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"Tess." Nowthatvoice is unmistakable.
"Tasha?" I call out to her, my voice barely more than a croak. Why does it feel like someone poured sand in my eyes? It feels like it takes forever for them to open again.
"I'm right here." Her hand clutches mine, and I squeeze it back even though all of my nerve endings feel like they're on fire. I can feel her hand shaking slightly.
I know you can hear me. Tell me you're okay, please. Tasha won't tell me anything.
"Callum?" I mutter, confused about why I'm hearing him.
"That's my fault," Tasha says softly, her voice suddenly closer. "I didn't understand what was going on at first when they came to get me. I was asking Callum what was happening, and I didn't realize until he didn’t know either that he wasn'tsupposedto know."
"What?" I feel like everything is moving too fast around me, and I'm not keeping up.
The unfamiliar voice comes back, though I'm pretty sure it's not directed at me. "Give her a minute to get her bearings. Confusion is normal at this point, we don't want to overload her."
"My head hurts," I groan, wondering if that's normal too.
"Can you give her something?" Tasha asks. She's in full fixer mode, her default setting for pretty much my entire childhood. It feels like I've gone right back in time. My sister was always the rock in the family, the one I leaned on up until she left to marry…
"Jimmy," I whimper, my eyes finally opening to meet my sister's.
There's so much pain in her expression that I don't want to face it, but I have no choice. This is my sister. The woman that looks so much like me that she used to call me her little mirror. I wonder how much of that pain is reflected back to her from my eyes.
"Tess." She drops her head against my shoulder, and all I can think is that I wish people would stop saying my name.
"Wait… Callum? Is he here?" I ask nervously, glancing around as if he's going to suddenly appear. I don't want to see him after that scene in Dominic's office. How long ago was that now? I try to look for some sign of how much time has passed, but this sterile looking room has no windows and no visible clock.
"He just wants to know that you're okay. I had to tell him something to keep him from barging in here and starting a full-blown war, okay? He's been a little crazy since you ran on us." Tasha looks at me apologetically, making my stomach turn.
If one of us should be feeling guilty, it's definitely me.
Tess, say something, dammit.
He sounds completely unhinged, and I feel a pang of guilt for that, too. Here I am, apparently descended from one of the oldest shifter families in existence, and I've been running from my mistakes instead of facing them.
One thing at a time,my wolf nudges.
I'm okay, Callum. But you have to let me go.
Tess—
I'm serious, Callum. I'm sorry I left the way I did, but I was right to go. I don't belong with your pack, and maybe I don't belong with this one either, but that's not your choice to make for me. I'll make sure Tasha gets home safe. Please go take care of your pack. They need you right now to heal.
I don't like this.
You don't have to like it, you just have to accept it.
"What are you doing?" Dominic's voice is loud enough to echo across the room. He closes the distance with approximately three steps, putting himself between Tasha and I as if she's some kind of threat.
"Don't touch me," I mutter, leaning away from him when he starts to reach toward me.
"Back up," Tasha growls, shoulder checking Dominic away from me. The protectiveness doesn't surprise me, but her standing up to an Alpha does. Tasha's always been big on adhering to pack hierarchies. Apparently, her concern for me wins out.
Dominic glares down at my sister. "It's been three days, and Tess is awake. I'm done playing by your rules. In case you've forgotten, I'm the only reason you're even here."
"As if you'd let me forget," Tash snorts, but then she surprises me by laughing lightly. To me she says, "I'm sorry. He's kind of a pain in the ass, but I know we don't pick our mates. You could do worse I guess." She smiles past her pain, as selfless as ever, and only hurting me more by the second.
I don't bother to correct her about Dominic. He just said it's been three days, there's no telling what bullshit he's been feeding her.
