lenora
A half-grunt, half-chuckle sounds from behind me. I smell his poignant scent and know who is at my bedroom door without looking.
"Jesus, you still haven't showered, Lenny?"
My eyes remain trained on Emery's slumbering figure. She hasn't so much as twitched in her sleep. The only reasons I can even tell she's alive are the slow, steady rhythm of her heart and the subtle rise of breath in her chest. Even if I somehow wanted a shower more than I wanted to be here for her, my wolf won't let me. She knew the moment our mate was in danger and she wasn't willing to let anything—including an army of rogues—get in our way.
Carter crouches beside me with a sigh. I risk a glare at him, willing him to be anywhere but within the vicinity of my mate.
"She's going to be fine," he says. "Her vitals sound great. She took a big ass blow."
"I'm not leaving until she wakes up," I growl.
"You want her to see you like this?" He gestures to what I know are patches of dried blood.
My injuries have all healed by now so all that remains are the gruesome effects. And an annoying ache in my ribs.
Growling again, I reach over and brush my hand over her warm one. "I don't care how she sees me as long as she opens her eyes."
"Okay. Fine. Damn, you're stubborn. Can I bring you some food?"
I stand from my chair and rip out a snarl. My eyes burn with their blaze. Carter is also now on his feet, partly on the defensive and partly trying to calm me.
"I'm just trying to help, Lenny," he tells me.
"Now is not a good time, Gaccione. I know we have a lot to discuss, but this is not the time."
Another presence seeps into the room and we both turn to acknowledge him.
"Alpha," Denver greets me with a solemn nod. "I'm afraid we're getting a lot of calls. Other packs want an update and they deserve to have one. From you. I will watch over Emery. The moment she wakes, I'll call."
My hands curl into fists as I look back at Emery. She's still sleeping peacefully. Maybe I can get everything handled and be back before she's up. I whine at the thought of being away from her anymore. If she wasn't bruised along her torso, I would be laying in bed with her.
"You can't do anything for her right now," Carter chips in. "At least dealing with pack business can occupy your mind."
I know they're right. Groaning, I wipe my face with my hands and nod. "Fine. But I expect a call immediately, Denver. Immediately."
"Of course, Alpha." He dips his head submissively.
Carter and I stride out of the room while my Beta takes my place in the chair. It feels so wrong to leave her when she's in such a vulnerable state. I know Denver will take care of her, though.
"I haven't thanked you yet," I mumble, knowing Carter can hear me anyway.
"For?"
I roll my eyes. "Coming down here and saving our asses. I appreciate it. Your warriors are incredible."
He slings an arm around my shoulders with a chuckle and I instantly shrug his offensive limb off. "We can talk all day about how capable my wolves are, but you? Lenny, I have never seen a she-wolf do what you did today. Or yesterday. You have some real balls."
"It doesn't take balls to kick ass," I retort sourly. "When you find your mate, you'll understand. My own safety wasn't even a thought. I could only think about getting to her, protecting her."
"Well, apparently that's the best kind of motivation because no one else stopped the rogues."
"We didn't stop them. We just slowed them down."
Carter swings around to stop me in my tracks. I cross my arms with a sulking scowl.
"Yeah, maybe some got away," he says, "but we killed a lot of those bitches. We have time to regroup now as a society. More packs need to come together the way we did."
"You know how hard that will be."
"And? You know what's at stake. We have no other choice."
I push past him and lead us to the kitchen. Given the early hours, no one else is awake yet. We sit at the table and face each other. Darkness under his eyes belies his fatigue, even though his eyes are bright with energy.
Drawing in a deep breath, I steeple my fingers on the tabletop. My muscles are starting to feel tired now. "I'm not so interested in taking them on again as I am investigating their origins. Someone is behind this, orchestrating it. I want to know who."
"Chop off the snake's head," he remarks.
"Exactly. My guess is the brain behind this chaos is not fighting in it. And if they are, I don't think we killed them. Did you notice how the rogues all retreated at the same time? Someone called them off."
"Where would we even start trying to figure that out?"
My tongue darts out to wet my papery lips. "We took some of them."
His brows dart up. "What? When? How did I miss that?"
"That was Denver's task," I say. "He was supposed to take at least two as hostages. We have three. I think."
"Jesus."
"I've been thinking about it since we heard of them. Even if we lost this fight, I wanted someone to figure out what was going on."
Carter shakes his head. "So who's interrogating them?"
"Me. After I've cleaned up."
"And talked to the host of other packs waiting to hear from us."
"Why don't you talk to them?" I mutter, waving him off.
"Because they don't want to hear it from me."
"Why is that?"
Pursing his lips, he pulls out his phone and fiddles with it. Then he flips it around to show me. It's a video someone took of my wolf plowing through a handful of rogues who jumped me. I look rabid. My eyes are glowing in the footage and I'm moving so fast it's hard to track my movements. Within a minute, all five lay in the grass, slain.
"That's why," he says, putting his phone up. "Someone sent that video out. They don't give a shit what I have to say."
"Fucking hell," I swear as I rub my heavy eyelids. "Can you find my phone? I have no idea where it is."
Carter calls it and we both hear it somewhere upstairs. He goes up to find it and I'm grateful because if I went upstairs, I would go right back to Emery.
I start to the feeling of hands on my shoulder and snap upright. Carter lifts his brows worriedly.
"I was gone for like two seconds," he says.
"What happened?" I grumble groggily.
"You fuckin' fell asleep." He places my cell on the table and shakes his head. "Take a shower and a nap. We'll call everyone in the morning."
My mouth feels dry when I try to protest. He's right. I need to get some sleep. As I head up to the bedroom, I sleepily thumb through the unread texts and missed calls. So, so much. Pushing open the bedroom door, it takes all of my lingering energy to keep my head up. Denver stands from the chair and claps me on the shoulder.
"Alpha," he drawls, "might I recommend a shower?"
"Yeah, yeah." I wave him off. "Don't let the door slap your ass on the way out, Beta."
My sleeping beauty remains in a blissful, still sleep as I strip off my clothes and slip into bed beside her. I check Emery's torso and whine at how swollen it is. I kiss her head and then sink into the cool sheets wrapped around her.