“She’s just upset because she hogs all the hot water.”
“Bullshit,” she says the second the words leave his mouth, making him smile as he stops beside me.
It only lasts a moment, though, as he gets a good look at her face.
“Fuck, baby.” He reaches out slowly, giving her all the time to move away, and I don’t think it’s a shock to any of us that she doesn’t, but I still see Julian let out a sigh of relief.
Dimitri had her mostly calm before we got there, but there’s no hiding her split lip, black eye, and the gash on her cheek.
I’m going to kill her.
I share my thought with the rest of them, and I don’t see any hint of disagreement.
I stand close as he cleans her up, unable to make myself move or look away. Nolan, Titus, and even Gavin stand around or have taken a seat in the living room where they can still watch. It’s like we’re all afraid she might poof if we let her out of our sight.
Before tonight, I would have said we were just being paranoid, but she really was missing for a minute there.
“How did you find her?” I ask the second he’s finished, having sent her off to the bathroom to change.
“Felix led me to her.” I raise a brow in question, but he simply shrugs, clearly having no more answers than I do. It doesn’t matter right now, though; all that matters is that she’s here and her cunt of an aunt isn’t.
A few moments later she walks out of the bathroom, and I shelve this conversation for later. She’s in a large shirt andsweatpants that I assume are Dimitri’s, and I have to remind myself that now isn’t the time to be jealous of whose clothes she’s wearing. Though I make a note to give her one or two of my shirts to sleep in, she looks adorable like this.
“Wren,” I move slowly so as not to startle her, keeping my voice quiet and holding up my hands in way of surrender.
Her head snaps up at the sound of my voice, and for a moment I see nothing. Her face is blank, eyes far away as if she’s looking through me. Before I can panic, she blinks a few times, and she’s back.
She swallows hard, her lip wobbling as she watches me move toward her, and I do the only thing I can think to do: open my arms for her.
She’s across the room and in my arms the next second, her hushed sobs making my heart squeeze as I hold her as close as I can, breathing her in. It feels like we’ve been apart for years, not hours, and I know, even if the bond hasn’t slipped into place yet, that Wren’s mine.
I can feel it in my bones.
The same way I can feel that she doesn’t belong to only me, but that’s fine. I’m happy to share.
Whatever makes her happy.
I cradle her head as she wraps around me like a spider monkey, offering her coos and gentle words in an attempt to reassure her.
“She’s never going to stop,” she hiccups and heaves, and I know she’s right. We all do.
Unfortunately, the kind of work she’s done on Wren has been a lifetime in the making; she wouldn’t just abandon that.
“We won’t let her touch you ever again,” I tell her, pulling back to look down at her, waiting until she meets my gaze. Her eyes are red and she looks like hell, but fuck if she isn’t still one of the most beautiful people I’ve ever seen.
“I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
“Julian,” Titus says from behind me, his voice low and hard, full of warning that I understand but she won’t.
I meet his gaze across the room as I turn to drop down on the couch with Wren still wrapped around me, and he sighs but nods.
I’m serious, so fucking serious.
The guys all sit at the table, talking quietly but mostly watching, waiting. I hold her, rubbing circles on her back and keeping her close, breathing her in and reminding myself she’s here. I fear I might need this just as much as she does.
Eventually, Wren falls asleep; the day was long and hard on her, not to mention her lack of sleep prior to this.
I’d planned to lay her down when she passed out, but now the thought makes me pause.
