Chapter 33: Chapter 33

EVERLEE

The deep slash in my back burned.

It wasn’t the worst pain I’d ever felt. No, that pain came from knowing Harlan had attacked me. It didn’t even look like him at first. Then when he leaped at me, there was no mistaking it.

The ringing in my ears was so loud that I focused on Rage’s steady heartbeat to block it out. Pain throbbed heavily throughout my body. Each step Rage took sent another wave of nausea into me.

“We’re almost there, Ever,” he whispered. “Hold on.”

The look on his face was full of hurt. His wolf was brimming with frustration and anger. Mine was too. Doors opened and echoed down a long hallway. I didn’t have the strength to look up, so I watched the ceiling as he carried me to the nurse.

“Hurry,” Rage said to someone.

“Oh dear, what happened?” a feminine voice asked.

“She was attacked by a lycan.”

Rage sat me down on the table, and the nurse’s pretty face leaned over me. “Let’s roll her over.”

They rolled me onto my stomach, and I heard her gasp for breath. “Call the chancellor. Here,” she said.

“Call my parents,” I mumbled.

Rage walked over with the cellphone wedged between his shoulder and ear and bent down in front of me. “You’re gonna be okay.”

“Why am I not healing?” I mumbled, closing my eyes.

The nurse didn’t answer. “There are clothes over there,” she mumbled to Rage as she began to pat the blood on my back.

Rage disappeared from my sight, and I heard him talking to someone, but his voice faded in and out of hearing distance.

My eyes fluttered closed from exhaustion and darkness took over.

***

I woke to sunlight in my face.

Everything felt wrong. My body ached, and my stomach lurked from nausea. I stirred and tried to sit up, but strong hands pushed me back against the bed. “Calm down, Baby. Stay where you are.”

Rage looked tired. Dark circles hung underneath each eye and his clothes were disheveled. “Where are my parents?”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “They are speaking with the chancellor and Harlan.”

My wolf cried at the mention of his name. He’d hurt me deliberately. Why? I couldn’t think of a single reason to attack me. Tears brimmed my eyes, and Rage leaned over the bed and took my face in his palm. “Don’t you dare cry over that bastard. It’s taking all of my strength not to knock his teeth down his throat.”

I swallowed my tears the best I could.

The door to my room opened and my mother ran inside. She held my face between her palms and kissed my forehead. “Sweetie, are you okay? Let me call the doctor.”

She turned and disappeared before I could gather a word.

Rage stood next to my bed, staring at the door. He sensed Harlan just as much as I did. “He’s trying to come inside,” Rage said, his tone flat. “Your father is trying to get him to leave.”

An uproar filled the hallway suddenly. Nurses and doctors flooded down the hallway. I didn’t remember being transferred to a hospital, but I knew it was bad if I wasn’t healing immediately.

Rage stalked over toward the doorway, but Dad stopped him. “Don’t, Rage. The doctors are escorting him out.”

Dad’s gaze settled on mine over Rage’s shoulder. “Sweetheart,” he whispered.

Dad ushered Rage back into the room and shut the door behind him. He bent down and kissed my forehead gently. “I’m so sorry this happened.”

“What did happen?” I asked, my voice dry. “Why did Harlan attack me?”

Dad looked over his shoulder at the closed door and wrapped his fingers around the railing of the hospital bed. “He says he doesn’t remember doing it.”

Rage scoffed and turned his back to us, while I blinked rapidly at Dad. “Seriously? That’s his excuse. He tore into my back and doesn’t remember it?”

Dad sighed. “He’s been hearing voices, Ever. He’s dealing with things that… I don’t know what they mean. Things his father dealt with. We’re trying to help him.”

I closed my eyes and a tear fell down my cheek. “I want to talk to him.”

“The hell you do!” Rage shouted and turned to face me. “You’re not speaking to him without me. No. It’s not happening.”

I pressed my mouth into a thin line. “I can’t push him away because of this. If he has this problem, he needs help. I can’t reject him and his wolf while he’s trying to deal with it. It’ll kill him.”

“She’s right,” Dad said, standing up straight. “She can’t reject him or push him away. He needs to heal, and heartbreak won’t allow it.”

Rage folded his arms. “Fine. Call him back up then. I’m not leaving.”

Dad watched Rage’s face for a long time, and I couldn’t pinpoint what he was thinking. He disappeared into the hallway and left us alone.

Rage bent over me in the bed, one arm on either side, and kissed me softly. “I’m so sorry this happened to you. My wolf was so enthralled with yours that I didn’t smell Harlan approaching.”

“This isn’t your fault,” I said. “Don’t blame yourself.”

“Too late,” Rage said, standing up and stepping to the side.

The door opened and Harlan walked into the room. My wolf immediately tensed up and turned off. She was wounded from the betrayal, as was I.

Harlan’s eyes were puffy from crying. He looked disheveled and unhinged. “Ever,” he whispered, stepping closer to me. Dad put his hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting too close. Everyone in the room could feel Rage’s wolf attempting to free himself. “I’m—I don’t know what to say, Ever. I’m so damn sorry. I didn’t do it. I blacked out. When I woke up, my shoulder was torn up and out of the socket in the woods.”

I glanced at his shoulder for the first time. He was in a sling where Rage had dragged him off me.

“What would have happened if Rage wasn’t with me? You could have killed me and not known it.”

Harlan nodded. “I’m sick. Something is happening to me, Ever. I’m trying to find help. Alpha Allaire is going to talk to another university that deals with these types of things. Bring them here so they can help me.”

I nodded, and lost eye contact. “Okay.”

My pride refused to let me look over. I stared down at my feet underneath the thin hospital blanket. “I’m sorry, Everlee. I hate myself for this. I’ll—I’ll call you later.”

His footsteps descended out of the room until I couldn’t hear him at all. Dad cleared his throat. “Mom is going to take him back to the kingdom and watch him. We’ll probably have to chain him up at night until this is over. Rage has agreed to let you stay with him in his dorm room until then.”

“When am I getting out of here? How is my back? I can’t feel much.”

Dad walked over and ran his fingers against my cheek. “They have you on morphine to help the pain. You’re healing, but slowly. He…he got you good. You should be ready to go home by tomorrow if the healing continues at this rate.”

My bottom lip trembled, but I bit back the pain. My wolf didn’t want me to cry, she wanted me to be strong.

But knowing the boy I grew up with had attacked me, hurt.

It started an ache inside of me that I hated. I wanted to push it down, but it stopped in my chest and throbbed. “Everything is going to be okay, Ever,” Dad said. “We’re going to fix Harlan.”

I wanted to believe that, but something inside asked ‘What if he was unfixable?’

***

RAGE

Rage sat me on the edge of his bed and stepped back. He hadn’t left my side since it happened. Even though my wound had mostly healed, I was still sore and able to reopen a wound if I moved wrong.

Rage insisted on carrying me to the alpha house.

It was humiliating. All the alphas stared at me on my way up the stairs, being carried like a damsel in distress.

“Your mother packed you a bag,” he said, pointing toward my favorite duffle sitting on his desk chair. “Bryiar brought over your books so you can study. I’m going to run to the cafeteria and grab some lunch for us. They agreed to let us carry it out because of the circumstances.”

“Thank you for all you’ve done,” I said, looking into those too-blue eyes. “I don’t deserve it.”

He chuckled and lifted my chin in his palm. “You deserve all of it, Ever. I’ll be right back.”

Someone knocked on his door, and he walked over to answer it.

A very pretty blonde stood on the other side. She looked plucked out of a stereotypical prep school. “Hey, Rage. It’s Heather.”

My wolf began to grow irritated at her being here. Why was she at my mate’s dorm room? “Hey, Heather. What can I do for you? I’m a little busy.”

She looked around his shoulder at me and smiled. “I’m here to speak with Everlee. She missed the luna invitation because of the obvious, and I wanted to sit down and have a chat with her.”

“Oh,” Rage said, looking over to make sure it was okay.

I nodded.

“Then come on inside. I’ll run and get our lunch. Be back in a flash.”

He shut the door and left me inside. Heather looked amazing, put together, and I felt like a homeless person that hadn’t showered in days, because I hadn’t showered in days.

“I’m sorry about the invitation. I haven’t showered, and we just got back.”

She chuckled. “No need to apologize. You’ve been through the ringers. As if dealing with two mates weren’t enough, now you’re attacked by one.”

Well, there goes my questions about if the university knew who attacked me.

“Yeah, well, it’s been hell, to be honest.”

Heather put my duffle on the ground and sat in Rage’s desk chair. “I want to invite you to tour the luna house, if you want. When you’re better. You pick the day. We want to offer you a room. I know you’re in a predicament, but I think we can help your decision. Your mother lived in the luna house.”

A sense of pride knowing my mother had lived there filled me. “Sure. Can I call you when I’m ready? Can, um, Rage come? He’s supposed to stay with me because of…”

“Absolutely. Alphas are allowed to stay over. Well, correction, your mate is allowed to stay over. Since you have two,” she blushed. “I don’t know your situation with Harlan right now, but he could come if you want him there.”

“Thank you.”

Heather stood up and walked to the door. “It’s none of my business, but Rage is a catch. You two seem good together. He’s been waiting on you.”

“Yeah, looks like I’ve been waiting on him too.”