Wolf, page 17
💕💕💕💕💕
I hobbled into Reed Security, Alec and Florrie propping me up on either side. I was in so much fucking pain, but I refused to show it. As far as Cap and Chance’s team knew, I was shot in the line of duty. I had been very unlucky. Extremely unlucky.
“You really need to go see Kate,” Cap said for the fifteenth time since we headed home.
“No, I don’t. Just let Hunter check me out.”
“He’s not here. You’ll have to see Rocco.”
“Whatever.”
Cap sighed and led the way down to the med room. For some reason, everyone followed, which meant they thought there was a story to dig up. I looked to Alec and hoped he read my eyes, telling him to keep his fucking mouth shut.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t just fucking shoot them,” Chance said. “They deserved it.”
Alec sighed next to me. He was tired of trying to explain his decisions. “Because we were on private property. There were three of us showing up armed, and he was claiming that we weren’t supposed to be there. Tell me how the fuck I would explain that to Sean.”
“Cap would have gotten you out of it,” Jackson said.
“No, I wouldn’t have,” Cap retorted. “I can’t just make shit up so that you guys don’t get in trouble. We do have to obey the law, you know.”
“Since when?” Gabe asked. “It seems like the last few years, we’ve been playing pretty fast and loose with the law.”
“Yeah, well, that stops now. Alec was right. There was no way to handle that on private property without huge blowback. The company would have been ruined and we’re just getting back on our feet.”
Cap swung the door open and walked inside where Rocco was waiting. Alec and Florrie flung me on the table not so gently. I gasped in pain, but they fucking laughed at me.
“How the fuck did you get shot three times and Florrie and Alec are okay?” Rocco asked, stepping over to examine my wounds.
“Bad luck.”
He took scissors to my pants, shredding them to get to my leg wound. Then he pulled my boot off and the wrap that Florrie had made. He examined both closely and then looked up at me suspiciously. I glanced at Alec, nervous now that he was examining me up close.
“This wound is close range. Very close range. How did he get the drop on you?”
“Uh…it was dark?”
He raised an eyebrow and stood tall, crossing his arms over his chest. I started sweating bullets. I was usually pretty good at lying, but there was something about being surrounded by your teammates and trying to lie to all of them that made me nervous as fuck. I didn’t know what to say, how to explain that I had been shot up close without making myself sound like a jackass. So, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“It was Alec.”
“What?” Cap said, stepping forward, staring me down. “How the hell did Alec shoot you?” I looked to Alec, but Cap snapped his fingers in my face. “Don’t look at him. If your teammate is hurting you in some way, then you need to tell me.”
Well, shit. Now that just made me sound like a fucking cry baby. Oh, my teammate hurt me. Please, Cap. Come and save the day!
“Uh, it wasn’t like that.” Crap, I had to talk my way out of this fast. “Uh…see, the thing is….” Think. Think. Think! “It was a…”
Alec was making some motion behind Cap’s back, but I was never very good at charades. I squinted to try and make out what he was doing, but then Cap turned around and I blurted out the first thing that came to mine.
“It was a goat!”
Cap turned back to me and stared at me like I was an idiot. Of course, I was. Alec shot me because of a goat?
“See, those hillbilly neighbors were always letting their animals out.”
“And?” Cap asked.
“And…one of the goats ran over to us and…it was attacking me.”
“Attacking you where?” Rocco asked. “Did it bite you?”
“Uh….yeah.”
“Where? I need to see. Animal bites can be dangerous if they’re not looked at.”
I choked, unable to say anything. How the fuck was I gonna get out of this one. Florrie stepped forward quickly, coming to save the day.
“It bit his dick.”
Okay, that was not helpful.
Rocco grimaced, but motioned for me to remove my underwear.
“No. I’m good.”
“If a goat bit your dick, you’re not good.”
“Of course not,” I laughed slightly. “Only, Alec scared it off before it could do any real damage.”
“I still need to see,” Rocco insisted.
“I’ll make an appointment with my doctor.” I motioned Rocco in closer. “Please, I don’t need everyone seeing this.”
He nodded and backed off.
“I still don’t understand,” Cap said. “How did you manage to shoot him three times?”
“I only shot him twice,” Alec corrected. “And I couldn’t help it. The goat kept moving around.”
“You were right the fuck in front of it,” Rocco said. “By the look of these gunshot wounds, you were standing right in front of Craig. How the fuck did you miss the goat?”
“Bad shot?” Alec said hesitantly.
“Bad shot. That’s all you have to say after you shot your teammate?” Cap growled.
“I couldn’t help it. I freaked out,” Alec shouted. “The goat was attacking him, biting off his junk. And the whole time, Craig was crying out for his mom, begging me to end his pain. I swear, I could feel the goat biting my own dick.” Alec came over to me and gripped my hand in his, winking at me just before he contorted his face in pain. “I swear, Craig. I just wanted it to end. I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me,” he pleaded.
I internally rolled my eyes. There was no way that everyone was believing his little show. It was so out of character for him. He never pleaded to anyone but Florrie, and there’s no fucking way he would ever be down on his knees for me.
“It’s alright,” I croaked out, trying not to swallow my own tongue.
“Well, because of Alec’s horrible aim, you’re gonna need surgery on that foot," Rocco said.
“Rocco can handle transport with Alec and Florrie.” Cap turned to Alec with a menacing glare. “You get to stay with your teammate until he’s out of surgery since you had the brilliant idea to shoot him instead of the goat.” He waved everyone else toward the door. “Everyone else out.”
Cap shooed everyone out of the room, leaving me with my teammates and Rocco. When the door shut, Rocco turned back to me with a raised eyebrow.
“A goat, huh?”
I looked Rocco dead in the eye and lied. “Scary motherfucker.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Reese
I was dead asleep when a noise woke me up. I sat up and listened, but it was silent. It was probably Craig coming back from his job. I laid back down, but a loud bang had me jolting out of bed and grabbing my trusty bat. The same bat that I hit Craig with. I tightened my grip and took a step toward the door. This was ridiculous. I was on Reed Security property. I was supposed to be safe.
A light flicked on in the other room and my breath stalled in my chest. Not knowing what else to do, I called out to the other person.
“Hello? Who’s there?”
“It’s Alec!”
I sighed and dropped the bat. These guys were going to kill me. I walked into the other room where Alec was loading up a bag.
“What are you doing here? And how did you get in?”
“Uh…” He set down the bag and eyed me warily.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen with Craig?”
“Sort of.”
“Sort of, as in something bad?”
“Well, it’s not too bad. I mean, he was shot three times-” I gasped and took a step back.
“No, no,” he rushed on. “He’s fine. He’s just in surgery right now.”
“Surgery?” I squeaked. “Oh my God! How can that not be bad?”
“It’s on his foot. I swear, he’s fine.”
“But you said he was shot three times. How can that be fine?” I said hysterically. I was losing it. How could I be losing it? I should be glad. My stalker was in the hospital. Maybe he would die and I would never be stalked again. I would never see that sexy body or feel his big dick inside me. Oh God, I was so messed up. Was I really wishing my stalker dead? Was I really worried that I wasn’t going to have sex with him again?
“I was just going to put a bag together for him. I don’t…I don’t suppose you want to go with me.”
“Where?”
“To the hospital. It would mean a lot to him.”
“It would make him more delusional than he already is.”
He sighed and stuffed some more things in a bag. “Do you know where his clothes are?”
“Um…yeah. I think they’re in the bedroom. I haven’t really seen where everything is.”
I led him back to the bedroom and went straight for the closet. Sure enough, there were some boxes of clothes that hadn’t been unpacked.
“Thanks. I’ll just grab his stuff and I’ll be out of your hair.”
He quickly packed while I went back and forth in my head about going with Alec to the hospital. On the one hand, it was completely ludicrous to even consider going. He was my stalker and it would only add to the idea that we were staying together. On the other hand, I was his wife, whether I liked it or not. I should be there when he needed me. Even if it was only to make sure that he got the treatment that he needed.
Alec walked out of the closet and headed for the front door. I walked behind him, still trying to decide what to do. He opened the door and walked outside. Shit.
“Wait!” He turned and looked at me questioningly. “I’ll go with you.”
“I’ll be waiting in the truck.”
“Crap,” I grumbled to myself, racing back to my bedroom to throw on some clothes. This was completely idiotic of me. I could end it all now. He could die in the hospital and I would finally be rid of him, but I just couldn’t allow myself not to see him one last time. This was my opportunity to show him that his life just wasn’t for me.
I ran out to the truck after getting dressed and slammed the door behind me. Alec stared at me for a minute.
“What?”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I don’t get it. You were just trying to convince me to come and now you don’t want me to?”
“I just don’t want him getting hurt. And I have a feeling that you’re going to use this to end things.”
I buckled my belt and sat back. I wasn’t going to answer anything right now.
“So, how did he get shot, anyway?”
Alec cleared his throat and threw the truck in reverse. “Um…goat.”
“He got shot by a goat?”
“No, there was a goat and…never mind.”
We arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later. Surprisingly, I was actually nervous. Not about seeing Craig, but because he was injured and I was scared to see how he was.
“He’s not out of surgery yet.” Florrie stood from her seat in the waiting room and was staring at me in shock.
“What? I’m his wife. It would be weird if I wasn’t here.”
“It’s weird anyway you look at it,” Florrie mumbled.
We all took our seats and waited. It was irritating. Alec and Florrie were sitting there like they didn’t have a care in the world. Like this was all perfectly normal. But the longer I sat there, the more I felt concern and worry. I stood and started to pace the waiting area. How long did surgery take, anyway?
“Reese,” Alec said as he stood. “Just sit down. You’re wearing a hole in the floor.”
I snorted. “Yeah, like that’s actually possible. How can you just sit there? I mean, I’ve known him all of five minutes and I’m going out of my mind here. Aren’t you worried?”
“No,” Alec said bluntly.
“What do you mean? That’s your teammate.”
“Yeah, and I also know where I shot him.”
“You what?” I screeched.
“I mean, where he was shot. It was an accident. The goat and…it was dark.”
“The goat? What are you talking about?”
“Look, the point is, he’s not seriously injured. You’ll see when he gets out of surgery.”
“Right. Sure. I’ll just wait calmly and pretend like my husband isn’t in there, possibly fighting for his life! Surgery is dangerous. Anything can happen!”
“Careful,” Florrie said. “You’re starting to sound like you care.”
I sat down and didn’t say anything the rest of the wait.
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“Oh my God!”
I rushed over to the bed and stared down at my husband. God, it was weird saying that. It was strange because he looked perfectly normal. Maybe Alec was right. Maybe it hadn’t been serious.
He opened his eyes and a drugged up smile filled his face. “Reese! My beautiful peanut butter cup, how are you?”
“Better than you. How the hell did you get shot?”
I gripped his hand, chastising myself internally. Holding his hand wouldn’t lessen his attachment to me. But I’d think about that later.
“I ain’t too bad.” He motioned me forward and then cupped his hand like he was going to whisper in my ear. “Only one of these bullets is from the bad guy.”
“Where are the other ones from?”
He grinned real big. “It’s a secret. I can’t tell you or you’d know that Alec shot me so that you would want to take care of me and realize how much you love me.”
I gasped and shoved Alec. “Tell me you didn’t actually do that!”
“Hey, he was going on about getting injured on the job so that he could win you back. But there was no danger, so I provided it for him.”
I stared in stunned silence at my injured spouse, then stepped back from him in disbelief. “Why would you do that? Why would he think that would work?”
“Because that’s what the ladies told him to do.” Alec turned for the door and walked out. I sat on the edge of the bed and wondered what the hell I was going to do.
“Craig, you are the stupidest man I have ever met. Why would you think that getting shot would make me want you?”
“Knight came back from the dead and Kate took him back. Sounded like a good idea to me.” He laid back and smiled dazedly at me. “You’re so pretty, my little pixie. I’m the luckiest man in the whole fucking world.”
Alec walked back in and tossed a donut on the table. “He needs to sit on that.”
“Why?”
“Because he was shot in the ass.” I glared at him and he held up his hands. “I didn’t do it. I just shot him in the leg and the foot. All easily recoverable.”
“That’s besides the point. Who goes around shooting their friends? You know, the whole lot of you are insane!”
“Not insane, just one hundred percent in love with you,” Craig said, then promptly passed out.
“What the hell am I supposed to do? I’m a teacher. I can’t be taking care of him.”
“He’s fine. It’s not like you have to watch him. I mean, help him out around the house, but he should be fine during the day. You can swing by on your lunch break, right?”
“No. I don’t have enough time to drive home and take care of him. Besides, you’re his teammate. You take care of him.”
“But, you’re his wife.”
“Only because he tricked me! I don’t actually want to be married to him.”
Alec stepped closer and looked down at Craig. “You know, he’s a good guy and he’s only so protective of you because he loves you. I know he’s being a bit insane, but he’s a good guy.”
“So everyone keeps telling me. But why does that mean that I have to just drop my life and suddenly be with him. I didn’t ask to be stalked and I don’t want to be married. I have a very set idea of what I want in a husband and he’s not it.”
“What do you want?”
“What?”
“You want a guy that’ll walk away when you’re in trouble? Or maybe you want someone that only cares about himself. Maybe you need someone that would be afraid to tell you he loves you. Or a guy that can’t afford to take care of you. If that’s what you want, then you’re right. Craig definitely isn’t the guy for you, because he’s the type of guy that would walk through hell to get to you and make you happy.”
He turned and walked to the door, but stopped before leaving. “I’ll come get him tomorrow and bring him home.”
I stared down at Craig and wondered what the hell I was going to do. I didn’t know anything about taking care of someone. Why weren’t his teammates taking care of him? Why wasn’t Sebastian here? I dropped my head in my hands and sighed. I didn’t ask for any of this, but I was stuck right in the middle of it.
I stayed for another hour before I left. I had to call Brooke to come get me since Alec left me at the hospital. I didn’t even bother to talk on the way home, and when I walked in the door, I slumped down on the couch and didn’t move the rest of the night. I was just too tired to move.
💕💕💕💕💕
I woke with the feeling of being on fire. I was so fucking hot and I could feel sweat slipping between my breasts. My mouth was dry and my whole body ached. What the hell was wrong with me? I opened my eyes and groaned. I wished that I had my nice, warm bed.
“Shhh. It’s okay,” Craig murmured. I felt something cool touch my forehead. It felt like heaven. “I’m here and I’ll take care of you.”
“Hmm?”
“You’re burning up. We need to get you to bed.”
I groaned and shoved his hand away. It was too bright here and as uncomfortable as I was, it was better than getting up and moving. He shoved his hands under me and that’s when my brain came online. He couldn’t carry me in the other room. He was shot up. How did he even get here?
“Stop. I can do it,” I mumbled. I shoved myself into a sitting position, but that’s as far as I made it. My body just didn’t want to go any further. “I’ll just stay here.”
