Chapter 38
THIRTY-EIGHT
THISTLE
I woke to the sound of a crackling fireplace, and the strip of light from beneath the heavy curtains. My eyes were sore from crying, though I couldn’t remember why.
There was no Alpha in here with me.
That was odd.
Instead, the scent of sugar dust and sunstone hung in the room.
It was new, and not Alpha at all.
It took me a second to orient myself to where I was, but when the events of the previous day returned, they tumbled in all at once.
I blinked awake, fumbled in the sheets, and found Bambi curled up at my side. She was clutching Bunny close. She stirred, blinking groggy eyes open. The dressing on her face stuck across her cheek and nose, but I could see her bright eyes clearly.
Shit.
I cleared my throat.
“Are you feeling okay?” Was that a stupid question?
Of course she wasn’t… “The doctor worked really hard to make sure there was as little scarring as possible.” My voice cracked, eyes scanning the dressing.
“And we have meds so it doesn’t hurt much.
You have to wait a bit before you can shower with the dressings, but I can help with anything you need until then.
” The words spilled out in a mad ramble, and she was still staring at me.
That was okay. She didn’t have to talk if she didn’t want to.
I fumbled at the side table, sorting out her morning meds, then grabbed the glass of water. When I made to fetch breakfast, though, she let out a whine, eyes darting to the closet and curtains as if someone was waiting there to jump out.
Luckily, I didn’t need to leave. I could already smell the coffee from the hallway, and sure enough, I only had to crack the door to find a tray of breakfast waiting.
I grinned, grabbed it, and returned in a blink.
She was still looking around the room like it might hurt her.
Oh dear.
“You help yourself,” I said. “I’ll just make the nest a bit safer…”
She looked unsure, but I was already scrambling beneath the bed. Rogue had helped me store emergency nesting materials—and this was definitely an emergency.
I felt better when half the bed was drowning in piles of sketchbooks—all different sizes—and pencil cases stuffed with every kind of drawing stuff anyone could need.
Much, much better.
I calmed just looking at them.
I munched on toast while she stared at the piles, still carrying something nervous in her sugar dust scent.
She hadn’t eaten, but she’d taken her meds. It took a while before she moved, but finally she picked up a sketchbook and pencil.
‘How long until I have to go back?’ she wrote, the words shaky across the paper.
“Back?” I squeaked. “No, no, you’re not going back.”
She stared, eyes uncomprehending.
Finally, she scribbled: ‘They told me I’d never leave.’
“My god Alpha—uh… Ace,” I corrected quickly, cheeks pink.
“He fixed it. He got you out. And you can stay here as long as you want. No one is gonna bother you if you don’t want them to.
And the Misfits—they’re so cool, they came from places like you did.
They live down the hall, and they’re making you a nest right now—if you want it.
” The words kept spilling out. “But you can stay here as long as you want. We have movies, and sketchbooks, and pencils…” I swallowed.
That sounded stupid. She could see that.
“And I can get anything else, if there’s stuff you like doing—but you’re never gonna see Bitch-face-Bella again. ” My blood ran hot.
Her eyes widened, her face going pale at what I’d called Bella.
I cleared my throat. “Uh. I’m allowed to say that.
It’s a long story but she’s like… my mortal enemy.
Knox is my Alpha, but he’s technically scent-matched to her.
Then she threatened me to force him to bite in, so we went there to kill her so I could get my Alpha back.
But then…” I trailed off, eyes drifting to the spot on her wrist where I’d drawn the heart. “I’m… sorry.” The word was a rasp.
Bambi followed my gaze, brows pinching as she looked down.
To my shock, she panicked. She rifled through the Sharpie case until she pulled out a red marker, shoved it into my hands, and held her wrist out.
“I…” My voice wobbled. “I thought…”
But tears beaded in her eyes as she gripped my arm, her breathing sharp.
“O-okay.”
Her tears were tumbling freely now, so I added another heart next to it for good measure. Finally, the spike of burnt sugar in the air faded. Had she been worried I might not do it again?
Like… she was worried I didn’t want her here?
She settled, clutching a pillow and Bunny close again, pencil and notepad before her. I retrieved mine from Bunny’s pouch, but shot her a sideways glance.
She… wanted the mark?
Wanted it?
After everything, Bunny?
It was a while before she picked up the pad again, but when she did it was to ask: ‘Bella’s still alive?’
I chewed on my pencil. “For now. But they won’t let her get away.”
‘Did you get your Alpha back?’ she asked.
“Yes. Well. He can’t bite me yet, but we’ll figure it out…” I shoved away the thought of Knox being bonded to her.
‘You saved me,’ she wrote.
“That was Ace. I’m the reason Bella…” My voice shook. “It’s my fault, what happened to you.”
Bambi watched me carefully for a moment, then wrote, ‘All I dreamed about was escaping. I thought I was going to die there. You saved me.’
She underlined the ‘you’.
“I’m glad you’re not there anymore…” I swallowed. “What’s uh… what’s your name?”
She’d been Bambi from the moment I’d seen her, but I wanted to get it right.
She scribbled: ‘Bambi?’
“Your real name?” I asked.
She looked annoyed. ‘That’s the one I want,’ she wrote.
Bambi it was, then. “What do you like to do?”
She frowned, looking between me and Bunny like she didn’t understand.
“You can pick,” I said, glancing around at the dragons’ hoard of sketchbooks. Then I grabbed the TV remote, pulled up a movie list, and set it beside her.
I think we had everything we needed.
Bambi picked a historical TV show and it began running while I started on my next sketch.
A few days went by like that. My Alphas checked in, giving us more food than we knew what to do with. Bambi never spoke, but she was healing. Her sugar dust and sunstone scent on morning three was finally as sweet and warm as it should be.
She wouldn’t look at herself in the mirror, always avoiding the one beside my desk, though I caught her brushing the edges of her face dressing sometimes.
On the third afternoon, she scribbled: ‘Did saving me…’ The words trailed off, her fingers shaking. Finally, she pushed on. ‘Cost you your Alpha?’
“He’s here. He’s safe. It’s going to be okay. Ace has a plan.”
‘Your god Alpha?’ she wrote, and I saw the first hint of a smile tug at her lips as she looked up at me.
A grin lit my face. “He’ll fix everything. I promise.”
But I noticed as we settled back into the historical show (we were on season six now), that Bambi hugged the pillow to her chest harder after that.
I think I knew what it meant, even if it was all wrong.
“Are you worried you’re… a burden?” I whispered.
I looked from her to Bunny, and she made him give me a little nod. Her eyes shimmered with tears as she stared at her own fingers intently.
“You’re not.” She shouldn’t think like that. I wracked my brain until I realised exactly how to show her. “I promise,” I said. “And I can prove it!”