“I’m sorry,” I quaked, closing my eyes. “I won’t do it again.”
“Do what again?” he asked, leaning back slightly.
“I didn’t mean it,” I said again, looking around the room that had somehow become woods in my mind. I glanced frantically over his shoulder. The cold cells merged with the image of trees in my head. “Are the hunters gone?”
“Sloane,” Rush breathed, stroking the side of my head. “You’re exhausted. I’m going to take you to bed.”
“Are you hurt?” I asked, running my hands over the planes of his face. His eyes were confused and sad, and I wanted them to be the bright, happy, blue they were before.
“I’m not hurt,” he told me, bending down to reach behind my knees. “Let’s go home, sweetheart.”
“Okay.” I rested my head on his shoulder. “Are you tired? I can walk by myself.”
“No.” The door to the dungeon opened for us. “I’m alright.”
He walked up the stairs to the main floor, dodged the pack members in our way, and brought me up to our wing. The bedroom door was propped open, waiting for our arrival. I was set on the corner of the bed before Rush took my shoes off. I sunk into the abundance of pillows, relishing in the fluffy texture.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised. “I’m going to get your water and something to eat.”
“Okay,” I called weakly. I blinked my eyes, and it seemed like Rush was back, a glass of water and a bowl of soup in his hands.
He allowed me to gulp most of the water down before he took the glass and set it on the nightstand. I snuggled back into the pillows, lazily opening my mouth. Rush blew on a spoonful of soup and tipped it into my mouth. After three more spoonful’s, my stomach ached, and I turned my head away.
“Come on, love.” He blew on another spoonful. “Just a few more.”
“No,” I moaned. “I can’t, it hurts.”
He dejectedly put down the bowl of soup and pulled the blankets over my body. “Okay,” he relented. “Just go to sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”
His words mushed in my brain, and I didn’t know when I fell asleep exactly. I woke up to the sound of different voices in our room. I squinted to see Rush and a woman wearing a white coat. Rush looked over as I moved and smiled.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” he greeted, sitting on the edge of the bed near me. He brushed my tangled hair away from me. “This is Viola, she’s a doctor. She’s great with the pups and moms, I asked her to take a look over you and our little peanut.”
I nodded and rubbed my eyes before sitting up in bed.
“It’s lovely to meet you, Luna.” Viola tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear. “I’m just going to do a quick check-up, a blood draw, and we’re going to get you on a diet to promote weight gain.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, flinging the sheet off my legs.
“I know.” She laughed slightly. “You probably already feel like you’ve been gaining weight, but your body needs a lot more calories now that you’re pregnant. This little pup will be ready to come out in about two and a half months, and they have a lot of growing to do in the meantime.”
Viola palpated my abdomen and checked my body broadly. True to her word, she drew a small vial of blood from my arm and left me a grocery list of things I should be eating. Rush looked over the list and went down to the kitchen to get me breakfast. He returned with a plate of scrambled eggs, salmon, and whole-wheat toast.
I finished the entire plate quickly, shocking both Rush and myself.
“I’m happy that you’ve got an appetite,” he admitted, lying in bed next to me.
“Me too,” I said, shoving the last bite of toast into my mouth. I licked the small amount of butter off my finger and wiped it on the leg of my pants.
The shower I took after eating revitalized me; it made me feel like a person again. Rush still hovered over me for most of the day, waiting for my legs to collapse or for me to get out of breath climbing the stairs.
I smiled secretively, loving the attention after so long without it.
Emily was given a temporary room in our wing, equipped with her own bathroom and closet, features she gushed she never had before.
After dinner, I sat down with Emily and Rush and proceeded to tell him Emily’s story. He was angry for a few minutes until I explained that she was abused by her family, the same people that were trying to hurt ours. I felt an instinct to protect her, be it my maternal hormones or the fact that I had been trapped in a cell for nearly a week, but I couldn’t leave her behind.
Rush sat in silence, staring at Emily, whose eyes wandered around the room.
“Fine,” he finally said. “She can stay.”
“Thank you,” Emily cried. “I swear you won’t regret this. I’ll be invisible, you won’t even notice me.”
Rush smiled, laughing at her panicky words. “I don’t want you to be invisible. You seem to be a good friend to Sloane, and after Kenna, she could really use another girl around here. I know she can’t be happy being surrounded by Beckett, Casey, and myself all the time.”
I hugged Emily’s small waist as she cried happily.
“What do we do about Harrison?” Rush’s voice broke up our sweet moment. Emily shivered at the sound of her father’s name.
“Well,” I unwound myself from Emily. “What were we planning on doing before?”
“Do we wait for him to make his move, or do we strike first?”
“Knowing my father,” Emily interjected quietly. “He doesn’t wait for anyone. If he’s planning to do something, especially after I helped all of you escape, he’ll probably
