Page 36 of Pack Scratch Fever

POE

It’s a miracle I didn’t throw Piper’s father out the window.

I thought my family was bad, but this ?

Hearing the way they talked to her made me sick.

My packmates and I had arrived at the hospital just after her parents, and we tried to give them space while we waited in the hallway.

But the pure venom her parents spit at her was enough for me to storm in.

A lot clicked into place for me then.

I realized why Piper is convinced she never does enough.

It’s because of her parents.

My scent match, my mate, was abused by her own family.

It makes my fucking skin crawl.

She had found solace in her work with the rescue, and my foolish mistake had threatened the greatest source of her joy.

No wonder she shut down and didn’t want to have anything to do with me or my pack.

I’ll never forget the scent of her fear as her father spoke to her. It was bitter lemon peel and sour acid, with no hint of sweetness.

I saw a scared girl lying in that hospital bed, vulnerable and misunderstood.

Now, her parents are gone, and it’s just us and Piper.

“Are you alright?” I ask her, studying her shocked expression. She’s just as beautiful as ever, albeit slightly pale with her eyes wet with unshed tears.

Despite being ill and exhausted, she’s still breathtaking.

I want to go to her, to sit on the bed with her and cradle her face, but I’m not sure what she wants.

Just because I stood up for her doesn’t mean I’m automatically forgiven after everything I’ve done.

“We can leave if you want,” Avery says sheepishly. “We didn’t mean to barge in. We wanted to visit you one at a time.”

“It’s okay,” she says quietly, her hazel eyes soft. “You all can stay. There’s not much room in here, though.”

Maddox pulls the cheap-looking sofa from the wall and drags it toward her hospital bed like it weighs nothing. He and Avery take a seat, while I move the chair on the opposite side of the bed toward her. I don’t want to surround her after everything that’s happened, but I want to be close.

It’s been fucking torture without her, and the only thing that’s made me feel marginally better is being with those damn cats, especially Mister Whiskers.

I wonder what that says about me that the grumpiest cat at the rescue is also my biggest fan.

“You didn’t have to come here, you know,” she says, giving me a thin smile. “I’m alright.”

I look at her in disbelief. “Do you see how many wires you’re attached to right now?” I growl. “That is the exact opposite of being alright, Piper.”

“Poe,” Avery warns, and Piper’s face softens as she regards me.

“Thank you for earlier,” she says. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to say those things to my parents.”

Maddox shakes his head. “They’re fucking ungrateful people. No one should be talked to that way, especially not you.”

“They don’t realize what they have,” Avery tells her sadly.

I won’t tell Piper this, but I’m already planning on ruining her father’s life.

“How much did you hear?” Piper asks tentatively, her brow furrowing.

“Everything,” I admit. “We wanted to give you privacy, but he raised his voice to you…” I clear my throat, stopping myself from telling her what I truly want to do to her father. “I meant what I said, by the way. You have a lawyer. Whatever they’re trying to do to you, I can represent you.”

“I can’t pay you, Poe.”

The room falls silent, and I sense Avery and Maddox watching me.

What a ridiculous statement.

“Why on earth would I charge you?” I ask. “Piper, that’s not how this works. We are here for you always.”

“We’re whatever you want us to be,” Maddox says. “Even if you just want us as helping hands at the rescue.”

Her scent sweetens, and her eyes brighten. Her warm eyes meet mine, and I stop breathing.

I’m not worthy of her forgiveness, not after such a foolish mistake. But if she could find it in her heart to give me another chance…

“I thought you only did property law,” she says, scrunching her face.

“Not anymore. I’m closing my firm.”

Her mouth falls open. “Why on earth would you do that?” she demands. “That is your job. You’re quitting your job ?”

“Because it hurt the person that matters most,” I admit.

There’s a moment of silence, and she sucks in a breath.

“Don’t do it because of me,” she insists, shaking her head. “I won’t let you make me responsible for something like that.”

“It was bound to happen,” I say. “I was in burnout but ignored all the signs. I was holding myself to impossible standards, and that grave error is what made me realize something had to change. So, as much as I would love to say I’m doing it for you, Piper, I’m mostly doing it for myself.

To be a better person and figure out what I truly want to do. ”

She visibly relaxes.

“And for you too,” I admit, and she scowls.

“I didn’t ask you to.” But she sounds more scared than angry at what I admitted. As if she doesn’t want to matter as much to us as she does.

As if she doesn’t want to be the reason we exist.

“I know you didn’t. But I can’t be the Alpha you deserve if I don’t get my shit in order.”

“Yeah, Pipe, he’s too old to be doing dumb shit,” Maddox smirks, and I shoot him a dirty look.

Piper chews her lip. “We’re both workaholics,” she admits. “It’s good you’re working on it.”

I notice that Maddox has moved his hand, so it rests on the edge of the hospital bed. He slowly inches it closer to Piper’s lax one that’s at her side.

“You need to work on it too, babe,” he says. “You didn’t take care of yourself, and you ended up here.”

I can tell he wants to say more. He’s just as frustrated as Avery and me.

If she was sick, why the hell didn’t she go to the hospital? Why did it take Blair finding her and insisting she go?

You would do the same thing. You would neglect your health to focus on work.

Piper and I are so alike it’s disconcerting.

Yet it helps me understand her better.

She bites her lip as she looks between the three of us.

“Blair says you’ve been helping out at the rescue,” she murmurs. “You don’t have to do that just because of me.”

“It’s not because of you,” Avery says quickly. “Well, maybe partly,” he adds quickly, “but I genuinely like being there with the cats. I think we all do.”

Piper smiles softly at him, but her tired eyes give me a skeptical look. “Even you?” she deadpans.

I nod. “Even me.”

She quirks her lip. “I appreciate you coming here,” she says.

“I truly do. The help with cats means so much to me, too. But we’re going to have to move the rescue, and there is still a ton of planning to do.

We may even have to close down.” Her voice trails off, and a single tear escapes and slides down her cheek.

I catch Avery and Maddox staring at me out of the corner of my eye.

“What’s going on?” Piper asks.

Avery swallows and looks at me. “Do you want us to leave?”

“Avery, why would you leave?” Piper demands. “Poe, what is he talking about?”

Her sweet scent spikes with a hint of fear, and I’m done keeping my secret from her.

It’s probably not the best time or place to do this, especially after what I witnessed with her parents, but I won’t keep her in the dark about this.

I shake my head at Avery. “You can stay,” I say. “This affects all of us.”

Piper huffs. “Poe, what the hell?—”

“You don’t have to move,” I blurt. “You don’t have to move the rescue.”

“What?”

“Your rent won’t go up either.”

Her brow furrows. “Why?”

There’s no reason for me to be nervous, yet my throat tightens. “I bought the building,” I murmur.

The room falls silent.

Piper stares at me until I’m not sure she heard me.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I fucked up. Piper, I was an asshole to you since the first day we met,” I say.

The truth pours out of me, and she watches with wide eyes as I continue.

“I was rude to you. I was cold, and yet you helped us without a second thought when we had the cat colony. You make me happy—you make us so unbelievably fucking happy, but I hurt you, all because I was miserable at my job. I am so incredibly sorry for how I’ve been and how I treated you. ”

The room is silent except for the beeping of the monitors she’s attached to.

“You…bought…the building,” she repeats, breathless.

“Your new landlord was a selfish prick, and I’m tired of helping those types of people,” I snarl. “There’s no reason your rent should have increased that much. It was greed, plain and simple.”

Piper continues to stare at me in shock. “So, you bought an abandoned strip mall?” she repeats.

I shrug. “It’s not abandoned. It has Furs and Purrs.”

She shakes her head slowly. “You’re insane. That was an insane thing to do.”

“Maybe,” I admit.

“It’s also stupid,” she chastises, and I shrug.

“It was the right thing to do, after everything. It’s the least I can do, Piper.”

“Honestly, he owed you anyway,” Maddox adds, grinning.

Yet Piper appears uncomfortable. “What happens now? Does that mean I rent from you?”

I scoff. “No, not at all. I’d like to sign over at least a part of it to you and Blair, if not all of it. There are a million different ways to do this. But with the empty spaces, you could expand the rescue into the whole place, if you want.”

Her breath catches. “Why would you do that?”

Does she really not know?

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” I tell her.

Because I love you.

But I know dropping all that on her while she’s in the hospital would be too much.

“Does Blair know?” she asks.

“As of this morning. We can figure out all the logistics later, but I wanted to let you know that the rescue is safe.”

“Mister Whiskers, Alvin, they’re all going to be okay, Piper,” Avery says softly.

“Mari is going to want to kick our asses for a while,” Maddox adds, grinning. “But I’ll win her over again.”

“I…” she chokes out. “Are you sure?” she turns to me. “What do I owe you in return?”

“Nothing,” I state. “Again, I am sorry I signed those papers. I never want to see you like that again, Piper, if I can help it.”

I want to say more.

I never want to see my scent match in this state ever again.

Even if she doesn’t want me, I’ll always make sure she’s taken care of.

“You can’t buy my forgiveness back,” she whispers.

“I don’t expect your forgiveness,” I say.

Her forgiveness would never be given easily, and that’s not why I did this.

I’ll do every damn thing I can to make her happy again, and if I’m lucky, she’ll allow me back into her life.

“We just want to see you happy, Piper,” Avery says. “And to help you save all the cats you can.”

At that, she laughs weakly. “Really?”

“Fuck yes,” Maddox agrees. “Hell, you could also expand and put a dog rescue in that building, too. Who knows? The world is your oyster, sweetheart.”

She pauses and looks down at her lap. “I don’t want you to see me cry,” she huffs, wiping at her eyes. “It’s embarrassing. I’ve been a mess for the last few days.”

“Understandable,” Avery says softly. “But we’re here if you need—if you want us,” he corrects himself.

Piper would never need anybody; she’s made sure of that, due to her terrible parents.

I realize now how lucky we were that she chose to open up to us.

No, I doubt Piper would ever truly need us.

We’re the ones who need her .