Jaxson's Justice

by Dawn Sullivan

  Jaxson gathered her in his arms and stood, moving back toward the surgery table, and Raven shook her head wildly. “Please, I can’t.”

  Doc Josie looked from the table to Raven and asked quietly, “Is it the surgery you object to, or the table we are doing it on, Raven?”

  Her lips trembling, Raven whispered, “The table they strapped me to was cold, metal, and scary. The things they did to me after they strapped me down… just being on one like it terrifies me.” A shudder ran through her, and she buried her face in Jaxson’s chest. “Please, don’t put me on that table.”

  The doctor was silent for a minute, and then seemed to make a decision. “Bring one of the hospital beds in here.”

  “But… doctor,” a nurse protested, and Doc Josie glared at her.

  “Are you going to tell me how to run my practice? Because if you are, then you might want to find a new place to work.”

  “No, ma’am,” the nurse whispered, turning and leaving the room quickly.

  “Not quite as sterile as I would like, but it will do,” the doctor said, winking in Raven’s direction. “Would you like Jaxson to stay in here with you? I’m going to put you under so you don’t feel anything, but if knowing he’s near will give you peace, then he can stay.”

  Somehow, Raven knew the doctor was going against all of her beliefs right now for her, but she couldn’t stop herself from nodding. “Yes, please; if it’s okay with Jaxson?”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Jaxson promised gruffly, holding her close.

  “I’ll need you to put on some scrubs and wash up, Jaxson. We are actually going to move this into the next room over now since this one has been contaminated.”

  “We’re shifters, Doc,” Jaxson said, his lips pulling into another one of those grins she was growing to love.

  “Doesn’t mean we have to be dirty, now does it?” Doc Josie said primly, making a small smile of her own appear on Raven’s lips.

  “Thank you,” Raven whispered. “I’m sorry I’m being so difficult.”

  “Sweet dragon, I think you have earned the right to be as difficult as you want right now. You’ve been through more than I could ever imagine. Let me help you. I just want to make you stop hurting.”

  “I don’t know what that’s like anymore,” Raven admitted. “I’ve been in pain for so long.”

  A muscle in the doctor’s jaw ticked, but she smiled. “Hopefully, you will in a few days.”

  Raven closed her eyes, snuggling close to Jaxson, breathing in his scent. It calmed her. She loved the way he made her feel — safe and treasured. They may have just met, but she knew deep down that he had just become her reason for living.

  11

  “I want a shower,” Raven insisted, sliding the blankets off and slipping her legs over the side of the bed.

  “Doc Josie said she doesn’t want you to move for three days, Raven.”

  “It’s been two and a half,” Raven argued, “and I am starting to feel better already.” It was a lie, and she knew Sable and her sister would scent it, but she didn’t care. She was used to the pain. There was always aching and soreness. Right now, she was more worried about washing the filth from her body and trying to get the rats nest out of her hair. “Look, either help me, or I will do it myself.”

  “Where did the sweet part of you go that everyone keeps mentioning?” Sable teased, her eyes lit with laughter.

  “I could have told you that wouldn’t last long,” Rubi said, sliding an arm around Raven’s waist to help her to her feet. “She’s a damn dragon, Sable. We are all stubborn as hell.”

  “I think it’s a shifter thing in general,” Doc Josie said, breezing into the room. “What exactly are you doing out of bed, Raven?”

  Raven gritted her teeth and began to move gingerly toward the bathroom with Rubi’s help. “I’m tired of being dirty. I want a shower.”

  “You’ll have to be able to stand longer than five minutes for that to happen,” the doctor said dryly.

  “Maybe we should call Jaxson,” Sable suggested, waggling her eyebrows at Raven. “I bet he would have no problem helping you get clean.”

  Raven’s cheeks turned a deep red as her body temperature began to rise. The man could definitely get her blood moving. “I want him to look at me,” she admitted softly.

  “Oh, honey, he’s looking,” Sable promised. “That man has got it bad for you.”

  “But… I feel like he doesn’t see me,” she whispered.

  “What do you mean?” Rubi asked in confusion.

  “You think he sees a victim, someone he needs to take care of and protect, not a strong beautiful woman,” Doc Josie said softly. “You want him to see the real you.”

  A tremulous smile crossed Raven’s lips and she nodded. “Yes. It’s been so long since I’ve had a hot shower. I have dirt in places there should never be dirt. My fingernails are horrible. I don’t even know if I can get a brush through my hair, no matter how much conditioner I use. I’m afraid we might have to cut it, and I don’t want to do that. My skin is so dry and flaky.” Pausing, Raven met the doctor’s gaze and said, “I just want to feel like me again.”

  Doc Josie smiled in understanding, “I’ll tell you what. I’ll get a stool to put in the shower for you to sit on. Your sister can help you, but I want her with you at all times.”

  Excitement poured into her, and Raven nodded in agreement. “That works for me.”

  “Raven?” Doc Josie paused before saying, “Tell me the truth.”

  “Yeah, Doc?”

  “On a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in right now? One being not much and ten being the worse?”

  Raven sighed, ducking her head, knowing she couldn’t lie to the woman. “To me, I would say a seven.”

  “Because you are used to it? You don’t know what it is like not to be in pain anymore?” When Raven nodded, she asked, “How do you think a normal shifter would rate the pain?”

  Leaning into her sister, Raven whispered honestly, “At least a twelve.”

  When Rubi gasped in dismay, Raven smiled, “I’m okay, Sis, I promise. Right now, I just really want a shower. I’m not worried about the pain. I can live with it for the rest of my life if it means I get to be free.”

  “Maybe after you shift, it will help,” Sable suggested quietly.

  Raven shrugged, resting her head on Rubi’s shoulder as they moved slowly to the bathroom. “I don’t know. I haven’t shifted in at least a year. We can try it and see.”

  “I think you better wait at least another week for that,” Doc Josie said. “Let’s try to get the pain under a five first if possible, and make sure everything on the inside is healing.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Raven agreed. She missed her dragon, but had no desire to shift right now. She was sure the pain would be unbearable, however, she would try if that’s what everyone wanted from her. But, before she did anything else, she was getting in the shower.

  Two hours later, Raven sat in her hospital bed, utterly exhausted. She’d showered, brushed her teeth, clipped her raggedy nails, and then sat for over an hour while Rubi and Sable worked on her hair, listening to them talk about things that she couldn’t even begin to comprehend. The way they tugged and pulled on her hair while trying to comb through it not only hurt, but it was making her physically ill. She kept quiet, because she had no desire to cut it. She wanted to be beautiful for her mate, not hairless. Although, at the rate they were going, she wondered if she was going to have any hair left when they were through.

  “I think we need to take a break,” Rubi said quietly, setting her brush aside. Raven raised a hand and ran it over her hair. When she felt the knotted mess, she opened her mouth to urge them to continue, but Sable was setting her brush down, too.

  “Raven, it’s time you get some rest. I need to go check in with my alpha, but Dax and I will be back later to see you.”

  “Where is Dax?” Raven asked. Her brother had hardly left her side since she’d been brought
to the Whiter River Wolves compound, and neither had Jaxson, but now they were both mysteriously missing. When Jaxson left that morning, all he’d said was that he had some things he needed to do, but that he would be back in the afternoon. Not wanting to pry, she’d kept quiet, but when Dax left not long after, she’d begun to wonder if something else was going on.

  Avoiding her gaze, Sable stood and smiled. “He said something about working, which is what I need to be doing. Get some rest, Raven. We’ll be back this evening.”

  Even though Raven couldn’t scent a lie from her, she had a feeling Sable had just somehow evaded telling her the full truth.

  “I need to go, too, Raven.” Leaning down, Rubi kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re home, Sis. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Why are you leaving?” Raven whispered, afraid it might sound as if she was whining. She hadn’t been alone since she’d been in the hospital, and even though it made no sense, the thought kind of scared her. She’d been alone so much during the past year, she had no desire to be now.

  “Sweetie, you need to get some rest.”

  “All I’ve been doing is resting,” Raven argued, close to tears.

  Rubi’s eyes narrowed and she raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

  Before Raven could respond, a young woman breezed into the room, her bright green eyes sparkling with warmth. “Of course, she’s not okay, Rubi,” she said, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. “But we are going to work on that.”

  The minute she spoke, Raven knew who she was, and shame filled her when she remembered how she’d acted in the operating room. All of the time the General had her, she’d never once screamed and cried the way she did in that room. She’d kept quiet, stoic, never letting anyone know how much they hurt her. But she had reached her limit and let her fear show that day. “I am so sorry,” Raven whispered, clutching the covers tightly.

  “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about,” the woman said kindly. Her gaze going to Rubi, she smiled. “Don’t worry, I will take care of your sister while you are gone.”

  “Jade, she’s been through so much.”

  Jade reached over, covering one of Raven’s hands with her own. “I know exactly what she’s been through, Rubi, and I’m here to help. That’s all. I promise.”

  Raven sighed when the feeling of warmth and comfort began to seep into her body, into her soul. She’d never felt anything like it. “What are you doing?”

  “Helping.”

  Raven’s eyes filled with tears, and she laid back against her pillow, turning her head to look at the woman. “Thank you. I don’t know why I am so afraid to be alone.”

  Rubi gasped, moving back toward the bed. “I didn’t know, Raven. I can stay. I would never leave you alone if you are afraid. I’ll call the alpha and let him know I can’t make it right now.”

  “No,” Jade said, her eyes never leaving Raven. “You will go to your meeting with him and the others. It’s important. I’ll stay with Raven. We have a lot to talk about.”

  “Raven…”

  “It’s all right,” Raven whispered. “I’m fine now. Go to your meeting with your alpha.”

  “Our alpha,” Jade said.

  “What?”

  “As Dax and Rubi’s sister, and Jaxson’s mate, you are family, Raven. Pack.”

  “But I’m a dragon.”

  Jade chuckled, bringing her other hand up to cover the one of Raven’s she held. “We don’t discriminate in our pack. We have wolves, bears, dragons.”

  Raven’s eyes widened in surprise. “You do?”

  “There’s a lot of magic in our pack,” Jade murmured, gently running a hand down Raven’s arm. Raven closed her eyes as she felt the woman push more of her power into her, the pain in her body seeming to subside somewhat as a peacefulness entered her.

  “Magic?”

  “Yes. Isn’t magic a wonderful thing?”

  “I don’t know much about it,” Raven admitted, although the idea of it had always intrigued her.

  “Of course, you do, Raven,” Jade said, smiling as she leaned closer. “Isn’t it magical when you merge with your dragon, spread your wings, and soar above the clouds? Don’t you feel it then?”

  “It’s been so long,” Raven whispered. “I’ve missed it, but I had to be careful. I couldn’t shift. Couldn’t let him see me in that form.”

  “The General.” It wasn’t a question. Jade knew exactly who she was talking about.

  “Yes. He didn’t know what kind of shifter I was. There were so many needles. So many tests. He was determined to find out.”

  “But you didn’t give him the satisfaction, did you?”

  “No,” Raven said so softly, she knew Jade would have to strain to hear her. She wasn’t sure why she was talking to the woman, why she felt like she could trust her after just meeting her, but she did. There was just something about her. “I couldn’t. At first, it was because I wanted to protect my family, my kind, and our king. We try to keep our existence a secret from others, even other shifters. We live by different rules, rules coming from the king himself. He is the only one we answer to. Then, the more I learned about the General, I knew there was no way I could let him find out what I was. Could you imagine what would happen if he discovered dragons exist? He would go after them all. He would start a war that my king would be forced to finish, causing more death and destruction than you could ever imagine.” Opening her eyes to look at Jade, she whispered, “If my king feels like our kind is being threatened, he will not hesitate to retaliate, and I’m afraid it won’t matter who gets in the way, innocent or not. They will all die. It is best our existence is kept secret. At least, from the General and anyone who works for him.”

  “I understand,” Jade murmured, smiling as she reached for the brush lying on the table next to her. “I can promise you, our pack will keep your secrets, Raven Dreher. We have many secrets among us. How about I tell you a few of my own while I comb your hair.”

  Raven eyed the brush in the other woman’s hand, before nodding slowly. “It hurts,” she admitted softly.

  “I am sure everything does right now, but I also know how much you want those tangles out. I promise, I will be gentle, and I’ll try to block the pain as much as possible.”

  “You can do that?” Raven asked in shocked surprise.

  A wry grin crossed Jade’s lips and she shrugged. “Not as well as my brother, Jinx, but I will do what I can.”

  Raven’s eyes widened, and she looked at Jade closely. “Jinx, is your brother?” She only knew one Jinx. The one who worked for the General.

  “Yes. That’s one of my secrets I am going to share with you.” Taking a piece of the red-gold hair in her hand, Jade slowly pulled the strands apart, and then drew the brush down it as she started. “Jinx is my twin, stolen from my mother at birth.”

  “Your mother?’

  “Angel is my mother.”

  Raven gasped, sitting up straighter, ignoring the pain that rushed through her at the movement. “The alpha’s mate? Leader of the mercenary team?”

  Jade’s laughter filled the room as she slowly worked on Raven’s hair. “Yes, the one and only.”

  For the next couple of hours, Jade told her tales of RARE and the White River Wolves, and their fight against the General, distracting Raven against any pain that was caused while she detangled her hair. When she finished, she laid the brush aside and took Raven’s hands in her own. “I am so sorry for all that you have gone through, and for the part that my mate’s father had in it.”

  Philip Perez, the man who had given the order for her to be taken in the first place, had started it all and sent Raven straight into hell.

  “I would give anything to make it so that you didn’t have to go through the misery you have this past year, Raven.” Jade’s eyes filled with tears as she whispered, “I feel your pain. It’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s never ending, always torturing you. I don’t know how you stand it. I wish I could
do something to help you.”

  Raven cupped the young woman’s cheek, smiling gently, “You already have, my new friend. You’ve given me hope.”

  “I have?”

  “You faced the General, were his prisoner for twenty years, and look at you now. You are thriving in a new environment with family, friends, your pack. If you can do it, that gives me hope that I can, too.”

  “I wasn’t tortured like you were,” Jade whispered, bowing her head.

  “There are several different kinds of torture, Jade. While mine was more physical, you still went through your own hell.” Guiding those wide, emerald eyes back up to meet hers, Raven smiled gently. “Thank you so much for sharing your story with me. I know it was hard, but you have managed to give me so much more than you realize today.”

  “I have?”

  “Along with hope, I now have the will to fight again. To push back the pain that haunts me and rise above it all. To survive. You did that for me, Jade. Thank you.”

  A brilliant smile crossed Jade’s lips, lighting up her eyes. “You’re welcome.”

  “Now,” Raven said, letting her hand drop as she once again leaned back against the pillows. “Let’s see how you did with my hair, shall we?”

  Jade giggled, nodding her head in excitement. “I think you are going to like it!” Rising, she rushed from the room, but was back within moments, a small mirror in her hand. “You look beautiful, Raven. I think Jaxson is going to love it.”

  “Really?” Raven accepted the mirror Jade handed her, and hesitantly held it up in front of her. Amber eyes stared back at her. Her skin was pale from being away from the sun for so long, her lips a light pink, dry and chapped, but better than they had been just a couple of days ago. Those lips parted slightly as Raven stared in awe at the long mane of hair that now flowed in soft waves over her shoulders. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. With a shaky hand, she touched her hair, a soft smile covering her lips as she felt the silky smoothness. Lowering the mirror, she looked over at her new friend. “Thank you so much, Jade. You don’t know how much this means to me.”