Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Justice
I’m a fucking asshole and I know it.
There’s no denying that shit, and I damn well own it.
Doesn’t mean hearing her on the other side of that door isn’t fucking with my head. I saw the hurt in her expression just before she turned away.
Yeah, I think she’s weak, but I also realize that with the right training, she’d be able to handle her telepathy so much easier. Maybe make it so she doesn’t have to worry about hearing the thoughts, and when I touch her, I won’t have to either.
Fuck me.
What the hell am I to do now?
I can’t let her stay in there.
Also, can’t let her keep on the way she is.
I leave her alone, who the fuck knows what she’ll end up doing to herself.
Would she try to kill herself again?
Fuck.
Ripping my hands through my hair, I let out a frustrated breath.
What to do with her?
My gut twists and feels hollow at the thought of her doing what she’d done all over again. The blood that she lost is burned in my brain. It’s not something I ever want to experience again.
Not for the rest of my life.
I shake my head and let out a frustrated breath as I pace around my room. I can’t leave it and go for a run. I can’t leave her without thinking the worst will happen. I refuse to let her go.
Telling her that she starts training tomorrow might not have been the best thing, but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t need to know. Annahi needs to understand how to put that fucking shield up to keep her mind at ease.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, pulling me out of my head. Not completely, but enough to focus on something else.
I pull the damn thing out and look at the screen, my jaw clenching as I answer, “What?”
“You’re a buffoon, you know that?” Sibley snipes through the other side. “You are not as you should be right now. She is your mate, Justice, and you’re not thinking as a mate should.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I hate when she talks in riddles and doesn’t make complete sentences. How hard is it for her to just come out and say what she needs to say?
“It means listen to your coyote inside you for a change and stop fighting him on everything. He knows what is needed and what must be done. The only shield you both need is within what you share. No training will do what you want. Not in the way it must be. Only when the bond is sealed between the two of you shall it be done.”
“You know I hate your damn riddles, Sibley.”
“It’s of no riddle, Justice. You wish to deny what your coyote knows the two of you want,” Sibley says, her voice taking that sing-song tone of hers she knows annoys the shit out of me.
“So, you’re not gonna help?” I don’t want to think about what she said about sealing the bond or any other shit dealing with being her mate right now.
“I’m helping in telling you what you need to know. She’s your other half, Justice, and in sealing the bond between you two, it will heal the damage that was done to her mind in a way she’ll be able to be stronger than you even know.”
“Now, what the fuck do you mean by that? What was done to her mind?” What was done to her that she hasn’t done?
“Get to know your mate, Justice, and you’ll soon see for yourself she’s not as weak as you think she is.
A moment of weakness does not make her a coward.
It was a mistake that you saved her from.
She will be able to forge through it stronger, but only if you do as I said and seal the bond between you two,” Sibley says before I get disconnected.
Fuck, she hung up on me.
Pulling the phone from my ear, I sigh and toss the phone on the dresser.
Sibley’s words swirl in my head, seal the bond.
Make my mate mine. Once the bond is forged, who the hell knows what will happen.
I’ve seen firsthand with my brothers what it’s like for them.
They have deep connections with their mates, and I don’t know if that’s something I can handle myself, not with the darkness I know I hold deep inside me.
I shove the thought away and focus back on the bathroom door. The shower was now running. I could still hear her crying on the other side, and it guts me she’s in there.
My beast is raging inside, wanting out.
Wanting his mate.
To claim what’s his.
To soothe the pain she’s in.
Pain that I seem to have added to.
Maybe Sibley’s right, and I need to get to know the woman whom the fates have deemed the other half of me.
Fucking hell.
Sucking in a breath, I make a decision to do something before I regret it or change my mind.
I move to the door of the bathroom, and push it open easily. Inside, the steam filters out as I step in. I could already see Annahi’s form through the glass of the shower door.
My cock thickens at the blurred sight of her.
Now wasn’t the time for any of that. But I couldn’t stop myself from stripping my clothes off.
My beast seems to take over my movements.
Maybe it wasn’t him doing it. Regardless, I find myself naked and moving across the space to the door, opening it, and stepping in as she whirls around to face me.
“Wh . . . what are you doing?” Annahi’s surprised eyes meet mine as she tries to cover her body.
“You shouldn’t be showering without protecting your wounds,” I tell her, reaching up to adjust the shower head. “Don’t want to fuck up your healing.”
“Oh,” she murmurs, her cheeks turning pink as she lowers her head, turning her gaze to the side. Her arms were still trying to shield herself from my gaze.
There’s no hiding her body from me, though, and she’s about to find that out. I’m not gonna do anything now, not like that, but I do intend to do something.
Reaching for the cloth and my soap, I start to clean Annahi’s body, causing her to jump.
“What are you doing?” she asks, lip trembling and her eyes wider than I’ve ever seen them.
“Helping you,” I tell her, running the cloth over her stomach up to where she’s shielding herself from me. “Relax, Peanut. I’m not gonna do anything but help you.”
A look crosses her face, and she whispers, “Peanut?”
I hadn’t realized I called her that, but it suits her in my opinion. She doesn’t eat a lot. She’s closed in on herself and small. So damn small.
I ignore her question about me calling her Peanut and keep running the cloth over her, forcing her to lower her arms to wash her breasts. Breasts that make my mouth water to suck on. I wouldn’t mind, but I remind myself now isn’t the time for that.
Without a word between us, I finish washing Annahi’s body and do her hair as quickly as possible. I need to get her out of the shower as soon as possible to get her wrists out of the water. They should have been wrapped with plastic wrap or something first to keep them safe.
Once I finish, I shut the water off, open the shower door, and step out. I grab a towel, wrap it around my waist, then grab up the other one to dry Annahi off.
“I can do this,” she says, her breath hitching.
“Yeah, but I’m doing it for you,” I tell her, lifting my gaze so she’s holding mine. “I know what I said hurt your feelings, Peanut, but I’m your mate. I got a dick, and guess you can say those of the male species can be complete assholes.”
“So, essentially, you’re apologizing for being an asshole?” she murmurs, dropping her gaze.
“Pretty much.” I feel my lip quirk up at her words. “Come on, let’s get you something to wear. I need to get Zavier to come in with some bandages.”
Annahi nods, and I see the way she swallows down her nerves.
Taking her hand, I guide her out of the bathroom, back into my room.
I drop her hand only when I reach into the dresser to snag one of my tees for her.
I know Clara had packed her a bag of clothes, but I needed her in one of my shirts.
Until I complete the mate bond between us, I don’t want to take the chance of anything fucking it up for me.
I needed my scent on her and not just the soap I use.
I tug the shirt over her head before taking the towel from around her and letting it drop to the floor.
Once the tee envelopes her, I grab a pair of my boxers and tug them on, then snag my phone from the top of the dresser. I take Annahi’s hand, guide her back to the bed and join her.
I shoot a text to Zavier and start unwrapping the wet gauze from Annahi’s wrists.
“I can do that, you know,” she says, making me smirk at the amount of annoyance I hear in her voice.
“Yeah, but I’m gonna do it myself.”
“I don’t get you.” Annahi sighs with a whisper.
“What don’t you get?”
“All of it, you’re being nice but can be a jerk and mean.
You’ve been protective. You seem not to want to be around me, yet stay close.
You woke up from the sedative the night you were brought into the clinic and went against your brothers for whatever reason, but still, you did it to protect me from them. ”
I didn’t think she knew I did that for her. I hadn’t thought about it at the time. I just reacted. I hadn’t been myself. My beast was in charge.
I don’t know what to think about when it comes to her, with her saying something as she has. Maybe Sibley’s right and there’s more to my mate than I realize.