20. Luca
Luca
I can't read anymore. I've completely lost the ability. I stare at my screen, and I swear to fuck, I've read the same email at least three times, and not a word is sinking in. Sunny's been gone for a long time. The Apiary is closed, and everyone's gone home.
There’s a nagging pulling in my chest. My alpha straining. He’s upset. He thinks something is wrong. The old, paranoid bastard. I want to call and check on Sunny, but I know she wouldn’t appreciate the hovering. The rest of the guys look just as stressed.
The sound of a car has me pushing away from the table and stalking out the front door. The footfalls of the rest of the pack close behind me. But it's not Sunny's car. An omega that smells of rain and wind with tousled auburn hair leans out the window.
"You're the pack camping on Sunny's farm, right? Her scent-match pack?" the woman calls.
"Yeah! Who the hell are you?" Jess shoots back.
"Calliope. I'm a friend of Sunny."
Calliope, the dirty librarian. I remember first meeting Sunny in the Café like a punch in the gut.
"Where is she?" I ask, panic beginning to coat my insides.
"There was a car accident—"
We're all piling into her car before she can finish.
"Okay…" she says, eyeing us and settling into the driver's seat. It's a tight fit with Jess, Hunt, and I squished into the back of this Volkswagen Beetle. Cole sits up front.
"She's okay," Calliope assures us. "Her car was hit, but they only clipped the side. She’s shaken but okay.”
"Take us there," I snarl, and I find that I'm not the only one.
Pulling up to a semi-busy street, we see the police and ambulance. The accident is on the same corner as the Library. Clipped was a very mild word for the absolute wreck before us. Sunny’s car is totaled on the back left. Someone hit it hard.
I'm out of the car faster than anyone, leaping over Hunt. I find Sunny sitting on a bench being examined by an EMT.
She’s wrapped in a hospital blanket, with a bandage on her arm from a cut and a shaken expression on her face. When she sees us, a strange set of emotions flashes across her eyes. Irritation, upset, longing… sadness? I can't be sure.
I slide onto the bench next to her. The EMT is examining her on the other side.
"Is she okay?" I ask the beta woman, who looks to be in her late fifties. She looks to Sunny, who nods. My alpha is straining too near the surface, and if I don't know her exact status soon, I may break.
"A laceration to her arm from the seat belt. Some bruising from it too, but nothing else too severe. Luckily, the car hit where it did. It could have been much worse." The EMT finishes up and then leaves to make her report.
Sunny's hands are clasped in her lap, but she can't keep the rest of herself from shaking.
I slowly wrap my right arm around her shoulder.
When she doesn't pull away, I pull her into my chest more firmly and purr for her.
I haven't purred since the day we found her, and before that, I'd never had anyone I cared to purr for.
She covers her face in her hands and buries herself into my chest. My left hand tangles in the hair at the crown of her head, shielding her face with my forearm and bicep, creating a cocoon safe from the world.
"Shhh," I whisper into her hair, scent marking the top. "It's okay. You're okay." I promise as much to myself as to her.
Jess sits on her other side and rubs soothing circles into her back.
"They fled," she whimpers.
I still at her words.
"What?" Cole’s growl is deep and menacing. He stands in front of her. Sunny doesn't even flinch. She knows, or at least her omega knows, that she has nothing to fear from him or us.
"I was sitting at the intersection, and was about to turn to come up the road that leads to the Apiary. The light had just turned green, but I was struck as I pulled forward to turn. But the car that hit me didn't stop. They just kept going."
Meaning it wasn't an accident. Meaning that someone hit Sunny on purpose. The EMT's words came back to me, saying it would have been different if the car had collided where it did. The only reason that hadn't happened was because Sunny had moved her car seconds before impact.
My eyes shoot up to look at Jess, Hunt, and Cole. We've all come to the same conclusion and are all in horrible, feral agreement. We know we want to protect Sunny, but we’ve felt uneasy about invading her space.
Now… we're not going anywhere.