Chapter 19
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
SILAS
“Give me strength,” I breathe, my hand on the doorknob.
Alisa’s brothers are standing on my front stoop, and I had to hide all the firearms in the house. I’m sure they’ll do something to piss us off, and I don’t want to be responsible for our pack murdering them.
I’m still pissed they’re not mature enough to not fucking alpha bark their sister! They may be in their mid-thirties, but they act as if they just discovered the responsibility of their voices.
I know that’s not very nice and the shock of speaking to their sister made their barks slip out, but I’m still incapable of forgiving them for it.
“Breathe,” the doc mutters. “Throw them out if they’re assholes. I’m going to make myself scarce out the side gate to check on Rosalia.”
“You mean you want to gossip?” I tease him, watching as he begins walking toward the back of the house.
“Meh, don’t split hairs.”
He disappears out of sight, and I open the door to my omega’s family. Ugh, in-laws. Kill me.
“Welcome to our home,” I greet them, my voice mellow and saccharine. It’s my ‘bless your heart’ tone, and one that has helped me through many difficult social situations. “Hi, Hollis. Alisa is in the backyard waiting for you all.”
She didn’t want her brothers to see how difficult it can be for her to walk or how weak she is.
I think she’s hiding too much from them, but it’s not my place to push.
However I need them to understand how much she’s dealing with.
Troy, Lyle, and Easton walked out with her and are keeping her company for now.
The last two days have gone by quickly, and Troy has taken Alisa to the rec center during that time to build up her strength.
She’s been enjoying it, so when he can’t take her once he’s back to the grind of hockey, one of us will.
I think it’s important for us to all have something to bond with her over.
“Thank you for hosting,” Hollis says with a smile, smacking Caleb and Lars over the back of their heads as she steps inside. I have a feeling they’ll end up with some type of brain injury during this visit.
As long as it doesn’t lead to stupid shit coming out of their pie holes, I won’t mind too much.
“It’s our pleasure,” I reply, closing the door behind them. “She gets tired easily. Going somewhere usually involves a wheelchair unless Troy parks really close to the rec center for her pool exercises.”
“Is there something wrong with her muscles?” Caleb asks, rubbing his chest as if he's in pain. Good, he’s finally fucking getting it.
“Being tied to a bed with no food and little water for several months will do that,” I drawl.
Hollis winces while the blood drains from the Finnegan boys’ faces. If they act like whelps, I’ll treat them as such. Alisa doesn’t want them to see her differently, but they need to understand the gravity of her situation. I don’t want them upsetting her.
Otherwise, I’m happy to let her keep her secrets from her family.
“Fuck,” Lars whispers. “Yeah, we get it now.”
“Good,” I reply, beginning to slowly walk through the house.
Lars has something in an airtight container in his hands, and it makes me wonder what’s inside of it.
“You know about her appetite and how hit or miss it can be. If she gets upset, she won’t be able to eat.
I have a lunch spread laid outside on the table, but she may take a few nibbles and eat later.
As much as I hate it, I know I can’t push. ”
The warning is as much for them as a reminder that we are caring for their sister. I want them to have a relationship with Alisa, but hate that it’ll be awkward as fuck as it develops.
“The doc is living in our guesthouse for now and he recommends that she walk through the garden. I have little stone benches set up throughout there and added a couple more yesterday,” I explain. “We are very involved in her care and getting her back on her feet.”
“No one is saying you aren’t,” Hollis murmurs, elbowing Caleb in the side. “I apologize if these knuckleheads made it seem as if you were anything less than capable of being what she needs.”
I dip my head toward her and then we’re out of time. Pushing open the back door, I step outside, seeing my little fighter sitting at the table in a lilac sweater dress and striped leggings. I’ve been buying clothes in her favorite color, but she’s still swallowed by them.
I would have to buy her kid clothes at this point to get her size right, and that’s something I refuse to do. She’ll fill out as she gets better. In the meantime, I can’t help but buy her things I know are comfortable.
She also enjoys stealing our hoodies for bed and I love to see her in them.
Her bites are actually healing now which helps how comfortable she feels in her body, but she doesn’t like to be naked unless there’s a reason for it.
We’ve done a lot of cuddling and kissing since Troy’s hockey practice because she’s been stressed over seeing her brothers.
She craves touch, which we are more than happy to provide her with.
Our distractions have ended up being productive for her strength training. We’ve gone on walks through the garden with plenty of breaks in between, and I’ve been teaching her the different names of all the flowers.
Everyone should have a favorite, and I plan to fill the house with hers once she finds it. Fresh flowers from our garden are the least we can do to show her how happy we are that she’s our scent match.
I want to give her the firsts she hasn’t been able to have, like a first date.
The hockey rink doesn’t count, but a hockey game later this week would.
It’ll take a little planning to get her in and out of the stadium without the wheelchair, but we can manage it.
Alisa said she doesn’t enjoy the curious glances she gets when she’s in the chair, and I don’t want anything to ruin our date.
Walking toward her, I press a kiss to her cheek as I stand behind her chair. I raise my brow at Lyle, Easton, and Troy and they stand unhappily. We’re all feeling paranoid about this get together, but know we can’t hover.
That’s why Easton wired the back patio for sound.
“We’ll be listening,” I whisper in her ear. Her blush is pretty as she nods, and I step back as Hollis and Alisa’s brothers sit down with her.
She’s effortlessly beautiful today. I finished curling her hair when she started to get tired and she’s wearing a little color corrector under her eyes to hide the dark circles due to her lack of sleep. She and Troy are still having issues sleeping, and they seem to feed off of each other at night.
It’s the oddest shit to experience. We are getting a routine where Easton holds onto Troy since he’s the largest built of us all while he flails and yells, and Lyle and I stroke Alisa’s face and try to pull her out of her nightmare. Too many people have hurt them both.
We’re sleeping on the couch until Alisa can get up and down the stairs better. We’ve simply built a nap time into our days to work around it. Eventually, we’ll discuss therapy, but for now, they’re both against it.
It makes me so fucking angry at the world, and I’ll need a release soon. Blood is my pressure relief valve. Maybe we’ll be able to have our fun with Ella soon. That bitch is on my shit list and has been for some time.
“If you need anything, let us know,” I say, smiling tightly as we walk back into the house.
“Fuck, I hate this,” Troy groans, his fingers scraping through his hair as he ruffles it.
“They look at us as if we’re the predators,” Lyle sighs.
“It’s going to take time,” I grumble. “I thought I was getting through to them, but maybe seeing the four of us together triggers their side eyes.”
“It’s just the shock Caleb gave us as he sat down. They didn’t really see all of us on that video call,” Lyle says.
“I think it may have been me,” Troy says sheepishly. “They know Levon, Caelia’s alpha in Nashville. I also think they may follow hockey. Caleb may have put things together, and if he did, he may also remember all the news stories surrounding me.”
“Can we kill Ella already and call it a day?” I ask, shaking my head as my thoughts find their way out into the world.
“I’m meeting with her lawyer tomorrow on video call,” Lyle says. “Troy doesn’t need to be there after Ella’s last call to him. I am going to see if I can get her to confess to the photo she says she has. I don’t want her releasing it for a paycheck.”
“Since her check from me is currently frozen, she may do it,” Troy says worriedly.
“Then we’ll kill her,” Easton growls. “Let’s get a drink and eavesdrop on our guests. Alisa knows about the mics, right?”
“I told her we’d be listening,” I admit, heading toward the bar to fix us drinks. “That's why she blushed.”
“Interesting,” Easton chuckles, finding a place on the couch. “She’s enjoying the stalking without a fight.”
“She’s smarter than I am,” Troy shrugs with a grin. He’s finally resigned and happy to be ours. We need to do something soon to solidify his place in our pack.
Bond bites can be a very intimate experience and I want Alisa to see what that looks like.
Handing out drinks, we huddle around Easton as he loads the app so we can watch out for our girl. There’s a hammer on the table between the four of us, just in case they fuck up.
ALISA
Taking a small sip of lemonade, I hope the sugar helps the restless twitching in my fingers. Dr. Walsh mentioned it was muscle spasms caused by stress when I asked him about it. I hate that it’s been happening more often.
None of my previous coping mechanisms have been working now that my life is no longer full of life or death situations. It’s so odd that now is when my body decides to begin breaking down on me.
“You look gorgeous,” Hollis says, smiling as I glance at her. My fingers slide through my hair, feeling how soft it is as I thank her softly.
“Silas helped me curl it. I haven’t cut it in years and it’s almost unmanageable on my own,” I admit.