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Lyle’s asked the same question at least a dozen times now, knowing none of us have an answer. Sol still sits on the bed on Rena’s right side and Blair to her left. I don’t see how they both fit, but they do. I’m still shifted, curled up by her feet. I thought about shifting back, but honestly, laying like this in my human form would be hard—damn near impossible, really. My wolf might be huge, but at least like this, I can be close to her, and that’s all I really want right now.
Lyle sat in the chair for a while before getting up to pace the length of the small room. He only makes it about three steps each way. Like I said, the room is small, in no way made for his pacing or so many people, but if he notices, he must not care.
I watch him from the corner of my eye, and with every step, my irritation grows. Thankfully, I can’t talk like this, or I probably would have told him to sit the hell down already. He’s making me anxious.
Where the hell is Garrett?
No sooner than I think that, he walks through the door with a tray full of food. The smell hits me immediately, and my stomach grumbles.
Shit, when was the last time I ate something? When was the last time any of us did?
We never ended up eating at my parents’ house, and if I’m being honest, I don’t even know how long we’ve been here. How long were we out when we first came through the gate?
The more questions float through my mind, the more I realize I don’t have answers to just about anything. With a huff, I tuck my head closer to Serena. The food smells great, but I’m in no rush to go for it, and it seems I’m not the only one.
Garrett sets the large tray on the table. It’s a balancing act since it’s so small, but he makes it work.
“Dinner was served a few hours ago,” he tells us, but none of us move.
“Serena wouldn’t want this for you. She’s going to be pissed when she wakes up and finds you’ve all been sitting around, not eating, and stressing out about her.”
His words hit the mark, and I whine. Blair and Sol look up at him as if they’ve just realized he’s there. He’s right, and we all know it.
“Ugh!” Lyle groans, stopping his pacing and stalking over to Garrett. He grips his shirt, pulling him close. The look in his eyes is wild and so unlike his usual controlled self that he looks more beast than man even without shifting.
“Don’t you dare try to use her against us! You think we don’t know that she wouldn’t want this?” he yells, his voice bouncing around the too small room.
Garrett’s brows pinch, but he remains quiet, not rising to the bait.
“How are you so calm about this?” Sol asks, speaking for the first time since I’d entered the room hours ago.
Garrett looks at him, and I see something in his eyes. He blinks, and it’s gone again before I can understand what it means.
The room is quiet for a minute, and I get the feeling I’m not the only one who saw it.
“This isn’t the first time she’s been like this,” he admits with a sigh, his shoulders slumping as if admitting it took something from him physically.
Before anyone can press him further, Rosalynn walks through the door. She stops, looking around at each of us before she makes her way around the bed. Blair stands as she comes to his side, giving her room to check on Serena.
Garrett and Lyle stand in her way, and I’m almost shocked when Lyle releases him to let her through. Lyle doesn’t do fantastic with authority, never has, yet without words, he’s just shown us that he respects her, at least enough to let her through to Serena.
“This room is far too small for fighting. If you two should have an issue, you are free to take out your aggressions in the training yard,” she tells them with a smile as she passes between them.
“That won’t be necessary,” Lyle says, though it sounds like it takes a lot of effort. He’s disliked Garrett from the day he arrived. I’m surprised he isn’t jumping at the chance. Though I can’t imagine he would leave Serena for that, maybe some other time.
We all watch as she sits beside Serena, her hands hovering over her head and glowing softly. It’s so quiet that you could hear a pin drop as we all wait, desperate for something, some scrap of information.
Her lips pull down in a frown, and I know she has nothing new to report.
“Garrett was just telling us that this isn’t the first time something like this happened,” Lyle says, clearly seeing the same thing I did.
“Ah, yes,” she says, soothing some of Serena’s hair away from her face before dropping a kiss on her forehead.
She loves Serena, and while a part of me is happy to know she had her while she was here, another larger part of me is saddened by it. Serena doesn’t remember her, or anything from when she was a child. She grew up thinking she wasn’t wanted, and that’s how she ended up alone in the woods. It’s something that she’s carried with her for years, despite how often we assure her it’s not the case.
As if that isn’t bad enough, Garrett spent years looking for her, and the queen spent years with both of them missing, only to get them back and Serena be in some kind of coma.
It’s a lot, even for someone on the outside, like I am.
