Chapter 16

Chapter 16

RILEY

I lied.I can’t do this.

Not when I’m constantly woken by the most gods awful pain—every muscle in my body, from my head to my toes, is pulled so taut I can’t move. And my hands are locked in fists, my toes curled. The fire licking through my insides is dialed to raging inferno. Buckets of sweat pour from every inch of my body. Yet, I’m shivering as though I’m in the Arctic buck-ass naked.

My stomach sours and nausea rolls over me. I try to turn over on my side, but the stabbing pain in every joint won’t let me move. I try to turn my head just enough so I don’t choke when the inevitable vomiting starts, but I can’t fucking move. Gods, please don’t let me die like this.

I can’t stop it from coming no matter how hard I try to hold it off. The pain is just too great. Acidic bile rushes up my throat and fills my mouth, overflowing and running down my cheeks and up my nose. My lungs burn as they are denied the much-needed oxygen, and tears pour from my eyes.

“Fuck! Riley! Axel, get the fuck in here!” I’m grabbed from under my neck and back and rolled to my side. I want to protest the sudden shift, but as my mouth empties, a moment of relief fills me. That is until the gagging starts again, prompting the next wave of vomiting.

“Breathe, Riley, fucking hell, breathe. Axel!” Gods, he sounds fucking pissed.

Footsteps pound towards me and more hands grab my face, turning me farther to the side.

“Cree, relax. Look at her … she’s breathing, she’s okay. Be gentle and help me prop her on some pillows, and we’ll get her cleaned up.” Axel’s relaxing tone washes over me, soothing my wolf and my soul much like his gentle touch on my body. The tense muscles of Cree where his body is pressed against mine relax as Axel speaks to him.

Four strong hands slide under me and lift, forcing a whimper to escape as they shift and maneuver me into position like I’m nothing more than a puppet. Another body slides in behind me and gently pulls me back against a warm bare chest. The smell of a burning campfire fills me, and instantly, I know it’s Cree. The amount of heat radiating from him warms my center, and the muscles pulling in my back slowly unwind, causing me to sink back into him with a moan.

My hand is lifted and placed on the rim of what feels like a bucket next to my hip. “Just in case you need it,” Axel whispers. A cool cloth is run along my face, wiping away the sweat and cooling my skin. A sigh of relief is pulled from me, and I relax further into Cree behind me just before another wave of white-hot pain flashes through me. My body curls in on itself, and my mouth opens in a silent scream as tears pour from my eyes. Gods, make it stop, make it stop. Please. Make. It. Stop.

Sound finally leaves my mouth in the form of a broken sob and a plea for relief. “Make it stop. Please. Please, just make it stop.”

I don’t know how long those waves of pain last, seemingly forever. I sit there in Cree’s arms, his big hands running circles over my spine as I curl into in a ball against him. My hand gripping his bicep, needing to feel grounded.

The pain finally recedes, giving me a moment of relief, and I uncurl my fingers from his arm. My eyes crack open, and I note the crescent moons pooling with red cut into his flesh. A wave of overwhelming emotions muddles my thoughts, clogging my chest, causing tears at the sight to well up and break free. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, breaking into another bout of cries.

“Little wolf, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I’m proud to help bear the battle wounds, proof you’re not in this alone.” He smooths the sweaty hair back from my forehead and places a soft kiss on the top of my head.

I close my eyes and let myself bask in his embrace. Wordlessly, Axel, I assume, wipes at my face, neck, and hair with a cool cloth, removing the remnants of vomit and leaving behind a renewed sense of relief. As I take a deep breath, blackness clouds my vision, and I’m sucked down into sweet oblivion with the distant sound of new voices echoing in the dark.

CREE

Back in the room Reed deemed to be Riley’s in his penthouse apartment, I sit with Riley in my arms as she writhes in pain. Unable to do a fucking thing to take it away or banish it from her is like being stabbed through the heart with every whimper and painful groan.

I know my refusal to leave her side, my constant hovering, is driving the wolves crazy—but I can’t, won’t, leave her side.

My bear paces in the back of my mind as though stuck in an eight-by-eight cell, dying to get out and kill whoever—or whatever—dares to hurt his mate.

“For fucks sake, Cree, go hunting or something. And take Enzo with you, he needs to kill something before he snaps,” Reed demands from Riley’s bedside, his wolf clearly picking up on my agitation.

“Fuck off, Reed,” Enzo mutters, pacing the length of the room before turning and storming out. Yeah, he’s on edge. Truthfully, we all are as we wait for the worst of this to pass.

Looking down at the pained expression on Riley’s face, I’m torn. I should listen to Reed, he’s right. I need to let my bear out, let him run and hunt, but I don’t want to fucking leave her side. A sharp ache forms in the center of my chest at the mere thought.

Reed stands from his spot and walks around the bed to stand at my side. He brushes some loose strands of sweat dampened hair off Riley’s forehead then places his other hand on my shoulder and gives it a light squeeze. “Listen, Cree. I get it, I really do. It’s hard to stand by and watch her in pain knowing you can’t do anything to take that pain away. All we can do is be here for her. Let her know she’s not alone, that we’re here to support her with whatever she needs.”

I turn my eyes up, catching his gaze firmly on where his fingers brush along her cheek.

“You need to be strong for her, Cree.” His gaze meets mine, the glow of his alpha wolf shining through. “In your current state, you can hardly contain your bear. The last thing she—or any of us—needs is you losing control and shifting right here in her bedroom, going into a full-blown rage. You need to take care of your bear. He needs you a hell of a lot more than she does right now. You need to let him release his aggravations and worry. And Enzo’s wolf needs the same. Even if he won’t admit it, he’s confused, and it’s tying him in knots.” The last lines are delivered with a bit more volume than needed, and they’re met with a faint yeah, yeah from the other room.

With a sigh of defeat and resolution, I slide out from under Riley and tuck her in under the covers. Placing a chaste kiss on her forehead, I whisper, “Be strong, little wolf.”

“I promise; I’ll look after her until you both get back. And if anything happens, I’ll call you back through my connection with Enzo. She’ll be okay, Cree. Have a little faith in her. Our girl is stronger than she thinks.”

My eyes snap back to his at the use of the word ‘our.’ We all agreed that Riley is our mate, that we all feel the bond, but a part of me hadn’t yet fully come to terms with the fact that all five of us are connected to her and she to each of us. That there’s a ‘we’ and an ‘our’ to us all now.

“Yeah, I know,” Reed chuckles, an understanding smile splitting his face.