Chapter 18 #3
Merida scrambles out of the car and moves to pop the trunk. I glance at her before she walks over and picks up the head off the ground and throws it in the trunk like it is a ball.
“You head back, we will clean this mess, boss,” said another man coming up behind us.
He has long blond hair brushing his shoulders.
My gaze travels down and widens. I pray that neither of my mates will understand why I’m surprised.
But damn, he is hung like a horse! I try to peel my eyes away but they are stuck.
My face burns. Were all werewolves born to look like gods?
At least Tobias's pack. The ones who attacked me weren't glorious in any sense.
An icy hand presses against my eyes, cutting off my show.
“Pervert,” Theo whispers into my ear before taking his hand away.
The man now stood with one of my shirts covering his manhood. I raise an eyebrow. He holds the piece of fabric with one hand before holding out his other for me to shake. I quickly shake it. “I’m Floyd.”
“Imogen,” I reply.
“Oh, I know who you are,” he says with a wink.
“How did you find me?” I ask Theo. He steps closer, his chest pressing against mine. Leaning in, his lips brush my neck before pressing softly to my mark.
“Your mark. We will always find you while you bear our mark,” he whispers against my skin. For the first time, I’m actually happy they marked me. No matter what is to come, even if I am to die, none of it will be worse than what that other pack had planned for me.
“Kind of like a homing beacon, just doesn’t give us an exact location, more a feeling of direction,” confirms Tobias.
Well, I’m glad it’s correct then. Merida and Floyd dump body parts in the trunk of my car.
“Who were they?” They'd attacked me out of nowhere.
“Rogues, you can’t leave when you’re in heat, Imogen. It’s too dangerous,” Tobias says behind me.
“Yeah, I could smell you miles away before we found you,” Merida spoke up while picking up a bloodied leg and tossing it in the trunk.
“So, all werewolves can smell me?”
“No, mainly just males and me, because I’m your mate,” answered Theo.
“How come Merida could smell me, then?”
Merida chuckled and Theo growled softly, and she abruptly stopped and took a step away from him, though her eyes continued to dance. “What, worried I’m going to steal your mate, Theo?”
I raise an eyebrow before it clicks.
“I’m lesbian, Imogen, that’s why I can smell you.”
Well, then that definitely explains it.
Merida comes over and hugs me, Theo’s bloodied shirt staining my already dirty dress. “Take her home. I will stop by and see you tomorrow, Imogen,” she says with a wink.
I smile, but then wonder how I’m going to get home if they are using my car for body disposal.
Theo moves toward me, arms held out. I don't think I’m going to like this idea, and while he embraces me, I’m reassured of that very fact.
I gag when he grabs me, his skin sticky with blood, but his cool skin is soothing.
His hands go into my hair before he tucks my face into the side of his neck.
“Ready?”
“No,” I answer as he chuckles. Air blasts around me, the noise hurting my ears and the cold of it whipped my skin.
My body relaxes against his skin. I can hear Tobias keeping up behind us.
Hear the noise of his paws on the road. Theo surprisingly stays at a slower pace so Tobias can keep up.
He is running for hours when we halts at the end of the driveway.
I lift my head and watch Tobias shake out his fur before rising completely naked.
Theo lets me go, and I slide down his body onto my feet, wobbling as I do so.
The house lights twinkle at me from where we stand.
Just peeking through the curtains, the warm glow of home settles over me.
Tobias comes over to me and takes my hand.
I’m actually glad this place is so secluded.
We definitely would have raised some eyebrows if someone drove past. Walking hand in hand with one naked man and another soaked in blood.
I'm sure it would have raised some questions.
No one speaks for a time, we just bask in being together. Theo clears his throat, his hand tightening around mine. "Did you leave because of me?" asks Theo. His voice is steady, but his hand trembles.
I don't answer at first. Leaving had been a horrible choice.
I could have truly died and suffered greatly for it.
Just thinking about my ordeal makes me shake.
But, Theo's guilt gnaws at him, eating away at his core.
He honestly believes he is the cause of all of this.
I mean he had in a way, but I don't want to hurt him by saying it out loud.
Our home looms over us. My home and yet still my prison.
I'll never be allowed outside at this rate.
"What?" Tobias question glancing over at me. The man is tired, barely staying conscious on his feet. He sways. How hard had they ran to get to me? How much had they gone through?
I owe it to them to be honest. "I didn't want to be trapped here again. Once I go through those doors, I'll never be the same me again." I pause. "I can't let myself be changed. I don't want to lose the me I have left."
Both men sigh. They don't like my little philosophy stint. They don't voice it out loud but thanks to the new and improved mate bond I can strongly feel all their emotions. Thanks, bond, thanks.
"You're going to keep me here, aren't you?" I ask, plodding up each of the steps. Saying goodbye to the outside world with each. When we get inside would they flip out on me? Hurt me for running off. I remember well the lesson they'd seared into me last time.
"Please, Imogen, can we just go inside? We can talk about it later, I promise," Theo says. He sounds tired, although he never sleeps.
"I have to know. Will I get to live like a normal person, or am I going to continue to be one of your little dolls?" I question softly. Tobias's rage is familiar as a warm blanket by this time." I let go of their hands, both wanting their warmth and support, and hating them for it at the same time.
"Please, don't make me force you inside," Tobias threatens. His rage makes his words vibrate. "Not tonight of all nights. Not after what we just had to do to keep you safe. I don't want to argue about this or have to punish you."
Theo shoots him a look at that, and not a nice one. He slowly turns to me, holding his hands out again. "If we let you go back to work, will you stay with us? No more running off, no more tricking us. Just stay?"
I nod. I didn't even have to think twice about it.
After what I'd almost endured, I can't imagine leaving their side for good again.
But despite all that, I don't want to be the doll they play with when they got home only to be set back up on a shelf every day.
I need more of a life than just inside these walls.
Tobias growl but holds his tongue. The rage has increased, but it is pointed at Theo alone. There will be an argument later, and my freedom is going to be the cause of it. I wince. Theo doesn't deserve the lecture he'd get.
They continue to stare at each other, tense and in a stand-off over my rights.
But I can't stand to be outside another minute. I creep between them and onto the veranda steps. I head inside and collapse on the couch. I’m not there long before I am scooped up and taken to the downstairs bathroom.
The bathroom upstairs is similar to the one downstairs, except the floor tiles are black, not gray, and it does not have a bath, just a large shower.
Theo starts the shower, and I strip my clothes off and stepped in. I notice Tobias doesn't come in and the waves of anger still vibrate off him. It will take a lot to calm him down later.
"Don't worry about him. He will calm down," Theo tells me, pulling me under the stream of water.
The entire shower floor is red with blood, some even congealed in his hair, and he has to wash his hair three times to get it all out.
The steam in the bathroom makes the entire room smell of blood and mud, making me gag.
Theo reaches above his head and opened the window since the exhaust fan doesn't doing much to rid the room of the pungent smell.
Once he washes what he can see off, I take the soap.
"Turn around." He does, and I run the soap and loofah over his back, washing until he is no longer bloody. When I’m done, I start scrubbing my body, hissing every time the soap burns the abrasions on my skin.
Everything hurts, and the pounding water from the shower is making me think about what happened. I shake.
Tobias comes in with a towel slung around his waist. He must have had a shower upstairs. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" he demands.
"No, I'm fine," I say before getting out and wrapping a towel around me tightly. I have to stop the shivers. I can't let my mind flash to what could have been, to what had almost happened.
"Imogen, I know you're hurt. I can feel it."
"Seriously, Tobias, I am fine. Promise." I don't want to go into details; I didn't want to have to point out that my stupidity had almost killed me. My desire for freedom almost was my ticket to death. He eyes me for a few seconds, but lets me pass. I climb the stairs leading up to the bedroom. I’m not about to let them use any of my injuries as an excuse to get me to drink their blood.
Not when my death afterward is the secret to changing me to one of them.
When I put my pajamas on, I hear them come in.
"Is that what you think? We are trying to trick you into drinking our blood just so we can change you?" Theo asks, pulling some pants off the shelf above my head in the closet.
"Stay out of my head, Theo." I don't want him invading my personal thoughts, and I don't want him there with a front row seat to my trauma. I’ve had more than enough of that.