Unhappily Ever After

Chapter 49 - Teetering

Since I'm going to university tomorrow and my spare time is going to free fall, updates on this book are going back to every other week (sorry). 

The first thing I noticed was the light blue tiles in front of me. The second was the smell of my own blood cloying the air. The third was a beautiful girl with dark hair leaning over me. She was sort of blurry, but I would have recognised her blind.

"You're awake," she whispered, sighing her relief. "Thanks for scaring the shit out of me, asshole."

I remembered that I was dying. It didn't seem too important all of a sudden — my headache was gone, because— Oh, no... The way she was looking at me... Confusion and amazement and fear all churned together in the green of her eyes. She knew.

Wincing, I tried to turn around. It didn't go well, but I did manage to see that there was now a towel pressed into the wound. It was already soaked red. And I was starting to shiver again.

"He needs that stitched up," Makayla was saying.

Jess chewed on her lip. "He needs a blood transfusion. But I don't have any supplies and I can't get any, so we're just going to have to hope his wolf can patch up the worst of the damage."

"I can hear you both, you know," I mumbled.

"We know," Makayla retorted.

Footsteps in the main room, then Scott poked his head around the door. He was eyeing me like he wanted me to drop dead. "They're knocking on doors, and we have about a minute before they reach us."

"What?" Jess demanded. "How do they know?"

Scott just shrugged, because he couldn't care less if we got caught. The next thirty seconds were a scramble of activity. Jess washed the blood from her hands and sprayed air freshener everywhere. It made me sneeze. Makayla and I were shut into the bathroom with instructions not to make a sound. And then, I assumed, Scott and Jess sat down at the table to make it look like they were just having a chat.

The flockies knocked on the door, but they didn't wait for anyone to open it. I could hear everything crystal clear, but I couldn't see jack shit.

An unfamiliar guy cleared his throat. "There's been a disturbance in the prison. Fifteen rogues escaped, and we have reason to believe one of them is still in the pack house."

How did they know? Maybe someone had seen us climbing back inside — but I doubted it. More likely, they had noticed there was no blood trail. They knew I couldn't have run for the border, because they knew how badly I was injured and they hadn't found a single drop of blood in the woods.

"What, and you think he's hiding in my bathroom? My wardrobe? How about under the sink?" Jess laughed. "If someone else was in here, I would know about it."

"We're just checking that everyone is okay," the flockie corrected. There was a slight pause, then, "Who's that?"

"He's human. I'm just explaining our ... nature," she said cautiously.

"Oh, that's fine. He's your mate, right?"

Jessie's answer must have been non-verbal.

He coughed. "My bad. Look, anyway, it's advised that you go down to the dining room to wait this out. Safer that way."

"Thanks, but we're okay. I'll lock the door behind you."

"Suit yourself," the flockie muttered. Seconds later, I heard the door close and the lock click into place. Makayla released a pent-up breath beside me. But from the other room, there was half a minute of tension-filled silence.