Authors: Lynn Hagen
Jasper nodded and sat on the window seat, safely away from the sleeping youth. He wasn’t crazy enough to go near Johnny. That would send Hawk into a rage that Jasper didn’t want any part of. He hadn’t left the room since bringing Johnny here. When one of the Sentries brought Hawk and his mate food, they set it on the dresser away from the bed. Micah had almost lost a limb getting too close to the human. Everyone learned quickly that Hawk had gone gaga over this slip of a man.
* * * *
Maverick couldn’t believe his assistant had done this. Why? Lonny had been with him for a century and a half and took care of all the financial records and set up the meetings with his pack. He ran errands for him and made sure the pantry stayed stocked. Why would he hurt Cecil?
Maverick tracked the wolf to the oversized library. He was standing in front of one of the shelves, reading some leather bound book.
“Did you find your mate yet?” Lonny peered up from his reading. His tone was indifferent.
Maverick crossed the room in two long strides, backhanding the wolf into the shelves. He pulled Lonny up with one hand, dangling him in front of him. With his other hand, he ripped his claws across the wide-eyed traitor’s chest. Blood instantly blossomed across his torn sweater vest.
“Alpha, I don’t understand. What have I done?” Lonny whined in an irritating falseness. Maverick could see the feigned shock.
Bastard.
“
You
poisoned my mate!
You
kidnapped him and left him for dead in those tunnels.
You
.
I want to know
why
before I kill you.” Maverick bellowed in Lonny’s face. Lonny paled. The look of shock was genuine this time. His assistant’s face contorted from disbelief to anger.
“
I
love you, not that pathetic human.
I
have been taking care of you and seeing to your needs.
I
should be the one honored in your bed. That menace has come into
my
home and disrupted everything, taken from me the one thing I cherish most.
You
.” Lonny was wild-eyed and hysterical. He was clawing at Maverick’s hand to free himself from his Alpha’s grasp.
Maverick threw him through the library window, shifting and jumping after him. Shards of broken glass littered the ground around Lonny’s body.
Lonny got to his feet, wiping the blood from his mouth. “You love
me
, not the worthless human in there. You must realize this.” Lonny stepped back, turned, and ran. He didn’t get far as the Sentries surrounded him. Lonny couldn’t escape. They growled, warning him not to breach the formation.
Lonny backpedaled until he was in the center. Maverick circled him, snapping his jaws, his hair standing on end and his ears tucked back. Maverick stood four feet from his head to the ground. His weight in wolf form was the largest of any Timber wolf ever born at three hundred and ten pounds, and from snout to tail tip, he was six feet long. A monster.
Lonny dropped onto his back, exposing his neck. Hopefulness in his expression at the submissive act, probably convinced it would please Maverick and convince him not to kill the traitor.
Maverick growled, shaking his head no at Lonny. His assistant knew nothing he did now was going to get him out of this. Maverick wasn’t accepting any submission, only death. Lonny got to his feet, staring wildly around for an escape. He shifted and ran for the woods like the hounds of hell were at his heels, and they were.
Maverick tackled him, tearing into Lonny’s neck and ripping muscle from bone. He heard the distinctive snap and knew his ex-assistant wasn’t going to recover from this. He dropped the limp body and returned to human form, Sentries shifting as well.
“I will not tolerate betrayal among my own pack!” Maverick was enraged, his index finger pointing at each and every wolf. His arm sliced from the air down toward the dead wolf. “Get him out of here. He will
not
receive the ceremonial burial. Just dump his carcass far enough away!” The wolves jumped at the command. They didn’t even get dressed before hauling Lonny’s dead body away. If only they could shift without destroying their clothes.
Maverick stormed back into the house, getting straight into the shower to wash away the stench that had clung to his skin. He would not lay next to his mate with traitorous blood clinging to him. Maverick took deep, calming breaths as he washed the evidence away. He had to calm down for Cecil. He refused to go to him still angry.
His head raised as the doctor quietly entered. Maverick made sure the towel was secure as he asked for privacy.
“Boy, I helped your mamma deliver you. You ain’t got anything I haven’t circumcised.” The doctor tenderly smiled as he gave Maverick what he asked for.
Maverick smiled at the old wolf, shaking his head as he pulled a pair of sweats on. Cecil was still sleeping. Maverick breathed a sigh of relief at knowing the culprit was found and justice dispensed. Now all that was left was for his mate to heal.
Maverick carefully raised Cecil’s hands, turning them over to examine the stitches around his wrists. They looked more like wrist bands, the black thread wound all the way around. Lonny had been a cruel son of a bitch. He had looped the wire like bracelets around each wrist and then a small piece had connected the two. They were so tight on his mate’s wrists that Maverick was surprised his hands weren’t severed off. The fact that he may lose use of them sent a clenching pain through Maverick’s heart. Laying light kisses on each injury, he laid them back down.
Cecil’s eyes fluttered open. Tears began to fall as he croaked out. “It hurts.”
Lifting his baby in his arms was out of the question, too many injuries. Instead, his hands caressed the soft hair, pushing the flop out of his eye. Maverick gazed into those amethyst eyes. “I know, baby. Your body is healing at a faster rate than an unmated human, but it’s still gonna take time.”
* * * *
Cecil tried to reach up and grab Maverick’s hand, but his fingers wouldn’t close. He stared at his wrists for the first time in horror. He examined both, turning them in opened mouth disbelief then shoved the Frankenstein creations under the blanket, sinking back down into the bed.
“Don’t, baby. They’ll heal. Give it time.”
“You can say that! It’s not your body that’s disfigured. Just…just go.” How was he going to use his hands again? He couldn’t even make a fist. Cecil was trying under the blanket. He tried to touch each fingertip to his thumb, but none of them reached. He lashed out in anger. “Just go! I don’t want you to see me like this. Get out!” He squeezed his eyes closed. All he could see was darkness. His eyes flew open, and he realized that he would forever fear the dark now, always be reminded of those tunnels when he tried to sleep.
* * * *
Maverick gave Cecil his space. He sat in the cushioned chair in the corner, letting Cecil rant and rave, cry and shout. He knew Cecil needed this, needed to release the demons that were now haunting him. Maverick sank back into the chair, fading into the shadows of the room.
* * * *
Cody looked up when he heard Cecil screaming and crying. Tears brimmed behind his eyes. His little buddy would forever carry those scars. Hell, Cody cringed when he closed his eyes, seeing that bloody and battered form lying tied on the ground of those tunnels.
Tank wiped a runaway tear that rolled down his cheek, turning his back to everyone for privacy. Cody saw a slight shake in the big man’s shoulders. He was crying. It took a heck of a lot to make a Sherman tank cry. Cody cleared the lump from his throat, taking a swig from his beer bottle. Cody, Tank, Jasper, and Remi were sitting in the kitchen, silently listening to the tortured cries of a broken man.
* * * *
Remi scrubbed his face as Jasper let the tears fall, sniffing and blowing his nose. Cecil had spent hours with him playing those damn video games. Kicking each other’s butts in the shoot-’em-up games. Jasper had gotten pretty good at the driving ones. Cecil was always a hyper gamer. He bounced around, shouting threats and laughing his head off. The den didn’t seem the same without him there. Jasper wanted to go to him, comfort him, but he knew Cecil wouldn’t be comforted right now. Right now he was fighting a war raging inside him, one only he could win or lose.
“Come here.” Cody held his arms out, waiting for Jasper to climb in them. Cody petted his back and rocked him, kissing his temple and shushing him. Neither was ashamed of their non-mated relationship. Jasper could care less what anyone thought or said.
“He’s so little. How will he recover from this? How, Cody? He may never use his hands again, and the emotional scars, he won’t recover from them anytime soon.” Jasper asked as he lay against Cody.
“I know, baby. He has all of us to lean on. We’ll get him through it.” Cody rose from his sitting position, taking Jasper away for privacy.
* * * *
Maverick’s heart was being shredded. He listened to Cecil until his mate lost his voice. He had used every curse word invented. He tried to throw his pillow, getting even angrier when he couldn’t grab it. Maverick just sat quietly, taking the brunt of it. When Cecil finally slumped back down, Maverick went to him, tucking him in and turning the light off.
“No! Leave the light on, please. No darkness.” Cecil had a frightened child’s voice, his eyes pleading with Maverick.
Maverick nodded.
He would get a dimmer switch for the lights, always keeping a low light on for his mate. He would do whatever it took to make Cecil feel safe again. The doctor had come in to sit with his patient as Maverick began to leave. The wolf physician had given them their privacy as Cecil released his anger. Doc patted Maverick, giving him an understanding nod. He occupied the chair Maverick had just vacated. The doctor settling down for the night.
* * * *
It had been two days since Cecil’s ordeal. The doc removed his stitches, claiming Maverick’s were blood had done an excellent job healing him. He gave Cecil a list of exercises to do to strengthen his wrists and hands. Cecil could finally breathe again with his ribs repaired. He had to hand it to the wolves. They had the market cornered on healing.
Cecil stood in the archway, watching the guys play video games that he could no longer play. He dropped his head in shame when Maverick had to help him use the bathroom. He sat quietly as Tank or Cody fed him. He sat in that cushioned chair for hours, staring at the ceiling, trying to squeeze the rubber ball in his grasp, which continually fell to the carpet. Cecil kicked it, shouting at the stupid thing.
“Fine, don’t help me, you worthless piece of rubber.” How low had he sunk? Cursing an inanimate object as it rolled away.
He watched the ball, and then looked around the room that had become his self-imposed gilded cage. He blinked several times as his mind began to clear from the dismal fog it had been cloaked in.
An epiphany slowing formed. With all his yelling, his silence, and even his kicking rubber objects around, he had been slowly giving up.
His brows furrowed in anger. Cecil Walters never gave up! His parents had taught him better than that. When life threw rocks at him, he mentally pulled his boot straps up and kept pushing on. So why was he giving up now?
He wrestled with the doorknob, squeezing it between his forearms, twisting it until it turned. He stormed to Maverick’s office, kicking at the door.
“How dare you give up on me?” Maverick looked stunned as he stepped aside to allow his irate mate in.
“What are you talking about, baby?”
“You! You sit in here feeling sorry for yourself, or me, whatever. You hide behind your desk like everything is okay. I haven’t seen you for two whole days. You should be kicking me in my butt and telling me to suck it up and continue on. Instead? Instead, I’m slowly slipping into a depression. Help me, Maverick. It’s your job to pull me out of that abyss!” Cecil was stabbing his finger into Maverick’s abdomen, serving Maverick’s balls on a spoon to him.
Maverick grabbed his wrists, staring in astonishment at them. “Do you see what you’re doing? Look, baby.” Maverick held Cecil’s wrists up to show him the three bottom fingers curled in, his thumb and index finger resembling a gun as Cecil was poking Maverick.