Chapter 16

T he pack gave me room to breathe. After a solitary breakfast, I returned upstairs and drew a hot bath. Since I had on the same clothes as yesterday, Robyn lent me an outfit.

I'd woken up that morning with fear and worry in my heart, only to have one conversation turn it all around.

Dressed in a cozy pair of grey sweats and a matching shirt, I collected my unraveled wrist bandage and opened the door.

"Pardon the interruption, but I didn't mean to spook you earlier," Virgil said while leaning on the wall outside the bathroom. "Don't you want to stay in the upstairs room?"

I rounded the corner down the hall as he walked alongside me. "It's better for everyone if I'm in the heat house. I'm not used to being around wolves and don't want to be in the way."

"Virgil Nightingale was born to be in the way. Join the party." He faced me while walking sideways. "I'm lonely up here. Mercy used to stay in that room before she mated Mr. Mantabulous. I miss having a neighbor."

I summoned a smile.

Virgil halted by another hall. "Come back anytime. "

My knee, hands, and arms were sore. The water cleansed the wounds but reawakened all the nerve endings where I'd scraped myself. Nothing hurt as much as my eye and cheek. My wrist even felt okay when bandaged up tight.

I padded toward the kitchen in my socks in search of someone. "Hello?"

Archer stepped into view by a cabinet. "What do you need?"

I held the unraveled bandage. "I'm having trouble getting it on."

He jerked his head toward the back door. "Come with Dr. Swift. I'll patch you up." Archer held the screen door open where it parted down the center, and we stepped onto a wooden deck. The grey clouds were pregnant with rain, the birth of a storm imminent.

"Do you need my assistance?" Salem asked from a folding chair where he was reading a book and eating black licorice.

"I got it," Archer said.

"Sure you do. Let me know when you've cut off her circulation."

Chuckling, I sat on the steps and faced Archer, who sat to my right.

"Hold this." He placed the end of the bandage to my wrist.

While I held it, he started to wrap.

My attention swung up to the field where Tak was riding Luna. I could tell by the way she moved that she loved being ridden. That was something I couldn't relate to since I had never let anyone on my back.

I let go when Archer secured the end. "Just make sure my fingers don't turn blue," I quipped.

"Don't worry. If I have to do it all over again, I will."

Salem laughed quietly behind us, making Archer glare over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in the house?" Archer stopped for a minute and gave me his attention. "There's plenty of room, and nobody cares."

"It's safer this way. One of you might shift, or even I might shift. Do you think Tak will accept rent from me until I'm able to leave?"

"Nope."

He deftly wrapped my hand. Then it dawned on me that bandaging my own wrist was difficult because I couldn't do it with one hand, and here Archer was, doing what I couldn't.

Finally, he secured the metal clip and looked at my fingers. "How does that feel? Too tight? Too loose?"

My wrist felt secure, and unlike last night, the circulation wasn't cut off. "Not bad."

"The Relic said everything should be healed up in a couple of days. Do you need pain pills?"

I liked that they weren't pressuring me to shift or asking too many questions even though Milly had filled them in. "Um, do you have anything for sleep? Just for tonight."

The chair creaked behind us. "I'll fetch something in my bag," Salem said before disappearing inside.

"I don't want to get addicted to them."

"Trust me, the stuff Salem keeps in his magic bag isn't anything you'll want to put in your mouth again. But it works. They're not human drugs."

"That's reassuring." An unseasonably cool breeze with a heady scent in the undercurrent rushed against my face. "A hard rain is coming."

"Where's your bracelet?"

"At home. I was so upset yesterday morning that after I showered, I forgot to put it on. Doesn't matter." Raising my bandaged arm, a bracelet hardly seemed like a concern.

"I'm sorry."

I searched his face and wondered why the apology .

"For leaving you," he continued. "Not just that, but the way I left it. Those things I said?—"

"There you are!" Joy rushed across the porch. "I was searching everywhere. Come with me. We have everything fixed up for you."

Curious, I descended the steps at her encouragement.

Joy clasped her hand in mine and offered a compassionate smile. "You'll feel better in no time. All you need is rest and food, and we've got everything taken care of. Maybe we can get rid of this gloomy day so you'll have sunshine. There aren't windows in the heat house, but the skylights make it feel less confined."

We meandered to the heat house, which was a cabin located at the back of the house on the right side. The flat roof gave it a boxy appearance, but they had planted purple phlox near the south-facing door.

"We're thinking of putting in a paved path all the way to the porch," Joy said. "It would make it easier for visitors."

My eyes widened. "Visitors? While you're in heat?"

She stopped at the door and fluffed her curly blond hair. "Men aren't allowed in the heat house except for mates. Even then, we have to be sure they're either trying to conceive or the woman invited him. But someone has to bring our meals, so we agreed to take care of each other. The women, that is. We'll bring food and anything else the person wants. Even vibrators ," she said, her voice falling to a whisper.

My cheeks flushed.

Joy canted her head. "Maybe you're not in here for those reasons, but whatever you need, let me know. I mean it. Anything. I'm sad you're not staying in the main house, but it's understandable. So we fixed everything up special." She opened the door. "Isn't it delicious?"

When I entered the cabin, Melody's pink hair caught my eye. She was kneeling by the kitchen counter on the right. After slamming a cabinet, she sprang to her feet, her green eyes wide with excitement. "This is the cooler for drinks," she said, patting a tall mini fridge at the end of the cabinet. "I just loaded it up. It also has a top freezer."

They had put a basket of fruit on top of it.

I took in the heat house in quiet astonishment. I'd always imagined these were just rooms with a bed and a toilet. Despite it being a quaint cabin, there was nothing simple about it. A wall along my left cut the cabin in two until it reached an opening to a room.

A few steps ahead of the front door to the right was a round kitchen table and chairs. The kitchenette had a corner cabinet, sink, microwave, and mini cooler.

Mel sat on the counter and watched my reaction. Her jeans had black and red patches sewn in, and she knocked the heels of her sneakers against the counter while pointing to a shelf on the left side of the cabinets.

"It's a snack station," she said. "We had a three-tier shelf we weren't using for anything. Hope wanted to put it in the bathroom and fill it with towels, but then I got this ingenious idea to set baskets on the shelves and fill them with snacks." She jumped down, her sneakers squeaking against the brown tile. "We made a list of everyone's favorite foods, so when it's their turn, we'll change out the goodies according to what they like. We put these out for you. It's just a variety we thought you might like. If you have any requests, hit me up."

Straight ahead and a little to the right, a divider wall separated the living room and what I guessed was the bedroom on the left. From my vantage point, both rooms had wood flooring. A grey sectional faced a large television mounted to the divider wall, and pink pillows and a pink round rug complemented it beautifully.

"That's a fake plant," Melody pointed out, gesturing to the greenery in the corner by the TV. "We wanted plants, but since we won't be in here all the time, they'd die from neglect. "

I gaped at the skylights overhead.

"I hope they don't leak." Melody hooked her thumbs in her jeans pockets. "There's one right over the bed, so I guess you'll be the first to find out if it rains. How do you like the living room? That color scheme was my idea."

"It's modern looking, like something in a magazine."

She beamed and led me straight ahead to the bedroom. With a dramatic sweep of her arm, she announced, "And this is the boudoir . Notice the red comforter in the color ‘passion' that Joy suggested would spark arousal during that needy time of the year." She plopped down on the bed, which jutted out from the left wall.

The upholstered headboard offered comfort to anyone watching the giant television mounted on the divider wall across from it, but what really caught my interest was the bookshelf on the far side. Since the shelf was only four feet tall, they decorated the top with books, more fake plants, and candy jars.

I crossed over and reviewed the books, searching for familiar titles.

Melody crawled to the right side of the bed and switched on the lamp. "Hear me out: we didn't exactly put those books there for your entertainment. My aunt gave those to us so we could, um…"

Joy bumped up against the end of the bed. "Sometimes there's only one kind of book a woman wants to read when she's in heat, so those were a gift to us. But you're free to enjoy them. That is… if you like racy books."

I glanced at the titles. "These are okay. Especially this one. But if you really want something steamy, let me know, and I'll make you a list. Romance is my favorite genre, but I like the ones with a good story. I know of some really sexy books if that's your preference."

Lying on her back, Melody crossed one leg over the other. " Hope will love that. You should see her turn scarlet whenever someone talks about sex. You'd think the woman never had it."

I sat down and reclined my head. Through the skylight, the grey clouds drifted overhead, leaving me unsettled about what might happen when the Council released Noah. "What happens if I'm in here at night and I need help?"

Melody sat up. "You've met Catcher. He guards the house at night, and one of us will be out there too. Lucian has cameras all over the property that are motion activated. We also have an alarm on the front gate."

"Cecilia makes a good point." Joy stroked the base of her throat while staring vacantly at the bookshelf. "We can buy something to reinforce the door, but maybe she'll feel safer with a weapon." She turned to look at me. "Do you know how to use a gun?"

"No."

Melody twirled her hair around her finger. "A bow?"

I shook my head.

Joy sat. "She can't use a bow in here."

Melody leaned back on her hands. "I can."

Joy patted my knee. "We'll speak with the Packmaster and see what he thinks. I don't know how he'll feel about you being armed with a weapon you don't know how to use, but I promise you no one can trespass without us knowing. I tried skinny-dipping one morning, and that was a disaster."

"Lucian got an eyeful," Melody said with a snort.

"Yes, and he almost sent me to an early grave with the microphone. One minute, I'm sliding into the water. And the next, his voice blares out of nowhere, warning me about a snake in the water."

Melody chuckled. "That's why he's forever single."

Joy opened the bathroom door on the left side of the bed. "Shall we finish the tour?" Her blue eyes sparkled, suddenly reminding me of which classic celebrity she resembled. But it wasn't worth mentioning, especially since Joy's radiance exceeded hers.

"Your hair looks good down," Melody said while crawling off the bed. "I know you're a ponytail girl but just thought I'd tell you that you can rock the long hair."

"Thanks."

When I approached the bathroom, Joy dipped to the right and blocked the toilet, which had a privacy wall next to it. I blinked in surprise at the roomy standing shower on the left.

"You put a chair in here?" I gestured at the pink furniture in the right corner.

Melody strutted across the room and sat on the garden tub. "The small chaise was my idea. We were going to put it in the living room to match the rug and pillows, but we had extra space in here we needed to fill. Someone might want to sit down and… paint her toenails."

"I'm sure that's what you had in mind for its use." Joy grinned as she sauntered out of the room.

Melody gave an impish grin. "All I'm saying is if Lakota wants to pop in for some spicy time, this whole setup could be kind of sexy. Me taking a bath, him sitting in the chair and rubbing my feet."

"Your heat house is smaller than my house but a thousand times nicer." I leaned against the sink and stared at my grotesque reflection. The light accentuated the swelling and purplish color. A blood vessel had burst in my eye, and the bright-red hue made me cover it with my hand.

Melody walked up beside me, standing a couple of inches taller. She looked at my reflection before turning her gaze down to her rhinestone sneakers. "I don't know what to say in a situation like this, except… I'm here if you need me. We all are. And we're glad you're safe. "

"I appreciate that. You've been incredibly generous." Looking down at my wrist, I said, "I never thought I'd actually leave him. It was impossible to imagine what that would look like."

"Someday you'll find your other half, and you'll be able to put this behind you. Your person will make everything worth it. Lakota's not just my life mate, he's my best friend. Trust me. If the fates sent a good man to a workaholic daredevil like me, I know they have someone really special waiting for you. Now you can put yourself first and work on that vision board."

I glanced at my tousled brown hair in the mirror and ran my fingers through the ends. "Noah ripped it up."

"That piece of toilet scum better not show his face around here, or I'll put an arrow up his?—"

"We should leave," Joy said from the doorway. "Cecilia, we don't have a closet. There wasn't enough room, and we decided a luxurious bathtub was more important. So we keep a bin underneath the bed for storage. Robyn donated a few things she thought would fit, including panties and bras."

Melody snorted. "Those aren't loaners. We're not that creepy. We buy a lot of things in bulk, and Robyn had extras she's never worn. If they don't fit, let me know. I need an excuse to get out of the house. By the way, don't let the snacks in the other room mislead you. You're still invited to eat with us."

"If you want." Joy clutched Melody's arm. "She might not feel like it for a little while. Sometimes a girl needs to be alone. If you want to eat here, we'll bring you a plate at mealtimes. If you're not hungry, just put it in the drink cooler. You can reheat it later in the microwave. No trouble at all. You do whatever makes you feel comfortable until you're healed."

I had little to say except "thanks", which seemed grossly insufficient. Yet I was still in a state of disarray—shaken from last night's attack, bruised, uncertain what the future held, and terrified that Noah would come for me.