Chapter 3
1108 Words
Jaxon
As I glance at Piper sitting in the passenger seat of my jeep, rage stirs inside of me. My knuckles whiten as my grip tightens on the steering wheel.
King Andrew is lucky that my goal was to get Piper out of there. If I would have had the time, I would have killed him. I don’t know all the s**t he’s done to her since he’s held her captive, but I can feel it’s really taken a toll on her.
“Are you okay?” I gently ask.
“Yeah.” Piper nods and a gentle smile tugs at her lips. “I am now.”
I can tell she’s trying to be strong. She’s always so determined to lead that she refuses to let anyone see her as anything else.
I glance at the road ahead of me, then back to Piper. “Close your eyes and get some rest. We’ll be home before you know it.”
Piper gives into my request and makes herself comfortable. She begins to doze off and silence fills the car. I can feel Nikko and Dee’s eyes on me from the backseat, but I brush them off.
My only goal now is to get Piper home. We need to get her far away from the Kingdom where she can truly rest and work on restoring her strength. Everything else can wait until then.
The drive takes hours, but finally we reach the Dark Moon packhouse and I stop the car. I reach over and place my hand on Piper’s shoulder, gently shaking her awake.
Her blue eyes open and widen as she looks around. Her body tenses, but then it registers where she’s at and she calms down. Then she looks at me and flashes me a gentle smile.
“It’s good to be home.”
I nod. “Let’s get you upstairs so you can rest.”
Getting out of my jeep, I walk over to the passenger side and open her door. Piper places her hand in mine to help herself down. She’s still very weak from the wolfsbane, at this rate it will take days—maybe weeks even—to get out of her system completely.
I close the door and wrap my arm tightly around her waist to help support her. As we walk up the steps of the packhouse a few of the members are waiting by to greet their luna. She smiles and waves, but I gently push her to continue along because what she needs the most is to get upstairs and lie down.
We take the stairs one by one. Only a few more feet and then we’re entering the bedroom where I guide her to the bed. She lies down, propping a pillow behind her for support as I sit down next to her.
“How are you feeling?” Concern washes over my face as I caress her cheek.
“I’m okay.” She responds in a low breath. “Feeling sluggish and weak. All I want to do is get this out of my system so I can train again. It’s been too long since I’ve had so much as a run.”
I know how much she hates being stuck in one room. She’s going to be pissed when she realizes that’s what I’m about to do to her here, again.
“You need a few days.” I mentally prepare for the backlash I’m about to face. “I don’t want you out of bed. I’ll have meals brought up to you and the healer will come check in twice a day. Once he—”
She doesn’t let me finish as she sits up in the bed. “That’s bullshit!”
She wants nothing more than to get right back at it, but it’s not possible. She’s too determined that it’s going to hurt her. As her mate and Alpha, I’ve got to be the one to force her to take it easy.
“Piper.” My eyes look intensely into her blue orbs. “You need to listen to your body.”
“I need to start training.” She’s too stubborn to back down easily, but I wouldn’t have her any other way.
Cupping her face with my hands, I refuse to back down. “Not yet. Once the healer confirms the wolfsbane is out of your system and you’re strong enough, then you can.”
“Jaxon, I—”
“Piper.” I shoot her a warning glance. “I’m not doing this to be an asshole. You know I don’t want you confined to the bed. But someone has to make sure you’re taking care of yourself and we both know that’s not going to be you.”
She looks down and silence fills the room. She knows I’m right, I can feel that she does. I can also feel her frustration over this situation. Piper is a fighter, sitting on the sidelines waiting to get better while the King prepares is killing her.
“We have to be smart about this Piper.” I draw her attention back to me with my words. “You need to allow yourself to get back to your full strength. You’ll be able to take him down once you’re back to normal.”
Worry fills her eyes as she begins to tear up. “What if I can’t get back to normal? What if he used too much Wolfsbane and it takes a toll on me forever?”
“It won’t.” I assure her as I wipe away the tear falling from her eyes. “You are unique. Your powers can’t be matched by me even. You will get through this and be the bad ass you’ve always been. But, I need you to let me take care of you to make that happen.”
She blows out a sigh of defeat. “Fine.”
I’m relieved she’s not going to fight me further on this. But I can still see the worry in her eyes.
I settle in next to her on the bed, taking her into my arms so I can hold her. I want to do anything I can to make her feel better. It kills me that she’s doubting herself.
It makes me hate King Andrew even more.
Nothing is going to prepare that asshole for what’s coming. He went too far with this and he will feel not only my wrath, but Piper’s.
With everything he’s done to her, there’s no way she’s going to give him the chance to talk and work this out.
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