Page 12

CHAPTER 11

JAXSON

“How long has it been since we’ve had a home-cooked meal?” Carver smacks his lips as he rings the doorbell.

I roll my eyes and shift on my feet. Lykos sits obediently at my side, waiting on my command. It’s been almost three weeks since General Parks pulled us out of Romania. After our crash course with Yazzie on Lykos’ training, we flew back to Quantico. The moment we stepped foot on the base, we were held at bay from seeing Aurora until she was released from the hospital. The general thought it best if we gave her a couple of days so we didn’t overwhelm her. Not only with our presence, but also her soon to be new companion.

Thomas snorts. “What year is it?”

Bennett sniffs the air. “Wonder what we’re having?”

“Morons,” Hudson mumbles.

I glare at all of them, but before I can yell at them to grow up, the door swings open. My brows furrow as I take in the General’s appearance. He looks as if he’s aged ten years. There’s more gray in his hair than there was before, and his cheeks are thinner.

General Parks smiles weakly. “Gentleman, come in.” He waves us into the entryway before he realizes that Lykos is with us and takes a quick step back. “What the hell is that?”

“Lykos.” I scratch behind the Wolamute’s ears, and his tail thumps against the wood floor.

The general squares his shoulders. “My office, now.”

“Shit,” Carver mutters under his breath.

I’m surprised by the general’s reaction, especially since I’d already informed him of what type of dog Lykos is. He was the one who approved our journey to bring him back from Alaska. Lykos falls into step with me as we follow the general to his office. General Parks ushers us inside and takes a seat behind his desk, gesturing for us to sit down as well.

Hudson and I sit in the leather armchairs across from him. Carver and Bennett sit on the sofa against the wall, and Thomas leans against the window sill with his arms crossed.

I snap my fingers and point at the floor. Lykos slinks to his belly and lies his head on his paws. General Parks’ eyes widen, and his brows raise in shock. Lykos is jet-black and massive, so he takes some getting used to. He weighs one hundred seventy-five pounds and is three feet tall. His eyes are onyx, and the only way you see him in the dark is if you’re close enough to see the white surrounding the dark orbs. Lykos looks like a hound from Hell and will protect Aurora at all costs. Not only that, but he’s also been trained in helping people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, I jump-start the conversation and give the general a pointed look. “You look like shit.”

He sits back in his chair. “Is that any way to speak to your superior officer?”

“No,” I admit. “But in this case, I have to ask, Sir, what the hell is going on?”

The general hangs his head. “Things have been… rough.”

“How so?” Hudson interjects.

“The night terrors, for one.” The general rubs his face. “Aurora wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. She jumps at her own shadow and has barely eaten anything since I brought her back here from Boston.”

My men and I exchange concerned looks. “Lykos should be able to help with some of that,” I say.

General Parks chuckles. “He looks like he could eat her.”

“In theory,” I joke, and then straighten in my chair. “I’ll teach Aurora all the commands she’ll need to know. The first thing we need to make sure of is that they’re compatible with each other. If they’re not, we’ll figure something else out.”

General Parks claps his hands together. “I promised you a meal.”

Carver’s stomach grumbles, relieving some of the tension. “What’s for dinner?”

“Caesar salad, chicken fettuccine alfredo, and Dutch apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream,” General Parks responds, rising from his chair. “My cook really outdid himself.”

General Parks leads us into the dining room, where the smell of garlic permeates the air. He indicates where we should sit, and I have Lykos lie down between myself and Hudson.

“Where’s Mrs. Parks?” Bennett inquires.

General Parks sighs. “She left Monday for a benefit gala in Washington.” He lowers his voice. “Vera can’t handle Aurora’s distress. It’s killing her. She’s going to stay with her family for a while.”

“Dad, is it ti—” Aurora comes around the corner and freezes in place. In a voice barely above a whisper, she says, “Jaxson.” Those piercing emerald eyes stare briefly into mine.

“Baby girl.” General Parks stands to escort her to the table. “Rivers and his team are back. I thought it would be nice for them to join us for a home-cooked meal. What do you say?”

I guess he didn’t tell her we were coming over… or back from our mission.

Aurora drops her gaze and picks at her sleeve. “Um… sure.”

When I close my eyes at night, the image of her lying naked, tied to that table, haunts me. I’m pretty sure that’s about to be replaced with the vision in front of me. Aurora is beautiful. She’s dwarfed in an oversized sweatshirt in an attempt to hide her body, but no matter how hard she tries, there’s an aura around her. Long, dark chestnut hair frames her heart-shaped face. Her soul-piercing emerald eyes lock with mine, and they give me hope that not all is lost. She’s in there somewhere. Now to drag her ass back out.

Everyone starts scooping up their portions and digging in as soon as Aurora is seated. I try not to be obvious as I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She pushes food around on her plate to make it seem as if she’s eaten something, and she doesn’t attempt to engage in conversation. If anything, she slumps further into her chair.

“When will Aurora’s mom be back?” Carver asks in between bites.

Without looking up from her plate, Aurora mumbles. “Stepmom.”

Carver swallows. “Oh, sorry.”

General Parks clears his throat. “Um… Yes, Vera is Aurora’s stepmom. I remarried when Aurora was eleven. We lost Ana to cancer unexpectedly. Didn’t get the diagnosis until it was too late.” He takes a drink. “I didn’t want Aurora to grow up without a mother, and you know how our life is, always on the go.”

We all nod in agreement.

Bennett and Thomas both reach for the last piece of garlic bread. Bennett’s elbow hits the rim of his glass, sending it sailing over the edge of the table, where it smashes into a million pieces.

Aurora screams and throws herself out of her chair. She huddles against the wall, covering her head.

“Aurora,” General Parks shouts. I hold him back when he goes to comfort her.

As much as I want to run to her, we also need to see if Lykos is meant to be Aurora’s. I was going to wait and introduce them after dinner, and I fucking hate that they are meeting like this, but this will really show me if they will do well together.

Lykos darts under the table, belly crawling over to her shaking frame. He pushes his massive body against hers. She startles, and her breath hitches. Aurora slowly drops her guard, and Lykos places his head in her lap. She holds her hands up, unsure if she should touch him or not. I hold my breath and release it when she gently rubs the top of his head, and Lykos starts to whine lightly. Tears stream down her face, but her breaths are evening out.

I take that as my cue and slowly approach them. Holding out my hand, I wait for her to take it before I pull her up off the floor.

“Come on.” I snap my fingers at Lykos and signal for him to follow. “Let’s go outside and talk.” I glance over my shoulder to everyone at the table. “We’ll be back.”

Lykos brushes up against Aurora, lending his strength but careful not to knock her over. Aurora’s hand grasps his fur around his neck as she leads the way to the backyard.

She plops down under a tree with Lykos right beside her. He lays his head in her lap, and she immediately begins petting him again like she did in the dining room.

“You have a beautiful dog,” she mutters without looking up from her task. “What’s his name?”

I don’t want to tower over her or sit too close, so I put five feet of distance between us and sit on the ground, too. Since I’m a tall guy, it’s hard to get comfortable. Pulling my knees up, I wrap my arms around them and answer her question. “Lykos. It means ‘wolf’.”

“Lykos,” she repeats. Lykos’ head pops up, and he stares at her for a moment before resting back on her legs. “It suits him. He’s a beast.”

I chuckle. “He’s your beast.”

“W-w-what?” she stammers. “Mine… Why?

I shrug. “I’m not gonna lie, your dad’s worried about you. I suggested Lykos.” I nod toward the dog. “He’s a trained therapy dog for people with PTSD and an awesome guard dog.”

Her voice sounds hopeful when she asks, “Guard dog?”

“And therapy dog.” I stand and slowly approach both of them. “Want to see what he can do?”

Her head bobs up and down enthusiastically. I run through the same commands that Yazzie taught us and have her go through them several times as well. Lykos is a machine and listens to his new charge well. There’s no doubt in my mind that these two were meant to be together.

An hour later, after running through hand signals and commands, Hudson opens the back door and sets out a bowl of water and some food for Lykos. Aurora gives him a timid smile and a small wave before telling Lykos to go. The Wolamute bounds over and digs in. Hudson scratches behind his ears before retreating back inside.

I sit back on the ground, waiting for Aurora to join me. We still need to talk. I don’t know if she’s going to hate me or not after this, but it’s time for some tough love. Pussyfooting around isn’t doing her any favors.

Aurora waits for Lykos to finish and do his business before calling him to where we are. She immediately curls back into herself. Her chin is tucked into her chest, and Lykos’ head is on her lap, where she pets him lovingly.

“I know we had to leave abruptly after we returned you to your father,” I begin. “We needed to get back to our posts. I’m sorry we didn’t get to tell you in person.”

“I understand. Dad told me it was urgent. Military brat, remember?” She slowly raises her head. “I never got to thank you and your team for rescuing me.”

“You don’t have to thank us.”

“Yes, I do.”

“How have you been?” I ask casually.

Aurora shrugs. “Fine.”

Fine. I fucking hate that word. Everyone knows that when a woman says ‘fine’, she’s anything but fine. Hell, just one look at her, and anyone can see that she’s not.

“You sure about that?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“You didn’t eat anything more than a bite or two at dinner,” I point out. “You have dark circles under your eyes like you haven’t slept in we?—”

“Is this your polite way of telling me I look like shit?” Aurora growls. “Well, excuse me. I’ve lived through hell. Fucking hell, Jaxson. It's a damn battle to get out of bed every single day!”

Lykos sits up and gives me a pointed look. He pushes the front part of his body into her lap and lays his head on her chest. He whines until she starts to pet him once more.

I decide to press my luck even further. “Is that why you tried to kill yourself?”

Her shoulders slump forward, and she buries her head in Lykos' fur. There are so many things I want to say to her.

If someone doesn’t intervene soon, she might try to kill herself again. Defeat is written all over her face. Fuck it! She can hate me later.

“Aurora, look at me,” I plead. Haunted emerald eyes stare back at me. “I know you don’t want to talk about what happened… And you don’t have to, but if you had been successful and killed yourself, those bastards would’ve won.” A tear slides down her cheek. “I can’t even begin to fathom what you or any of the others went through. Hell, I still have nightmares about the night we rescued you.”

“I’m tired, Jaxson. So fucking tired,” she cries. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Stand up and fight… take your life back. Be the stubborn, strong, independent woman your dad told us about.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“You can,” I encourage. “You have to want it bad enough. The shitty things that happen to us don’t have to define the rest of our lives. Do you lie down, watching your life pass you by, or are you gonna stand up and give those motherfuckers the middle finger? Show them they didn’t break you. If you keep trying to destroy yourself, they will win. Don’t fucking let them.”

With those parting words, I stand up and dust myself. I hit her with a lot today. Aurora needs time to absorb everything that I’ve said and to get to know Lykos alone without an audience.

There’s still a spark behind those captivating eyes of hers. It’s small, but it’s there. Aurora might not see it, but I can. Someone just needs to help her turn that spark into a burning flame.

I’ll gladly fucking volunteer.