s body and applying a new bandage to one of them, she began to prepare dinner. Her eldest daughter helped her peel and cut. Though the young woman kept her mouth shut, Morgan knew Reah was burning with curiosity. But out of decency, so as not to draw the rest of the group’s attention to the awkward situation, she remained silent. Something for which Morgan was grateful.

The rest of the evening passed without incident. Steve, together with Morgan and Viggo, helped Mads to their new sleeping place.

From a distance, Morgan saw Elise busy telling Shane how to do his job better. She admired the man’s patience. If it had been up to her, she would have sent the girl away a long time ago.

Her eyes slid to the sleeping quarters of the two brothers. Nox had disappeared straight back into the bedroom again after dinner, closing the door behind him.

Morgan shook her head. The tall man was a strange sort and the deal she had made with him did not please her, but the welfare of the small group of people she felt responsible for and loved dearly had not made her hesitate, she would have made a deal with the devil for their safety. She had to admit, though, that despite the deal to have sex with him, something that had initially made her think he was just a creep, his promise not to force her had made her look at him in a different way. She still thought he was a strange man, but she was no longer so afraid of him.

A soft rumbling in the living room made Morgan sit up. What the hell was that? Intruders? No...the dog would have barked...

She crawled carefully on her hands and knees to the door after a quick glance at the sleeping group. As this was an office, the door had a louvered window. Carefully, she pushed the slats open a little. At first she saw nothing, until her gaze fell on a hunched figure in the chair by the door.

Nox...

She watched as the big shepherd walked up to his master, hoping for a pat on the head, and sat down beside him, his tail wagging lazily, as if the dog knew exactly what was going to happen.

After Nox had pulled on his boots, man and dog stepped out into the dark of the factory.

Minutes passed as Morgen remained crouched behind the door. She was curious where they had gone, but when the man and the dog had not returned after ten minutes, and she had grown stiff with cold, Morgan crawled back under her blankets and fell asleep. As a result, she didn’t hear that Nox and the dog had returned at some point in the night.