Page 11 of Knot Enough

TEN

He swept the ointment on my lesions with a gentleness I hadn’t expected.

My nose burned from my held back tears. What happened downstairs was a contrast to the gentleness he’d shown me in the shower.

Why couldn’t he be like this all the time?

Pressure expanded in my chest with discomfort.

I did not feel good, but with each tender ministration, more and more chipped away at the shell ballooning in my chest.

His strong fingers carefully moved, and I couldn’t tear my attention off his hands. Veins spiked up the back of them.

“What are you doing?” The angry words whipped through the lull of Axel’s care.

I stiffened, my hands immediately reaching for the gentle giant.

Rath, the dickwad of the Alphas, snapped from the door.

Cruelty seeped from every one of his movements.

I hated him quite desperately. I clawed my fingers into Axel’s arm before he could move away, clinging to him like the single strand of safety that he was.

He patted my hand, and a wave of calm settled over my shoulders.

Rath’s gaze dropped to my fingers clutching his pack mate, and his lip curled. I quickly snatched my hands back. I didn’t want to set him off more than I already had.

Oak leaned against the wall across from me, and his gaze hadn’t left me until Rath walked in; his body language shifted with his entrance. Oak seemed to blend into the wall until then. Not in a bad way, but in a stealthy, quiet way.

“Cleaning her wounds,” Axel snapped. “Move your arm, honey.” He gently nudged my forearm, wrapped against my belly. A wave of agony washed through my cuts and sore limbs. “I need to clean it.”

Axel stared up at me from his crouched position, and I licked my lips. I didn’t want an infection . . . I didn’t want to die. That meant I had no choice. I slowly uncurled my arm from around my stomach.

He carefully tugged the towel open. A hiss exploded from between his clenched teeth. I’d seen every moment of what Kane had carved into me—he’d given me no choice.

I rolled my lips into my mouth and focused on breathing through my nostrils. Wrappers crackled, and then a soft touch rubbed against my belly. I jumped from the cool cloth being swiped across my skin.

“Sh. Sh.”

I cinched my eyes shut and waited for him to finish. This was some fucked up shit I’d gotten myself into.

“It’s bullshit to be taking care of her ?—"

“Shut up, Rath,” Axel growled.

My stomach rumbled, and my eyes flung open. Axel stared up at me with the corners of his lips curled up.

“I’ll go?—”

I lunged for Axel’s arm.

“Where?” I whispered.

“I’m going to reheat some stew for you. I won’t be long.”

“Don’t go.” My frantic words should embarrass me, but that had flown out the window a long fucking time ago.

“I’ll stay with her.” My head swung toward Oak. Rath scoffed with obvious disgust. I shook my head insistently and dug my fingers into Axel’s forearms.

“It’s okay.” He dragged his palm down my spine soothingly. “I won’t leave.”

I licked my lips and nodded.

“Let’s get you settled in.” Axel stood, and I tensed. “I’m not leaving you.” His palm cupped my neck, and tension leaked away.

I wasn’t stupid enough to believe he would protect me from everything after he’d partaken in the madness downstairs, but he was the only tether of kindness I could hold onto.

After a final squeeze, he went to the dresser and pulled open the last drawer.

He returned to my side with a white shirt.

I couldn’t take my eyes off him while he carefully lifted it to the top of my head and gently tugged it down to my neck.

With my arms raised, I pushed them into the holes. The material pooled around my waist.

Axel tugged the towel away and tossed it into the corner of the room. He hoisted me into his arms, and I grunted from the suddenness.

Instead of walking out of the door as I expected, he walked to the left side of the bed. Balancing me with one arm, he tugged sheets out from their tucked position. They rustled from his handling.

“I think it would be best if she had her own room.” Kane broke the silence, his voice too close for comfort.

“Is she a fucking guest?” Rath said on the heels of Kane’s comment. I tensed up, clinging to Axel’s neck as my ass settled on the cushion. I didn’t release him, which forced him to be in an odd bend to accommodate me.

This was bullshit.

I couldn’t let go of Axel. He met my eyes, and his soft green gaze calmly searched my face.

“It’s okay,” he murmured in a deep voice that reached my core. I shuddered, my pulse uneven.

This bear of a man seemed visibly the roughest of them all, but he touched me with such care. He scooted me near the middle of the bed and positioned himself at the edge while he pulled the blankets around my shoulders. Rath stormed off, his steps heavily thudding with his retreat.

Oak sighed and yanked open a closet door across from the bed, and pulled out a fresh white towel. He tossed it over his shoulder and disappeared into the bathroom.

I lay stiff for a moment, but gradually the tension leaked away. It was just me and him—and it felt just right.

I curled close to his side, and his palm pressed into my spine, tugging me tighter to his side even though we couldn’t be closer than we were.

Axel reached into the drawer and pulled out a laptop. He dimmed the brightness and navigated to a site with a jumble of letters running across the screen.

“Sleep, honey.”

His order settled over me like a spell, and my eyes dropped shut. Sweet relief.