The Bite (Book 1)

Original Edition - Chapter 43: Jessica Jones

Ethan led me back to his cabin and had given me some of his clothes to change into. I tugged on a big gray v-neck and some red-plaid boxers then walked out of the bathroom by their kitchen.

He was pulling out some tape, gauze, and bandages from a clear Tupperware box on the island in the middle of the kitchen. He had black sweatpants on that were hanging low on his hips, low enough that I could see the lines of his torso which led to places that made my body flush. I bit back a rumble, which my wolf was not pleased with, and walked into the kitchen.

"Is this really all necessary?"

Ethan rolled his eyes as he nodded with a tiny smirk. "Yes, although I should send some to Larissa and Amber, they definitely need it more than you do."

A smug smile tugged at the corners of my mouth which made him chuckle as he walked over to me. He gave me a chaste kiss then helped me hop up onto the island so I was sitting on it. "Nah, let them bleed. It's good for them."

"You sound just like Levi," he said teasingly as he grabbed some gauze.

"How so?"

"Well," he said while he rolled my sleeve up so he could have better access to my arm. "When I was younger, like thirteen? My dad let me start sparring with Lucas, Eli, and Levi. We weren't allowed to until we were thirteen, but my dad had worked with me and started working with Evan long before then.

"Eli used to always go over there for a few weeks to train and spend time with them, and Lucas would always come over here. After I was old enough my dad let Eli take me with him, which I was so damn excited about. Levi was by far our favorite uncle growing up," I felt my heart swell a little at his words as it pained a bit at the sound of memories that I knew still haunted him.

"Anyways, Eli warned me but I guess I didn't really believe him. The first day Levi took me and Eli on together. We were a good team, we always fought well together, but Levi had my ass in the ground so hard that I still have a scar from where his teeth got me.

"Both Eli and I were bleeding and probably looked like pounded meat. Aunt Eve told Levi that they should bandage us up, and Levi just shook his head at her with that damn smug smile he always had and said something like, 'Let em' bleed babe, it's good for them to know how it feels.'

"Lucas laughed his ass off. Well, he laughed his ass off until Levi said, 'Come on son, it's your turn.' " He chuckled softly and shook his head as he placed some tape over the gauze on my shoulder. "He looked at us after and said, 'Pretty good you two, now go chop some wood.'"

"He had you chop wood?" I asked as my heart started to flutter at the memory. I never thought that I would actually become nostalgic over chopping that damn wood.

Ethan groaned a little as he looked at my arm. "I don't think Levi ever chopped wood when all of us were together. He always had us do it. I am pretty sure one year we chopped enough firewood for that whole damn pack."

I let out a hearty laugh as he started to gently place some cream over the gash with a ghost smile on his lips. "That's amazing." My breath caught in the back of my throat while he put some gauze over the gash. "He had me chop his damn wood too."

"Really?" Ethan asked with a cocked brow.

I nodded as he started to put some medical tape over the gauze. "It was literally the first thing he had me do." Ethan looked at me curiously. I let out a sigh as warm feelings of the past came forward. "It was the next day after I woke up from being bitten. I somehow got him to agree to help me, he didn't want to at first because he was convinced that I was going to die anyways.

"He uh, he agreed and that day he took me outside and said we were going to start training. I had no idea what that meant, or what I was thinking. I mean, I had just found out all of this was real and living with a two men I didn't know at all.