Chapter 19

MARKUS

Damn... I felt like shit. My tongue was as dry as the desert and my eyes were full of gritty sand. What had I done? Fallen asleep in a kid’s playground or something?

Fuck. I had to move. Shake it off.

I stretched onto my back, cringing at the pain that shot through my spine as hard, lumpy rock dug into my muscles.

This did not feel like a sand pit.

“What the hell...” I shoved the heavy blankets off me. I was way too hot. Since when did I sleep under so many layers?

“Markus? Markus!” Lexie landed on top of my chest, her head against my heart.

I wrapped my arms around her, relief that she was here with me flooding over me. “Hey, Lex... whhhy is this mattress soooo uncomfortable? And why can’t I open myyyy eyes propppperly?”

I kissed the top of her head, aware that I sounded intoxicated even though I was sure I hadn’t had anything to drink last night. But I was slurring a little, and seriously couldn’t get my eyes to open.

She chuckled against my skin. “Sit up. Let’s get more water into you.”

I wasn’t going to argue. I struggled to sit up and managed to crack my eyes open a little. It was light out, just. The red and orange hues of the sunset were just leaking over the trees.

Trees!

My eyes opened wide, but it hurt to do so. “Why are we in the forest?” I glanced around. “And why... oh...” We were in the cave.

It all came flooding back to me. The fight. The rain.

Nancy. Mom. Everyone turning on me.

“Here. Drink this. And eat,” Ollie said, pushing a packet of candy into one hand, and a bottle of water into the other.

I tipped my head back and skolled the water, my swollen tongue struggling with the coldness but loving it at the same time.

“Another?” Lexie asked, handing me a second bottle.

I took it but didn’t open it yet, assuming there would be limited water and we’d need to share. “Thanks.”

I cracked open the packet of candy and shoved a handful into my mouth. I was starving, but had no idea why.

“What happened?” I managed to ask around the candy. “Why are you guys here? Wait.” I stared at Lexie. “How are you guys here? Ollie I understand, but...”

She grinned at me. “It’s a long story. Involves a dirt bike and sheer determination to prove Nancy and your mom wrong.”

Ollie stood up from the pile of blankets on the ground and shook his head, walking away. From the line of his back, he seemed annoyed.

Huh?

I glanced over at Lexie. “Any ideas you wanna share?”

“You don’t remember shifting and running up here?”

I frowned. “Yeah, kinda. It was raining, and I had to find shelter. Then it’s fuzzy. I don’t really know what happened after that.”

“That was two days ago,” Ollie said, glaring at me with his arms folded over his chest. “Do you know how worried we were?”

“Two days!” How could that be right?

Lexie shifted a little closer, pressing a hand to my leg. “When you didn’t come home Monday night, Ollie got the pack together for an emergency meeting and we asked for some help finding you.”

Ollie snorted out a laugh. “Yeah... and Lexie tore Mom and Nancy a new one when they told her she didn’t belong and should leave. You should have seen her.”

I glanced over at the beautiful woman sitting next to me. “Really? What did you say to Mom?”

I picked up my second bottle of water and took a sip, waiting for her response.

One side of her lips quirked up in a half smile. “That if she wanted to be a part of her grandbabies’ lives, then she better get on board with me being around, because I have no qualms cutting her out, I can tell you. Damn bitch.”

I couldn’t help it. I spat the water in my mouth out in a spray, but luckily I thought to turn my head in time so it didn’t go all over Lexie. “You said what?”

“Well, why not? What else have I got to hold over her head?” she asked with a shrug. “Plus, you guys said I’m the one. Ollie reassured me he wants a baby as soon as possible, and you’ve come in me twice with no protection, so...”

She shrugged like it was a forgone conclusion and I gaped at her, then at Ollie. “You two have been busy.”

Ollie glared back. “Well, statistically, you’re more likely to be the biological father if she is pregnant, so don’t go pretending I’m doing shit behind your back.”

I couldn’t help but look at Lexie and enjoy the pretty blush that stole over her face. The session we’d had up against the wall had been fucking hot.

“Okay, so, finish the story,” I urged, taking another careful sip of water.

“I borrowed a bike from Toni, Ollie shifted, and we came looking for you. Got up here just as the rain came down hard. We found you and you had a fever. We gave you water and Tylenol, and now you’re awake.”

I glanced from Lexie to Ollie and back again. From the anger-tinged relief I could practically sense radiating off my brother, obviously finding me and helping me through the fever hadn’t been the easiest thing for them.

“Thank you,” I said, the simple phrase inadequate to describe how I felt that they’d come looking for me. They’d both come looking, and had obviously been concerned for my wellbeing. Warmth, unconnected to any fever, lit my body up from within.

But then I realized my body was aching like I’d been training all day and night. “I’m going to stand up. My back—”

“Oh, yeah. Good idea,” Lexie said, jumping to her feet.

I was a lot slower than her, not to mention naked. “Damn, I stink.” My skin was covered in dried sweat.

Lexie smiled with a cute little crinkle of her nose. “You were sweating a lot.”

I stretched out my back, legs and arms, then glanced out the mouth of the cave. “Stopped raining?”

Ollie nodded. “Almost. If we shift and run home, you’ll completely heal, and Lexie can follow.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Lexie picked up some of the blankets and began to fold them. “Then are we all going to talk?”

Oh, yeah. We needed to clear the air. I hated the tension crackling between the three of us. Anger and hurt on all sides weren’t the sort of things that healthy relationships were built upon.

“Yeah. Definitely.”

We packed up the cave as best we could, made sure Lexie was safe to ride the motorcycle, then I let my wolf take over my body once more.

It was such a relief to feel my wolf rise up inside me and take over my aching body. The shifter part of me had the ability to heal extremely quickly. I started to trot down the mountain, navigating around the large puddles of water and jumping over rocks.

The more I moved, the less pain I felt.

Lexie was having a harder time than Ollie and me at getting down the mountain. There were no roads, barely even a walking track. How she’d made it up here yesterday, I had no idea.

Respect for her grew, the more I realized how much of risk she’d taken to reach me. We took our time, eventually finding one of the few walking paths where Lexie could speed ahead.

I got up to a gallop, running behind her and loving the stretch and pull in my muscles as everything flowed the way it should once again.

When we finally arrived home, Lexie was already taking off her helmet and parking the bike next to the garage.

Ollie and I waited in wolf form for her to open the door, then realized she didn’t know where the spare keys were.

I nudged over a nearby potted plant, exposing the key.

She giggled, snatched it up, and opened the door for us.

We trotted inside and shifted. I cringed at my own smell. I wasn’t just covered in sweat. My legs were soaked in dirty water and mud, and the last thing I wanted to do was have an important conversation while I stunk like a stagnant pond.

“I’ll jump straight in the shower. Then we can talk.”

“I’ll join you,” Lexie said, walking over to the stairs.

I stopped. “At the same time?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. Do you have another bathroom?”

I glanced over at Ollie. “We need a bigger house.”

Ollie’s eyebrows rose on his forehead. “You want an excuse to shower separately from our mate?”

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled in my chest. “No... but I still think we need an upgrade.”

Three bedrooms and one bathroom didn’t seem enough, especially if my brother was pushing for kids as soon as possible.

Ollie shrugged. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

“You coming too?”

He walked up and indicated his muddy legs. “Yeah.?”

I turned away and marched up the stairs. Why was I freaking out? Ollie and I were twins and had been showering near each other or with each other since we were kids.

I’d hoped for a little bit of peace, but Ollie and Lexie weren’t giving it to me today. They probably thought I’d had enough space already.

When I got to the bathroom, I didn’t hesitate. I just turned the shower on hot and jumped under the spray before scrubbing at my skin with the soap.

Ollie was already shower ready, but I didn’t anticipate Lexie stripping off, then walking into the shower behind me.

“This shower really is big enough for two, isn’t it?” she asked, stepping under the water when I moved to the side. “I assumed so, but now I know.”

It was a two-person shower, that was true. But the way we were going here, we were going to need a wet room with a four-person shower just to have enough space to move around.

In the next house.

Something about that thought filled me with excitement. I pushed the feeling aside to consider later.

She moved out a little and I ducked under the water, washing away the soap suds and loving the way her hands lingered on my arm, then on my hip, as we brushed against each other.

“I’ll get dry and changed,” I said as I slid out of her grip and grabbed a towel.

Lexie nodded. “Sure.” Then she slipped fully under the water, closing her eyes and wetting her hair with a sigh of obvious bliss.

Ollie turned his back on me to walk into the shower and join Lexie in the steam.

I had to walk away. I wasn’t ready to get sucked into playing happy family yet.

Lexie had believed the worst of me. She’d believed Nancy over me. I couldn’t think of much worse she could do, other than cheat on us, of course, but I couldn’t see Lexie doing that. Especially since it would hurt Ollie too. And surely, she wouldn’t want to do that.

Hurt the favorite one.

I reminded myself they had both come looking for me. In fact, Lexie had risked her safety on that dirt bike, and nursed me back to health from what Ollie said.

But the darkness in my mind threatened again. I clenched my jaw and tried to stop my mind from spiraling down into another mess. I’d only just gotten my head around being part of this triad when they’d pulled the rug out from under me with the lack of trust.

I wasn’t sure I could do it again. I wanted Lexie, it was true. Since meeting her, every other woman had lost any appeal. But that didn’t mean I was going to get suckered into a family I didn’t want.

I had a lot to think about before the next conversation, and knowing Lexie, she wouldn’t want to wait. She’d want to know how I was feeling right now.

And the darkness inside me dictated that the way I was feeling now was angry.