25. Bexley

25

BEXLEY

I didn’t remember anything else. The instant Angela was lifted from my arms, my body shut down. Life passed me by in phases. I remembered the smell of juniper and the horror of pain in Angela’s eyes. I remembered the funeral procession. And… that was about it.

I remembered people bringing me clothes.

I remembered Voss’s voice somewhere in the distance.

I remembered watching the sun set.

Then, the sun rise.

I’m not sure if they happened on the same day, though.

Sometimes, I found myself sitting at a kitchen table. Other times, I found myself sitting near a window. But always, I was in Voss’s house. That much I knew for certain. I think.

I don’t know, it was hard to think clearly nowadays.

I remembered a hint of Dom’s voice as plates and glasses switched in and out beside me. I wasn’t hungry, though. Off in the distance, I heard Merida talking. At least, I think it was off in the distance. I heard my name, but I didn’t have the energy to respond. All I could do was look out at the world from the window in front of me, watching children run around and giggle with glee.

Even Ashley seemed to join in on the fun.

How long had it been since the funeral?

My world spun on its axis. Tears effortlessly raced down my cheeks as memories assaulted my conscious mind. As I sat there, I did my best to figure out how in the absolute fuck my life had careened so far out of control. It felt like I was a third-party participant in my own movie. Like the cameras were on me, but not really. Not quite. I looked down at my hands and saw nothing but blood on them. It dripped from my fingertips and I gasped, shaking my hands and wiping them on my sweatpants.

Wait, since when the hell did I have a pair of sweatpants?

I fingered the gray sweatpants before I looked at my hands again. No blood. It was gone, just like that. All of the blood of the lives that I took with my own bare hands, gone in the blink of an eye.

I stood to my feet and walked closer to the window before I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

“Good to see you moving, finally,” Dom said.

I cleared my throat as I pressed my forehead against the glass window. “What day is it?”

I heard his soft footsteps padding toward me before the warmth of his hand embraced mine. I looked down at our connection before he crouched down.

It made me want to sit, so I released his hand and sat back down in my chair.

“Thursday,” he said as he placed his hand on my knee.

I nodded slowly. “Three days, huh? Can’t imagine how I smell.”

But, that’s when Dom shook his head. “You haven’t been up here for three days, Bexley.”

I slowly looked down at him. “How long have I been up here, then?”

He swallowed hard. “Three weeks.”

I blinked as I slowly turned my gaze back out toward the world. “Oh.”

“Down, one, twooo! Down, one, twooo! Down, one, twooo!”

I heard Ronyn’s voice barking out countdowns, but I wasn’t sure what for. I found my gaze attempting to search for him out the window.

“They’re training,” Dom said matter-of-factly as he traced faceless patterns on my skin with his fingers.

I looked past Dom’s reflection of him gazing up at me and I finally found Ronyn toward the edge of the woods, training his troops. Even from a distance, I saw how tired they were. How ragged Ronyn ran them. A couple of the men collapsed to their knees. Some of the women rushed over to the woods and heaved. I remembered training like that as a child.

“Preparing for battle, no doubt,” I muttered to myself.

“Can I get you anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”

I slowly looked over at him and sighed. “Thank you.”

His brow ticked with confusion. “For what?”

I reached out and cupped his cheek. “For making sure I had food and water up here for these last three weeks.”

He smiled softly before he turned his lips into my palm and kissed it softly. “I’m just glad you’re moving. You’ve had us frightened for a little while now.”

He cupped his hand over mine and nuzzled against my warmth. I had to admit, the movement was endearing. Dom was most certainly the addictive one. The cheeky jokester with more charisma than he needed. Touching him filled me with warmth. And that warmth filled me with energy. I stood to my feet, pulling him up from his perched position, and my hand fell away from his cheek as I gazed up at him.

“What do you need?” he murmured in a low, steady voice.

I placed my hand against his chest and felt his heart slamming into his sternum. “A good dinner for tonight. I need to move.”

Dom’s eyes ignited. “Oh, then I’ve got a spread for you. We’ve got fresh fruits and this delectable ham hock I’ve been marinating in?—”

I tapped his chest and moved past him. “Thank you, Dom.”

He grabbed my wrist and pulled me softly back to him. “Bexley.”

I slowly raked my stare up his body until my gaze met his. “Yes, Dom?”

He brought my hand to his lips to kiss. “We still have much to talk about.”

I nodded slowly. “I know. One big event at a time, okay?”

He kissed every knuckle on my hand before returning it to my side. “Dinner’s at seven. Come hungry.”

I peered over my shoulder out at the training troops. “Trust me, I will.”

Then, I made my way out of Voss’s bedroom. For the first time in three weeks, according to Dom, at least, I emerged from the house into the heat of the angry summer sun. I shielded my eyes as the world ignited like someone dropped a fucking bomb. I allowed Ronyn’s barking to lead me to his training troops before my eyes finally adjusted. The smell of sweat permeated the air as I grew closer. In a pair of sweatpants that I still wasn’t sure how I got into, I meandered through the training shifters until I found an empty spot next to a few of the women. They eyed me, not even trying to hide their shock, as Ronyn held his hand up.

The training immediately ceased as his gaze fell upon me.

“Hey,” I said with a shrug, “don’t stop on my account.”

Ronyn’s stoic stare raked down my body, almost as if he didn’t believe me. I stood there, watching him take in the massive shirt that practically swallowed my body whole. He clocked the sweatpants before his gaze lingered on my arms. His steel gray eyes slid to my face, studying my features as I held my arms out for him.

“Want me to give you a little twirl, too?” I asked.

Soft chuckles rose from around me before Ronyn cleared his throat, silencing the laughter in its place. And when I stood there once more, facing him, his hand crept back down to his side.

“Down, one, twooo!” he barked as everyone dropped to the ground and did a push up.

I watched them as they did the equivalent of burpees. Rounds and rounds and rounds… of burpees.

Ronyn came over to me and barked the command in my ear. “Down, one, twooo!”

I dropped to the ground with my fellow troops and lost myself in the monotony of it all. My heart flushed my veins with blood. Oxygen brought my lungs back to life as they opened up, willing and ready to receive all of the fresh air that I drew in through my nose for myself. Up and down we went, burpee after burpee. No wonder he had shifters fucking puking in the woods. Burpees were no joke.

“On your baaaaacks!” Ronyn bellowed.

I did as he commanded, and all of us morphed directly into sit-ups. Must be core day or something. Still, the pain in my muscles pulled the attention away from the pain in my heart, and I felt like I could breathe again. I felt life coursing its way through my veins. The dissociation fell away. The dreamlike trance got washed away with the flood of sweat dripping down my body.

“Stomaaaaach!” Ronyn demanded.

We rolled over onto our stomachs and everyone around me lifted themselves into a planked position. I growled as I shook my head, then got myself onto my toes and forearms. I breathed steadily, allowing myself to focus on a mundane piece of grass. I fell into the familiar pain of training. I took solace in the familiar burning of my muscles that my body recognized. Finally, something I knew well. Finally, something that felt like home. I dug in, never faltering as shifters slowly dropped around me, one by one.

I put myself on autopilot and allowed myself to indulge every professional whim I had until I was the only person in the group still in a planked position.

“All rise!” Ronyn exclaimed.

Everyone groaned and pulled themselves up from the ground. I leapt up, heaving for air and dripping with sweat as grass covered my outfit. I linked my hands over my head and opened my lungs. I drew in mouthfuls of fresh air as my heart rate climbed out of the heavens. And as I found myself looking toward Voss’s home, I found him standing at the same window where I was perched.

Watching me.

Something cool pressed against the nape of my sweating neck, and it pulled my attention away from Voss. I whipped around to find Ronyn handing me an ice-cold bottle of water.

“It’s impressive you kept up with us that long.”

I quirked an eyebrow and cracked the bottle open. “What? Think I can’t train with the best of them?”

He chuckled. “You know what I mean.”

I gazed up into his burning steel eyes as I chugged the water. I knew exactly what he meant. He was shocked that a human woman kept up with his army of shifters.

I groaned as the ice water slid into my stomach. “Thanks.”

He waved his hand at me. “It’s yours. You need it. You’re sweating up a storm.”

I picked up the bottom of the massive t-shirt I had on and wiped it across my forehead. “You’re right about that one.”

A subtle growl fell from Ronyn’s lips as my shirt fell back over my stomach. I went back to chugging my water until the bottle crinkled and crumpled with the force of my drinking. I pulled the bottle away from my face, growling softly as the burn of the cold water reminded me that I was alive. A fact I needed to stop squandering, if I’m being honest.

My pity party was over.

It was time to seek vengeance.

“Same time tomorrow, general?” I asked as I tossed him the empty water bottle.

He caught it mid-air as he nodded his head. “Same time, same place. If you think you can keep up.”

I snickered as my growling stomach pulled me back toward Voss’s place. “Can’t wait to watch you drop, commander.”

He chuckled. “Can’t wait to watch you try, Alpha.”

And as I grinned to myself, I made a break toward Voss’s place. I even made a show of breaking out into a job, which caused Ronyn to laugh out loud. Actually, physically laugh. It pulled a smile across my face as I jogged all the way to Voss’s porch steps, even though I was damn near heaving for my fucking life by the time I got there.

But, the promise of a good meal and a hot shower pulled me up the steps.

I pushed my way back into the home of the Alpha who opened his home to me. Willingly.

I had to find a way to pay him back for his generosity.