Chapter 34: The Five Arrive
The motel room’s so quiet the sound of the door flying out the frame is another bomb going off. It slams against the wall knocking a crater in the plaster, one hinge snaps clean off, the door hanging drunkenly from the frame. They’re going to charge me for that.
Adrenaline surges through me all over again, I jerk so hard I practically headbutt River. His arm tightens around my waist, and slides his hand over my back.
"It’s okay," he murmurs against my hair.
We’ve been tucked together on the bed. No words exchanged, me happily curled across his lap while he drew shapes on my back.
A familiar scent crashes into the room ahead of the person attached to it, all warmth and chaos and ridiculous energy. Jax appears in the doorway, stands there staring, chest heaving, rainwater dripping from him onto the stained carpet.
"Fuck you, Frankie," he shouts. His voice breaks so badly on my name that my heart twists painfully. "Seriously. Fuck you."
His face crumples, betraying the insult, and he’s moving. Tears fall as he strides towards me, shirt inside out, one shoelace untied.
River barely has time to loosen his hold before I’m airborne. Apparently these men don’t want me touching the floor. He’s gripped me under the arms and throws me against his body, my legs encircle his waist as he gathers me against him with enough force that I turn into a squeaky toy.
Kisses and strokes and words all tumble into each other.
"You’re such an asshole," he says hoarsely before pressing a kiss to my forehead. "I hate you,"
Kiss.
"That’s not true,"
Kiss.
"Do you know how fucking scared I’ve been?" His voice breaks again.
Kiss.
"You smell like shit," he sniffs dramatically, then shakes his head. "No, you do," he insists, rubbing his face against my hair like some oversized affectionate dog. "You stink."
Kiss.
"I didn’t mean that. Well, I did, not in a bad way. Fuck, I missed you."
Kiss.
I laugh, then accidentally start crying, then somehow do both.
Jax lets out a sound that’s suspiciously close to a sob and squeezes me harder. Way harder. My back audibly crunches.
"Jax." I wheeze.
"I’m sorry,"
Squeeze.
"Sorry,"
Squeeze.
"You’re crushing my organs..."
"I know," he sighs.
Squeeze.
"Maybe it’ll make you stay put this time," he mutters against my shoulder.
There isn’t an ounce of anger in him. Not really. Just days and days of panic. I wrap my arms around his neck and hold on.
However, there is anger in Leo, who I can now see over Jax’s shoulder. Standing in the room with Corrian and Ezra.
Leo, I can read, those balled-up fists are white knuckled, and he’s doing a stand-up job of containing that berserker rage. He wants to check me for injury. Corrian is immaculate as always. I see through him, see the tiny crack in the armour in the tick of his jaw.
Ezra is the one I expect a string of cutting remarks from. Instead, the moment he sees me, his hands brace against his knees as he bends forward, head lowered, eyes squeezed shut. The breath that leaves him long and heavy.
None of us speak. I understand what I haven’t wanted to understand. They weren’t angry. They weren’t controlling. They weren’t hunting me. They’ve been terrified.
Every single one of them.
And standing there, surrounded by mouldy walls, a broken door and five men who look like they’ve aged years in a week, I feel warmth in the hollow place I’ve been carrying.
It takes me a second to convince Jax to let go of me. An emotional support octopus who appears to have no intention of changing that. I tap his shoulder a few times until he loosens his grip enough for me to slide back to the floor.
My legs, weak after days of barely eating and everything that happened outside, are steady beneath me. Whatever the reason, I remain upright as I slowly turn in a circle and look at each of them.
Five men who happen to be wolves and could collectively level a small country stand perfectly still watching me. Waiting.
Silence stretches until it becomes ridiculous. Finally, I point vaguely at all of them.
"You’re all wolves." A statement, not a question.
They all nod.
"Excellent. I can finally scratch psychotic break off the list."
Nobody laughs. Tough crowd.
I point at myself. "I’m a wolf." I figured it out crouched by that car, really really didn’t want to believe it.
More nodding.
"Fantastic." I rub both hands over my face.
I inhale slowly and force myself to keep going before I lose my nerve.
"My family was murdered by wolves."
This time the nods are slower, heavier. They all move infinitesimally closer.
I have to look away. The memories are there waiting if I let them in. I don’t. I close my eyes and draw a breath.
Jax whines, and when I open my eyes he’s taking a step toward me. I hold up one hand, and he freezes mid-stride. I’ve activated some sort of giant blond emergency brake. The fact it works is both satisfying and deeply concerning.
"Stay."
Jax points at himself. "I can’t believe you stayed me." His mouth opens, closes. He stays put.
I am never financially recovering from this level of power.
"You knew this about me the whole time." I shift my attention back to the circle.
Corrian and Ezra give a single sharp nod. A growl erupts from the other three.
"We’ll unpack that little betrayal suitcase later," I say.
None of them even attempts to interrupt. The fact that they all look slightly terrified of what I’m going to say next is honestly helping me feel better.
I point at myself again. "You know why I’ve been sick since I left."
More nodding.
My eye twitches. I can’t help myself. If we’re doing this, we’re doing this for real.
"And you know why I want to fuck all five of you, constantly, separately, together, in my wet dreams."
Jax chokes. Leo coughs into his fist. River looks skyward, appealing directly to a higher power.
He sighs. "That one is... slightly more complicated."
"Complicated?" I snap.
He nods. "Very."
"Is it a wolf thing?"
"Partly." He admits.
"Do I need therapy?"
"Almost certainly." That earns a laugh. Fine, it was funny.
I study their faces for a long moment. The fear is still there, the exhaustion, the relief. Underneath all of it I can see them waiting for judgement. Waiting for anger. Waiting for me to walk out the door again.
"Here’s where I’m at," I fold my arms. "I’m still spitting mad. I also have roughly seven thousand questions and at least four separate emotional breakdowns scheduled for later."
Nobody moves. Nobody breathes.
"We’re going to talk about this." I point toward all of them.
Jax nods so aggressively I’m worried about his neck.
"At home." The word slips out.
Every single one of them reacts. I ignore it.
"If any of you lie to me again, even once, even a tiny white lie, I will disappear so thoroughly you’ll spend the rest of your lives wondering if I ever existed."
The room remains silent for a beat.
Ezra nods. "Fair."
"More than fair." Corrian follows.
River smiles softly.
Leo simply says, "Understood."
Jax lasts approximately half a second.
Then he lets out a whoop loud enough to wake the dead, launches himself across the room and scoops me off the floor. The motel spins around us as he swings me through the air like we’ve just won the lottery.
"I’m fucking starving," I laugh as we spin. My stomach is finally settled. "Anyone got a burger in their pocket?"
