Darkest Before Dawn

by Amelia Hutchins

  I set off in the direction of the shelter, with the hope that Addy was safe and unharmed, that I hadn’t killed my best friend in an attempt to save her.

  Chapter 14

  The walk back to the shelter was an intense experience that took every scrap of patience and self-control I had. The sun was blinding and the sound of nature was deafening. I could hear the bugs, the animals, and see every tiny detail of the things that I had never noticed or were hidden to me before. I tripped several times, and each time I struggled to get back up as I made my way through the dense forest. It was a bit of an out of body experience as I felt like I didn’t have complete control over myself, my limbs, or my senses. Nothing. Maybe this was what it was like to be reborn. I covered my ears with my hands as I got closer and the shelter and the blaring noise of music assaulted me.

  When I got through the brush, it was to find all of the residents of the shelter outside, with Lachlan seated at a picnic bench with Addy. In his lap no less! I struggled to make my legs move, and when Lachlan’s eyes zeroed in on me, it was intense. He stood too fast, which deposited Addy flat on her ass. Good, she deserved it for leaving me with Jaeden.

  “Emma, stop. Dinnae make me do something we will both regret,” he warned.

  I blinked at him in confusion. “This is my home!” I growled.

  “Emma,” Addy whispered and tried to get past Lachlan as he held her back. His men stood with weapons at the ready. To attack me?

  “What the hell do you think you’re all doing here? I’ve only been gone one night and you all move in? I seriously think you should reconsider shit.” Oh yeah I was angry, years of hard work, training, everything I knew was being tipped over and trampled on.

  Addy stopped struggling and looked at me in shock. “Emma, you’ve been gone for over two weeks.” My heart stuttered as my head swam at this news.

  “Bullshit,” I argued.

  “Emma,” Jaeden called as he walked in on the precariously volatile situation. “Why’d you leave my bed?” His voice was filled with concern as I tried very hard not to reach out and throttle him.

  I blushed from head to toe before scowling at him. I heard the gasps and comments which started to buzz right after the words slipped from his lips. I shook my head, and fought against the tears of anger. “Tell them it’s only been one day that I’ve been gone!”

  “Emma,” he said as his eyes moved to Lachlan with a nasty glare that should have flattened him.

  “Tell them!”

  “Emma, you were severely injured,” he explained. “It took us a long time to fix you.”

  “And she’s fixed, isnae she?” Lachlan spat out as if it was distasteful on his tongue.

  “No, she’s just as she was before,” Jaeden looked meaningfully at Lachlan. “It’s a fucking miracle.”

  “That’s bullshit ‘n ye ken it,” Lachlan growled.

  I watched as Lachlan cut his forearm open and held it up in my direction.

  “That’s crazy!” I snapped, pointing at Lachlan in disbelief. “Why the friggin’ hell would you do that?” I watched as his eyes narrowed and then grew wide. Addy stepped a good foot away from him, and looked from Lachlan to Jaeden. “I’m not sure what the hell you guys’ fetish with blood is, but it’s seriously disturbing.”

  “That’s impossible, I saw her fall. Nae one could live through that,” Lachlan snapped.

  I turned and looked at Jaeden as he watched me carefully. Was he expecting a reaction? Was I? I felt different; weird, strange, changed, and yet I was still me. Not that he could change me, but something inside was very different. I felt more alive, and more aware of my surroundings. I could also taste the anticipation and turmoil coming off Lachlan’s men, as well as uneasiness from Jaeden, directed at me.

  I turned and looked at him. Really looked at him. He was beautiful, but deadly. I knew he was deadly, just not why he was. He could fight, sure. I’d seen him in action. He’d saved my ass, and yet there was something else I should know, but didn’t. There was something far more than the surface showed. I tilted my head, and watched as his eyes lowered down my body. There was something in the back of my mind that wouldn’t come out. Something that I should remember, but didn’t.

  I could hear his heart beating, but I had to determine mine from his. I stepped closer, but then caught myself. “What type of blood did you give me exactly?” I asked as the weakness started to take hold of me again.

  “I gave you a transfusion,” he replied, but I could tell that there was a gigantic something he was leaving out. I could hear it in his tone, in his voice. “You should get dressed in something other than my shirt, Emma.”

  I looked down and yup, I was pretty damn sure it was still his shirt I wore while I argued with a bunch of men. I’d stolen his shirt and snuck away from his house like a thief. I wavered on my legs and he was there, catching and holding me upright. He barked out orders, which my people jumped into action with. He was a natural born leader, unlike me who fumbled with it.

  “You can’t order them around,” I whispered as I lifted my face to his. His blue green eyes locked on to mine and he smiled.

  “Just did,” he confirmed.

  “I feel funny,” I admitted.

  “Horny? Or just funny as in strange, Emma?”

  “Why would I be horny?” I asked as heat flushed across my face at his question.

  “Do you have any idea how hard it was to treat your naked body, without touching it? Even when you begged me to do it,” he whispered against my ear.

  “If I was dying to the point I needed a transfusion, why the hell would I be begging you to bang me?” I whispered back, way beyond confused at the weirdness of this conversation.

  He smiled, his lips pressed firmly against my ear as he opened his mouth to tease it. I moaned and jerked back from him as if he’d set fire to my skin. I was flushed, and wet, which sucked since I wore nothing under his shirt. His touch sent every nerve in my body to the ready, and he knew it. I could see it in the confident look he awarded me with.

  “I saved your life, Emma,” he whispered.

  “I know that,” I replied. I did, but if he thought that was going to get him laid, he was wrong. Why was my body on fire? By fire, I mean I felt as if I was burning alive. Moisture had pooled between my thighs along with a hammering heartbeat that was pulsing in my vagina. I wiped the sweat from my forehead which made the shirt rise.

  He was fast as he pulled it back down and looked over my head. “I’ll expect you to come to me when you are fully healed, or if you have questions of how you are alive.”

  “Why would I question the fact that I’m alive? I’m thankful, Jaeden, really, I am. I’m not gonna do the humpty dance with you as a thank you. I’ve told you before, I’m not that girl. If I want to fuck you, I will.”

  “Do you want to? Fuck me that is,” he smiled seductively.

  “That depends on if you really bit me.” I swallowed hard as I recalled an image from his bedroom and my time there.

  His face went blank, and Lachlan, who I hadn’t heard move at all, placed his bleeding arm in front of my face. “Eww! What is your problem? Seriously! Stop it.” What the fuck did they think I was a vampire…? I snapped my eyes at Jaeden accusingly.

  “You bit me! The blood, and oh my god! Please tell me you didn’t feed….wait!” I looked from Lachlan who I had a flash image in my head of green eyes of the wolf in the woods. I turned to Jaeden who was watching me. “Am I on pain medicine?” I asked; because that shit could make you think some weird shit. It had to be meds; it was the only thing that made sense. Because right now, I was seriously tripping.

  “I gave you something for the pain, yes,” Jaeden supplied cautiously.

  “Emma,” Addy came up behind me with a robe. “I’ve been so worried about you,” she breathed as she t
hrew her arms around me. “I thought you were dead, and nobody said anything!” she sniffed, holding back tears.

  Jaeden hadn’t told her I was alive? Didn’t he think I would make it? I looked over her head at him and narrowed my eyes. “Why didn’t you tell her anything?”

  “Because we didn’t know if you’d make it or not,” he replied simply.

  “Right, but nothing? You couldn’t tell them anything at all? Dick move,” I bit out.

  He smiled but other than that, his eyes just watched me. I could smell everything about Addy, her fear, and happiness. I sniffed her, and caught myself doing it. “You’re fucking him?” I asked and leveled a murderous look at Lachlan.

  “How did you know that?” Addy whispered as she pulled away and sniffed herself.

  “I don’t know,” I said as I turned to Jaeden in confusion. I was about to collapse, and I kept getting bombarded and overwhelmed with things that I was suddenly noticing. I could smell everything, right down to Jimmie who refused to shower on a regular basis, which was disgusting. I could see the details of the brush on the hilltop which was as at least a mile away from us, and I was pretty sure I shouldn’t be able to.

  I knew Lachlan and his men were agitated by my presence, but why? Jaeden was on edge, but more than that, I knew he wanted me. I could feel it. I turned in his direction and walked to him; his eyes watched me. As if he knew what I planned to do before I did. I lifted myself up on my toes and kissed him.

  The moan ripped from my throat, right before his hands lowered to my ass and pressed me against his hardness. He smelled intoxicating. His rich, masculine scent was mixed with spices and sex. His sex was hard and ready to do damage. He brought his hands up to my face, framing it as he deepened the kiss. He groaned as I pulled away from him.

  “I can smell you,” I whispered.

  “I can smell your readiness too, my sweet girl.”

  “Why can I smell you?”

  “I’m not sure, Emma, but if anything else strange happens to you, I need to know right away.”

  With that, he left me standing with Addy and Lachlan who was still bleeding, and not doing anything about it. “You need a Band-Aid,” I said offhandedly. “Let me get one.” I turned and moved tiredly to the door of the shelter.

  He needed more than a Band-Aid, but hey, I wasn’t his nanny. He punched the code in and I glared at Addy. Why would she do this? I was pissed! I pushed past him and stopped dead in my tracks as I took in the changes.

  Where my father’s office had been was more of Lachlan’s men, pointing at pins on the white board that held a map of our town. The children’s area had been changed as well, and was now a cafeteria. Food was piled on tables, as if it had an endless supply. Candles burned while the lights shined at full power.

  “What the friggin’ bloody monkey fucks!”

  “Emma, it’s okay. They brought fuel, food and other supplies with them,” Addy’s voice was soft behind me.

  “It’s not okay, Addy! There’s not a friggin’ store to run down to when the supplies are gone. You let them into our home— my home! This is ours! This is the friggin’ sanctuary for people who need to be helped and they don’t need help! You let a bunch of hot ass men inside, and we already have one baby too many! Why?” I choked on the tears. “We were doing fine with what we had! We protected each other, and we got shit done, Addy. Why would you take this away from me?”

  “Emma, tis nae like that, lass,” Lachlan said gently.

  “Take your lass and shove it!” I yelled as an overload of emotions flooded over me. “You don’t get to come in here with your dinnae fret, and dinnae lass this, and cannae be so bad! This is mine. I helped my father build it! It’s all I have left of him.” A traitorous tear slid down my cheek and I angrily swiped at it.

  “Ye cannae get mad at the lassie fer thinking ye were dead. She asked fer help and we came tae do that. She isnae as strong as ye, Emma; she was scared,” he offered reasonably.

  “I’m going to bed—” I felt betrayed, and my head swam with too many emotions, too much turmoil with what had happened. Tears slid down my cheeks unchecked as I moved as swiftly as my legs would carry me through the shelter to my room. Luckily, it was still there and hadn’t been given over to one of Lachlan’s men or something. I fell on the bed without closing the door, and crashed hard.

  Chapter 15

  Addy shaking my shoulder was my wakeup call the next morning. She had been crying for a while, judging by the puffiness of her eyes. I sat up and tried to recall where I was. Home. I lay back down on my pillows and turned to face her. She sniffled, and started apologizing profusely.

  “Addy, enough crying, I get it, but I don’t think you understand what you’ve done,” I mumbled, trying to snuggle back into the bedding.

  “You were dead! I was afraid to be alone. What happened to Mom and Dad was awful, and your dad was gone, I didn’t know what to do. Lachlan was sweet; he and his men offered to protect us. It seemed like a good plan, Ems, we buried you,” I rolled over and stared at her blankly. They’d buried me? What the hell was she talking about and how creepy was that shit?

  “Emma?” Grayson peered at me from the doorway before he ran for the small bed and jumped on me. His exuberance was contagious and for a brief moment, I forgot my resentment. “I knew you weren’t dead. I told them you’d never leave me. I told them,” he whispered as he sobbed in my arms.

  “I know brat, but they had good reason to think I wouldn’t make it,” I replied with tears thick in my throat. I hadn’t even thought about what Grayson would have gone through. I’d been selfish, but the idea of men such as Lachlan and his men taking over the shelter put me on edge.

  “I love you, Emma, to the moon and stars,” he whispered as his sobs ebbed.

  “I love you beyond the moon and all its glory. I love you brighter than the stars could ever burn in the sky, brat,” I answered back.

  I looked over the top of Grayson’s head to find Addy watching us with an uncertain look in her soft brown eyes. I nodded to her, and before I could blink, she’d wrapped herself around us and started crying again.

  “I’ll never leave you two, you know that. I understand why you did what you did, Addy, but I don’t know them and I sure don’t trust them.”

  “I didn’t sleep with him. I slept with his brother,” she blurted.

  “You were sitting on his lap…?”

  “They share, but I wasn’t into that, well, I might be. I was really tempted,” she admitted as my eyes widened as I moved to plug Grayson’s ears. “His men do it as well, but only Kyra took them up on it.”

  “Uh, okay…” I said unsure of what to say about it, and I wasn’t quite sure we should be talking about this in front of my baby brother and his virgin ears. I had read enough to know a lot of the kinks of sex, and I’d enjoyed the books, but that didn’t mean I’d be jumping on the ménage sandwich bandwagon anytime soon. “So basically they came in, took over, had an orgy, and decided to stay awhile?”

  “It sounds really bad when you put it like that,” she said and her face fell again.

  “It is okay, Addy. Maybe it’s time to allow others to help. We were barely pulling it together, and I’m tired of being on the losing end. I was reminded not too long ago that I expected people to be like they were before the world went to hell, but they’re not. There are a lot more evil ones out there than I ever realized and the more that come here, the more I wonder what the hell we’re fighting for. It will be nice having more men around to do the heavy hitting and lifting for a change.”

  “You’re sure? ‘Cause I can kick them out; now that we have you, Emma, we can make it.” Addy’s soulful eyes snapped eagerly with her words.

  “And maybe you can finish my training?” Grayson piped up hopefully. I narrowed my eyes for a moment at him.

 
“Uh, let me get situated and we’ll talk about that,” I glanced back at Addy, resigned to what needed to be done. “As long as they keep their kinky fuckery to themselves, I’m fine with them staying. No one goes into my father’s rooms. They are off limits to outsiders. Other than that, if they can help out, they can stay.”

  A little while later, I was standing in the shower, the water running over my naked body—it felt blissfully good. I was still standing beneath the spray of water when Lachlan stepped in, and joined me. He was naked, and his hands pulled me close against his chest.

  “I’ve been watching ye, lass,” he rumbled as I jumped from beneath the water with surprise by his silent entry. “Yer as stubborn as a newly born bairn, ye are.”

  “You’re naked, and in my shower,” I pointed out as I tried to ignore what he was pointing at me. His cock was hard, and I could smell his anticipation burning in his veins. Jaeden’s had been a missile, but Lachlan certainly was a close second and I could have sworn the thing winked at me.

  “Oh aye, yer in it during my scheduled time so I figured ye were making peace with me,” he smiled as his eyes slid over my naked body.

  Since when did we have scheduled showers? The only schedule we had was five minutes per body, and he had come in and taken over. He had some nerve!

  “Is that what you thought? Let me just ease your mind. I had no intention of showering with you. I figured no one would be here since water restrictions were set to keep the pumps from going out. You should learn the schedule, and show it to your men. This is my shelter, Lachlan; you and your men are guests. You will follow the rules so that it continues to run, and work smoothly. ” I pulled the towel off the rack and wrapped it around my curves.