Chapter 12
“Elias!” Tybalt yelled as he tried to pull the Alpha off Finch, but nothing managed to pierce through his shrouded mind.
Man and wolf had become one. Darcus wanted to rip Finch apart. The beast wanted to keep going until all that remained beneath him was bloody pieces of torn flesh.
“Darcus,” Tybalt whispered. “Let Fay’s father go.”
Elias snapped his head around at his Beta. Tybalt had seen this kind of behavior before, and luckily he knew that he needed. to address the wolf calmly. That was exactly what he was doing.
“Kill,” the wolf sneered in Elias‘ mind.
“No!” Elias countered. “If we kill him, she’ll never forgive us.”
Darcus whined, but as he glanced at Fay, the wolf receded allowing the man to take control once more.
Even though Elias was barely able to control his fury, he kept reminding himself of what he said to his wolf. That gave him the strength he needed to release the iron grip he had on Finch.
He got up and walked over to Tybalt, the only voice of reason in the room.
“What do you expect me to do?” Elias asked in a loud whisper. “She’s in this position because of him.”
“Get out,” Tybalt said as he shoved the Alpha’s shoulder. “You too, Mrs. Walker. This needs to be sorted out before she wakes up.”
Elias pulled Finch to his feet. He wanted to keep punching the man. To let out the rage that had boiled over. But Tybalt got between them and forced the party to gather outside the door.
Elias paced along the wall in an attempt to keep both his wolf and his emotions in check. He only had so much patience, but with each second that passed, more of it slipped away.
“Can you please just tell us what’s going on here?” Tybalt asked in a much calmer tone than Elias would’ve used.
“I’m sorry, but I really can’t,” Finch said, his words infuriating Elias even more. “My daughter-”
“Your daughter is hurt because of you!” Elias admonished. “She nearly died because of you!”
“Why the hell do you care so much?” Finch countered, his voice laced with his annoyance. “She’s just another member of your pack, so this has nothing to do with you!”
Those words were enough to stop Elias dead in his tracks. He whirled around and when his eyes met Finch’s, the man shrunk. With each step the Alpha took toward him, Fay’s father took a step back.
“It has everything to do with me!” Elias sneered, once again his voice was morphed. “Fay is my responsibility! And for as long as I live, I’ll make sure nothing happens to her. Because she’s-”
Tybalt grabbed onto Elias‘ arm, shutting him up a split second before he told her parents that Fay was, in fact, his mate. The Alpha was grateful for his best friend’s quick thinking as well as his general presence at this terrible time. With Tybalt’s help, he managed to contain his anger which stopped him from doing something extremely rash.
“Since the two of you are refusing to tell me the whole story, it won’t be safe for her to go home with you for her recovery.” Elias folded his arms over his chest. “I won’t be leaving her in your care. Not until I know she’s safe with the both of you.”
“But where will she stay if not with us?” Melanie asked.
“She’ll come to live in the Pack House with me and Tybalt. We’ll make sure she gets the attention she needs until she fully recovers,” Elias said, leaving both Melanie and Finch wide–eyed.
Melanie opened her mouth to speak, but she was obviously lost for words because she just closed it again before turning to her husband. Finch’s murderous glare burned into Elias and he knew it was a last–ditch attempt to get him to back off. But Elias would stand his ground.
“You can’t do that!” Finch challenged.
“Are you going against your Alpha?” Elias countered.
Even he heard the dare in his voice, he knew that no one could oppose it. Even if Finch wanted to protest, he couldn’t because everyone knew what the punishment for disobeying an Alpha was. Surely, he wouldn’t let his stubbornness get him killed.
“Fine.” Melanie said with a sigh. “Just promise me that you will take good care of our daughter.”
“I promise you that Fay couldn’t have better caregivers than me and Tybalt.” He rested a hand on Melanie’s shoulder. “You might not understand it, but she means a lot to us. As for you, Finch, if you get anywhere near Fay, I’ll skin you myself.”
“Elias,” Fay said in a weak voice, drawing all attention back to her. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
“Hey.” A warm smile spread across Elias‘ cheeks as he rushed up to her. “Are you okay?”
“No, of course I’m not okay.” Fay winced as she tried to sit up. “You just threatened my father, but he’s not to blame for any of this. I took that pill of my own free will.”
“He admitted that he insisted on you taking it!” Elias growled.
She was still desperately trying to defend her father, which only angered him even more. But once again, he bit back his rage and took a seat on the bed next to her. Elias took her hand in his, placing a soft kiss on her knuckles.
“I’m
sorry
for shouting, it’s just…” He looked up at her, his heart instantly softening. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you,” she whispered. “Please don’t be so hard on my dad. He was trying to look out for me.”
Even though he wanted to scream, Elias kept his voice calm as he said, “There are better ways to do that, Fay. Silver pills are not a solution to anything.”
While Elias was running his hand, over Fay’s arm, he felt something that made him take a closer look at her body. Her arms and neck were covered in scars. Some were round, like a sharp object had been pushed into her skin, while others were long, like deep cuts that would never heal properly.
The sight left him shell–shocked. He just couldn’t believe that someone would do something so terrible to this sweet young woman, but the proof was right there. A low growl echoed through the room as his attention snapped to Finch.
He was about to confront him when Fay placed her hand on his cheek and turned his face back to her.
“It wasn’t done by my father,” she whispered while giving him a reassuring smile. “Every mark on my body was left by the people who bullied me while we were at Bloodclaw. My dad only ever tried to protect me from them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?” Elias asked with a puzzled look.
“Because we hardly know each other and I’ve been trying my best to stay away from you.” Fay laughed at her own words. “I promised I’d come to you if anything happened to me, but I can’t come when the problems are caused by you.”
“Cassidy!” Elias sneered.
Fay pulled her hand away as she turned to her side so she was no longer facing him. She was obviously upset, which was
something he couldn’t really blame her for. It was only when she said those words that he realized he was responsible for every single one of her problems.
“Ah, I heard you were awake,” Dr. Debrowsky said as he walked into the room. “So I came to check on you. How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Fay mumbled.
The doctor looked at every single person in the room, but he didn’t need to do that to pick up on the tension. The air was so thick it could be cut with a knife, but the apprehension didn’t only come from Elias and Fay.
“I see you’re a little stressed out, perhaps agitated?” The question was directed at Fay, who immediately nodded. “That’s not good for her, especially not while she’s trying to recover from these wounds. You should let her rest and recuperate, not aggravate her.”
Elias winced. Once again, he was making things worse instead of helping like he wanted to. With that thought adding to the burden he was already carrying, he got up and ushered everyone out of the room.
Elias and Tybalt were standing on one side of the hallway, the Walkers were positioned on the other. He was sure that Finch didn’t want to be anywhere near him, but Elias didn’t know if he could face the man either.
He was still enraged because, in his mind, Finch was still to blame for what had happened. So Elias thought it would be wise to just stay away from him before he ended up rearranging the man’s face.
“You good?” Tybalt asked anxiously.
“Far from it,” Elias admitted. “I want them to leave.”
“You can’t keep them from their child, Elias. It’s not the right thing to do,” Tybalt advised.
Elias quirked a brow as he said, “Just watch me.”
After what felt like an eternity, the doctor came out of the room to address the party. Everyone rushed toward him and once again they were gathered in front of the door.
“So far she seems fine,” Dr. Debrowsky said as he looked over her chart. “It looks like the main reason for her collapse was the high amounts of silver in her system, but that will dissipate over the next few days. We’ll keep her here until that happens, then she’ll be free to leave.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Elias said as he patted the doctor on the back. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for her.”
The doctor nodded before he walked off. As the doctor took a corner, Finch pushed past Elias and Tybalt, so he could walk up to Fay.
“I’m so sorry, darling. This is all my fault,” he said as he took a seat next to her. “I promise I’ll make it up to you as soon as you’re better.”
Tybalt moved to intervene, but Elias held his arm out to stop his friend. He didn’t want to cause another scene and thought it would be best if the two of them just remained silent so Fay could have a moment with her father.
“Please stop blaming yourself,” Fay said as she pulled Finch in for a hug. “You’re not responsible for what happened to me. You never were. I was the one who decided to fight, even though I wasn’t feeling well.”
“Why did you do it? Why didn’t you call us?” Melanie asked as she took a seat as well.
“I tried to, but…” Fay looked at Elias but she remained silent for a moment. “It doesn’t matter… I was stupid for thinking Cassidy would fight fair. She never did in the past, so I don’t know why I expected anything else from her.”
Elias shook his head in disbelief. Not at Fay’s words, but at his own ignorance. He had been such a fool since she arrived, but
