15. Indy

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Indy

" H ey, there you are." I hear Stevie's voice as I try to focus my gaze. "Ash, she's coming to!"

Just as my vision focuses, my brother's black eyes are hovering over me. "Oh my god, Indy. Oh my god." I focus on his face and look around. I'm lying in a bed in a hotel room, but not mine.

"W-Where am I?"

"My room," Ash says as he helps me sit up. I look around and see the girls and Ash. "Fox and At are packing up. As soon as they're done, we're fucking out of here." I furrow my brows, still trying to piece everything together. Ash is panicking. He's talking way too fast, and he keeps popping his knuckles.

"Where's Derek?" Ash looks at me, annoyance all over his face.

"I don't know? Who the fuck cares? Maybe had he not been on his fucking phone, you wouldn't have been assaulted."

"Stop it," Ren flicks Ash's ear while bouncing Howie. "It's not Derek's fault, it's not Brooks' fault, your fault, or Indy's. The only one at fault is the douchebag who attacked her."

Suddenly, it all comes back to me. He hit me and ripped my pants. "Don't leave," I say firmly. "I can stay in my room and watch TV." The thought makes me depressed, but I don't want them to cancel everything over me, and Ash will be snarling at anyone who comes near me in the booth. "I'm not feeling well enough for the plane ride back so soon anyway." This is true. There's no way I can handle another plane ride right now. Ash gives me a hard stare for a long moment before sighing.

"Fine, but you are staying away from the convention." He barks out the order, and I flinch.

"Hey!" Janie smacks him upside the head.

"Knock it off!" Ren snaps. "You aren't her warden. And she's not a child. Don't talk down to her that way."

Janie shakes her head. "Boy, you better hope Sunday doesn't hear about this." Ash rolls his eyes before leaving, and Janie sighs while nudging Stevie. "We better go back down there. If the men are alone too long, they'll revert to Neanderthals." After they walk out, I turn to Ren and a smiling Howie before clapping my hands.

"Gimme the baby!" Ren chuckles before handing over the chunky, grinning Howie. I bounce him on my legs as I coo and shake my curls. Howie loves mine and Janie's hair. He squeals and lets out a laugh, and I whine, "My ovariesssss." Ren snorts while lying next to me in bed.

"Trust me, you wouldn't be saying that at three in the morning when he's screaming, Bruno's wailing, and Atlas is crying. All three of them wanting my attention and fighting each other for it. Sometimes, I lock myself in my booth just for a bit of silence."

I laugh as Howie grips my finger in his hand. His little grip is so tight.

"How are you doing?" Ren asks after a quiet moment, and I give her a smile.

"Well, I'm getting to hang out with the most handsome little man in the world!" I coo at him. Howie grins and grabs a lock of my hair.

"You know if you need to talk about what happened."

"I don't," I say firmly, though the smile doesn't leave my face. "Nothing happened. I have nothing to talk about."

"Indy, you were assaulted! He hit—"

I turn to Ren and give her the briefest of looks behind my happy mask before turning back to Howie and kissing his head. "Auntie Indy loves you, little man." I release his grip on my hair, ensuring no loose strands are in his grasp, before handing him back to Ren. "I love you, Ren. Thank you for helping me. I'm going to go back to my room now." Ren stares at me as I stand but says nothing when I give her a wave and head out of the room.

When I enter my room, my eyes widen in disbelief. The shattered glass that covered the floor is gone, and the broken mirror has been replaced. I raise a questioning eyebrow, wondering if one of the girls or Ash had seen it and cleaned it up for me. But deep down, I know something else must have happened.

I cautiously step into the bathroom and am met with a jarring sight in the reflection. My hair is disheveled and tangled, and the mascara that Derek carefully applied is smudged and running down my cheeks. The corner of my lips is swollen and bruised, evidence of my attack. As I lift my arm to examine the bruises on my bicep, I hear a soft knock on the door.

I approach the door, expecting it to be Ren or Ash knocking. Still, I peek through the peephole just to be sure. My heart jumps into my throat when I see Derek's face on the other side. His shirt is torn and splattered with what looks like bloodstains. He's sporting a dark bruise around his eye, and his knuckles are raw and scraped.

"What happened?" I cry out as I rip open the door, my eyes scanning over his battered appearance. Instead of answering me, he looks me up and down with an intense gaze. I feel a shiver run down my spine as his eyes turn almost black with fury.

"I didn't beat that fucker nearly enough," he grits out, already turning to leave. I quickly make my way around to stand in front of him, placing my hands on his chest to stop his forward movement.

"Tell me what happened," I repeat, trying to keep my tone steady. Derek glares at me, but it seems like his focus is mostly on my lips. He takes a step back from me before speaking again.

"What happened? What do you think happened? That fucking piece of shit did—" His voice rises in anger, thick with emotion. I see his fists clench and unclench, the muscles in his neck bulging. The scent of sweat and blood fills the air as he speaks. "He got away when you passed out before we arrived, so I found him. All I knew was he touched you. Had I known…" His throat works, and he shakes his head, the intensity of his emotions almost tangible. "I would've killed him, make no mistake. No one, Indy, not one fucking person on this planet, is allowed to touch you that way. Ever."

My heart races at his words, a mix of fear and possibly arousal pulsing through me. Okay, it'sdefinitely arousal, but that's beside the point. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. The image of him fighting for me, protecting me… It stirs something deep inside me I can't quite name.

I want to yell at him for beating another person up and for getting himself hurt. Part of me is angry that he thinks it's his place to protect me, to treat me like a damsel in distress.

I look at him again. A feral, muscular man stands over me, his body battered and bruised from the fight. His eyes are wild with alpha rage, his lip still snarled in anger.

And despite all my feminist energy swirling inside me, it's being snuffed out by the man standing over me, protecting me. This must be what Janie meant by a "lady boner"?

"Derek, I think you and I need to have some space between us," I whisper, trying to look anywhere but at him.

"Why?" His voice is deeper than usual, and I feel like it's speaking to a part of me that's been asleep my whole life.

"Because," I say slowly as my eyes reach his, and I notice the rage is gone and replaced with something else. Oh no, I might try to kiss him again. "You freaked out at a kiss on the cheek. Keep throwing around this masculine energy, and you might have to shove me off you."

Derek freezes in shock before letting out a genuine laugh. He laughs. And it's so sweet. Why doesn't he do it more?

"Darlin', I try to be a respectable man, but I'm far from a good one. You got your one polite turn down from me."

"What does that mean?" I ask curiously. I watch his brow arch up before his eyes land on my lips. He must see the cut again because it snaps him out of whatever playful trance this was and back into his furious one.

"You shouldn't go back to the convention," he states, and I growl in annoyance as I lay on the bed.

"I'm well aware, thanks, Dad ."

"Brat, I swear to god," he groans. "Call me dad one more time, and I'll—"

"You'll what?" I challenge him. "You going to spank me?" I watch his face pale, and his eyes go wide. "That's what I thought. Though, then you'd be in Daddy mode." I give him a wink before he shoots me the middle finger.

"You're an awful big pain in the ass for how tiny you are." I give him a shrug.

"Not my first time hearing that. Though most find me to be a real delight. Rainbows and sunshine, and all that's good."

"Uh huh, and it's endearing, don't get me wrong, you're fucking adorable with your happy shit and dimples," He thinks my dimples are adorable? "But you have this pissed-off fiery side you try your damndest to hide." My smile wavers slightly as I stare at him, my heart rate picking up. "You shouldn't hide it. Eventually, the anger will take over that adorable side until all that's left is your rage. You don't deserve that kind of life, darlin'."

"And what kind of life is that?" I ask softly as I get up and head to the closet where my bag is. I always keep a small first aid kit on me, though I'm not sure how Derek will feel about the bandage selection.

"A lonely one," he mutters, more so to himself. "One where you have no one because you shoved them all away. One where you see no reason to get close to anyone because they're just gonna end up hurting you." I walk over to where he's seated and slowly lower myself to my knees.

"Indy, what are you—" he admonishes me, but I cut him off before he can continue.

"Stop mothering me. I'm an adult. I know what I can and can't handle." I snap, but it's gentle. We stare at each other for a heartbeat before I grab his bloodied hand and begin cleaning it. Blood he shed for me.

"Is that how you live?" I ask while softly blowing on his knuckles when he hisses.

"Pretty much," he grits out before relaxing again. "People are shit. They lie, cheat, and steal. I got burned once a long time ago and didn't handle it well." I can hear the guilt and shame in his voice, and it tugs at me.

"You're not the big bad wolf you make everyone think you are," I state while poking his wolf's head tattoo on his hand. "I can see past your mask."

He chuckles softly and shakes his head when I put a penguin bandage over his cut. "Baby girl, that's because you and I wear the same mask."

The truth of his words feels very big in this very small room. Turning his hand over, I frown at the tiny scrapes on his fingers. "Did you fall?" I ask, and he shakes his head while shifting uncomfortably.

"Nah, I was in here earlier cleaning up the mirror." I freeze at his words before looking up at him.

"I—"

"Don't," he interrupts while helping me up to sit on the bed. "I knew you'd be all over the place trying to clean it up and apologizing to the staff. You don't need to be doing all that shit, Indy. You don't have to be nice all the time."

"Sorry," I say softly while trying to stand, but my knees aren't cooperating, and I stumble, grabbing Derek's thighs to stop me from face-planting into his crotch. "Oh my god," I breathe out, mortification filling me. "I am so sorry."

"It's fine," He grunts out before reaching out, his hand covering mine on his thigh. I stare at his tattooed hand and feel my fingers stroke over his thigh. A soft growl rumbles through his chest.

"Maybe you're right," he mutters while quickly helping me to my feet before standing.

"W-What?" Right about what? If it involves him moving away, I most certainly am not right.

"Maybe you and I need space between us."

I feel crestfallen as he straightens himself before heading toward the door. "Do me a favor, darlin'; stay away from theconvention,so I'm not distracted this weekend." I go to say something back, but Derek walks out the door, leaving me alone in the middle of my cage for the weekend.

You're not alone,

My darkness smiles.

You always got me

.