Zoey
I slowly opened my eyes and took a moment to gain my bearings. Thankfully it didn't take long for the memories to come back. Little snippets of images and words filtered into my still-waking-up brain, piecing together into a complete overview of the last big event in my life.
Yes, we're still in the bunker, my wolf confirmed for me. Yes, Van slept on the bed with you. And yes, he's out in the other room pacing like a caged animal.
You're making me so excited to go out there and face him, I groaned.
Well, you're going to have to at some point.
I pulled the pillow over my head and held it there. Now that I wasn't freaking out about Jax potentially finding me, I had a moment to face reality.
Van's team had acted fast. Van knew the situation early, and he'd rushed me to safety as soon as he found out. There was no hesitation on his part: he took me to the bunker with no regard as to what it might be like to be locked in there with me for hours on end. Once we were there, he'd taken the time to calm and reassure me. He hadn't needed to--there were plenty of other things he could have been thinking about—but he made sure I was okay before anything else.
He's still pacing, my wolf informed me. I think he's worried about you.
I think he's worried about anything but me, I countered.
You won't know until you go out there.
Because I'd eventually have to leave the room anyway, I tossed the pillow to the side and sat up. What if Van was worried about me? What would that mean? Would that mean anything?
"Just go out there, Zoey," I sighed, swinging my feet to the floor. "What's the worst that could happen?"
I ran my fingers through my hair as I shuffled to the door. Van had seen me at all hours of the day, so it didn't matter how sleep-ruffled I looked. He'd have to pardon my lack of effort.
I slowly opened the door and peeked into the main room. Van was shuffling towards me, head down and seemingly focused on the floor. My wolf hadn't lied when she'd said he was pacing. From the way his jaw twitched, he was deep in thought about something. Had the spy gotten away? Was he still out there? My mind went to the worst case scenario.
Van paused a yard or two away from me. His gaze snapped up and landed on my face. Some of the tension seemed to seep out of his shoulders.
"You're awake."
He sounds relieved, my wolf whispered.
"Yeah," I confirmed with Van, ignoring my wolf.
"How are you feeling? You okay?"
I hugged my middle and shrugged. "Do you mean physically or mentally?"
He took a step closer. "Let's start with physically. You sleep all right?"
I nodded. "Surprisingly yes. Normally, anything involving Midnight would make me too wound up to sleep. But, I seemed to sleep just fine."
"And mentally?" He took another step forward, now close enough to touch if we both reached out.
"I'm not freaking out at the moment," I allowed. "But I also don't know what's going on out there. Is the spy gone?"
Now it was Van's turn to nod. "He sneaked out an hour ago. There's a woodsy section of our border that wasn't covered well by patrol. We changed the patrol route, so no one else will get in that way."
"Did he find anything? Will Midnight know that I'm here?" My heart beat a little faster at the idea. Once Jax knew where I was, he'd--
"There's no trace of you here for a spy to find," Van cut into my thoughts. He took the last couple steps between us and grabbed my hands. "Remember: we have done everything necessary to make you invisible here. Not even patrols would give off the impression that someone new is here. Midnight pack won't--can't--know that you're here. You can trust me on that."
"I do trust you," I answered immediately, the speed of my answer surprising me.
For a long minute, we stood there staring at each other. I finally cleared my throat and awkwardly swung our joined hands.
"So... is this nice version of you going to last?" I dared to ask. "Or does he only come out in intense situations?"
Van puffed out his cheeks for a second. I let him lead me over to the couch and sit us both down. He let go of one of my hands only enclose the other one in both of his. I stared at my engulfed hand before slowly looking up at him. Thankfully, he was staring at our hands as well.
"I don't know how to explain some of why I do what I've been doing lately," he began. "My wolf is... increasingly protective of and concerned about you. He's been pushing through and impacting my actions lately."
I swallowed the tiny sting. "So it's just your wolf."
His hold on my hand tightened slightly. "Not... entirely, no. I find that I've been more at ease if I'm the one taking care of you. So there's a part of me that wants to keep you close and protect you myself."
I told you he was worried about you, my wolf sighed like a giddy puppy.
Calm yourself, I shot back. Being worried about someone can spring from a lot of things.
Van closed his eyes, head slightly tilted to one side. Right when I was about to ask what was happening, a gentle knock on the door echoed through the bunker.
"It's safe to come out now." Stitch's muffled voice barely made it through the thick-panel door.
Van let out a sigh and opened his eyes. He offered a small smile before releasing my hand and rising to his feet. "Back to the world above."
I instantly missed the warmth of his hands around mine and his presence next to me on the couch. Even with our rollercoaster partnership so far, he made feel safe. Maybe it was because of his military training—hence I knew that he'd never intentionally hurt me—or maybe because I'd seen him interact with the guys on his team, but my subconscious trusted him even when the rest of my mind didn't. Even though he was walking away because it was time to leave the bunker, my heart hurt as though he'd left me completely.
What is that all about?
On the far end of the room, Van punched the security code into the keypad to unbolt the door from the inside. Latches clicked their release, and the heavy door swung open. Stitch strode through the opening, decked in dark clothes for a night hunt. A little shiver ran down my spine as I thought about the stealth with which these guys moved in the night. They were the elite of the elite for a reason: deadly stealth with killer instincts.
Stitch brushed past Van and made a beeline to my side. "How are you doing, Zoey? You okay?"
I glanced at Van, who'd gone tense when Stitch sat on the couch next to me. His words echoed in my head for a second.
'I've been more at ease if I'm the one taking care of you.'
Did that apply even to Stitch? Would he edge out his best friend?
"Zoey?"
I flinched and looked back at Stitch. "I'm all right, Stitch. Thanks. I was able to sleep pretty well, so I'm all right."
He nodded and rubbed his hands together. "That's good. There's still an hour or two before sunrise, so you can sleep some more back in your room if you'd like. Or you can change, and we'll hit the Jungle before everyone else. You said you wanted to run it again, right?"
"She shouldn't run the course in the dark," Van objected as he tossed a couple things into his pack.
Stitch shot his leader a snarl through squinted eyes. "I'll turn on the flood lights until the sun comes up. I wasn't going to make her face the Jungle in the dark."
Van straightened to his full height, slung his pack over his shoulder, and turned to me. "Do you need more sleep? You don't have to go work out yet."
I glanced back and forth between my two protectors, suddenly feeling like a toy in the middle of a game of tug-of-war. No matter how I responded, someone wasn't going to be happy. While I wanted to stay in this recently acquired happy bubble of friendship with Van, I also knew that I'd never go to sleep again now that I was awake.
"I won't be able to fall asleep again, even if I tried," I explained to Van, shrugging an apology. "I might as well make use of being awake."
Something flickered in his eyes, but it wasn't the angry snap that I'd often seen. Maybe it was a level of understanding, or acceptance? Whatever it was, it didn't appear that he was going to argue with me.
"Don't push yourself too hard," he cautioned after a quiet minute. "Be solid of your footing and handholds before moving forward. Speed won't matter if you get injured."
I nodded. "Understood."
He turned to Stitch, shoulders pulled back in soldier stance. "If anything happens to her, you'll be the one needing medical attention beyond your own skill."
Stitch shrugged off the warning. "Did anything happen to her the last time she ran the course?"
I sucked in a breath, wincing at the memory of my twisted ankle. That had led to me having to tell Van that I healed slower than normal wolves. We'd reached a new threshold of understanding that day, but it came at the price of my injury.
Van stared at Stitch for a moment, but finally let his gaze return to me. "Be careful. I'll come join you after I check in with Snuff and Goggles."
"Okay."
Van spun on his heel and swept out of the bunker. I stared after him for a moment before turning to Stitch.
"If you can show me the way back, I'll get changed and meet you on the back patio."
Stitch tilted his head to one side. "You don't have to do this if you really don't want to. I just put it out there because you were awake."
I shook my head. "I told Van the truth. Even if I tried falling asleep, I would just lay there. I'm still waking up a little, but I'm not going back to sleep."
"Then let's go face the Jungle."