Page 4 of How to Trust a Hellhound (Hellhounds of Paradise Falls #4)

Wilder

I could feel the moment that Josh let go and drifted into a sort of sleep. I had to resist the urge to pull him closer, but I didn’t want to cause him any pain, and his body was a mass of bruises and marks.

I hadn’t fully looked at all the marks, keeping my eyes on his when he opened the bathroom door.

Even though I had plenty of practice schooling my expression (raising five boys will enable you to never look surprised or angry), I knew that I would do something foolish like growl if I examined the full extent of his injuries.

Josh didn’t need me growling or getting all gruff and angry on his behalf. He needed comfort.

Corbin had his eyes closed and was softly humming as he felt along Josh’s wrist. I wasn’t sure if it was my hellhound who had caused Josh to sleep or Corbin’s witch abilities, but I was thankful he could rest through this part.

“Not broken,” Corbin muttered. “Bones seem okay, but the ligaments aren’t. He’ll need to ice and rest it, and I’ll send a tincture over for him to use. Something he can use on the bruises, too. ”

I continued to rumble softly, a deep hellhound reverberation I felt in my soul.

Corbin looked at me. “That’s helping him, too, whatever it is you’re doing. If you could do that, why didn’t you help us with all the broken bones we had as kids?”

I didn’t tell him that sometimes I didn’t even remember what I could do. Instead, I joked, “The broken bones taught you not to be so reckless. Plus, you healed them in a matter of minutes. You certainly didn’t need me. Even that time Jude jumped off a roof, he was good as new in a couple hours.”

Corbin snorted at that, remembering the incident.

If Jude had done it in pursuit of a hellbound soul, I would have been more sympathetic.

But he had just wanted to see how much damage he could deal with and how long it would take to heal.

I think he’d also wanted to freak out the neighborhood kids who had been teasing Corbin about his crows (which I certainly would have handled if I’d known about).

Needless to say, we’d moved right after that. Raising hellhounds had never been dull, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Corbin finished humming and gently tucked Josh’s hand back between us, lightly resting it on my chest. He stood up and headed toward the door without another comment, probably to start preparing some medicinal stuff for Josh.

Aiden stepped forward. “Josh doesn’t know about… any of this hellhound stuff. Toby says stuff all the time, but he just thinks it’s Toby being Toby.”

I nodded my head, then I growled the question that had been plaguing me since I’d first smelled Josh’s pain and fear. “Who did this to him?”

Aiden didn’t look afraid, even though I knew my eyes were glowing flames. He looked resigned, which only made me more concerned.

“His boyfriend, I think. Only he isn’t a hellbound soul, is he?” Aiden asked, looking down at Fluffy.

Fluffy growled, but he reluctantly shook his head.

Fuck. That did make things more difficult.

Fucking free will.

Usually I loved that humans had the capability to redeem themselves.

It was good to know that they could change, that they could become better.

It took a lot to make someone irreversibly hellbound.

They were beyond saving if they were on our radar, and we were cleansing the Earth by disposing of them.

This time, though, I had the urge to kill someone who wasn’t hellbound. Someone had done this to Josh, and I wasn’t supposed to punish that person? I was supposed to wait and see if he could redeem his rotten, fucked up soul?

It was the first time I had the urge to go against the tenets of hellhounds.

“I think…” Aiden sort of trailed off, looking at Josh, then me, then Fluffy.

“What is it, son?” I asked, my voice gentle. Aiden had his own trauma, and he was pack—he didn’t deserve to deal with my frustration when it had nothing to do with him.

“I think Rick has been bad for him for a long time, but I’m not sure… He said some things, and he’s hinted in the past…” Aiden trailed off and blushed this time. “I’m not sure I should even say anything. He obviously didn’t want his two best friends to know what was going on.”

“He’s pack,” I said. “We take care of our own, and we don’t judge.”

He wasn’t fully pack yet, but he would be—I would make sure of it. I could feel the stirrings of a bond, and it was nothing like the bond I had with my boys. This felt like so much more. It felt like endless possibilities, but it wasn’t quite realized yet.

I didn’t tell Aiden that, though. Josh had gone through a lot, never mind the fact that he didn’t even know we were hellhounds. This was probably going to be a bit complicated. That was okay. I’d had my entire existence to deal with complicated situations. I was patient.

Aiden still looked hesitant, but Fluffy licked his hand, and when Aiden looked down, Fluffy nodded his head.

Aiden sighed. “He said that… Well, he was starting to explain about some of the marks, and he was embarrassed and ashamed, and I felt like I knew what he meant. Like I knew what he was talking about.”

Fluffy rumbled and licked his hand again, because Aiden was obviously getting distressed. I still wasn’t quite sure what he was saying, though.

“Sometimes I did things I didn’t want to do to please my captor, and I felt ashamed afterwards and like it was my fault because I didn’t say no. Then Josh said something about sex and trust one time when we were all hanging out…” Aiden trailed off again, blushing.

Ah. I thought I understood. I thought about the bruises. Some were clearly from being grabbed or smacked, but I thought I had seen bite marks and hickeys, too. None of that changed the fact that Josh had been abused.

“When you have to do something and feel like you can’t say no, or your no won’t matter, then you do what you have to in order to survive. It’s still abuse, and it’s wrong of the other person, but there’s nothing for you—or Josh—to feel ashamed about,” I assured Aiden.

He seemed comforted by that, and I saw some of his tension drain. I wondered if he thought I would judge Josh—or him.

“You can leave him with me. It’s okay,” I told Aiden. He was such a good soul, and I knew he wanted to take care of Josh, but I also knew this had probably brought up some difficult memories for him.

He looked at me again for a moment, then he nodded and left, Fluffy walking beside him.

I held Josh, gently rumbling and hoping that it was indeed helping the man in my arms heal.

Could hellhounds heal others? As a first gen hellhound, I knew I had gifts that second gen hellhounds didn’t, but even I couldn’t remember them all.

Sometimes the only way to live in the present and enjoy life was to let the past go, and when you’d lived since the beginning of time, you understandably forgot things.

The underworld itself was a vague, distant memory—almost like more of a dream than a reality.

I didn’t know if I could really heal Josh, or if Corbin had just sensed the pack bond growing and hadn’t known how to describe the comfort I could provide, but I would continue to do what I could to help the man in my arms.

I sat cuddling with Josh until the sky was dark outside.

Luckily, the boys had turned on the lights when they got in, because I wasn’t moving and waking Josh.

I was glad that he would stay in the cabin on pack lands.

I knew Liam had set up cameras all over the woods, so we would be able to keep an eye on him.

Perhaps his boyfriend wasn’t hellbound yet, but I wasn’t counting on an abusive partner just remaining slightly rotten.

I’d be sure to have Liam check things out using his technology skills as soon as I was able, although perhaps Aiden had already filled him in.

Josh stirred against me, and I heard his breath quicken as his body stiffened.

“Shh. It’s alright. You’re safe. You’re in the cabin that Aiden and Fluffy brought you to. You know me—I’m Wilder, and I helped you get ready for Corbin to look at your wrist. Luckily, you fell asleep while he was doing that,” I said softly.

Josh relaxed the more I spoke, so I continued. “Your wrist isn’t broken, but it is sprained. You’ll need to rest it and ice it, and Corbin will send over some cream or something that’ll help with the healing.”

I felt Josh nod his head against my chest. He wasn’t totally relaxed, but he wasn’t as panicked as when he’d first woken up.

“Are you hungry? Would you like me to get you something to eat?” I asked him.

He shook his head no against my chest. “Just tired,” he mumbled.

“Would you like me to help you to bed?” I asked.

Josh nodded, and then he gave a little exhalation of surprise when I scooped him into my arms and stood up. I carried him into the bedroom before he could protest, allowing the shirt that I had still been holding against his back to fall. I’d bring it in once he was settled in bed.

I sat him gently on the edge of the bed, then pulled the covers back, picked him back up, put him in bed, and pulled the covers over him.

I could see his eyes shining in the light from the other room, tears glistening on his eyelashes. I couldn’t help it—I reached up and smoothed a hand over his head, gently petting him, and he closed his eyes, seeming to settle.

“I don’t think you should go to work tomorrow. Can I send someone a message?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he murmured sleepily, not even opening his eyes. “Barb—she’s in my phone. I have lots of time off. Passcode is 273511.”

“Ok. You just rest. I’ll take care of everything.” I started softly humming, and it wasn’t long before Josh drifted back into sleep.

I wanted to stay and watch over him, but I had promised to take care of things.

I walked into the living area and grabbed the bags I’d brought from the car.

Most of it was clothes, which I quietly put in the bedroom.

I didn’t want to unpack that now. There was a bag of toiletries, which I placed in the bathroom.

I eventually found his phone in amongst what looked like work stuff, and I set most of that in the second bedroom.

It would be easy enough to get a desk delivered for Josh to work from when he was up to it.

I entered his passcode and went into the text messages, sending off a message to Barb, who was in his contacts, and saying that I was a friend of Josh’s and he wasn’t feeling well at all and would be out for a couple days.

Despite how late it was, she responded right away, instructing me to take care of him and give him plenty of chicken soup.

I wasn’t sure what chicken soup would do, but I sent back a quick reply.

The most texted person in his phone was someone named Rick, and I figured this was probably the boyfriend. I opened up the texts and saw that the last one was from this afternoon.

Rick: I’m having a shitty day. Fucking assholes at work who won’t shut up. Hopefully you didn’t make plans again to ditch me for your friends, because I’m not in the mood to deal with them.

Josh had replied nicely, assuring Rick that he’d be home and asking if there was anything he could do. Rick hadn’t answered.

I scrolled back through the messages, reading them. Josh was sweet, helpful, and reassuring. He stroked Rick’s ego, offered to help all the time, and obviously changed plans when Rick asked him to. I saw an eager-to-please man trying his hardest to make his boyfriend happy.

Rick was a piece of work, though. He wasn’t always an asshole. Sometimes there were general texts about what was for dinner or where they were going, and there was a lot of complaining from Rick about his job. He seemed like he hated everyone he worked with and everything about his job.

There were also hidden barbs throughout—subtle, yet clearly meant to undermine Josh’s confidence.

Rick would make backhanded comments if Josh complained, saying things like “pot meet kettle” or “you always have an issue with something,” even though Rick seemed to be the one who always had an issue.

Rick made comments about Josh being awkward, boring, and unsupportive, although it was always phrased in a manner like he was just helping Josh be a better person.

He complained about Josh’s friends, putting them down, and if Josh tried to defend them, then Rick got mean .

I got more angry and frustrated the more I read, and eventually I put the phone down.

Rick was obviously physically and emotionally abusive, and I was glad that Josh had called Aiden.

I knew that the scars he would have from this relationship would be far deeper than just the physical ones, and he would need time and support to build up his confidence.

That was ok—I had all the time in the world, and I would make sure Josh was taken care of in every way he needed. It was time for him to find out what it meant to have someone actually support him and care for him.

With that thought, I headed off to find Liam.

It was time to find out more about this ex-boyfriend of Josh’s and what exactly we could do about him.

Killing him was off the table if he wasn’t hellbound, but I knew he was at least somewhat rotten, and surely we could scare him a bit.

Maybe some mild torture. Nothing permanent, of course. I could control myself.

Hopefully.