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Safe.
I never wanted to leave this spot.
“Can we take you to the hospital, Ms. Marino?” one of the paramedics asked.
Every instinct kicked into gear, and I burrowed further into the pack's embrace. “Can I go later?”
“We’d prefer you go now, but you can decline transport. Since you say that you didn’t hit your head and nothing appears to be broken, you should be alright to delay seeking medical attention. Though, I don’t anticipate your next few days being very comfortable.”
That was already in my future anyway with the toll the heat had taken. I would deal with the pain if it meant staying near my pack.
Alphonse groaned. He mumbled something, the words obscured by his missing teeth and swollen face. I vaguely caughtpress charges, or at least that's what I thought he might have said. It seemed likely given the context.
One of the officers near him laughed. “Good luck with that, buddy.”
The paramedics took Alphonse away, the police having replaced the fuzzy handcuffs with standard issue, cuffing him to the gurney.
We waited on the couch nest while they began their sweep of the pack house.
“God, Nicky,” said Gabe, nuzzling my cheek. “I’m so fucking sorry. I should have been there. I should have—”
“You were keeping Jasper and Billie safe,” I insisted. “They’re your pack and they needed you.”
Gabe started to growl and swallowed it down. “You’remy pack, too.” He nudged Tony aside to settle next to me, and I breathed in the sharp bitterness of his tea scent that slowly mellowed the longer he held me.
Jasper turned red-rimmed eyes to me. “It wasmyfault Gabe couldn’t help you. We were knotted, and…if I wasn’t in heat, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“Jasper, no.” I pulled him into my arms. “Alphonseis the reason I got hurt, not you.”
“You’re the one who sent me to check,” said Hana to Jasper, turning next to me. “He was freaking out, and no one could figure out why. He said you needed us.”
As the adrenaline faded, a fresh wave of exhaustion claimed me, and the pack let me nap until the police had finished their work. They had collected the gun and found the original window Alphonse had broken in through in the dining room. It took them a couple of hours to finish their investigation. It was cut-and-dried from my perspective, but they wanted to be thorough.
Jasper whined next to me, and his scent spiked, his whole body shivering. The alphas shifted restlessly.
“Nicky,” Jasper gasped. “I can’t stay down here.”
I kissed him softly. “Go upstairs. Take everyone with you. I can finish up here.” I didn’t want the pack to leave me, and Jasper leaving, in particular, made me queasy, but he couldn’t have a flare-up in front of the police.
“You can’t stay down here alone,” said Jasper, shuddering.
“I’ll stay with her and clean up when they’re done,” said Hana. “Go. We’ll be there soon.”
Most of the pack retreated back upstairs, leaving only Hana with me on the empty main floor. The police finally finished their sweep and deemed the property safe enough.
Downstairs was still a mess. Hana had me wait in the couch nest while she swept up the glass and wiped up the lingering blood and water from the floor. I wanted to help, but even without moving I was in too much pain to manage. Hana taped up a garbage bag over the broken window in the dining room and deemed things as good as they were going to get, finally turning her attention back to me.
Her eyes were clear by this point. “What do you need?”
“A shower hotter than a volcano, to start with.”
Hana directed me to the main floor bathroom.
“Close your eyes. I don’t want you to see the blood.” She patiently soaped me down under the blistering spray. “I’m proud of you.”
I shivered. “Why?”
“Well, unless someone else was down here, I can only assume it was you that fought. Thatyouwere the one who hit him with the flower vase and disarmed him before I got there.”
