Chapter 44 Keelan
KEELAN
We should find out today if Thea can go home.
Liam has been optimistic about everything since she woke up, which is a good sign.
She’s currently playing gin rummy with Mateo for the hundredth time since they came by yesterday.
She said she was bored, and I’m glad he’s helping her pass the time.
She’s still injured though and has needed a lot of naps throughout the day.
Since she woke up and found out her stalker is dead, there’s a lightness to her both physically and in the bond.
Seeing Connor’s parents has only helped her more.
Sophie is quite the omega. She says what she’s thinking and teases all of us mercilessly.
I know she’s not Thea’s mother, but I can see where some of Sophie has rubbed off on her.
We’ve all been trying to get to know our in-laws the best we can here.
Now that Micah isn’t holding vigil by Thea’s bedside, he’s interacting with them more.
He and James seemed to have hit it off. Good.
Parker has somehow become Max’s favorite, which Eli called out as a bias since he was the first one of us he met.
Max just side-eyed him after that. It’s safe to say Eli has been pouting since.
I bet once we’re home and things settle down, Eli will start making some elaborate plan to win Max over.
Jake has been stepping out more to talk with Logan.
He’s been dealing with cleaning up this mess for us.
But we all know what’s coming. Thea will need to make a statement.
I don’t think she’s realized it yet. If she did, she wouldn’t be so light in the bond.
When Jake returns, Logan is in tow. Even he looks tired like the rest of us.
“Logan!” Thea says, all smiles. Gods, she is beautiful when she’s happy like this.
“Hey, how you holding up?” Logan asks, his New York accent bleeding through.
“I’m okay overall.” She continues to play cards with Mateo. He’s looking over Logan, clearly understanding the situation.
“Honey, why don’t we pick this up later? I think we’re gonna grab some real food for everyone. I know all of us are tired of hospital food,” Mateo tells her as he stands up. Thea frowns a little at that. After a quick goodbye, Sophie and her mates are gone and it’s just us and Logan.
Dread slowly fills the bond from her. Logan pulls up a chair next to her bed. “Thea, I hate to ask but can you give me a statement of what happened from when you were taken until we got there?”
“No,” she says firmly, coldness overtaking her expression.
“No you can’t or no you don’t want to?” Logan asks and Thea looks at him when he says the latter. He sighs. “We can’t put this to rest until we have your statement. Once we do then it’s really all over.”
From my spot along the wall, I can see her clenching her fists in her lap. Then she sits straighter, reaching for Parker’s glove and Ben’s scarf that are on her bed. She needs their scents. From what she’s said, theirs make her feel different forms of safety.
“I’ll say it once and then I don’t want to discuss it again,” she says lowly.
Logan agrees and she begins telling us what happened.
I know based on what we felt in the bond some of it would be upsetting to hear.
Preparing for that, I keep taking deep breaths.
Micah is handling it the worst out of all of us.
He keeps fidgeting and moving around the room.
When she describes that first night when he made her change in front of him.
Most of us let out a growl. Some of us were better at pushing it down.
However, when she gets to that second day and her plan to escape, fear and shame fill the bond.
Ben, who’s had his head down for most of this from his seat across the room, gets up and climbs in bed with her.
She grabs onto him like he’s her one lifeline.
I was stupid to think she felt so light after everything.
She was just pushing this all down like she did her grief for Connor.
“…I kissed him…a lot so he’d believe I was on his side.
When we stopped, I asked to get some water from the kitchen and he let me without coming with me.
That was my chance to get a weapon I could use to escape…
” she continues on, not looking anywhere but at her lap, until she gets to the part where she stabs him.
“…after I did it, I tried to turn and run as fast as I could but he managed to trip up my feet. That’s how I fell and hit my head on the dresser.
He yanked me up by my hair and it made me scream out.
He started choking me and saying all kinds of things and that’s when you came in.
The rest is kind of a blur, after I hit my head I didn’t feel right. ”
Overwhelming grief and shame flood the bond.
“I’m so sorry to all of you for doing that.
I didn’t want to, I swear. I just wanted to escape,” she whimpers, nearly hyperventilating.
Eli moves quickly to her side, tilting her head up to look at him.
Ben is holding her so tightly I’m surprised it isn’t hurting her.
“Look at me and feel all of us in the bond. Do you think any of us are mad at you for what happened?” Eli says fiercely.
Thea’s chin wobbles but no tears are falling yet. “No, but…” she begins but Eli puts a finger to her lips.
“No buts. Look at each one of us. Not one of us are mad at you.”
“He’s right, Wildcat. I know you can’t feel what I think yet but not one part of me is upset at you for anything you did.
How can any of us be mad at you for doing what you needed to do to survive?
I’m mad that bastard got off so easy,” Micah growls out before adding on with a softer expression, “I’m so fucking proud of you for fighting back.
You got your licks in and gave everything back to him.
Proving again you’re a Wildcat that shouldn’t be underestimated. ” He smirks at her.
A single tear falls from her eye and the tension in her body melts into Ben’s embrace.
Logan quietly stands and moves aside as the rest of our pack circles around her.
Hopefully it’s enough for her to scent us all and bring her some comfort.
I never would have thought our scents were so important outside of her heat.
I know they can be comforting—but to help alleviate her pain?
There’s a lot we don’t know about scent matches and thankfully, we have the rest of our lives to figure it out together.