Slip of Fate (Werelock Evolution Book 1) (16 page)

I stayed mostly present as Kai proceeded to administer another intravenous healing push. He informed me that my heightened olfactory sensitivity should only be temporary, but he didn’t say for how long it would last. Interestingly, I noticed that the curative vibrations accompanying the intravenous push felt quite lovely this time. Kai commented that it was because I wasn’t spazzing out or fighting it.

Had I been able to move, I would’ve loved to give him the finger for that snarky remark. But as it was, I couldn’t, and I also remembered it probably wasn’t a good idea anyway to antagonize Kai after I’d seen him kill Jacinda without so much as a moment’s hesitation.

I floated in and out of clarity after that. I was vaguely aware of it when Alex returned, promptly dismissing Kai and crawling into the space next to me beneath the soft bedding. He smelled better, but there was still a lingering scent that slightly irritated my nasal passages.

Cuddling up next to me, he told me that it was my “fucking fault” and playfully warned me there would be dire repercussions if I persisted in thinking such insulting things about him, even as his fingers began to gently snake through my tresses in a caress that further belied his threatening words. I lazily projected back that it was
his
“fucking fault” for eavesdropping where he wasn’t welcome.

When next I surfaced, I was still tucked securely into Alex’s side. And I was elated to recognize Alcaeus’ presence in the room, my psyche curiously latching onto his voice and scent as if he were somehow my oldest and dearest friend in the world.

He was interrogating Kai and Alex about something they’d used to heal me. The concern in his voice was evident, and it alarmed me more than I had energy to admit. I couldn’t help but notice that while Alex still smelled a bit off, Alcaeus’ scent was positively divine.

“Her injuries were more serious this time.” Kai’s voice was defensive. “We had no alternative, Al.”

“But we don’t know what that kind of blood volume will do to her,” Alcaeus responded.

“She’s alive,” Alex snapped. “Clearly we made the right call. And she’s handling it fine. We’ve monitored her continuously. I’ve been inside her head nearly the whole time. And in the brief periods I haven’t, Kai has.”

“Take a hint, Alex. She doesn’t like you in her head. Maybe she’d wake up if you got the fuck out and gave her some peace.”

“She needs me! Especially now. And she’s warming up to me.”

“My God, pull your fat head out of your ass already,” Alcaeus chastened. “She’s unconscious and doesn’t have a choice! Fuck’s sake, she tried to get herself killed to get away from you. I’m bringing her to my home and that’s final.”

I wanted to kiss Alcaeus for pleading my side. My feeble hopes for salvation were reignited at the prospect of him providing me a safe haven.

“You’ll have to take her from me first,” Alex replied stonily. “We both know any such attempt won’t end well for you.”

“Alex, she’s depressed and she’s scared. It’s not been a week and she almost died at the hands of one of your own betas! I’m taking her.”

“Go ahead and try if you have a death wish.”

“Goddamnit, she’s an unchaperoned human mate who is possibly the next vessel we’ve been waiting for. As elder I had every right to take her before, and I sure as fuck have the unequivocal right to take her now that this has happened.”

“I’ll never allow it.”

“She has a choice, Alex!”

“Not anymore,” Alex stated matter-of-factly. “She’s mine. And I’m keeping her.”

An internal shiver of apprehension coursed through me at his words. Ironically, Alex’s arms tightened around me in response.

“How romantic,” Alcaeus said with a disparaging chuckle, “that you should get along so well with her in her comatose condition that you’ve decided she’s your mate now. What happens when she wakes up?”

“I didn’t say she was my mate,” Alex was quick to correct.

My coma brain was starting to hurt trying to comprehend his confusing behavior and inconsistent intentions toward me.

“Well, that’s a relief,” Alcaeus said with abundant sarcasm. “Because I’d be forced to point out you weren’t exactly acting like a mated wolf a few hours ago in the gardens.”

Gardens?
What had happened in the gardens?

“What the fuck do you want from me? I have my own needs! I’m doing the best I can with this fucked-up situation. Her scent is driving me insane!”

“I want you to do better!” Alcaeus thundered. “Do the right thing! I want you to respect our laws and honor her choice. Be fucking nice to her, for Christ’s sake! Let her see her brother. Allow her a choice of prisons if we’re going to keep her a prisoner. You haven’t bothered to learn anything about her, much less consider what she wants.”

I could’ve cried tears of gratitude if I’d only had the wherewithal. Alcaeus was taking the words straight out of my head, as if he were the one occupying my mind rather than Alex.

But as I sensed Alex’s anger swiftly spiking in response to his brother’s inciting remarks and he growled back that Alcaeus would never have me, belatedly I regretted being so carelessly unguarded with my thoughts while Alex was in my head.

It had been terribly unwise, in fact, particularly given my supremely vulnerable present condition, to let him know how unusually comforting Alcaeus’ presence was to me, and how much I quietly hoped Alcaeus would be able to take me away from him. I hated feeling so dreadfully exposed and defenseless.

And yet again, paradoxical as it was, as Kai and Alcaeus began bickering over my course of treatment, Alex intertwined his hand with mine in a gesture of reassurance—
as if he wasn’t the very immediate threat I was terrified of
. For the very first time, rather than speak aloud in response to my thoughts, he projected his thoughts privately back to me inside my mind.

“Milena, I will never punish you for your honesty.”
The message was accompanied by waves of calming energy, vibrations of relaxation and images of my perfect safety.

“And I’d never begrudge you your instinctive, primal drive to seek safety. But you are mine to protect. I won’t make the mistake of leaving you inadequately cared for, ever again. Sleep for me,”
he gently directed just as I sensed Alcaeus drawing his attention from me.

Miraculously, I did finally sleep—or
dream,
rather. I dreamt I was home. I was in my own bedroom in the house I’d grown up in. I was where I belonged. And it was both comforting and heartbreaking because I knew I was only dreaming and not really there.

I sat all alone within the silence of the walls I adored so much. Everything was exactly as I’d left it the morning I’d embarked on my journey to Brazil.

And for just a moment, I could almost hear the faint echo of my mother calling me from the kitchen downstairs, letting me know breakfast was ready and announcing the minutes I had left before I had to leave for school. It was a memory of her I never wanted to forget. I listened harder, hoping beyond hope to conjure just a whisper of her voice from my memory, even if it was only a dream voice.

But it was a familiar male voice that called to me instead, sure and resounding, obliterating the fragile whispers of the ghosts of my past. The voice was gentle, but insistent, as it commanded me to come to him, saying that it was time, and that he had waited patiently for long enough.

His words were authoritative, yet softly seductive as he lured me from my bedroom with the promise of something real—something more tangible than the memories that filled the silence of my childhood home.

He said he needed me.
He wanted me.
The ghosts in my mind couldn’t touch me, he said. They couldn’t keep me warm and safe, or make me feel more alive inside than I ever imagined. But he could, he told me.
He would,
he promised me. All I had to do was open my eyes and come home to him.

I blinked. And then I blinked again.

My eyes didn’t open, but I did notice a soft, muted light on the other side of my closed eyelids for the first time since falling into my altered state of nothingness.

“That’s it, baby,” Warm fingers lovingly stroked my cheek. “That’s my girl. One more time for me.”

I blinked again. My eyelids still didn’t budge.
When had they gotten so dang heavy?

“Once more, Milena,” he insisted.
“Again.
You’re so close.”

I tried yet again, and at last my stubborn eyelids opened.

There was indeed light on the other side.
And Alex.

CHAPTER TEN

I was in a different room, in a different bed. Everything seemed bigger.

But I couldn’t focus on much beyond Alex’s absurdly handsome face grinning back at me.
Fuck.
He looked way better than the image I’d held in my memory of him. And he was shirtless again.

Double fuck.

A quick survey of my person revealed I was thankfully dressed in pajamas and that he was wearing some form of lounge or sleep pants as well. Still, we were in bed together … probably his bed …
alone
… under the covers.

Instantly I regretted leaving the safety of my coma.
This could only get weird
fast.

“How do you feel?” he asked, his expression boyish—giddy with excitement like a kid on Christmas morning who’d just unwrapped the present he’d wanted most.

“Um … good?” I answered uncertainly, testing out the vocal chords I’d not used for what seemed like days.

His grin broadened, as if I’d just said something outrageously brilliant or amusing.

Oh, God … it was already weird.

I reached up to palpate the top of my head, feeling for the site of my injury. There was nothing. No scab or lump, no sensation of tenderness, and no scar.

I frowned. “How long has it been?”

“A little more than thirty-six hours.”

That was all?
“How did I heal so fast?” I remembered Kai saying my injuries were worse.

“Your injuries
were
worse,” he agreed in answer to my unvoiced thought. “You also lost a lot of blood. So I had Kai give you some of mine, which helped heal you faster.”

“We’re the same blood type?” As soon as I said it, I felt like the world’s greatest bimbo.

“No.” He smiled and shook his head, gazing indulgently down at me like I was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen. “Not even close.”

Shit. I’d woken up in an alternate universe.

“Is that safe?” I blurted.

“Well, how do you feel?” he countered with a wry grin, rather than answer the question.

In truth, I felt good. Really good. Alert and well rested. My vision seemed clearer than it had ever been. In fact, all my senses seemed strangely sharpened and improved. My body felt perfectly healthy and ache-free. And surprisingly …
clean,
I noted, as well. I ran my tongue over the inside of my mouth. Even my teeth felt clean.

“I took the liberty of bathing and caring for you while you were resting,” Alex announced, once again in answer to my unspoken train of thought.

My eyes flew wide and my stomach turned over. I prayed he was just being a dick and teasing me. I held my breath and waited for the punch line.

He frowned. “Your hair was matted with blood, Milena.”

I remembered how in my altered state of awareness I’d been floating in the watery clouds with him, thinking I was dead …
and naked.
Lord help me, he was serious that he’d actually bathed me!

Alex had seen me naked.
And while I’d been unconscious!

“Don’t worry, I was a gentleman,” he reassured. “I looked, but didn’t touch anywhere I thought might upset your prudish human sensibilities. Marissa assisted me, and I had her do most of the actual washing.”

My face heated with shame, and I rolled over onto my side away from him, squeezing my eyes shut as if it might mercifully take me back into my comatose state.
I wanted to die.
He was the first boy—
man—
to see me naked, and I hadn’t even had a say in it. Hell, I hadn’t even been awake for it!

Moreover, he was absolutely the last person in the world I ever would’ve allowed to see me in the nude given the choice. And there he was, making light of yet another horrendous violation of my privacy and person. I ground my teeth in outrage as silent tears began to pour unchecked behind my closed eyes.
Damn him!

“Shh,” he hushed, scooting closer to me and running a comforting hand up my arm to my shoulder. “Hey, there’s no reason to get upset.” He sounded perplexed, and maybe a little miffed by my reaction, which only served to enrage me further.

“Don’t fucking
shush
me! Just get away from me.” I squirmed and pushed against him as indignation blazed through me. Again he tried to calm me, rather than do as I’d asked, which prompted me to scream in frustration at the top of my lungs. “
Get out of my damn head and stop fucking touching me!
”

As I screamed the words, I pushed back against him in my head. The horrible feeling of my brain catching fire happened instantaneously this time, but it did nothing to discourage me. I didn’t care. And I wouldn’t stop until my brain imploded like poor Jacinda’s if that’s what it took to be rid of him.

“Stop it!” he ordered, flipping me onto my back and climbing over me. He’d used that deep, authoritative Alpha tone of his, and it made me more incensed than words could ever express.

So I threw my fist at his face as hard as I could, knowing full well it would be my hand that sustained all the damage, but far from caring.

“
Fuck!
”
he roared as the bones in my knuckles splintered against his cheek.

I couldn’t help but scream in reaction myself. It hurt like a motherfucker!

“I’m out! I’m out!” he ceded, immediately retreating from my mind while at the same time pinning both of my wrists above my head and straddling my midsection. “Would you stop hurting yourself already?”

It was a blessed relief indeed to feel the burning in my head cease. But it also served to highlight how much my broken hand was now hurting.