16. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Agony split through his skull upon impact, driving him onto the floor with such force that Remmus was temporarily stunned. It was all his attacker needed to continue his assault, and each punch seemingly cracked another bone.
Whoever was hitting him was far stronger than he was.
Too damaged to concentrate on a teleport, Remmus crossed his arms in front of his face to deflect the blows that rained down on him. The bestial roar that accompanied them seemed inhuman, but the fists beating him bore five fingers. Faintly familiar, but Remmus couldn't open his eyes long enough to determine the identity of his attacker.
Instead of merely taking the beating, Remmus aimed a knee upward. It connected savagely with an unprotected stomach, and then his elbow jabbed against a well-muscled shoulder. A grunt was his only indication that his attacker was alive and capable of feeling pain.
That was when a shriek sounded, "Stop!"
The beating instantly ceased.
Ava began speaking a mile a minute in the background, her distressed tones drifting in and out of his fuzzy senses. Laying blindly on the floor, Remmus realized he could simply stay put, eyes closed, allowing the she-wolf to explain whatever had just happened.
He could marinate in his blood. It was fine.
Everything was fine.
Darkness prickled around his mind, and for a second, Remmus wondered if he should give in. He floated for a moment, suspended in pain and haze. Sleep sounded delicious, and he was so very tired.
"Remmus, wake up!"
The very real thread of concern in Ava's voice jerked him back to reality. Eyes fanning open, the blur in front of him gradually sharpened to reveal the blonde angel he'd been dreaming of the last two nights. Her hands gently probed the tender flesh around his eye socket, then his jaw.
Each touch felt all-together too private, too intimate. Especially when the indignant faces of at least two—or was it four?—alpha wolves solidified beyond Ava's shoulders.
"Geez, wolf, buy me dinner first," came his slightly slurring reply. "If I knew you wanted to get handsy, I would've worn clothes with snaps."
"Damn it, Raeth," Riaz growled. "What did I tell you about making trouble?"
"I'm pretty sure he started it."
Remmus flicked a bloodied finger to where Aidan glared down at him, the massive werewolf standing tall and unapologetic, bloodied fists at his sides.
With the build of a linebacker and biceps the size of tree trunks, the originator of the werewolf species was uncontested in terms of strength and dominance. Aidan's twelve hundred years of life on the planet meant he knew his way around a punch.
Given that he was here in the den at Aidan's request, he'd have liked to think they were on good terms. The beating threw that idea out the window.
"Ava doesn't like Raeths, and you were all over her," he spat.
"It was consensual, Aidan." Ava's voice was almost timid, her fingers still delicately probing the flesh beneath Remmus' eye. "I kissed him."
Remmus' palm tentatively pressed into where his temple throbbed mercilessly; his eyes closed. "See. Not the villain you think."
Inept. Failure.
The coercion in his mind demanded its piece of flesh for his lack of self-defense. Fortunately, Remmus was able to camouflage the usual pain and dizziness as consequences of his beating. Small miracles.
Except this time, when the coercion took hold, it brought with it a heaviness that was strange and unfamiliar. It was slithery, like oil seeping over his skin and sinking into him slowly.
Ava gripped Remmus' shoulder. "I think you gave him a concussion, Aidan."
A retort failed to form on his tongue. Bones ground beneath his palm, broken and mending already, but a far bleaker picture was beginning to take shape. The silver from his recent gunshot was continuing to meddle in his system and enhance the effect of his curse. By all rights, it should've dissipated by now.
If that wasn't the case—and he had no way of knowing without a healer—then what he had feared was finally happening: the coercion imbedded in his mind was escalating. He'd worried it would begin to chip away at his sanity after centuries of punishment. It would be a death sentence.
When his obligatory quip failed to make an appearance, the tension level of the three wolves around him skyrocketed. Raeths could generally feel emotions from werewolves, and when their distress escalated enough, it began to press against telepathic gifts.
"Remmus, you need to go to the healer."
It was a command from one of the alphas, but Remmus couldn't tell which one. Regardless, there was no way he'd acquiesce. With whatever strength remained, he opened his eyes to find Ava staring back.
"I'm fine."
He was proud that there was no waver of his voice, and he'd spoken it as though it was true.
Her beautiful features were painted with worry, but she saw the resolve in his eyes. "It's ok, alpha. I'll patch him up."
Remmus didn't know who was more surprised, him or the two men behind her. Riaz gaped, and Aidan's eyebrows drew even closer together. Ava took no notice and grabbed his arm to steady him as he rose to his feet.
Leveling his gaze with Aidan, Remmus asked, "We good, Spot?"
"You hurt her—" Aidan nodded to Ava, "—and I'll make that beating look like a papercut."
Aidan had warned them that the Heat hormones were affecting the alphas. It'd never been more apparent. The pair of werewolves across from him both wore aggression on their faces.
"Aye aye, Captain." Remmus grimaced as another spot of pain lanced through his skull. "Riaz already threatened me with the tar and feather act. Y'all are breaking my heart with your skepticism."
"What heart?" Ava asked. "I wasn't aware you had one."
"Jeez, call off the wolves."
Chuckling, Remmus found his feet steady beneath him and smiled down at Ava, the feeling of darkness in his mind finally receding.
"Let's go, Casanova."
Fortunately, he had stopped bleeding by the time they'd started making the trek toward Ava's quarters, and the broken temple bone in Remmus' skull already felt substantially better. It didn't keep Ava from fussing over him.
"On the stool, Raeth."
"And here I thought I'd graduated to Remmus." A soft cluck of his tongue. "Just keep piling on the hits, huh, Blondie?"
Remmus didn't miss the curling of her lips, nor the noise of contentment that rumbled from her wolf. He watched soundlessly as she gathered saline and cotton balls, wipes and a first aid kit that looked like it'd been used too many times.
Something predatorial and dark inside him gave him tunnel vision. All at once, he was clouded with a deep, visceral need to hunt down whoever had hurt this woman and protect her. The urge was so deeply rooted that it didn't even cross his mind to wonder why.
Ava dumped an armful of medical supplies on the counter next to him. "Okay, mister. Prepare for Nurse Ava."
When his lips pulled wide, a scab on his cheekbone cracked open once more, earning him a sharp reprimand from his healing practitioner.
She stepped between his knees, so close to him he could smell the citrusy scent that clung to her skin, and the undercurrent of desire that raced beneath it. But her eyes were fixated on the weeping cut on his eyebrow, gently dabbing at it with the saline-soaked cotton ball.
Her delicate touch sent need zinging through him. Quiet movements and complete concentration left Remmus yearning for more. He could barely sit still on the stool, fingers itching with the need to splay across her waist and yank her even closer.
Her eyes sparkled like midnight on the ocean. Thick blonde hair hung in a loose spiral braid down her back, though several wayward tendrils had come unbound and framed her feminine features.
It was official: Ava was the most beautiful woman Remmus had ever seen.