SWNOVELS Chapter 62: 1000 ways to die!
They sat through the town meeting welcoming Alpha Thomas to the town council, saying goodbye to Kent. Though his mind wasn’t on the meeting, he tried his hardest to pay attention, but it kept drifting back to the scene in the warehouse. Her face when she was presented with all her demons, she tried to run, tried to get away from them. The horror he saw swirling in her eyes, her fear he felt rip through him. When he felt eyes on him he looked up at the other members of the table. It was clear he did not want to be there any longer.
“What?” He asked,
“We were just discussing the Art Festival, and were wondering if you had a chance to discuss it with Dax yet.” Bob was saying, he could hear Johnny and Kenneth trying to cover their snickers next to him. It’s the third time this meeting he was caught not paying attention.
“The Art Festival right, no Bob I have not had a chance to discuss it with her, I’ve been preoccupied with other things.” Kane replied,
“Much like most of this meeting” Bob remarked under his breath, Johnny and Kenneth’s shoulders started to shake.
“What was that Bob? Something you’d like to share with everyone.” Kane could feel his anger growing,
“The Art Festival is a few weeks away and without a coordinator it’s dead in the water.” Bob snapped back at him,
“As far as I am concerned it was already supposed to be dead in the water.” Kane all but growled back. Johnny and Kenneth couldn’t contain themselves any longer and howled with laughter. Why they thought this was funny was beyond him? But the infuriating little man was getting on his nerves.
“And like we discussed last week, we want to see what an artist can do with it before we kill it completely. Being her….” Bob started, but couldn’t figure out what to call her.
“Being her, being her, what Bob?” Kane snarled, “Being her….bed buddy, and that has to come with perks….benefits? Like a source of tourist revenue for the town? I have an idea Bob, why don’t you pimp out your own wife for a source of revenue. I’m sure Martha would get a kick out of it.” He snapped, getting to his feet.
“That was uncalled for and completely childish” Bob snapped back pointing his finger at him. Johnny and Kenneth got to their feet as well and started pushing Kane out of the room before he really said something, or worse did something.
“You need to calm down” Johnny said,
“I am calm!” Kane growled,
“Yup, calm!” Kenneth agreed.
They stood in the hallway of town hall, Kane could feel the fire in him blazing out of control.
“Who the fuck does that infuriating little man think he’s talking to?” Kane snarled,
“Kane McKenna, the business owner. Not Kane McKenna Alpha of the Blood Howlers. That is a room full of people, people. You can not lose your shit in a room full of people, people.” Johnny hissed at him, Kane snorted. Maybe he should lose his shit in a room full of people, people, see how they like that and maybe they’ll stop infuriating him if they think they’ll get eaten.
“We all saw her face, when she walked in the warehouse this morning. We all felt her fear, but we need to keep it together.” Kane stood in front of the window overlooking the town square, clenching and unclenching his fists. His anger radiating off him, Johnny was right though, losing control was not going to help matters just make them worse. Focus on something else! Ky suggested. Like what? Her giggling! He couldn’t help the smile that crept upon his face at the sweet melodious sound she produced, when she giggled. Feeling his anger start to subside, he took several deep breaths and focused his mind on that sound. Damn mutt! He could hear Ky howling in his head, oh how he liked to be right, and rub it in.
“Now you need to go back in there and apologize!” Johnny said,
“Apologize? What the fuck for?” Kane huffed,
“For suggesting that Bob pimp his wife out for a source of revenue.” Johnny tried to keep a straight face, but failed miserably, he broke out laughing. Kane rolled his shoulders and stretched out his neck, he wanted this meeting to be done, he had more important things to do. Like finding out what Alpha Thomas needed to show them. They entered back into the room and everyone grew quiet waiting to see what would happen. Kane stood in front of his seat, trying not to smile as he could see Johnny hiding his head behind a folder he was looking at, still rather amused by what had transpired earlier. Kane as Alpha does not apologize but under the guise of a normal human, it was a requirement from time to time.
“I’m sorry Bob, for suggesting you should pimp your wife out. It was childish of me to say that and it won’t happen again.” Both Johnny and Kenneth were holding folders in front of their faces trying not to laugh. “Not that we would generate a ton of revenue if we did,” he muttered quietly under his breath. Johnny cracked first, while the others in the room may not have heard what he said, the wolves did.
Alpha Thomas seemed amused by the events of the meeting, he couldn’t hide his grin.
“Water under the bridge, now back to the Art Festival.” Kane tried to hide the sigh and his eye roll as he retook his seat, muttering about how he’d like to choke Bob with the fucking Art Festival.
“Maybe I can help. I am not an artist but I do know a bit about it.” Alpha Thomas interjected, he was trying to diffuse some of the tension in the room.
“How is that?” Bob was asking,
“I have been to the Festival, it is one of my favourites but it is a little….lackluster. It does not showcase or encompass what art actually is. I have a few pieces that could be shown, and if Kane would be willing to talk to his better half, maybe she would be willing to donate a few pieces to the show. I would like a week to put something together and we could discuss it at next week’s meeting.” Alpha Thomas offered,
“Great, give him the Festival, I will talk to my better half, if it makes money we will revisit, if not it’s dead and will not be brought back up again. Meetings adjourned!” Kane stood from his seat and quickly walked out of the room before he throttled Bob.
Standing outside in the fresh air, normally he had more patience for the trivial little town meetings, but with recent events he found his fuse getting shorter and shorter.
“Is every town meeting that….exciting?” He overheard Alpha Thomas asking. He could hear Johnny and Kenneth laughing.
“Do you mean, does Kane usually suggest pimping out people’s significant others for revenue? No, but it did make the meeting highly entertaining.” Johnny laughed,
“The last meeting he did ask if they were all crazy, when they suggested Dax be a part of the Festival, they used the argument that it would paint her in a brighter light.” Kenneth added,
“They only asked, because they found out he was sleeping with her, and thought he might have some sort of sway over her.” Johnny countered.
“Very true, if he wasn’t they probably wouldn’t have asked” Kenneth remarked. The smiles never left their faces even after they saw Kane glaring at them.
“So glad the events of the meeting were entertaining for you two idiots.” He grumbled,
“It was highly entertaining, for the first time in three years I actually enjoyed myself and can’t wait for next week’s meeting. Maybe you’ll suggest pimping out his mother.” Johnny howled,
“Shut up!” Kane growled, making Johnny laugh harder. “You had something you needed to show us?” Kane asked, addressing Alpha Thomas.
“Yes I did, come with me” He motioned towards a quieter location where he pulled his tablet and showed them a few of the videos he pulled from the cameras. The first video was Tuesday, where they could clearly see Magnus trying to get into the building, but since Alpha Thomas had all the doors replaced, he wasn’t able to right away.
“He’s not even trying to hide his face from the cameras,” Kenneth remarked.
“He doesn’t have to. It’s broad daylight if anybody stopped to ask him any questions he could simply tell them he wanted to talk about getting some artwork done. Crazy not stupid remember.” Johnny commented.
“We did find fresh pry marks on the side door, but as far as we can tell he never made it inside through either the side or the bay doors. This is where he gained entry.” showing them the video of the front entrance.
“He picked the lock,” Kenneth replied, stifling a growl.
“Can learn lots from youtube” Johnny huffed.
“Did you change the locks?” Kane asked, looking at Alpha Thomas.
“We changed the door, unless you have a fob key, you can’t get in,” he replied.
“Is this your little friend as well?” Alpha Thomas showed them the video for last night. They watched as the figure approached the building fully aware of where the cameras were placed. They never saw his face but his build was all wrong.
“No, that is someone else!” Kane replied. That’s her hat, the one she said went missing recently! Ky recognized it, he recognized it as well. They watched as he broke into the bay door and lifted it up sliding underneath it. They fast forwarded the video hours sped by, when they saw Magnus approaching the building they let it play, he entered through the open bay door and 10 minutes later the other one left in a hurry, still keeping his face covered from the cameras. 20 minutes after that Magnus left, and he looked very upset.
“He is clearly upset” Alpha Thomas stated,
“He thinks something happened to her. After we sent him a photo of her attack last week he thinks she’s seriously injured if not dead. He went for proof and he got it. Now he wants revenge against who he thinks did it.” Johnny explained. What it didn’t explain was the other one.
“Something doesn’t make sense to me, aside from her artwork and photos, nothing at Magnus’s was hers. He’s not the one taking her stuff” Kane said, they looked at him confused. “Whoever that is, he’s wearing her hat!”
“Damon thinks whoever White is doing this for is a player in the game as well, maybe that’s him!” Kenneth suggested.
“We need to get back to the house, we have been looking at this all wrong.” Kane said, thanking Alpha Thomas and heading towards his truck.
“What? How?” Johnny asked as he and Kenneth ran to catch up to him.
“Damon’s right! He is a player, while the others are making loud moves he’s snuck right by us several times. The one White was calling mine, is the other boy in the photo” Kane was about to get into the truck when a blinding pain exploded through his body. He hit the ground hard, his breath caught in his throat as his heart raced.
Johnny had his phone out calling Damon as he knelt by his Alpha’s side. This didn’t look like the other attacks he went through, he wasn’t sure what it was. He heard the line connect and rustling, he heard James barking in the background but at a distance, he heard Damon sounding panicked talking back, he heard Marco saying something in Italian. Carter called 10 minutes away.
“Damon, what is going on?” Johnny yelled trying to be heard over the commotion.
“James we can’t cover it all there’s too much. You boys better be ready and clear the grounds we’re coming fast and not stopping for anyone. Carter don’t stop till we get to the medical ward.” Damon barked out,
“Damon….Damon what’s going on?” Johnny yelled again.
“What did you do feisty pants? Why would you do that?” He heard Damon asking,
“Saresti morto! Saresti morto. Se non ti spingesse via, saresti morto. (you would be dead. You would be dead. If she didn’t push you out of the way you would be dead.) Die!” He heard Marco saying.
“Now she’s going to!” Damon replied back,
“Damon! Fuck!....Kenneth, help me get him in the truck, something’s wrong” Johnny yelled, throwing his phone in the driver’s seat. With Kane in the backseat groaning in pain they couldn’t explain, they raced towards the pack house medical ward.
Carter swerved onto the pack house grounds and sped towards the medical ward, like he was told he didn’t stop or slow down for anyone, they moved out of the way quickly. As soon as the truck stopped James had the doors thrown open and was inside helping with the injuries trying to assess as much of the damage as possible. He kicked Damon and Marco out of the truck so he had more room to move and he was calling things out to the doctor as he went. He listened to her airway and got her intubated, he placed two large IV’s in her and started a blood transfusion. The doctor was barking things at him as he did them, he packed as many of her injuries as he could as fast as he could. They needed to get her to the operating room as soon as possible. With the backboard in the truck he and one of his other brothers gently turned her to her side and slid it under her. Her back was gushing blood and they did what they could to stop it. Getting her on the back board they moved her to the gurney fastened her in and the doctor continued barking things at people. Then they started to move towards the medical ward.
Carter tried to keep up, but they wouldn’t let him past the doors, and he tried. He was furious, he had a duty to protect her and they were preventing him from doing it. Damon and Marco had to pin him to the floor, until he stopped fighting them. Marco took the heel of Carter’s foot to the face, but he still held onto his legs. More nurses kept running past the doors and the ward was in total chaos around them.
“Carter we can’t help her now, she needs medical attention” Damon was covering his back.
“Si, calmati cazzo amico (Yeah, chill the fuck out man)” Marco yelled, as Carter continued to try and kick Marco off of him.
“Fucking let me go, I have a duty to protect her, fucking let me go, she can’t be back there by herself. Alpha Kane told me to protect her, and make sure she doesn’t get hurt.” Carter fought to get them off.
“CARTER! She’s hurt, big fucking hurt, big fucking bad. She doesn’t need protection right now, she needs help, medical help. You can’t do your duty if she’s dead.” Damon yelled at him. Carter finally stopped fighting.
“I….I….I….failed….I….I….I….was….supposed to….keep her safe, and I failed” Carter choked out, they could hear the emotion in his voice.
“WHAT HAPPENED?” Kane’s voice thundered through the medical ward, all three men still on the floor looked at him. He took in the sight before him, they were all covered in blood, it didn’t take much for him to figure out what happened. His eyes glowed azure blue as he released a gutteral low growl and bolted past the doors trying to find her. No one dared to stop him or tell him he couldn’t be back there. Carter and Marco took the opportunity to follow him behind the door. Kane heard the shouting and followed the sound to one of the operating rooms, he burst through the doors, what he saw stole his breath and stopped his heart.
“She’s losing too much blood, I can’t see, I need to see, more suction here, more cleaning there. I need to see” the doctor was yelling at his staff ignoring the presence of his Alpha in the room. If he stopped working for even a second it would cost her her life. Cutting the shirt from her body he lifted her enough to see her back.
“Her whole back broke open. Hang in there Luna, you need to fight. If you’re not going to do your job then get out and send someone who will” The doctor yelled at one of the nurses who was staring at Kane. James and his brothers rushed into the room to take over for some of the nurses, pushing them and Kane out the door, with a quick apology.
“Doc we’re losing her” was the last thing he heard before the door closed on him.
Carter looked at Kane standing in the hallway, then at the door he was just shoved out of and then back at Kane. His eyes went wide when he realized what was happening.
“No….no….no….no….” Carter hit the ground kneeling before his Alpha, as Kane released a loud growl. Johnny, Kenneth and Damon came running down the hallway after they heard it. They rounded the corner and hit the ground in time for a chair to go flying past their heads. Covering their ears as another loud growl ripped down the hallway. Damon lifted his head in time to see Kane fall to his knees. Damon was on his feet running, with Johnny and Kenneth behind him. Damon grabbed Carter by the shoulder forcing him to look at him, he saw the tears streaming down his cheeks. Damon looked at the door they were in front of and then back at his two brothers on the floor. Realization shot across his face and he ran his hands through his hair as he looked back at the closed door. He backed into a wall and slid down it till his ass hit the floor. They were all quiet for a while as the medical ward moved around them in a flurry of activity.
“What happened?” Kane repeated his question from earlier.
“A fucking car came out of no where, she pushed me out of the way and it hit her.” Damon said, barely containing the emotion in his voice.
“Luna ha salvato la vita di Damon. (Luna saved Damon’s life.)” Marco said, dropping to the floor on the other side of the hallway. His Luna’s blood coated his hands, his clothes, his face, and visions of her flying over the car haunted his mind.
“I….I….I….failed. I….I….failed to protect her, to….to….keep her safe. I’m sorry Alpha,” Carter said mournfully.
“When we find this son of a bitch, you can make it up to me Carter” He could hear the anger in his voice towards Magnus, towards all of them. When Carter looked at Kane, his eyes were engulfed in flames. Johnny pulled Carter to his feet, while Kenneth gathered Marco, they ushered them down the hall to get cleaned up.
The flurry of activity in and out of that room continued. Nurses would go in and out with various items, out with empty blood bags, in with full ones. Out with bloody towels in with clean ones. Kane leaned up against his own wall and sat on the floor. He was not leaving that hallway till he knew she would be ok. Mate! Ky was crying out for her. Mate! Both Kane and Damon never took their eyes off that door.
“Why did she do it? Why didn’t she let the car hit me?” Damon asked,
“Too many people would have suffered if it did” Kane replied,
“But it would be her sitting in this hallway and not me” Damon said,
“It’s not who she is,” Kane said.
They sat in silence staring at the door for a little while longer, before Damon spoke.
“1000 ways to die?” Damon offered,
“Target?” Kane asked,
“White?” Kane waved his hand indicating Damon could go first.
“Fire!” Damon said,
“Blowtorch” Kane replied,
“Guns blazing ok! Spit-roasted!” Damon countered,
“Boiled alive” Kane returned,
“Acid bath” Damon fired back,
“Strung and quartered” Kane responded,
“Don’t have horses” Damon said,
“Don’t need them, I can throw a rock in any direction and get volunteers to do it,” Kane replied.
“Good old fashioned hanging” Damon proposed,
“Too old fashioned” Kane uttered,
“What’s wrong with a classic?” Damon defended his answer.
“Bleed him out with paper cuts” Kane suggested,
“Oof bit sadistic” Damon teased,
“He deserves it” Kane grumbled,
“Nail gun” Damon smirked,
“And paper cuts are sadistic?” Kane scoffed.“Drag him behind a car over a gravel road” he threw out,
“Painful! Beat him with a phone book” Damon countered again,
“Push him off the bluffs” Johnny interjected,
“You’re rusty at this, that wouldn’t kill him” Damon ridiculed Johnny’s response.
“Not right away, he’d bounce off every rock and break every bone on the way down. The tide would come in and he would almost drown over and over again, his body would dehydrate and he would slowly starve to death. Then it would give out, either due to exposure or he’d succumb to his injuries. Either way is a very painful way to go.” Johnny explained.
“And you thought he was rusty,” Kane said,
“Would still take too long, someone might find him and help him” Damon grumbled,
“Pile of rusty bear traps, even if someone found him he wouldn’t survive long enough to be helped.” Kane smirked, it was her plan to get rid of Mrs. Morganson after her encounter with her on the sidewalk that day.
“Grisly!” Johnny too had taken up a wall and sat on the floor with them.
“Painful!” Damon agreed. “You win!
“What happened to Marco and Carter?” Kane asked. Before any of them could say another word the door to the room opened and the doctor stepped out. Kane was on his feet the second he saw him.
“How is she?” He asked, a little more force than he intended, but at this point he didn’t care.
“She lost a lot of….”
“HOW IS SHE?” He yelled. Cutting the doctor off of any explanation he could give Kane just wanted to know how she was.
“Alive. She is alive” almost pushing the doctor out of the way, he walked into the room, he’d see for himself how she was.
The sight of her lying on that gurney again. Wires coming from her again. The monitors beeping at him again. The only new sight was the blood that surrounded the bed. The bloody bandages and gauze pads all over the floor. The pools where her blood collected after it spilled from her body. Her scent was gone, covered up by the smell of blood, her blood. The copperish smell of it filled him, further pushing him, fanning the fire that burned within him towards Magnus, towards them all, he would destroy them for what they did. His beautiful queen, blood covering her body, saturating her once white hair, her delicate sun kissed skin now held a blue tinge, her perfect pink lips now muted and pale. His anger rising, boiling over, like a volcano ready to erupt. The more he saw the more he felt himself losing control. Ky howled for vengeance in his head. He wanted Magnus, he wanted White he wanted them all dead. He would hunt down every last one of them, and find ways to make them suffer unbearably. He shook his head back and forth the sounds of his growling filling the room drowning out the beeping monitors, feeling Ky pushing for control, then he saw it. Slight, small he almost missed it. Again he saw it, her fingers twitching, reaching for him. She felt his presence in the room, he was at her side in seconds, his hand covering hers. He looked down into her blue eyes.
“Stay….!” Her voice was small in his mind but he heard it.
“Baby! I’m right here” he didn’t want to move her or hurt her or risk anything, but he brushed the blood soaked hair from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“With….me!” Whispered, hushed, but again there it was,
“I’m right here baby, I’m not going anywhere” he said again into her hair. She closed her eyes and with what strength she had left she held his hand until she fell into unconsciousness. He continued to hold her hand even after he felt it go limp. He watched the slow rise and fall of her chest, as he rested his cheek on her forehead. He didn’t care that her blood now coated his hands, or his face, she was alive.
“How is she doc?” Damon and Johnny watched as Kane disappeared into the room, they could feel the anger radiating from it.
“Like I was saying she lost a lot of blood, but we got her stabilized. She is weak, extremely weak and she will be for a few days. There was a lot of external damage and she will need to be monitored closely.” He explained. Johnny looked at the doctor, but Damon never took his eyes off the door.
“But she’s gonna be ok?” Johnny asked.
“She’s a hell of a fighter, but only time will tell.” The doctor said, Johnny nodded and thanked the doctor.
“She’s not walking out of there this time Damon” Johnny said as he too looked towards the door.
“Not yet she’s not, but she will” Damon replied. He moved towards the door, he had to see for himself Johnny was right behind him. The sight they saw boiled them.
“I want them found, all of them. Magnus, White, whoever White is doing this for, whoever is helping them and I want them all to pay. Enough of their games.” Kane never turned to look at them, power and authority flowed from him.
“I want scouts on that warehouse 24/7. Ready your beasts boys, it’s time to play our games.” Damon’s eyes flashed green and Johnny’s flashed yellow as they looked at eachother. They sat in the hallway for a while waiting for Kane to come out of the room, when he finally did, Johnny rose to his feet, but Damon remained seated, the weight of the world on his mind. Kane said he could have a minute but he wanted him back in the office after he got cleaned up.
Damon sat on the floor, his head rested in his hands as the events played in his mind. If he had just been paying attention, had she not got to him in time. Seeing her thrown over that car like a rag doll, like she was nothing. The sound she made when the car hit her, the sound when she hit the ground. The blood flowed from her, it pooled around her. It coated his hands, arms and his shirt. He watched helplessly as the colour drained from her skin, the guilt washed over him. Carter didn’t fail, he did. If it wasn’t for him she would be fine and causing shit somewhere. The last thing he said to her, playing on an endless loop in his head. The last words he spoke to his sister was calling her a pain in his ass.
“You can go in!” The doctor spoke quietly.
“Is….is she gonna make it?” Damon asked, he had to know.
“I don’t know, she sustained quite a bit of damage, what’s surprising though is none of it is internal. It’s like….It’s like….I can’t even describe it. It’s like something was protecting her. It’s like she knew she was going to get hit and braced for it. Our biggest concern is the blood loss, she lost a lot. Though she has new injuries, her existing ones reopened. I was about to check on her” he moved quietly past Damon and entered the room. He swallowed hard as he followed the doctor in.
“We’ll have her moved from here soon, we just want to make sure she’s stable first before we do that.” The doctor said, looking at Damon’s face. He just nodded as he looked at her lying in the bed. How could something so small still have any fight left in her? He thought.
“We should be getting the results from the test back soon” the doctor was saying.
“Yeah, call Johnny when you get them” Damon just stared at her, it should have been him. She saved him, she risked her life, so he could live, now he would find who did this and then he would make them pay for it.
Stepping foot outside the room, the girls were standing there. They all held mournful looks as they looked at the room that held their Luna.
“How is she?” Lydia asked, taking in his appearance, dried blood covered him. Her sister’s blood covered her mate’s body, Rosie was whimpering for both.
“She’s a fighter!” Damon replied, wrapping his arms around her. “The rooms….not pretty, they’ll get her outta there in a little bit after they get her cleaned up.” He added,
“We’ll clean her up, just get her out of there,” Jackie said,
“They want to make sure she’s stable first.” Damon replied. Lydia sat down in one of the chairs, followed by Jackie and Seraphine.
“We’re not leaving, she shouldn’t wake up alone, or be alone. And we’re quieter than you boys.” Lydia said, Damon just stared at them all.
“You’re all just gonna wait here?” He asked. They crossed their arms over their chests and looked at him, daring him to tell them to leave. He just nodded his head. “That settles that, have fun waiting ladies” and he walked down the hall, who was he to argue with them.
Damon didn’t want to leave the ward, but he needed to get cleaned up and meet up with the others in the office. The news of what had happened had hit the house, and he could feel the eyes of the others on him as he moved through the rooms, he could hear their whispering, the words swirled around him. They were proud of their Luna, they were inspired by her, she sacrificed herself to save him. No one showed an ounce of anger towards him, instead he felt their sympathy. He would rather they hate him for what happened. He moved quicker though the house so he didn’t have to hear anymore.
“What happened to you? Rip something to pieces in the woods?” Lacey asked, laughing as she stood on the stairs looking him up and down.
“Not in the mood Lacey, now move!” He said, trying to get past her on the steps, but she continued to stand in his way.
“What’s wrong with everyone? Who died?” She asked, looking around and seeing all the sad faces. Damon could only stare at her. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she didn’t know what happened, but he was utterly shocked.
“Where the fuck have you been?” Damon growled at her, when he finally found the words to speak.
“What?” She asked, a slight sign of hurt flashed in her eyes over his tone.
“Did you hear Lacey, Luna is fighting for her life in the medical ward? She was hit by a car saving Damon’s life” Some she-wolf said at the bottom of the steps, she had tears in her eyes,
“I know it’s terrible, I hope she’s going to be ok! She’s so brave! And has been through so much already” Lacey could feign shock and grief like the best of them. It repulsed him, how she could pull the water works on cue, as he watched her eyes begin to tear up. The other she-wolf just nodded and gave her a hug.
“You must be so sad, she’s a good friend of yours. Stay strong Lacey!” Lacey nodded her head and wiped the tears from her eyes.
“You make me sick! Do you have any idea how fucking disgusting you truly are? You might have everyone else in this house fucking fooled, but I know you. The only thing you’re concerned with is yourself. I can see the way your twisted little fucked up brain is working, you’re going to use and manipulate this to your benefit. Get the fuck outta my way” Damon pushed passed her and headed to his floor.
Freshly showered, and knowing Kane wanted him in the office, Damon just couldn’t bring himself to go there just yet. With his mind wandering he found himself back in the medical ward standing outside the operating room where she was. He opened the door and when he didn’t see her there a wave of panic flooded through him. Stopping a nurse in the hall.
“Where is she? Where’s Luna?” He asked, his breath hitching, heart pounding.
“She was moved to room 214, her sister demanded it.” The nurse replied. Thanking the nurse he breathed a sigh of relief and took off down the hall until he located room 214. He was about to walk in when he remembered Jackie saying they would get her cleaned up. From what he saw there was a lot to clean up. He knocked on the door and waited.
“Who is it?” A voice called from the other side.
“Damon!” He replied. Who the fuck was that? He thought, he heard whispering then the door opened slightly. Seraphine stood there looking up at him. He arched his eyebrow at her.
“Can we help you?” She asked,
“Are you going to let me in?” He asked,
“No!” She replied,
“No?” He repeated, eyes wide he looked down on her
“No!” She repeated. “Luna is not taking visitors at this moment” Damon stared at her bewildered. He could feel his blood starting to heat up.
“Lydia!” He yelled for his mate. Seraphine closed the door in his face.
“Are you fuc….” he cut it short when Lydia opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
“Sshhh!” She held her finger to her lips. “She’s getting cleaned up Damon, and there’s a lot to clean up. Her hair is caked in it. Lacey is talking to Katalina and Magda to see if there’s something that can be done about it.”
“Who the fuck does she think she is?” Damon asked referring to Seraphine, he wasn’t even going to ask what the fuck Lacey was doing in there. He didn’t want her anywhere near Dax nor his mate, but if Lydia thought of her as a friend then he wasn’t going to say anything, he could play nice, it would kill him but he would do it for her.
“She doesn’t know who you are, and no you’re not going to pop her head like a grape, and I wouldn’t flick her in front of Kenneth either, he’s very protective.” Lydia said, a crooked grin crossed his face, gotta love the mate bond.
“Tell her who I am, she needs to understand that is my sister and I don’t do no, not when it comes to you and not when it comes to Dax.” He pulled her into his arms pressing his lips to her forehead. “I better not ever see you on a bed like that.”
“I better not see you on a bed like that either. And she’s my sister too.” Lydia hugged him back.
“I know Ms. Demandy Pants,” Damon laughed. “Alright I’ll be back to check on you both later, let me know if you need anything.” Damon gave her a kiss before he walked down the hall.
“That’s Damon? He’s….big” Seraphine exclaimed as soon as Lydia walked back into the room. Jackie and Seraphine were standing near Dax’s bed. They were wiping the blood from her face.
“His bark is as bad as his bite. I’ve been on the receiving end of it, and I’ve only heard stories of his bite.” Lacey said as she was hanging up her phone from her spot on the couch. “Katalina will be by later to see if she can do something for her hair.” Lydia just nodded.
“Someone else has a pretty big bark,” Jackie said looking at Lydia.
“What are you talking about?” Lydia looked at her wide eyed as she moved across the room to help them.
“Girl I see you, looking all sweet and innocent, then holy Cujo on that nurse to get your sister into a different room….where the walls weren’t painted with her blood I believe is what you said.” Jackie tried to hold back a laugh, they all did.
“I just asked myself what Dax….Luna would have done.” Lydia commented,
“With the stories I’ve heard, she would have just switched rooms and dared anybody to tell her no.” Jackie replied,
“Did she really beat someone with a napkin dispenser?” Seraphine asked, they could hear the awe in her voice.
“Oh Goddess yes, multiple times from what Damon’s told me. Sunday was just the most recent” Lydia answered. Lacey was finding it hard to listen to them. Dax was all they spoke about. No matter how many times she tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, it always ended up with either Jackie or Seraphine bringing Dax back up. They asked Lydia all sorts of questions about her and she did her best to answer what she could.
It took a lot of work, but they managed to get most of the blood cleaned off of her and she looked more recognizable now.
“I’m sorry Lydia, but Damon was kinda scary,” Seraphine said out of the blue. Lydia giggled at the look on her face.
“He can be, but when you get to know him, you see that he’s just a big softie. Especially when it comes to his family.” Lydia replied.
“In the future Sera when it comes to her, it’s best not to tell Damon no.” Lacey commented, she tried to hide the disgust in her voice. She hated how Damon looked at Dax, that his connection to Dax was way stronger than it ever was to her. He doesn’t even know Dax all that well. Lacey and Damon grew up together, and he doesn’t see her as anything.
“I picked up on that when I saw the look on his face when I said it the first time, he looked like he was gonna pop my head like a grape and it’s Seraphine not Sera.” That was the fourth time today she’s corrected Lacey on her name. Lacey just rolled her eyes and twisted her face but never said anything. Does she not like me? Seraphine couldn’t help the tinge of panic. If Lacey didn’t like her would that mean Luna wouldn’t like her?
“You ok Seraphine?” Jackie asked, lowering her voice, she saw the look Lacey gave her.
“Not to change the subject but are they related?” Seraphine asked instead, looking at Dax. She didn’t want to answer that question. No she was not ok, she was freaking out. Lacey was Dax’s friend….her best friend, and if Lacey didn’t like her, then she feared Dax wouldn’t either. Maybe she should talk to Kenneth.
“No, he just jumped into the role of over protective big brother. And when you see them together they act a lot alike, it’s kinda funny and really sweet at the same time.” Lydia said, as she took a seat on the couch. She didn’t miss the tension rising in the room between the other three women. But right now was not the time to ask right out what the problem was. Maybe her and Jackie could go shopping sometime, or her and Seraphine could go for coffee and she’d see what’s up.
“I can’t believe it doesn’t make you jealous. They are together like all the time” Lacey commented, Lydia gave her a questioning look, but let the comment slide.
“Are you sure?” Seraphine asked. “Because they look a lot alike.” Lydia looked over at Dax, she guessed they did, she never thought about it truthfully.
“They don’t look anything alike,” Lacey snarked haughtily.
“Actually, now that Seraphine mentions it, they do.” Jackie agreed, using her full name and making a pointed look at Lacey. To say Jackie disliked Lacey was an understatement. She loathed the bitch, she found her rude, and the way she used being Alpha’s sister to get her way was repulsive. Being in New York made it easy to ignore her, but they now resided in the same town and she had to play nice, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t dig at her when she could.
“Make him shorter, her taller, give him pointy ears and white hair and they are dead ringers for each other.” She added,
“Right! The eye shape, the nose and the lips are almost identical, soften up his jaw a bit.” Seraphine offered.
“Oh my Goddess! Damon has been saying he didn’t understand it, but something about her told him she was his sister. I just thought it was because he knew what it was like to not have a family” Lydia exclaimed, her hand flew to her mouth. The more she thought about it the more what they were saying resonated. She has seen them dozens of times together and never once did she notice it. But they have similar mannerisms and some of their facial expressions are the exact same, how did she miss this?
“They can’t be siblings! Wouldn’t that make her a werewolf as well? Isn’t the were gene dominant or something?” Lacey asked, she was getting annoyed, she didn’t want to think about this. There was no way they were related, Damon was a beautiful strong werewolf and Dax was a weak pathetic freak of a human. That little imp couldn’t be a werewolf, she’s too small. And she was most certainly not related to Damon, they looked nothing alike.
“Damon said his mom was human, what if they shared a mother? She disappeared after she dropped Damon in his fathers arms” Lydia told them. “And he said Dax’s mom left her on the steps of a church, then rejected her 14 years later all over again.” she added,
“This woman sounds like a peach” Jackie uttered,
“What about her dad?” Seraphine asked,
“She never looked for him, she was told she never deserved one and I guess after her mom rejected her, she didn’t want to go through that again….or something” Lydia was saying. Lacey looked down at her fingers hiding her eye roll, this was stupid. No way in hell that fucking wretched imp was related to Damon and the Moon Goddess wouldn’t be stupid enough to make her a werewolf. They were seeing things that weren’t there and they were being absolute morons.
“First time Marco brought her up, he gushed like a proud big brother. Saying how strong she was, the funny thing is I never felt jealous, not once and he gushed. I just got more excited to meet her.” Jackie confessed,
“Me either, when Kenneth mentioned her, the more he spoke about her the more excited I got to meet her. His actual sister is a raging bitch and her mate’s a complete idiot. The only thing I thought he was lying about was her size. I didn’t actually think they made adults in child size.” Seraphine said, gesturing towards her. Again they had to stifle their laughter.
“He didn’t call her child size did he?” Jackie asked, grinning
“No! He said she was tiny and could fit in a pocket” Seraphine bit back a laugh. Lacey sat beside Lydia and put her feet under her.
“I’m starving!” Seraphine said as she sat down in one of the chairs.
“Me too, I’d get Marco to bring me something, but he’s a mess right now and probably forget what he was doing and eat it himself” Jackie sat in the other chair.
“Damon said to let him know if I needed anything, food counts as anything.” Lydia pulled out her phone, “What are we in the mood for”