16. Fifteen

Fifteen

Sawyer

Searing hot pain ripped through my chest as my connection with Sloane and Lincoln was severed. I blinked my eyes open and groaned.

I clapped my palm against my chest. Liquid warmth seeped between my fingers and I lifted my hand. Blood coated my palm.

Movement caught my eye. Fiona leaned over me, her eyes daggers of accusation.

What the? I scrambled across the bed, almost falling off the other side.

I grasped my comforter and hauled it to my chest, trying to staunch the bleeding. "What the hell are you doing in my room?"

If this was some ploy to get with me yet again, then she was going to be sorry.

She glanced at her hand, a sickening fascination crossing over her features, before she popped one finger in her mouth and sucked the blood off it. "I wanted to surprise you."

Surprise me? She sure as hell did that. I jabbed my finger toward the door. "You have no right to be in here. Get out."

She crossed her arms over her chest and pouted. "I don't like how you're talking to me, Sawyer. It's rude."

Rude? What was she on? "You broke into my room without permission. Get out." I was five seconds away from throwing her out. What the hell was wrong with her.

She narrowed her eyes and sucked another bloodied finger into her mouth. She popped it back out, her eyes widening as she examined her digits. "I don't think I will."

My bedroom door creaked open, and my father walked in, followed by Drake. There was something in my father's hand. I gulped as he lifted his arm up.

Fuck!

My pulse pounded in my ears. I couldn't move, my limbs becoming a hundred pounds each, leaving me paralyzed unable to tear my gaze away. It was a severed head, and not just anyone. It was Ruby‘s brother, Luke.

Blood dribbled on the hardwood from the jagged fresh cut along his neckline.

Dad grinned as he turned Luke's face toward him. Then he chucked it like a football at me. It landed on my bed, bouncing and then rolling across the sheets.

I shot backward, my back colliding with the headboard. Luke's face stared up at me. His mouth twisted in an ‘o' shape and his eyes wide. Bile crept up my throat, and I gagged. I was going to be sick.

No. You can't be. Be strong. He doesn't know about you. He can't. Right?

Play it cool.

You don't know what's happening yet.

I forced even breaths in through my nose and out of my mouth. "What's this?" I couldn't keep the edge from my voice.

The question was had Dad noticed it? I really hoped not. This had to be a test. Or he knew.

Stay calm. Breathe.

Dad pushed my door open farther, sauntering into the room. He stopped halfway between the door and my bed, crossing his arms over his chest. He tapped his foot on the floor. "I found our conspirator." he motioned to the head. "As you can see, he's been dealt with accordingly."

I pushed the covers back, fighting the urge to cover Luke's face with them. I stood up and looked down at the horrified expression permanently etched on Luke's face. My stomach twisted. He hadn't deserved this. I was going to make sure that no one else suffered the same fate again.

Play your part. Hang in there for a few more days.

I met my dad's gaze. "Do we know if he was acting alone?"

Drake leaned against the door frame, glaring at me. I didn't miss the fact they were blocking my exit.

Drake ran his tongue slowly over his top lip. "Seems awfully suspicious that not many people go in there and it just happens to be the brother of the girl you've been seeing."

So they suspected. Fantastic!

I wasn't as worried about Drake as I was about my dad. If I could convince my dad I was on his side, it wouldn't matter what Drake or Fiona thought.

I picked up a shirt from my dirty laundry and blotted at my bloodied chest. There was a lot of blood, but the cuts were superficial at least. They stung like hell and it made me wonder if she had wolfsbane on her nails.

Bitch probably does.

I mopped up the blood as best I could and then set the dirty shirt on the outside of the hamper. It would probably need thrown away now.

I looked between Drake and my dad. "I've spent most of my time with Ruby. I didn't see Luke often. Most men are kept separate, but you know that already, and you're there the most, Drake."

Dad shifted his gaze to Drake. "He brings up a valid point. You spend more time there than anyone."

Fiona crinkled her nose and stomped her foot on the floor like a petulant child. "But he doesn't smell like that Ruby girl. He smells like someone else."

She made a dramatic effort of sniffing the air while lifting her chin. "See! Come smell him. He smells like a woman, but not like that girl."

Shit, did I smell like Sloane? I wasn't sure how it worked. I was there with Lincoln and Sloane, but not physically. I couldn't smell like them. But what if I did?

My mind ran rampant, thinking of all the scenarios.

No I couldn't have their scents on me. I'd been here in my bed. But we'd been intimate, touching, about as real as you could get.

I had to play my cards carefully.

My dad rolled his eyes and held his hands out and laughed. "Son, are you hiding a woman in here? Should I lift up the bedspread and check under the bed for her?"

I chuckled. Humor was a good sign. "There's no girl in here, Dad. I promise. And if there was, why would I hide her from you?"

Fiona threw her arms out to the sides and let them clap against her thighs. "But he smells like one. And not Ruby." She jabbed her finger in my direction. "Smell him, Drake. Tell Alpha it's not Ruby."

I shrugged my shoulders and arched a brow, inviting Drake to come sniff me if he desired. My hope was he wouldn't and find this whole thing with Fiona bizarre. She was a jealous girl throwing a tantrum. Because if I did smell like Sloane, I was in trouble.

Drake shifted his feet but didn't move.

I waited another moment and when no one made a move; I turned my attention back to Fiona. "I'm around a lot of people, Fiona. I'm not sure what you smell, but it could be anyone."

I pointed toward the door. "Not to be rude, but if there's really nothing you guys needed, I was kind of sleeping before someone obnoxiously woke me up." I narrowed my eyes at Fiona.

Fiona being in here wasn't an accident. My door had a lock and Dad and I were the only ones able to get in. Dad had let her in. He must doubt me at least a little bit.

No one moved, which sent my adrenaline spiking through the roof. My heart thumped in my chest, and I worried it was so loud everyone could hear it.

Fiona stomped her foot on the floor again. The pictures on my nightstand rattled. "Drake!"

Drake's brows knitted together and his nostrils flared as he exhaled loudly. "Ruby has a birthmark. Where is it?"

I frowned and narrowed my eyes. "How do you know Ruby has a birthmark? She's with me, not you. You shouldn't be looking at her like that."

Had he seen her? Did she have a birthmark? How would he know?

Luna, was he creeping on the women? I pumped my fists at my side. If he was, I was putting an end to that.

Maybe this was a trap. Maybe she didn't have a birthmark, and how was I to know?

Drake stood straight and inched forward, a smug look on his face. "Oh she has one all right, and I want you to tell me where it is."

Dad pursed his lips. "Drake, how would you know if she has one? She's not yours to touch." He pumped his fists at his sides. "I gave you explicit instructions to leave Ruby alone."

Drake cleared his throat, glancing away as crimson scorched over his cheeks. "Before I found out about Sawyer...ahem...I peeked in the bathroom a few times."

What a disgusting jerk. "You son of a bitch! Are you serious? They might be prisoners, but they still have rights and are allowed some privacy. They don't need you peeping in on them."

Luna, how many women had he snuck a peek on? This was the kind of man my dad wanted in our pack? He'd gone completely bonkers. Maybe I should've convinced Sloane to move up the timeline. The sooner we liberated everyone the better.

Fiona picked up the sheets and put them to her face."I'm telling you, Alpha, it smells like a woman in here. And it's not Ruby." Her top lip curled up like she was trying to smile, but it just made it look like sneer. "I know what that little bitch smells like."

Had she done something to Ruby? Cold dread washed over me. My hand fell to my stomach as it began to cramp. This was my fault. We needed them, but I might've just signed both the siblings' death sentence by asking for their help. Luke was already dead.

Luna keep Ruby safe. This isn't her fault.

Focus. Breathe. Dad is watching you!

I forced out a laugh. "I mean, look under my bed if you want. There is nobody else here."

I pointed to the bed with an open hand. Nobody moved.

Dad blinked a few times and looked at the floor his face an unreadable mask, a hard wall of stone that I couldn't place. His jaw worked, and he opened his mouth and then closed it.

After an eternity, he looked up at me. "I don't know who the woman's scent is, Sawyer. But I'd be lying if I said something wasn't amiss. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't realize it until now."

His eyes gleamed as the vein by his temple throbbed. "You smell like your brother."

He knew.

Sweat beaded my brow. I shifted my feet. Dad would know the difference between us. He always had when we were younger. We'd made a game of it as kids, trying to sneak candy or cookies from the kitchen late at night to see which one of us could do it without getting caught.

I was done for unless I could come up with some reason I would smell like Lincoln.

My mind spun, trying to come up with something, anything that I could say to get myself out of this. But nothing I said would matter. I knew that look on my father.

Rage. Hatred. Murderous.

It was the look he had when he was killing. It'd never been directed at me. But I knew it and and there was no reasoning with him.

I had to get out, and it had to be right now.