Chapter 22
Lori
I heard the sound of the helicopter before I saw it. The bright lights and thudding of the blades approached us more slowly than I would have liked. I looked down at Kannon to see that his eyes were closed and his breathing had slowed. I prayed to any god that would listen with all of my heart. Kannon had to make it. He had to survive.
Because I knew what it felt like to have the pack bond drain my energy, I poured everything down the link that I shared with Kannon. I would give everything that I had to see him open his eyes again and smile. The helicopter landed on the road behind us and two medics jumped out with a stretcher. Help was here.
Three other men dressed in black and carrying weapons approached us. “Heat signatures don’t show anyone else in the close vicinity. Two other wolves are moving close to us at a fast pace, I’m assuming they’re with you?”
Grayson gave a sharp nod. “They took care of the enemy and are on their way back.”
The lamia nodded as the medics started working on Kannon. I didn’t take my eyes off him as they lifted Kannon onto the stretcher and ordered Grayson to let go while they took over. It was almost ten minutes before one of them announced he was stable enough to transport back to their home base for treatment.
I started to follow but the lamia in charge held up a hand. “Only one of you.”
Grayson narrowed his eyes. “Blaze.”
“Grayson.” They stared at each other, neither blinking.
“I can wait here for the other guys and we can meet you there, Gray,” I said quietly. Kannon would need his pack master close in case he needed more magic to get him through the critical time. I had almost nothing left to give; I could barely stand without my entire body shaking.
The medics almost had Kannon back to the helicopter when I felt the twins back in my range of awareness. “They’re close,” I murmured to Grayson. “Wyatt and Corey will be here in a couple minutes and I think they should hear what happened from me. Go with Kannon, he needs you.”
Grayson still hadn’t taken his eyes off Blaze. “They’ll be safe with you?”
Blaze nodded and finally both men relaxed. Grayson grabbed me and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead before he ran to the helicopter. He barely made it inside before it took off again. I stood there awkwardly with Blaze, covered in blood, my shirt still a mess, and bleeding from my back. I had almost forgotten my own injury. The panic and adrenaline that had shot through my body at the thought of Kannon hurt and dying must have masked my physical pain for a short time.
I let out a breath of relief when I saw two wolves heading towards me. Corey skidded to a stop right in front of me, but Wyatt circled around myself and Blaze. I reached out and buried my face in Corey’s thick coat, clinging to him with desperation. His coat was wet and I realized too late that it was from blood. I stiffened when I recognized the scent that faintly clung to him.
“It was Baracus?” I whispered. I collapsed to the ground and didn’t even try to stand. All of this was my fault. Tears came to my eyes. The only reason that Baracus had come to Hollow Crest was that I was here. He would have followed me and left the guys alone if I hadn’t been selfish enough to put them in danger.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and realized that Wyatt had shifted and pulled a pair of pants on. He was just as covered in blood as myself and Corey. “He’s dead,” Wyatt told me with finality. “There’s no coming back from being ripped into pieces.”
Relief flashed through me first, then nausea as I realized what Wyatt had just told me, then finally guilt settled back in.
Blaze grinned at the twins. “You don’t fuck around, huh?”
Wyatt met his gaze with cold eyes. “No. We don’t.”
“Where’s the body? Or the pieces?” Blaze chuckled. “I’m going to have to set up a perimeter and have a clean-up crew come in.”
I just stared at him. Baracus had been my worst nightmare and had been a source of torment for me for years, but Blaze had never met the guy. It seemed kind of messed up that he was so amused by the grisly death of a stranger. I shivered. What did that mean for us?
Corey knelt in front of me and I realized that he had shifted back into his human form while my attention was on Blaze. “Kannon was shot?” he asked softly.
I nodded in confirmation, tears filling my eyes. “Gray went with him in the helicopter so that I could wait for you.”
“You have a problem with us heading out to be with our pack?” Wyatt asked Blaze, almost daring him to object. It looked like at least one of the twins was still spoiling for a fight.
Blaze shook his head. “Nah, point me in the right direction and go be with your guy. I’ll radio in and let them know to let you in despite your appearance.” His voice hardened. “But head right to the college, no stops. I don’t want to have to explain why I let you wander away looking like you’re a bunch of serial killers.”
I looked at the three of us and grimaced. We were all in bad shape. Blaze was right; if any of the townspeople saw us like this there would be far too many questions. We needed to get cleaned up before we went anywhere near the town. I have no idea how we would even try to explain this if the crooked sheriff pulled us over. He would take one look at us and haul us to jail - if he didn’t shoot first.
I handed Grayson’s keys to Wyatt and Corey helped me to the car. I was surprised when he sat in back with me instead of riding shotgun. But I didn’t complain when he put an arm around my lower back to keep my injury from pressing against the seat. I sighed and leaned against him, grateful that at least he, Wyatt, and Grayson were safe. My stomach churned with nausea when I wondered how Kannon was doing.
“Where was he shot?” Wyatt asked as he met my eyes in the review mirror.
“On his side.” I demonstrated on my body by placing my hand over where Kannon’s wound was.
“It sounds like it probably missed the major organs,” Corey assured me. “It wasn’t near his heart or his lungs, so he can probably heal from it.”
I swallowed nervously. “There was so much blood,” I whispered.
Wyatt nodded. “That doesn’t mean he won’t be okay.” He gave me an encouraging smile. “Have faith that he can pull through.”
Their confidence gave me hope, but they hadn’t seen Kannon after he was shot. I closed my eyes and leaned forward to rest my arms on my thighs. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “All of this…”
“Don’t say it,” Wyatt said sternly.
“You have to be thinking it. Baracus, Reaven, the whole town turning against us – all of that would have never happened if I hadn’t come here. If I hadn’t interrupted your lives and forced my way in.”
“Stop,” Corey said softly as he brushed a stray hair back towards my bun. “None of that is your fault. And meeting you was the best thing to happen to all of us.”
I looked up at him with doubt. I knew that Corey and Wyatt might believe that, but I knew the truth. I was like poison, destroying everyone that I loved. My mother, the guys… they all ended up hurt because of me.
I let out a shuddering breath and tried to clear my mind of emotions. Kannon needed all of us there to support him and help him pull through. Wallowing in self-pity and blame wouldn’t help anyone, least of all him.
The security guard at the gate stared at us for an extra moment, but didn’t comment on the fact that we were only partially clothed and covered in blood. The twins hadn’t stopped to put on anything but their jeans in our rush to get back to Kannon. I had no desire to even look in the mirror to see what a mess I was.
Pierce was waiting for us when we stepped into the fancy front lobby. “I heard you had a busy night?”
I let Wyatt handle him for now, I didn’t have the energy to do more than put one foot in front of the other. “We need medical care for Lori,” Corey called out.
I scowled at him. My petty little injury was nothing compared to what Kannon was dealing with. I’d rather have every doctor in this place working o
n him. “It’s not important,” I mumbled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine after some rest.”
Pierce shrugged. “We also need to get you cleaned up. We usually discourage people from walking around looking like they were part of a massacre.” His eyes lit up. “But you were probably the ones doing the massacring?”
What was it with the lamia and their excitement at the thought of killing? None of us answered Pierce, we just followed him to where we needed to go.
Chapter 23
Lori
The twins had been right. Kannon had lost a lot of blood, but with Corey, Wyatt, and Grayson channeling all of the magic in the pack towards him he was on the way to healing. The lamia were keeping him at the university for what they called ‘medical supervision’, but I think Dr. Green just wanted more data on our healing process. The wound in my back was almost completely healed, it probably wouldn’t even leave a scar.
I refused to leave Kannon’s side and the other guys took turns visiting and working in the shop. It had been over a week and Kannon’s gunshot wound was now looking like a shiny pink scar. The doctors said that he was still healing from internal damage, but that they expected him to make a full recovery. I cried when they broke the news.
I could hear Kannon’s soft breathing as he slept in the bed next to me. Because he was doing so well, he had been moved to a rather luxurious room with a king-sized bed. It was definitely nicer than anything I’d ever stayed in, but because of the circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy it.
Kannon’s brush with death had left me afraid to close my eyes and sleep. For the first few days, I couldn’t sleep more than a couple hours at a time. I had been so afraid that he would slip away from me while I wasn’t watching. Now that he was almost healed I knew the danger had passed, but I still had the irrational fear of losing him plaguing me every time I laid down to sleep.
The early morning sun came through the window next to our bed. Because Kannon had been trapped inside for so long, we were in a habit of leaving the blinds open so at least he could see out into the world. We had a nice view of the forest from where we were laying.
“Hey,” Kannon blinked his eyes open sleepily.
“Hi,” I murmured. We shared a smile and I hugged my pillow closer. “How are you feeling today?”
“Like I’m ready to get out of here.” Kannon started to stretch his arms above his head, but winced and laid them back at his sides.
“Dr. Green is supposed to be bringing Dr. Carlyle by this morning. I’m hoping it’s to give you a clean bill of health.” Both of the doctors were absolutely fascinated by watching Kannon’s healing process and making notes about how it was different from the way that a lamia’s body would heal. I would be grateful to them for saving Kannon’s life if it wasn’t for the fact that I had overheard them saying how ‘fortunate’ this situation had been for them. I guess I should be glad that they hadn’t intentionally harmed one of us to see what would happen, but I still didn’t like it.
Kannon turned on his side to meet my eyes. “Do you think they will let us walk out the door today?”
I shrugged. “We’ll probably have to promise to come back for checkups, but we’ve already missed a week of school.” Dr. Green had informed the school that we had been in a car accident and were being kept in the university hospital for treatment and observation. No one at the school had argued with the paperwork he had supplied, so I guess everything looked legit from their side. Wyatt had dropped off our books and our teachers had emailed us assignments so that we could keep up. Because it had been so boring in here, Kannon and I were actually further along than if we had been in class. I’d even started teaching Kannon some French.
Kannon sighed. “I’m happy and sad to be going back.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “I thought you would be ready to claw your way out of here by now.”
Kannon and I shared a grin. He was the least aggressive wolf I had ever met and almost always had an easy-going smile on his face. If anyone clawed their way out, it would be me. I’d gotten aggressive a couple times with the doctors when they had poked and prodded at Kannon for too long while he had been in pain. Dr. Green hadn’t been offended by my threatening growls, he had just added that to his notes and backed off.
Kannon reached out for my hand. “It’s been nice spending so much time with you. It’s been like we were sequestered in our own little bubble, away from the rest of the world.”
“I’m not excited to go back to school,” I admitted. “But we have a short week for Thanksgiving.”
There was a light knock on the door and I brightened up when I realized it was Gray and Wyatt. I popped up out of bed and flicked the lock to let them in. Grayson held out a to-go box of bacon and sausage before he crossed the threshold and I made happy noises. I skipped back to the bed and laid the plate next to Kannon before sitting cross-legged next to our feast.
Wyatt tossed us some packets of plastic utensils before he dragged a chair over to the bed. Kannon and I dug into the food as Grayson took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Where’s Corey?” I asked curiously.
Wyatt scowled. “Watching the shop. We had some problems last night with Gus.”
I swallowed the bite of sausage I was working on. “Really? We haven’t heard from him in a while.”
“He was drunk and throwing things at the shop,” Grayson grumbled. “It’s a brick wall, so it’s not like he could do much damage, but it’s still irritating.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t bother to call the sheriff?” I said sarcastically.
Wyatt shook his head. “We didn’t have to. He made such a big scene that a small crowd gathered around to watch. The sheriff had no choice but to ask him to leave.”
I snorted. “I guarantee you that if one of us had tried something like that we would have been hauled directly to jail with a bunch of trumped-up charges.”
Grayson sighed. “Better not to dwell on it.” He eyed the box of food that was quickly disappearing. “It looks like you got your appetite back.” Kannon just nodded as he continued to shovel food in his mouth.
“He started eating yesterday afternoon,” I informed them proudly. “I think we had five meals between noon and midnight yesterday.”
“Good,” Grayson grunted.
I let Kannon have the rest of the food after I had gotten a couple pieces of bacon and he got a disappointed look on his face when he realized that he had eaten the last bit of sausage. I held back a giggle when it looked like he wanted to lick the box clean. “We can have second breakfast in a couple hours,” I reassured him. “Just give yourself a chance to digest what you’ve already eaten.”
There was another knock on the door and I looked up hopefully. I really wanted this to be Dr. Green telling us Kannon was good to go. “Just a minute,” Wyatt called out in response.
I looked over at him in question but saw Grayson eyeing my sleep shorts and cami pointedly before he pulled off his hoodie and handed it to me. I rolled my eyes but slipped it over my sleeping clothes. I wasn’t sure that was much better because the hoodie covered everything and made it look like I might not be wearing any clothes underneath. Once Grayson thought I was sufficiently covered he went over to the door.
I was right that it was Dr. Green. Wyatt and I stood aside so that he could get to Kannon, but Grayson watched him closely with his arms folded over his chest. Dr. Green didn’t seem to mind. He used a stethoscope to listen all over Kannon’s chest, abdomen, and back before he examined the wound that was healing nicely.
“You don’t have any bruising that would make me worried about internal bleeding,” Dr. Green said brightly. “No blood in your stool?” Kannon shook his head no. “Excellent, it sounds like your bowels are functioning normally. Have you had any trouble urinating?”
“Nope,” Kannon said with an embarrassed look. “Everything is functioning normally.”
Dr. Green took a sheath of papers off his clipboard and handed them to Grayson. “Here
’s a list of everything you need to monitor him for. If you have any problems at all, call me immediately.”
Grayson glanced through the papers quickly and gave Dr. Green a nod. “We can take him home?”
“You can take him home,” Dr. Green said warmly. “Bring him back on Wednesday so I can take another look at him. In the meantime, make sure he has plenty to eat so that his body has enough fuel to keep healing.” Dr. Green turned to Kannon. “You also need a lot of rest. Get at least twelve hours of sleep a night for the next few days, and don’t hesitate to take a nap if you feel tired. Straining your body too soon will only delay the healing process.”
Dr. Green said his goodbyes and as soon as he stepped out of the door I pointed to the duffel bag I had already packed. “Can one of you guys get that?” I didn’t bother to get changed, I just slipped into a pair of Kannon’s sweats and pulled on my sneakers. Kannon watched me with amusement so I tossed him some clothes that I had kept out of the bag for him to wear today.
Kannon pulled on his clothes more slowly than he usually would, which made me nervous that he wasn’t feeling as well as he claimed. Wyatt picked up the bag and Grayson gave Kannon an arm to lean on. It was just a precautionary measure, but Kannon took it without complaint.
I looked over the room that had been our temporary home and didn’t regret leaving it behind. It was just like everything else the lamia did. They lured you in with fancy things and promises that sounded so good, but it was just a trap. I had no intention of allowing myself to be kept in a cage, even if it was gilded.
A bunch of the guys we passed by in the hallway gave us polite nods as we passed but I still stuck close to Wyatt. I wanted to make it out of here without any drama. Once we got down in the parking garage I looked at Grayson in confusion as he used a key fob to unlock a new Nissan Pathfinder. “Um…Gray?”
The Struggle: Hollow Crest Wolf Pack Book 2 Page 18