Wake Me Up

wake me up

A long night was an understatement and I’m convinced the Prince knew it. The rest of the evening and throughout the night, the crew of people at Morgana’s house helped me eject the nasty ass Fae poison without dying on the spot. I say without dying because I absolutely wanted to expire after the first four hours of agony. The ‘Venom’ wasn’t cool anymore and I will definitely never ever joke about wanting to have a superhero backstory again.

It’s been the worst twenty-four hours of my entire life, and my parents once showed up at my middle school conferences in bondage gear, high on cocaine, and holding onto hookers.

“Lucas?”

The tired voice of my new mate makes me smile despite the bone-deep ache that has settled into my body after so many spasms and contortions. “I’m awake.”

“Are you going to… leak anything?” she says with a yawn. “Because I think we’re out of towels and…”

My lips curve when she doesn’t even open her eyes, just stretches and prepares to go find whatever I need. If anyone had told me this was the real Morgana Le Ciel—not the media image of a vengeful woman scorned—I wouldn’t have believed them. But this woman is so much more than anyone gave her credit for, and I don’t even know the entire story about her douchebag ex. She may tell me some day, but I highly doubt it’s going to sway me in the opposite direction. Morgana may have killed him, but she was owed his death, and that’s the only reason she did it.

I’m certain of it.

“No, I will not spew any of that shit, but thank you.” I roll over carefully, avoiding all the sore spots as best I can. Brushing hair off of her face, I look down at her fondly. “I can’t believe you guys all spent the past few days cleaning up after me. It wasn’t a very auspicious beginning to our mating relationship.”

Her laugh echoes off the walls of the living room. I remember them moving me there once the goop wasn’t spilling from my pores—I think. I watch as she pulls back to stretch and once she’s done, she turns back to me with a crooked smile. “Lucas, I have never once been in a relationship that wasn’t absolute clown shoes and I wouldn’t expect this one to be, either. We mated without intending to, and some psycho framed you, then poisoned you. Hell, none of us are sure if this is about you, my ex, or me; it can’t be your fault, so I can’t hold it against you.”

A flush creeps up my neck and I have to duck my head when an intense feeling of glee fills me. I’m happy she’s not upset with me. How very odd. “Thank you, Morgana. I promise I’m going to get this shit over LaMount cleared up so we can focus on getting to know one another.”

“I’m fairly certain Jackson Thorne is going to clear it up. He’ll arrive today and I’m sure Channing notified him we couldn’t meet with him until today. He’s probably champing at the bit to get your statement and tell us what kind of nonsense the local idiots have cooked up.”

Groaning, I flop onto my back, ignoring the pain in my battered body. “Mother of Apollo, I fucking forgot about him. Do you think he’ll be pissed that we’ve wasted his time?”

“I think when he hears what’s been going on, he’ll be glad he brought his entire team with him. Channing informed me via text last night that his entire team is flying in because of a case.”

“Great. A group of people staring at me as we describe my weakest days, wondering how someone like me gets themselves implicated in murder and poisoned within a week’s time. Just what I was hoping for when I wished not to die.”

“Hey, he’s up, guys!”

My head turns and I see Slade standing at the other end of Morgana’s enormous sofa. He looks excited and, by his tone, I realize everyone is still here. “Um, hey, guys. Thank you for… all the stuff you did. I don’t remember everything, but…”

“Ah, Sleeping Beauty is awake.”

That asshole is still here? Damn.

Morgana gives Kaspar a stony glare as she scoots over to get off the cushions. “ Don’t start with me, dragon. I’m giving you the same warning I’ve given others: I’m not a morning person until I’ve had my coffee.”

“This coffee?” Ignatius walks up with two steaming mugs of caffeine that make my mouth water. Morgana takes hers and hands me the other before she pads into the kitchen.

I hear her rummaging around and tilt my head. “You’re a goddamn savior, man. I feel like I’ve been run through a thresher and coffee might help me get my mojo back.”

“You’re going to feel shitty for a few days.” The Prince walks in looking rumpled. He’s half dressed, unlike his bodyguard, and he looks easily as comfortable as Iggy and Slade. “The Fae poison blend they used is potent enough to linger, even after we drained the bulk of it out forcefully.”

“I still can’t thank you enough for coming over, Liam,” Morgana says as she comes out of the kitchen empty-handed. She obviously forgot she’s not stocked after the hoard eating here for a few days and found the cupboard bare. “I feel bad because I can’t make everyone breakfast, but perhaps we could?—”

“I already ordered food,” Slade says cheerily. “I’m usually up early to take a dip in the mornings and when I got back, I couldn’t find anything to fix. It’s coming, but I have to leave for work at three. Will Jackson arrive before then? I’d hate to miss it.”

Morgana looks at all five of us, her expression suddenly full of panic. “Miss it? You’re all… staying for the meeting? Like, to help us?”

Kaspar makes a scoffing sound, but the rest of the guys nod. I reach up and offer my hand, squeezing hers gently. “It looks like we have a team, too. Seems foolish to turn down their offer.”

She licks her lips, still looking like she’s going to bolt any second. “Okay. You can stay for the meeting. But I’m going to go shower and get cleaned up—alone. I need… some time.”

I chuckle softly, letting go of her. “Definitely not to panic, right?”

“Absolutely not,” the raven-haired beauty says as she squares her shoulders. “I never panic.”

We’ll see about that .

By the time Morgana comes downstairs, the others have run to their homes to get cleaned up as well. She sees the empty room and breathes a sigh of relief. I’m glad to see she’s still dressed down in jeans and a big comfy sweater with bare feet. I was worried she might throw her Armani armor on and any hope of getting her to talk with me about our guests would be out the window.

“Your food is in the microwave. I’m going to go up and scrub my skin raw for a few minutes, then I’ll be back.” I smile as I push up off the couch, wincing a bit. “Hopefully, the hot water will ease some of this ache so we can curl up on the couch until they get back.”

Watching me, her eyes narrow. “What do you plan to do on the couch? It better not be marking your territory.”

“As lovely as that sounds—and it does—I’m still weak for that. I want to talk about our new friends and what it means.”

There’s the panicked look again.

“Morgana, I know you’re still healing from the trial and Magnus’ bullshit. If we hadn’t mated, you might even have pushed me away. I’m not stupid.” I walk over to her, looking into her eyes. “But that’s not what happened, and we didn’t just run into the perfect people to help us solve my problem.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t a romance novel, Lucas. Random people don’t come walking into your life because some driving force caused them to. It’s… butterflies flapping their wings in China and shit.” Her cheeks flush red and she wrinkles her nose at me. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“First of all, Fate is a thing, and I know you know that. And their plans for all of us change with that butterfly flapping, which is why they weave and re-weave their tapestry. My Nana taught me all about it and she doesn’t suffer fools.” Sighing, I tug on the end of her girly ponytail lightly. “I’m going to go shower and you need to come to grips with the fact that there might be a bunch of Fae royalty walking the earth, but having a Prince down the street is too much of a coincidence to ignore.”

“But Lucas…”

“No buts, Morgana. I almost died. I’m not kicking people out who were clearly sent to help us because you’re scared. You’re stronger than that; this is simply a knee-jerk reaction because I’m not dying.”

She’s still sputtering as I head for the stairs, dragging myself up them one by one.

I know I’m right; I can feel it in my bones.

I take much longer than I normally would to haul my ass up to the master bedroom and I glare at it as I head for her bathroom. Once we settle this shit with Jackson, this house is the next thing we’re going to deal with. I want all of this scaly motherfucker’s shit out of here. I don’t care if it goes in a museum or a garbage can, but Morgana can’t keep living in this shitty shrine to her past.

Her clothes are hanging on curtain rods and half out of suitcases and trunks. There’s a pallet of blankets and pillows on the floor where she clearly attempted to sleep on the floor because she didn’t want to be in the bed. With a low growl, I turn and punch the wall, leaving a dent and red marks on my knuckles. I hate that she’s been treated this way and if I find out which asshole board members let this shit happen, I’m having Nana handle them. It’s disgraceful even if she wasn’t my mate.

I shake my head and head into the bathroom. Now, this feels more like Morgana. She has hair and beauty products lined up on fixtures, organized by color and type. The towels are pitch black with deep midnight patterns stitched at the hems and a long, silky robe hangs on the back of the door. The scent of lavender, dragon’s blood, and jasmine hangs in the air, making my cock stand up eagerly.

Okay, maybe I’m not too tired for that.

Chuckling, I turn on the hot water, making sure it’s hot and steamy before I step in. The heat makes my muscles relax a tiny smidgen and I groan happily. I’ve had my ass kicked all over the ice for most of my life and I’ve never been as sore as I am now. Whatever happened while I was getting the venom shit pulled out of me put my body through hell and I’m paying for it now.

“Focus, Wolfberg,” I mutter to myself. “Make this quick and get down there before the others get back.”

I don’t know why I woke up with this intense drive to get Morgana on board with more mates. It’s not in my nature as a guy and definitely not in my bear’s nature. But something deep inside of me is screaming that those people saving me, being there to keep me alive, wasn’t just happenstance. I don’t know why I feel like this or what my instincts think is going on, but it’s important. For someone who’s spent the better part of his life focusing on his pro career, to the exclusion of everything else—it’s a weird feeling, like I’m tied to something bigger than myself.

But I am, and this murder is just the tip of the iceberg.

Shaking my head, I use her soap and scrub the hell out of myself. The black crap is gone, but I have this icky sensation like it isn’t, but I’m sure it will fade. I don’t know where all these stupid thoughts about Fate and the bigger picture are coming from, but it’s creeping me out.

“Next on the list after dealing with the house is finding out why I suddenly feel like a goddamn Tarot deck,” I grumble. “Crystal ball shit is for the birds.”

That decided, I turn off the water and get dry, then pull on the spare set of clothes Morgana bought on our trip to the super mart.

It’s time for her to face the facts so that we can all work together.