Chapter Ten
“I’m not a glutton for
punishment, so I’ll call Uncle Radford this weekend. I don’t want to talk to
him after he’s had to teach a freshman class.”
“Trust me, I get it. You
wouldn’t believe the lectures he gave me about proper behavior and appreciating
that this streak allowed human werekin to pursue higher education.” Kraig covered
the bandage around the bad wound on his wrist. “Not that I ever got to attend a
class.”
“You don’t have to talk about
that right now. Do you feel up to going for a walk in the garden? Or we can
just sit on the back deck swing. It should be shaded right now.”
“Try the swing and then see
how it goes? I haven’t walked very far.”
“We’ll go a little farther
each day, and you’ll get stronger in no time.” I got up and grabbed a bag out
of the sitting room. “Your mom brought you some more of your clothes.”
“Great.” Kraig dumped the bag
out on the bed and grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He managed to get
them on by himself, which gave me some hope he was already feeling better until
he stood up and the shorts fell around his ankles and the shirt hung off his
shoulders. Kraig had never been one to wear baggy clothes, but they were at
least three sizes too big now.
“It’s fine,” I said. I knelt
in front of him and pulled the shorts up. “You can tie them.”
“I should’ve done that before
I stood up.” Park smirked. “Or maybe I just wanted the alpha on his knees in
front of me.”
A growl rose up from my
throat. “Do you want me to show you what I can do from down here?” I leaned
forward and nuzzled his groin then flashed a fang at him.
His eyes widened. “Um. No
teeth.”
“You’d love it.” I stood up.
“But we can’t stay in bed all day.”
“We got up for breakfast,”
Kraig pointed out. “Even visited with my family.”
“Swing. Garden. Fresh Air.”
Naked longing passed across
Kraig’s face. “Yeah,” he said softly.
Determination was the only
thing that got Kraig down the stairs on his feet. I went down two stairs in
front of him so he could brace himself on my shoulders, and we took it one step
at a time. By the time we got to the back door he was shaking. He heaved a huge
sigh of relief as soon as I helped him ease down onto the cushioned swing.
“It’s bright.” He squinted but
took a deep breath. “I forgot how good your mom’s roses smelled. They’re bigger
than ever.”
“Your mom and Anita come over
all the time. You know me—I have a black thumb.” Kraig was going to get a
headache if he kept squinting. “Hold on, I’ll be right back. Door’s open and
I’m just going to the front hall.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed my sunglasses and a
throw off the living room couch. Kraig smiled when I handed him the glasses to
put on while I tucked the blanket around us both. I wasn’t cold, but I wanted
to make sure he stayed warm.
Small mammals didn’t come
around—wild animals tended to recognize our nature—but there were butterflies
flitting around the vibrant flowers bobbing in the light breeze.
“You’re quiet.” I said after a
while.
“There’s so much going on in
my head right now,” Kraig stared straight out in the yard. “The biggest one is
why the doctor brought me back here.”
“You don’t have to—”
“Stop saying that!” Kraig
snapped. “You keep saying I don’t have to say stuff but it’s here in my head. I
have to get it out.”
He was right. “I’m sorry. You
are the one who lived in that hell for two years, but every time you tell me
something, I have fight back my rage. I want to hunt down everyone who hurt
you. You’re in pain, and that makes it hard in here.” He pressed a hand against
his chest.
Kraig took a deep breath. “I
know, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to snap. I know you have a lot on your plate
as the alpha of the streak, and now there’s this whole... thing.” He waved his
hand. “This was more than one doctor. There were others—other victims, other
people working with the doctor, and probably more behind the scenes I don’t
know about. I need to talk about what I know so maybe we can figure out what
was really going on.”
“Okay. We’ll start at the
beginning.” I took a deep breath and traced a line down Kraig’s finger to the
sharp claws that tipped his fingers. “Tell me what you remember from when they
first took you.”
“I was driving to college, and
I stopped in some little town for gas. When I got back in my car, there was a
guy in the backseat. He made me drive, holding a gun on me. I thought it was a
carjacking, so I was scared but didn’t... I didn’t expect it when he had me
pull over and he shot me with a tranquilizer. I don’t really remember anything
after that for a few days, just hazy memories.”
I squeezed Kraig’s hand. “What
is the first thing you do remember?”
Kraig went very still. “The
cages.”
Just the thought of Kraig in a
cage made me growl. He turned his hand over and gripped mine.
“There was a tiger in one, but
the rest were empty. I could curl up on my side, sit with my head bent forward,
or crouch on my hands and knees, but that was it.”
“They took him out of his cage
all the time, and not for exercise. His screams echoed off the walls. I knew,
the first time they came for me, it was going to be bad.”
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Did the Mom visit Kraig outside of the pages of the story? Would think the Mom be visiting more? How awful to be in a cage during his captivity.
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