The teardrops of love turn into a river, to represent my unending devotion to my people. Every single person who’ll be affected by this turn of events. This is the love I'm bestowing in hopes that the consequences that come from my death will spare the innocents.
A searing pain comes from the slice of the knife’s cold steel along my neck, followed by the warmth of my blood spilling from the wound. So this is it... my mate has wielded the knife that kills me. I think I hear the sound of a sob, I can’t be sure. He’ll gain no sympathy from me. Fates know he deserves what he’s fixing to face.
I’m, surprisingly, numb to the pain right now. I expected the experience to be excruciating. “Don’t waste it, boy!” I hear a loud smack and then, “Use this bowl to collect her blood. Don’t want to waste any of that magic.” Just lovely. I hope my blood somehow enacts its vengeance and kills you.
My life force is fading... who knew love would be the most painful death of all?
Chapter 24
Klaus
Present
I’m all for camping and roughing it in the wilderness. It speaks to a side of me that finds peace in exploring nature. That being said, I despise not having the modern convenience of indoor plumbing. Sure, you can get clean in many types of water sources out in nature, but they don’t compare to having a warm shower.
I stand under the spray from the shower and lean my head forward as I let the stream beat against my neck. My muscles relax, allowing my shoulders to drop. The stress I’ve felt since we found Princess is insurmountable. The constant fear over her safety is possibly the worst kind of stress I’ve ever experienced.
Well, along with the thought of her waking up and going back to whatever life she’d been living before she ended up in that Fates awful place. This is the real reason behind my wanting us to leave her at a hospital. She can get the care she needs there, and the sooner she leaves us, the better to avoid strengthening any further attachments.
I sigh and lean my forehead on the tiled wall in front of me. My chest is aching at the thought of not seeing her every day. I've never spoken a word to the girl, never looked into her eyes... and yet I know I have a connection with her. I won’t be happy with my life until I get to know her and make her mine.
My hand slams onto the tile next to my head in frustration. See, this is what I’m talking about. These thoughts are so not normal for me and can only lead to heartbreak. Fuck, what am I going to do? It’s not just me, either. It’s the other three guys too. How’s it even possible we’re all forming an attachment to a girl who is in acoma. Fuuucccckkkk!
Just barely stopping myself from hitting my head repeatedly on the shower wall, I grab my body wash and rub a squirt across my chest. I wash my arms and stomach, before going lower to clean my cock. Which was a bad idea... the warmth of the water combined with my slick soapy hand wakes him up with a fierce hunger.
Heremembers the vivid dreams we’ve been having of Princess. They haven’t been naughty in nature exactly, my mind’s just been filling in the gaps. And I apparently have quite the imagination these days.
Do not give in, Klaus, just don’t do it. If my hand could just listen to me that would be great! But, no. It slides down my length and squeezes the tip once it gets to the end. Damn... maybe rubbing one out will help with some of the built-up tension inside me.
An image of her face pops in my mind and it’s just as effective as if I’d turned the water to cold. I’m not Alex, I can’t see her face and ignore that she’s in a coma while I stroke my dick off to thoughts of her. I need to have my own memories with her. Why is there such a strong pull between us? Honestly, the only true answer to this problem is for her to wake up.
With another sigh I rinse off the soap and turn off the shower. Grabbing a towel, I dry off and wrap it around my waist before leaving the bathroom to sit on my bed. I pick up my phone and earbuds and turn on an upbeat playlist. Something that’ll distract me from my thoughts. Here I thought it was Marcus who was supposed to be all fucked-up over his newfound feelings.
Shit, can coma patients hear what people say around them? I really hope not, because if so, there's a chance she heard what I said about ditching her. And Ireallydon’t want her to believe that's the truth of how I feel. Maybe I should go and tell her that… or say it by her ear in hopes she hears.
I’m up on my feet and halfway down the hall before I realize I’m still in only my towel. Oh well, not like we aren’t constantly naked with how frequent we shift forms. I make it down the hall and practically walk right into Derrick and Alex, who are just standing there staring toward the living room.
In a low voice, Derrick says, “He should just lick her with the way he’s mooning over her.” Confused, I shift my weight to the side expecting to see Marcus in his wolf form, but I catch him cupping Princess’ cheeks and staring at her face with glassy eyes. His head snaps up to see which one of us said it.
A fire lights in his eyes as his gaze locks on Derrick. “Fuck you, bro.” Marcus gets up from the loveseat and moves to the couch to lay Princess down. He gently places her on the cushions and slides a pillow under her head. Once he makes sure she’s comfortable, Marcus strides from the room without another word.
“Was it something I said?” Derrick asks with confusion evident. “Dang, I keep forgetting he’s extra sensitive right now, not accustomed to being anything other than dead inside.” I guess that’s one excuse for it...
We head over to the couch where Princess is laying down and Alex replaces the pillow under her head with his lap. I head into the kitchen to see if there’s any beer in the fridge. A nice refreshing cold one after the week we had sounds perfect right now.
As soon as I pull one out of the fridge, Derrick asks, “Dude, can you grab me one?” which is followed by Alex saying, “Yeah, count me in. Might as well grab Mr. Grizzly one too.” I open the fridge again and grab three more before using the bottle opener to remove the caps from all the bottles.
I've just placed the beer on the coffee table when a pair of sweatpants smacks me in the face. “It’s one thing to be naked around her when we’re shifting, but I’m sure she’d appreciate you keeping your pants on around her,” Marcus admonishes as he walks up to grab one of the beers.
“So much for all of us getting some rest,” Derrick comments, reaching for his beverage. I pull on the sweatpants quickly and drop the towel on the coffee table before taking the spot on the couch under Princess’ feet, before anyone else can snag the spot. I pull her feet onto my lap and begin to unlace her boots so I can pull them off. I stuff her socks inside the shoes and place both boots on the floor. I gently hold her feet, just for an excuse to touch her skin without raising the others suspicion.
“I don’t know, man, this feels like rest to me,” I comment before taking a long drink from my cold beer. Yep, that hits the spot. Derrick gives a grunt that sounds like agreement. He takes a seat on the floor with his back to the couch. We can’t seem to go long without wanting to just be close to her.
The last one to sit is Marcus, who takes a perch on the arm of the couch next to Alex. He picks at the label of his beer, clearly working himself up to say something. “Just spit it out, man, you know we won’t judge you.” Marcus peers up and meets my eyes.
“I think we should address the elephant in the room,” he finally states. Okay... he could’ve just said what it is instead of making us ask.
Before I can open my mouth to inquire, Alex beats me to it. “And that would be?” Marcus lets out a sigh as if he wishes we could just read his mind and have the conversation without him.
