Chapter 22 - Westley
“Still no signs of what the past alarms were about? Or who was setting off the false alarms?” I asked, looking at Brandon and Asher across the table.
Brandon shook his head. “No, we have no idea. The alarms went through the grapevine. Someone heard it from someone else and passed it down. We’ve had a few people who thought they saw a hybrid and set the alarm off.”
“How does this keep happening?” I asked, looking at both of them.
“Don’t look at me. I work the night shift,” Asher said, and I snorted.
“Everyone is scared. People think that one is going to come and attack us at any moment. They don’t know what to believe, what’s true, or what is safe anymore.” Brandon tapped his hand on the table. “And I don’t blame them. Their world has been tipped upside down more than once since we arrived.”
Brandon pinched at his eyes. “Anything new about Lucia that I need to be aware of?”
I shook my head. “Nope, nothing. She’s looking for a job, so I think that’s a good sign. Otherwise, she seems to be adjusting just fine.”
“She seems to have integrated well with that pack. Jade and Nora said she’s been helpful around Belrose, trying to find things to do.”
I nodded in agreement. However, it would seem that Hazel was distancing herself from Lucia. I had a feeling it was just because Lucia wasn’t physically hurt anymore and needed that extra hand. But otherwise, I didn’t think we had anything else.
“What about the last alarm? Who started that one?”
“They said they sensed a darkness that was around, so they sent it off. It was one of the guys, so I don’t think that was part of the false alarms.”
“Has anyone felt the darkness recently? Have either of the girls?”
Brandon shook his head. “No, it’s been eerily quiet for them recently.”
That was odd.
The meeting ended, and I headed out for a run. But once outside, I felt all the hair on my body rise. Asher walked out with me and paused. I noticed he’d paused just like I had.
“Something’s wrong.”
Suddenly, the alarms blared, and we both looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, and I started to wonder if this was a false alarm. Were we being tricked?
Brandon came out. “Jade said she feels something on the west side.”
Shit.
We were all moving at once, hurrying to the West side of town. It was quiet, and the two guys on lookout looked surprised to see us. “Hey guys, are the alarms false again?”
“No, they are very much not,” Brandon snapped at them. “Why aren’t you two taking this seriously?”
The guys looked pale. “Well, the past five were fake, so…”
Before they could finish, a roar filled the air. We all turned just as a hybrid started charging at us.
“Move!” Brandon yelled, practically shoving the guys aside. Asher and Kaleb shifted, slamming into the hybrid, dragging it down. But another roar filled the air, and another hybrid came out of the woods, and the ground started to shake.
I felt my blood start to pump faster, and my eyes couldn’t keep up with what was going on. Asher and Kaleb slammed the first one hard onto the ground. Brandon was screaming at the guys to get others. The second hybrid was running at us fast.
I bent down and allowed myself to relax just slightly so I could shift. I felt my muscles stretch and my hair growing. I could hear my wolf growl in anticipation of what was coming. I opened my eyes in my wolf form, taking in the creature charging at us.
I charged at the second hybrid, slamming into it. The sound of screaming filled the air as I felt it swipe at my side. I could hear Brandon just behind me, the snapping of teeth in my ear. The sound of claws scraping and tree branches being crushed.
I let go, quickly backing up before it would drag its claws over my skin. Brandon slammed into it, the ground shaking violently. Snow from nearby trees fell in large clumps to the ground.
I was about to charge when I was suddenly sent airborne, being thrown sideways. I slammed into Brandon, taking both of us out. Pain radiated over my entire body, and I groaned internally. But I didn’t have time to allow the pain to soak in. If I didn’t move, I was screwed.
A roar erupted, and I pulled myself up, my entire body shaking. My muscles screamed to stop, and my vision blurred, but I shook the feeling off. I watched as Kaleb and Asher slammed into the hybrid. This time, I could hear the sound of muscles ripping and the hybrid screaming out in pain.
I looked at Brandon just as the second hybrid slammed him hard onto the ground.
I could see he was struggling, his neck being crushed into the snow, his legs frantically trying to free him.
I ran, putting all my strength into reaching him.
I snapped my teeth into the hybrid, tasting something that wasn’t human.
The hybrid screamed out in pain and threw its arm back. I felt something slicing into my side, and I howled out in pain, releasing.
I landed hard, unable to draw breath. I tried to push pressure onto my front legs, but they gave out.
I looked back at Brandon and the hybrid just as Asher and Kaleb slammed into it. I allowed myself to shift back into human form and cursed. I felt blood trailing down my shoulder, and I knew that it was a deep gash. I was pretty sure my shoulder had been ripped out of its socket.
I leaned my head back against the ground, listening as I could hear them taking the hybrid down. I pulled my hand up and snapped my shoulder back into place. I bite down hard, knowing it was going to hurt like a bitch for a while.
“Are you okay?” Brandon leaned over me, blood trailing down his face, but otherwise, he was whole.
I nodded. “I know that’s going to leave a bruise.”
Brandon cringed. “Possibly a scar. That’s pretty deep. Do you need help?”
I shook my head, knowing I would heal. I just needed time. Brandon was alive, and that was what mattered.
I turned my head, taking the two bodies that lay on the ground now. It was clear that the false alarms were to make us think everything was fake and to catch us off guard. If we hadn’t been here, who knows what would have happened?
“Burn them,” Brandon said as I leaned up. I groaned, feeling the skin tugging painfully.
“You should seriously get that looked at by the witches.”
I shook my head. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” he countered. “Go have it looked at. That’s an order.”
I pushed the door open and found Hazel and Gabriella sitting on the couch in the living room.
Brandon said to have it looked at, but he didn’t tell me where.
Gabriella’s eyes widened when she spotted me.
“Oh my god!” She swung out of the couch, running toward me. “Are you okay! Oh my god! Look at you!”
“I’m fine. I’m just sore, honestly.” I had mostly healed up on the drive home.
“You’re bleeding. Jesus, are you okay? This is a lot of blood, Westley.”
“It’s dried blood. I’m healed up.”
She reached her hand over my body, looking me up and down. “What the hell happened?”
“There were a couple of vampire hunters who thought they were going to catch us off guard. I’m honestly fine.”
Gabriella moved her hands up and down my chest. Her hands paused when she got to my arm and the large slash that went over my shoulder and bicep. “You’re not fine! You’re bleeding. Jesus, you look like you need stitches.”
“Okay, minus this. It will heal.”
“You need stitches. These are deep.”
Hazel moved from the couch, coming toward us now. “I can stitch him.”
“No, I have it,” Gabriella said, starting to pull my shirt off. “Come on, let me see everything. I need better lighting.”
Hazel looked frozen as Gabriella started to pull me down the hallway and to our bedroom. “Take your shirt off.”
I would have laughed at her command if she hadn’t been looking at me with such horror and worry. She headed into the bathroom, and I pulled my shirt off. I looked down, not realizing I had another gash on the left side of my hip.
“Oh, but I’m not hurt,” she barked, giving me an angry look now. “You liar. You’re fucking covered in cuts.”
“I didn’t realize I had them. I don’t feel them.”
She pushed me onto the bed and bent down, looking at my wounds. She reached her fingers up, running them over my gash. I winced, and she frowned. “Sorry, I was just checking to see how deep they were.”
She pulled a rag up and applied pressure to my wound. She grabbed some thread and started to stitch my wounds closed. I watched as she worked, her fingers moving slowly, her eyes never leaving my body.
“You’re good at this.”
She looked up at me, her eyes locking on mine. She blushed. “Thanks.”
I hardly felt anything as she worked, but I knew I had a high pain tolerance. She leaned back after a few minutes and nodded, satisfied. “You should be good now.”
“Thanks,” I sighed, feeling my muscles were starting to tighten up. I knew I was going to be sore tomorrow.
“I should sleep on the couch so you have the space you need and I don’t accidentally hit you.”
I frowned. “You don’t need to do that.”
“You’re hurt,” she explained, waving her hand at me. “And the last thing I want is to accidentally bump you and make it worse.”
I reached out, swiping my arm around her waist and tugging her toward me. She landed on my lap, her eyes widened as I tugged her closer. “And I don’t care. I’ve enjoyed having you in my bed.”
She blushed again, this time, her entire face growing red. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the warmth you give off.”
I tugged us back, falling into the pillows. I moved the sheets, pulling them tightly over us. She curled closer to me, her head resting against my chest. I inhaled her scent and couldn’t help but smile.
“Can I ask you something?” she asked, her voice coming out in a whisper.
“Of course.” I stroked her hair, listening to her breathing.
“Have you noticed anything off with Lucia?”
I paused. “Like what?”
“Well, Hazel said she had jewelry missing. I’m pretty sure she was trying to use my computer the other night. My library card was missing from my wallet. Just…odd things.”
My eyebrows went up. “Really?”
“I mean, I could be wrong, but I just wondered if it was just us or if you’ve noticed anything. Or if you’ve seen anything that seemed off.”
I shook my head. “I haven’t, but I’m not how or around her as much as you guys are.”
“I could be just worrying about nothing.” She placed her head against my chest again with a soft sigh.
I kissed the top of her head, wondering if there was anything I had missed. I wasn’t exactly following her around the house trying to find things. I should at least try to pay a little more attention moving forward.
I woke up first the next morning and found Lucia sitting in the living room. She was flipping through a book, eating some Pop-Tarts. She looked comfortable and hardly noticed when I walked in.
“Morning, Lucia.”
She smiled as she looked up from the book. “Morning, Westley. I just started a pot of coffee if you want some.”
“Thanks,” I walked past her, but paused when I noticed that Gabriella’s computer was on next to her. She was pretty careful with her laptop since she used it for work. She never left it on.
I thought of last night and how Gabriella asked if I’d noticed anything off about Lucia. I hadn’t, or at least I didn’t think I had.
“Did Gabriella leave her computer out?”
Lucia looked away from her book and shrugged. “Maybe. It was here that I sat down. I thought maybe she left it out. The screen turned on when I sat down.”
I knew for a fact that Gabriella hadn’t used it because she was still asleep in bed.
Which meant something wasn’t right. I didn’t want to think ill of Lucia, but if Gabriella was concerned, I was going to listen.
I headed out for my morning lookout with Asher.
He was sitting on the hood of his car when I arrived.
I got out of mine and shook my head at him.
“You know that’s bad for your car, right? ”
“It’s Kaleb’s,” he said with a smirk.
I snorted as we headed into the woods. “I have a quick question. You spent time with Lucia and Hazel over the past few weeks, right?”
Asher nodded. “I stopped in because I’ve been giving extra help with the witches, but I wasn’t spending time with them as a whole. Why do you ask?”
“Well, last night Gabriella brought up a concern about Lucia.”
He paused his steps. “Like? Something we should be concerned about?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t know if it’s maybe the girls are getting a little tired of her in the house, or if it’s something serious.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Gabriella said things have started to go missing, and the house feels tense. I trust Hazel and Gabriella’s intuition, and if they are concerned, I’m going to listen.
“That’s… a little concerning. Do you have proof she’s done anything?”
I shook my head. Everything was just speculation. “No, that’s why I asked if you saw anything off about her.”
He shook his head. “No, but she’s new to the pack. My advice, just watch and monitor. If it becomes a bigger problem, let Brandon handle it.”
“Thanks. And could I ask that you stop by periodically to check on them? Just so there is an extra set of eyes in the house?”
“You want me to spy?”
“No, just… stop in.”
Asher snorted. “What’s another word for that?”
“Oh, shut up.” I punched him. “Just do it.”
“Fine, but you owe me big time.”