In the Mist of Chaos (Book 4 in the Original SOCIETY Series) ✔

დTwenty-One❧

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დ. AT THE ALLIANCE: Thirteen Hours After Pierce's Phone Call .❧

He sucked in a breath, growling a little when I pressed the rag a little more against his bloodied back. I frowned at the back of his head, muttering a small apology then pressed again---more gentle this time.

Just from my tending to his injuries, I could feel the muscles in his body tense. Probably still coming down from the agitation of the fight earlier. 

I dumped some water from one of the water bottles I brought with me onto the rag. Placing the bottle down I was able to squeeze out some excess water then wiped at Eli's clawed back again. Again he growled, softer this time, probably because of the coldness that felt good on his skin. 

He and I were a ways from the Alliance. Not too far. There was this cliff that oversaw the land through a circular opening of these really tall trees. It was a cliff with a long waterfall pouring into the deep river Eli found when he and his brother would explore on their own. 

It was one of his favorite spots to come to with Honey. He said it was where he was the first day I arrived to the Alliance. He saw us when Hoagie was trying to have the gate opened and instead his younger brother confronted us. Ah. Pleasant memories.

Anyway, the cliff was pretty neat. A little high in my opinion but I mean, whatever. As long as I'm not near the edge we're good. 

But Eli wanted to get away in order to think. At first, I saw him walking off but then he stopped and looked over his shoulder at me. He nodded for me to follow him while taking an emergency bag that his mother handed to him. Thea looked at me, smiling in encouragement before I sighed and followed Eli outside the walls. 

"Are you in a lot of pain?" I asked, glancing up when his face turned slightly towards me. I waited, pausing my hand, but Eli just turned away. He stared forward, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. 

I sat back, frowning that I couldn't read minds. My boyfriend's head shook, grumbling under his breath which made me add another snarky comment that I didn't have sonic hearing either. 

Eli pushed himself from the grassy area we sat on, pacing the incline of the cliff back and forth. He winced every now and then from the movement of his injured torso. Watching him closing off from me made me wonder if maybe I should wait a little longer to ask him anything else. His brown eyes kept flickering back and forth to the blood-orange of his wolf; hinting that he was still angry.

My eyes studied the long bloody gash across his face; a diagonal tear from his forehead to the left side of his cheek. Though that was probably the worst of his injuries, Eli sported a lot more along his neck, chest, shoulders, back and so on. 

Eli interrupted my studying of him when he muttered, "She was holding back."

I blinked, looking at him to frown, "What...?"

My boyfriend shut his eyes, shaking his head and cursed under his breath. He ran his fingers through his hair, groaning at the pain in his arm and then lowered his hand back to his side. When he faced me, Eli's brown eyes looked worried.

"I said she was holding back. Cleo." He gestured to himself, shaking his head. "This wasn't the worst she could do."

My jaw practically dropped, eyes widening as I looked him over again. Eli looked really bad. Like, he shouldn't be walking, bad. If it weren't for the Hybrid side of his wolf, I think he would be laying down. Any average Werewolf would have not been standing after what Eli went through.