Page 107 of Scorned
“Stop being an asshole, Winnie. You’re only doing it so you can hide your feelings.”
I stared at Sage, my mouth agape. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
“You two are mirror images of each other. Both guarded as fuck, ” Lynx said, before turning her attention to Carmen. They’d been chatting since we woke up. “So, where are you from?”
“Bullshit. I’m not guarded,” I said to no one in particular, but mainly to myself.
Deciding to show the love I actually felt for Luka, I drowned out the sounds of their chatter and stepped up to the side of the bed, placing my hand on his shoulder, shaking him lightly.
“Hey, bro. If you don’t get up, we’re leaving your ass here.”
“Geezus, Winnie.” Sage snickered, heading to the other side of the bed. She laid her hand on his arm and whispered, “Um, Luka, we have to go home now.”
He didn’t move and I tilted my head at Sage. “We can just carry his ass out the back entrance.”
She nodded, straightening her spine. “Good idea.”
“What is wrong with you two?” Lyric asked, pushing me aside. “All you have to do is let him know he’s safe and be kind with him.”
Lyric laid her hand on Luka’s chest, and leaned into his ear, her voice low. “Hey, it’s Lyric. You’re safe now, but you have to wake up so you can go home and sleep in your own bed. It’s nice and warm and quiet. You’ll be safe there. No one will ever hurt you again.”
She stood, and I scoffed. “I kicked the bed and that didn’t even wake him up, and you think . . .”
Luka squirmed, his eyelids drifting open before he whispered, “What?”
“Told you,” Lyric said, smiling proudly. “We’re taking you home, Luka, so you have to get up and get in the car. Okay?”
There was a distant look in Luka’s eyes when he nodded, then slowly crawled out of bed, heading into the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, we managed to get him in Sage’s Jeep. She drove and I sat in the back with Lyric. We stayed mostly quiet the entire ride home because Luka fell back asleep and none of us wanted to disturb him.
Ravage had the rest of our crew and Carmen with him and said they were stopping to get food at a drive thru. Since none of us were hungry, we continued on and arrived at the cabin first.
The moment Sage parked and got out, Kimber came running up. “Is he okay?”
“He just needs some rest,” Sage said, helping Luka out of the car and leading him toward her cabin.
Kimber sniffed the air, her expression suspicious. “Luka smells different?”
“Yeah. I noticed that when I first saw him. I talked to Ravage about it last night. He also said he smelled off. He was waiting for Drag so they could discuss it. Where is he?”
“We just got back from helping Lane and so much shit happened, and Drag was upset so he took off through the woods in a panic. Heston and Demi are with him. I stopped by my cabin to throw some clothes on.”
My brows pinched. “What happened?”
Kimber let out a puff, anger taking over her expression. “Right as the sun was setting, Lane called, requesting backup because he and only a few others were up against Galen and the entire Ironclad pack. Well, when we got there, my stupid ass brother—”
“Where’s Strike?” Vivi screamed, cutting Kimber off, running toward me. “I can’t smell him. Why isn’t he with you?”
The panic coming from her was heartbreaking, and I was afraid to tell her the truth. I forced my tightened throat to relax, my eyes softening.
“He wasn’t there, sis.”
“You’re lying!” She shoved me hard enough to make me stumble backwards, her face contorting with anger. “You left him.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Go back and get him!” She shoved me again before baring her teeth and letting out a large hiss.
