“Okay. I won’t leave,” I whispered against the side of her head. She eased her grip on me and relaxed some. When her face was buried into my jacket, she started to cry again.
I felt helpless. Here my mate was crying in my arms, bleeding, and battered mentally and physically, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to take it all away.
Doc, an eagle shifter and the medic for our MC, followed closely behind me as soon as I walked into the clubhouse with Kendra. He followed me to my room and closed the door behind us once we were inside.
I laid Kendra down on my bed. She clung to me.
“Please, don’t go,” she begged.
“I’m not leaving, sweetheart. I’ll be right here,” I assured her. “Doc here is going to get you fixed up.”
Kendra peered over my shoulder at Doc. Her eyes widened, making me laugh.
“Don’t let the ugly bastard scare you,” I chuckled. “He may be ugly, but he’s one hell of a doc and like a big teddy bear. I promise.”
“Roark,” Kendra groaned. “I didn’t say he was ugly.”
I frowned at her words then looked over my shoulder at Doc. Doc held up his arms in a surrendering manner.
“Roark,” Kendra laughed slightly. “I was just surprised at how tall he is.”
I looked back at Kendra.
“So you aren’t choosing him over me?” I asked half-jokingly. Truthfully, I wanted to hear that she only wanted me and no one else.
“No,” she said softly. It wasn’t a declaration of her feelings for me, but at least, she didn’t choose the ugly, seven-foot barbarian over me. It was better than nothing.
Kendra flinched when I touched her cheek.
“Sorry,” I whispered. She nodded but said nothing. Her face was swollen. Dried blood was from her nose down to her chin. Her eyes were starting to puff from both crying and being banged up.
Anger rose in me like lava in an erupting volcano. I wanted the heads of the men, who did this to her.
“Doc, get her fixed up,” I seethed under my breath then stood up. Kendra grabbed my hand and winced from the pain she felt from the movement.
“Don’t go.” Her words were faint. “Please.”
“I’m not leaving you,” I smiled. “I’m going to be right here while Doc takes care of you. You’re in good hands. I promise.”
“Okay. I trust you,” she said, releasing my hand.
I trust you, I repeated to myself. A cheesy-ass smile broke across my face. Doc looked at me, smiled, and then tended to Kendra.
When Kendra’s heart began to beat at a normal pace, and I could tell she was comfortable with Doc, I dug my phone out of my pocket. I wanted to see how Banshee was doing with finding out information. Knowing her, she probably already did what needed to be done and was now sitting at the bar slamming down shots.
I sent Banshee a text message that read: Status?
She replied back almost instantly. We’re currently at an airport. These fuckers are leaving the country for a few days.
My nostrils flared with my heavy breaths. There was no way in hell I wanted those fuckers to leave the country. Their boss was probably sending them on a mini-vacay to have them lay low.
How many leaving? I replied.
How many ARE leaving? Banshee corrected me, making me roll my eyes and groan. Now wasn’t the time for a fucking English lesson.
Fuck the English classes! How many are getting on the fucking plane! I grunted with each letter I pressed on my phone. Doc glanced over his shoulder at me then returned to tending to Kendra.
That should be a question mark… And five are on the plane heading to Costa Rica.
“Son of a bitch,” I slammed my phone down on the nightstand.
313
Kendra
Waking in Roark’s arms was comforting and I sighed as I turned over and nuzzled into his chest. He chuckled and I opened my eyes as I lifted my head to give him a small smile.
“I had the worst dream,” I sighed as I looked at him and stretched a bit without moving out of his arms. There was something about his comfort – I felt anxious from the nightmare.
“Kendra...” Roark’s voice pulled my thoughts back to him and he sighed as his hand rose and caressed along my jaw. “You don’t even understand how special you are to me.”
Giggling – my nerves forcing out the sound – I rolled from him and sat up in the bed to look around. My body ached in strange places but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“This is just some fun Roark,” I sassed and moved to get off the bed.
“No.” The word stopped me as much as the hand on my arm.
I turned to look back at him and something told me I wouldn’t like the conversation we were about to have.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. You have to understand how much you mean to me before I continue.”
“You’re scaring me, Roark,” I whispered as my mind filled with scenes from my nightmare.
Roark shook his head sadly. “It wasn’t a dream, Kendra. You saw the true me. Your garage was vandalized and… you were…” His voice choked up and he rolled onto his back. His gaze remained locked on me.
“My ribs…” my hand rose and touched where I remembered the pain.
“Doc helped you heal,” Roark offered when I didn’t continue.
“He was real?” I gasped as thoughts of the giant of a man with a gentle voice and even gentler hands rose in my mind.
“Afraid so,” Roark chuckled. However, he quickly sobered. “Kendra… I, uh, have no idea how to even begin this conversation. You went through so much in such a short time. Do you… have any questions?” Since I met him, Roark had never seemed unsure of anything but laying there he seemed almost terrified.
As my memories sorted themselves out, I knew I should be freaking out. If not about the fact that Roark could shift into a cat, then definitely about
