Chapter 15 Hazard
Hazard
Khaos stomps into the house, glowering at Casey’s back like he’s going to launch himself after her and start roaring. To be honest, the bond is screaming so loud with his rage, we’re all uncomfortable.
The worst part is that when Riot called him on his bullshit and insisted the reason he was so angry was because she almost got hurt and he actually cares–they ended up having a fur-flying fight in the meadow.
Riot has disappeared to cool off, but Khaos can’t leave things alone until he’s sure she’s safe. Not that he will ever admit that.
I stand close to the wall and watch.
“Go to your room!”
I wince.
“You remember that she’s the one who calls the shots, right?” I say to Khaos with a grin.
He whirls on me. “You keep your mouth shut; this is your fault.”
I blanch and look down, lowering my eyes to my alpha.
Angel slams into Khaos, shoving him hard into the wall. When Khaos whirls on Angel, Wrath steps in, cool-tempered, but an implacable wall that Khaos won’t challenge.
My twin stands in front of me, his hands balled, his temper snapping off him.
“You want to take a walk, Khaos, and remember that the people you are attacking are the ones you have to live with. We all know you are doing your best, but that was over the line,” Wrath says with steel in his voice.
Khaos snarls. “She could have ruined everything.”
“She could have been hurt,” Wrath agrees.
“She doesn’t care!”
“We know she cares too much.”
“We could have ended up back with someone else!”
“But we didn’t. We saved her. We will save her again, and she will free us.”
Khaos’ tension holds for a moment and then collapses. He turns on his heels and stomps out of the house. I lift my eyes in time to see a brown wolf race into the forest.
“He didn’t mean it,” Wrath says gently to me.
“It is my fault,” I say quietly. “I like sex; I like to touch. I should have been more discerning or careful or something.”
“She hurt you,” Wrath says with compassion.
I wince, remembering that night, tied to the altar. The spell they’d cast has been horrific. I still have nightmares about it.
Angel turns and takes my hand.
The unsteady world rights itself. As long as we are together, nothing will break us. But still, Khaos’ sharp words are like a lance in a wound, reopening it and making me bleed again.
“I’m just going to go and start making breakfast.”
I didn’t think there would be anything useful these bitches we’ve been enslaved to have taught us, but I admit the cleaning habits and cooking skills we developed have been helpful.
Casey appreciates it, too.
I’ll make her pancakes this morning and see if she wants company. It takes me an hour to cook enough for everyone and then bring a piping hot stack of pancakes into her bedroom. She’s sitting on the bed, staring at the wall.
I bring it over and set it on her bedside table.
“I should have knocked, sorry.”
Fuck, why am I always doing things wrong?
I hesitate and then set it down and turn, only to knock over the fork. I dive for it, my cheeks heating, and put it on the plate.
“Oh, it’s dirty. I’ll just…I made the plate dirty. I’ll make you a new one.”
Shit. Fuck. What is wrong with me?
I spin but bump my knee on the bed, spit out a curse, and wish for a hole in the ground to swallow me.
“Sorry!”
Her long, cool fingers touch my cheek, and I still. She slides off the bed and into my arms. I sit down heavily against the wall with an armful of woman, a woman who is driving me out of my mind.
She doesn’t kiss me.
She doesn’t demand anything. She just curls up in my lap and buries her face in the crook of my shoulder. I wrap my arms around her as delicate shivers rock her body.
We don’t talk, and she doesn’t tell me all the things I’m doing wrong or how I’m fucking everything up. She just curls tighter like I’m giving her something she needs, like my presence is wanted, is valuable.
The door opens, and Angel peers in. His pale blue gaze finds us instantly on the floor. He waits for ten seconds and then quietly closes the door and disappears.
I don’t know when she falls asleep, but that’s when I realise something inside me changes. No one has ever been this vulnerable around me as to fall asleep in my arms. I want to protect her from everything. I want to see her smile. I hate this silent pain.
Instead, I get up and carefully lower to her mattress. The breakfast sits forgotten, but I can’t find it in me to care. I sit on the edge of the bed, watching her.
I want to stay.
Where I’m wanted, where I’m needed. I take my boots off and lie down on the bed. For a while, I wait for her to scream at me, to tell me to go, but when she doesn’t, I relax. I’m almost asleep when she rolls towards me, throwing a leg over mine and wrapping an arm around my chest.
She does this little sigh, and her whole body relaxes even more.
I lay there staring at the ceiling.
She’s different from anyone I’ve ever known. She’s kind, considerate, she doesn't treat us like scum, she hasn’t forced us to do anything.
Casey is different.
I want to stay with her.
I can feel the pack bonds as my contentment and bitter yearning flood into the others. I don’t even care.
She’s not the same.
She won’t hurt us.
I know it. I know it deep down inside where it counts.
The door opens, and Riot walks in. He closes the door, shifts into his other form, and jumps up on the bed, curling up on her other side.
Now I can sleep.
It’s been forever since I’ve slept alone. I can’t do it. Somehow, the pack always knows. It’s only safe if we’re together.
I let out my own satisfied sigh.
I like the way this is changing, even if the rest of the pack doesn’t.