Chapter 20 - Westley
The rest of the week was long. I spent extra shifts, taking extra time on the lookout. I wasn’t the only one who felt the need to do so. We were all being extra cautious about everything. Brandon wanted reports on anything, even if we thought it was stupid. All four of us were feeling the heat.
Aside from my scouting, I spent more time checking in on Gabriella, who was spending more time helping Hazel with Lucia. Lucia ended up having to stay in the healing center for a couple of days.
We did have people who were uncomfortable with the idea, afraid because of what happened to the shelter. We knew that it was going to take time for everyone to adjust, the wounds from before still fresh.
But Lucia seemed like a sweet person from the few encounters I had.
You could tell she had faced something that changed a person for the rest of their life.
She flinched when people moved too fast, and she spoke little, always looking around like someone was going to jump her.
She reminded me so much of how Hazel and Gabriella acted when they first arrived.
I was finishing my coffee when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. It was Hazel, looking tired. She yawned as she walked, giving me a wave as she entered the kitchen. “Morning, Westley.”
“Morning, Hazel. Is your sister up?”
“You mean your wife?” she asked, not skipping a beat.
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, my wife. Is she awake?”
She nodded. “She was in the bathroom when I walked by. She’s driving with me to the healing center.”
I paused, my mug halfway to my mouth. “She is?”
She nodded as she grabbed a mug and poured herself a cup. “Yep. She said she wanted to come, so I didn’t see the harm. Especially since today you guys are going to interrogate Lucia like she’s a criminal.”
I frowned. “That is not what we are going to do. You got questioned when you were here.”
She stopped and gave me a confused look. “No, I didn’t.”
“Oh, well, maybe we just questioned Gabriella.”
Her eyebrows went up. “You questioned us? How did I not know about that?”
“Because I didn’t want them to make you more uncomfortable than you already were,” Gabriella said as she stepped into the kitchen.
She had her hair in a high bun, with a pair of dark jeans and a red sweater.
She gave Hazel a soft smile. “So, I didn’t have them ask you.
You were already shaken up enough as it was. ”
Hazel scoffed. “So, they questioned you like a criminal?”
“It isn’t like that,” I sighed. “It’s just questions. We have to know information to trust anyone coming in.”
“It’s honestly not that bad,” Gabriella said, grabbing her sister’s mug and taking a sip. “Are we ready to go?”
“Are you going to be part of this interrogation?” Hazel asked, giving Gabriella a look for touching her drink.
I nodded. “I am. It’s Brandon, Kaleb, Asher, and me.”
“Not scary at all,” Hazel grumbled back, before swigging back the rest of the coffee. “We shall see you later then.” Gabriella gave me a wave before they both slipped out. I sighed, not looking forward to the meeting later.
The meeting was at noon. Brandon asked Lucia questions about what happened and if there was anything we needed to know.
She cried as she spoke, shaking as she told her story.
I had seen the scene and knew she wasn’t lying about it.
There were bodies, and I’d even found a woman around her age, just a little further away from where we found her.
I was guessing it was her friend she spoke about.
We learned that four vampire hunters had arrived.
There were only maybe ten of them in the pack, so it didn’t take long for them to get control and take everyone out.
Lucia running as fast and as quickly as she could was the only way she survived.
The only question I had was: how did she survive?
She clearly had been attacked. Had they thought she was dead and figured the cold would finish her off?
After Kaleb took her out into the hall, Brandon sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Fuck.”
“What?”
“She’s telling the truth,” he said with another sigh. “And I have no idea how we are going to do this. The pack is going to have a hard time accepting her with how tense and uneasy everyone is.”
Brandon tried hard to get the pack to accept change, but we all knew it wouldn’t happen overnight. This change was going to take years.
“You don’t want to set her up like you did Hazel and Gabriella?” Asher asked, leaning back in his chair.
Brandon shook his head. “That didn’t go so well for the girls like we thought it would. If we set her up, we have no idea what will happen. We need to make sure she’s protected.”
An idea formed. “She can stay with me,” I offered.
Both of them looked at me. “Do you have space?”
I didn’t, but I had a feeling that Hazel and Gabriella wouldn’t hate the idea.
They were already spending a lot of time with her, and I knew that they would be the two to understand what Lucia was going through.
“I have space, and it’s just until we get things figured out.
I’m sure after a couple of weeks, we can see what other options we have. ”
“Well, if you’re offering. I’ll talk with Jade and see about looking for a place for her in the next couple of weeks. Maybe she and Nora had something in mind that would work.”
I left and called Gabriella. The phone rang a few times before she finally answered it. “Hey.”
“Hey, I just got done with the meeting for Lucia.”
“And?”
“They are letting her stay, and I offered up the house for the meantime, until we can figure something else out.”
“Wait, you offered her to stay with you? Like, stay in the house with all of us?”
“Yeah, I figured you guys were wanting to keep an eye on her anyway, so two birds with one stone.” I rubbed at my head, starting to wonder how we were going to do this. I didn’t exactly have a spare bedroom for her. But we could all talk about it when everyone got home.
“We can figure everything out when you guys get home.”
I was sitting in the living room when they arrived home. Lucia looked showered and rested now. Her blue eyes scanned around the house as she took it in. “Wow.”
“The kitchen is that way,” Hazel explained. “And the bathroom and bedrooms are that way.”
“Speaking of bedrooms,” Gabriella walked toward me. “How exactly are we going to do this? We don’t have another bedroom to put her in.”
“I can give up my room, and I can stay in the living room. She can have my room then.”
Gabriella scrunched up her nose. “This is your house, Westley. You shouldn’t be sleeping in a living room. One of us can share a room with her.”
“Are you sure? She might want her own space.”
Gabriella chewed on her lower lip as Hazel showed Lucia the kitchen and dining room.
“Well, what if I just stay in your room for the time being?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “And I’d be taking what, the bathroom? Why don’t I just give her my room, and I take the living room?”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m talking about us sharing a room, smartass. We’re married, remember? We can’t exactly let her think we aren’t.”
I could hardly react before Hazel walked back with Lucia. “So, what’s the sleeping situation? Are we sharing? Or what?”
“She can use the spare bedroom,” Gabriella said, giving Lucia a big grin. “I just need to move a few things out of it.”
Hazel looked at her sister, a little confused, but didn’t say anything. I quickly realized that while Hazel might know the marriage was just in writing, Lucia didn’t, which meant we needed to make it appear we were happily married.
“I use it for an office anyway.” Which wasn’t entirely wrong because she did. Her room was spotless. I saw both of their rooms when I walked down the hallway, and they were on opposite ends. Hazel’s room looked lived in, while Gabriella’s looked like it was staged.
Lucia was situated, and Hazel was pulling clothes from her closet to let her wear. I stood in the kitchen, starting some chicken, while Gabriella set up her computer on the dining room table.
I flipped the chicken, listening as Gabriella got up and walked back into the kitchen. She paused next to me. “Thank you for all of this.”
I looked at her, taking her in. She smiled softly, her eyes were gentle as she looked at me. I felt my heart skip a beat as I looked at her.
“It’s nothing.”
“This isn’t nothing, Westley. You’ve opened your home to me, my sister, and another random person without a fight. Not everything is willing to do that.”
I adjusted the pan and moved the chicken around. “I know how important this is to you.”
“Well, either way, I want to thank you. So, how about a library date tomorrow? We can do some research and talk. Like we used to.”
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t interested. I smiled. “That actually sounds nice.”
Dinner was quiet; Lucia ate slowly, and Hazel and Gabriella talked about anything to make her comfortable. I knew it was going to take more than a few nights to help Lucis get comfortable. She was going to need time to readjust to this new life.
After dinner, I found Gabriella in my bedroom trying to settle herself in. She was hanging clothes in the closet, and an alarm clock was on the other side of the bed. I expected her to be a little nervous about being in the room with me, but if she was, she wasn’t showing any signs of it.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to just sleep on the couch?”
She shook her head. “No, besides, if Lucia sees you on the couch, she will ask questions.”
I sighed. “Are you comfortable sharing a bed with me?”
She paused and looked at me. “Westley, we have slept together. I think we can share a bed.” She pulled the covers up and crawled into the bed.
I flicked the light off and crawled into my side of the bed. The house was quiet, except for the sound of my fan. I could feel the heat radiating from Gabriella and was very aware that she was in my bed. I suddenly thought of our last conversation when we joked about doing it in bed.
“Goodnight, Westley,” she spoke softly, her voice just near my ear. I adjusted my sheets. “Goodnight, Ella.”
I woke up before Gabriella did the next morning. I took in the way she slept and how she drooled a little on her pillow. Her hair was a mess, and I thought it was cute. I knew how hard she had been working, and she needed this sleep. I slipped out of the sheets carefully, trying not to disturb her.
I got showered and started a cup of coffee when I heard Gabriella coming out of her room. She offered me a smile. “Morning.”
“Morning, how did you sleep?”
“I slept pretty well, actually, thanks for asking. How did you sleep?”
“I slept well.” It took me a while to fall asleep, knowing she was next to me, but once I did, I actually slept peacefully.
“So, what time did you want to meet at the library? I have to run out to check on a few things, but I can be there by ten.”
Gabriella nodded. “Yeah, ten works. I need to jump online for a few hours anyway.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
A couple of hours later, I headed to the library. I found Marium sitting at her desk, flipping through a catalog when I came in. She looked up, and her eyebrows rose. “Well, Westley. It’s been a while since you’ve been in.”
I smirked. “I knew you would miss me.”
She laughed. “I miss having my books properly put away and not stuffed in hiding spots.”
“Well, how else will I keep people from taking my books out?” I stopped at the counter, leaning on it.”
She shook her head. “You get yourself a library card and check the books out, just like everyone else.”
I heard the door open and looked over my shoulder, finding Gabriella as she walked in.
She was wearing her winter jacket tightly around herself, with a blue puffy hat on her head.
She was wearing high, thick winter boots and shivered as she walked inside.
“Lord, is it cold outside. I’m freezing. Every part of my body is cold.”
Gabriella pulled her hat off and spotted me. She smiled. “Oh, you’re here already.”
“I just arrived. To our usual spot?”
She swallowed. “Actually, I had a new spot.” She nodded her head toward the stairs. I followed her as she went up the stairs. I was surprised when she headed toward the back area. The space looked abandoned; even a shelf looked broken.
“What exactly is this place?”
“This is kind of forgotten,” she explained, pointing toward the book aisle. “I actually kind of like it now. No one ever comes over here, not even Marium. It’s quiet, and it’s kind of like a little hideout.”
“A little concerning that you say it’s forgotten,” I said as she took a seat on the ground. She patted the spot next to her. I sat down, looking around the space. I had to admit it was quiet back here. You couldn’t hear anything.
She leaned back, resting her head against the bookcase. She smiled as she looked around the space.
“Have you been reading these?” I asked, waving my hand at the shelves.
She nodded. “I’ve been looking through them. I’m trying to just learn the basics, but it’s kind of neat to look at the more advanced stuff.”
I picked up a book and flipped it open. “I’m glad you’re getting comfortable and confident with it.”
She smiled, reaching for a book off the shelves. “Can I show you some things?”
We spent time flipping through the different books, and I watched her show me little tricks she’d learned.
We laughed as we made jokes. We were wedged together, looking into a book.
I looked over at her, watching the way her eyes sparkled as she flipped the pages.
Her mouth moved as she talked, explaining excitedly what she hoped to learn.
I felt my heart skip a beat, and my chest tightened.
I knew that feeling. It was the same feeling I felt when we used to do this. The way my heart would stop beating, the way her laugh made me giddy. I was falling for her. Or I had already fallen in love with her. I fell for her long ago. But I never wanted to admit to it.
“Look at this.” She leaned closer, her arms pressing against mine as she pointed into the book. “It kind of makes me think about what water training we did.”
I thought back to the lake and what we did. I felt hot, suddenly aching to have her again. But I knew there was so much going on. We were getting along, and Lucia was in the house now. I needed to take things slowly and take my time. Besides, she had a lot of things going on herself.