The Last Protector

Chapter 6

Zain pov

I followed Jaiden into the bedroom, curiosity flowing through me. Did she really give birth to a chicken? I probably would have been told this, right? Grayson said Rhys looked cute. He probably would have mentioned that it was a baby chicken, right? “What is so special about him? Is he a baby chicken? A unicorn? Damn, Lexi must be torn up.” I muttered, Ryan laughing in my mind.

‘Zain! You need a filter! A filter!’ Ryan yelled at me, barking out a laugh as Jaiden turned to look at me, a disturbed look on his face.

‘Why? It makes life so much more interesting without a filter.’ I said with a shrug.

“Rhys is a person, Zain. A tiny baby person, not a chicken or a unicorn.” Jaiden said, shaking his head at me as if I was an i***t. He chuckled, patting me on the back as he led me into the room. Lexi was laying on the bed looking exhausted, her light brown hair was tied loosely behind her as the strands stuck to her face. Even still, she was smiling, and I could see something different about her. There was a glow to her, a brightness that wasn’t there before, a sense of calm and maturity that she didn’t have before.

Motherhood looked good on her, and I ignored the others as I walked to her, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. “How are you feeling?” I asked her with a soft smile.

She sighed, giving an exhausted laugh as she smiled at me. “I feel sore in very weird places, I’m not going to lie,” she said with a chuckle. “And I feel like I got ran over by a car, but, I feel amazing.” She said with a bubble of a laugh, a grin spreading out on her lips. Jaiden came over to me, clapping me on the back as I looked at him.

“She said she feels sore in very weird places, bro. Looks like you’re not doing it right,” I teased him as Lexi punched me in the side.

“Just wait, Lexi. Wait till you see what he got for Rhys,” Jaiden said with a chuckle, his eyes narrowed at me.

“Tattletale,” I muttered, rolling my eyes at him.

“Zain! Come look at Rhys!” Adaline said, a warm smile on her face as she and Colette turned to look at me. I shivered, feeling the power of being surrounded by three protectors in one room. It was stifling as I took a deep breath, leaving Jaiden and Lexi and walking over to Adaline and the others.

Colette was putting up her tattoo equipment, the sharp smell of the green soap in the air as she threw her gloves away. Axel was holding the baby in his arms as his hand glowed. “He’ll be awake soon, we put him to sleep for the tattoo,” Axel said as Adaline smiled at me. She was watching Axel like a hawk, though I could see by the smile in her eyes that she trusted him, and she knew he was ready to be a true healer without her.

“Can I hold the baby?” I asked, turning around to look at Lexi and Jaiden as the baby started to make squirming noises.

“Go for it, bro,” Jaiden said, kissing the side of Lexi’s head as he sat down next to her on the bed.

Lexi glared at me, and I chuckled, noticing she was holding the grocery bag. “I’m watching you,” she said, holding up the tiny spatula in her hand and waving it at me threateningly at me.

I chuckled as Axel handed me the baby, and it only took a few seconds for my heart to melt. I noticed instantly he had Jaiden’s eye shape and the small little mole under his right eye. I was starting to think he’d look more like Jaiden except with Lexi’s light brown hair, until he opened his eyes. He cooed at me as his milky sky blue eyes peered at me and I grinned, chuckling as he reached out his little hand to me. I gave him my finger and he gripped it tightly.

‘He’s so cute!’ Ryan exclaimed, cooing at him.

I nodded in agreement, smiling at him. He was so tiny, and he fit in the crook of my arm as I supported his head and held him gently against me. “So what was this surprise you had for me?” I asked, staring at baby Rhys.

I could see Adaline moving beside me as she came closer. She slowly unwrapped him from the swaddled blanket he was in, and gently turned him in my arms onto his back. I frowned, confused, as she started to undo the side of his diaper and pulling it open. ‘Are they showing me his butt? What the hell?’ I asked, confused.

Before Ryan could reply to this I saw it, small and bright, sitting on his left butt cheek. “He’s a true healer?” I asked, excitement in my voice. As Adaline fixed his diaper.

I flipped him gently back onto his back as Adaline clapped, a giggle in her voice. “Yes! We’ll be the first pack in all generation to have four true healers.” She said with a smile.

I nodded at her, not stating the obvious. The last few months were hard on Ginger, and we all knew she didn’t have much longer. She wanted to move into a house next to Lexi and Jaiden so she could be with him for the rest of her life, since it wasn’t much longer. She wasn’t here now, she’s been placed on bed rest. “So, what do you think?” Jaiden asked, making me turn to look at him.

I grinned, and I could feel Ryan smacking himself in the face, knowing what was to come. “It’s on his butt.” I said with a grin.

“It’s a little lower, like his upper thigh,” Lexi tried to defend as I shook my head at her.

“No, it’s definitely his butt,” Jaiden said with a grin, smiling as Lexi punched him.

‘Don’t you do it, Zain,’ Ryan warned me as I grinned.

‘Do what? I’m completely innocent.’ I said with a smile.

‘You know you’re not innocent,’ Ryan replied to me.

I grinned at Jaiden and Lexi, rocking baby Rhys slowly as I started to softly sing. “Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone, without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own,” I sang with a smile on my face. Lexi interrupted me by throwing her pillow at me, and I caught it easily as I supported Rhys with my other arm. “Now now, don’t hurt the baby,” I scolded her with a grin.

“I’m going to murder him one day, I swear to the Goddess,” she muttered as Jaiden laughed. My phone went off and I handed Rhys to Jaiden, pulling it out of my pocket.

“Hello?” I asked, confused. I didn’t recognize this number.

“Hey, Zain, it’s Florin. I got your number from Grayson’s phone.” He said.

An alarm filled through me as I walked out the door into the doorway, Tate walking past me into the bedroom. “Is he okay? What’s going on?” I asked him, a growl in my voice.

‘Careful, showing your territorial side. He’s not ours, Zain.’ Ryan warned me.

“He fainted, it looks like he was on his way to the nurse's office. I don’t know what happened, I just saw him slumped against the wall and the teacher carried him to the nurse. He told me earlier you were coming to get him, so I didn’t know what you wanted me to do.” He said to me.

I could hear the indifference in his voice as I opened the bedroom door. “I’m going to go get Grayson, guys. Be back in a few hours.” I called to them as Tate played with the baby. “I’ll be there soon,” I said, hanging up the phone. I took a second to save Florin’s number in case I’d ever need it, before running out of the house.

‘What the hell happened for him to faint?’ I wondered as I jumped into the car and started to drive away.

‘I don’t know, I hope he’s alright,’ Ryan whimpered.

I arrived at the school an hour before three, and I let out a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t run into many people since class was still going. The security officer let me in when I told him why I was here, handing me a visitor pass and letting me through the sensor. I walked cautiously, trying to avoid people and classrooms, though I couldn’t help the few that were out going to the bathroom seeing me. I ran into one of my old basketball teammates and a group of girls that were all friends in different classrooms going to the bathroom at the same time to gossip. That kind of sucked, Carrie would find out I was here and I’d have to listen to her bullshit for not visiting her. I’d probably have to come to have lunch with her tomorrow now to keep her happy.

I walked into the nurse's office and shut the door, the older man lifting his head from his desk as I walked in. “I’m here to get my best friend, Grayson West,” I said as the older man frowned.

“Oh, I remember you! Of course. You’re the one who was always coming in for bloody noses and broken fingers.” He said with a chuckle. I grinned, letting out a little chuckle. “He’s in the first bed. There’s no one else in here right now.” He said to me. I thanked him and walked past the curtains to the beds, finding Grayson easily. He was laying there on his back asleep, his face pale as beads of sweat sat on his forehead. I sighed in relief as he breathed in and out. “Mr. Thomas? I’ve been paged to the office, will you give some aspirin to Mr. West when you get him up? I heard about his memory loss, and I was on the phone with his therapist, she’s in his file in case of emergencies. She said it might have been a side effect of his injury and when he wakes up his head will be pounding.” I nodded, thanking him as he handed me the pill bottle and the bottles of water.

I stared down at it with a snicker, remembering when I had to use it before I got my wolf. He walked out of the room and shut the door with a soft click as I walked closer to Grayson. I placed the pills and the water on the side table and sat down next to him on the bed, staring down at him. He was on the left side of me. I lifted my left hand and brushed my fingers through his hair with a sigh, closing my eyes for a minute.

“It’s like no matter how hard I try to stay away, it all just comes back again, the moment I’m close to you,” I whispered, sighing. Ryan whimpered as I poked his cheek, sighing. “Can’t you just remember?” I whispered.

‘It would be nice if he did,’ Ryan sighed.

I frowned, resting my hand against his cheek. ‘No, it wouldn’t matter. Because I failed. I wasn’t there for him when he needed me, I…I’m one of the ones to blame for this. I don’t deserve him. Even if he does remember, I don’t deserve him.’ I said with a sigh, closing my eyes.

Suddenly I gasped, my eyes opening wide as I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. Ryan whimpered and twisted in my mind, his teeth bared in frustration.

Almost instantly the pain was laced with pleasure, a vampire bite. “Grayson,” I moaned softly. His hand was lifted and holding onto my wrist with a vice grip, his eyes glaring at me, but they were unseeing, a reddish tint to his normally brown eyes. I wasn’t…I wasn’t even sure he was awake. Pleasure swirled inside me and I moaned again, feeling the drain flow through me as I laid my head on his chest, shuddering. I was uncomfortably hard, unsure what to do.

‘Rip your arm away from him! Kill him!’ Ryan howled, his agitation crippling him, frustrating him. The werewolf gene was strong, the aversion to vampires, it was overpowering. If it was anyone else, I wouldn’t have been able to hold Ryan back.

Even still, I could stop him, I could overpower him because, ‘It’s Grayson,’ I whispered, shuddering as another wave of pleasure rippled through me. All I could do was stare at him, his unseeing eyes staring through me.

‘He’s killing us,’ Ryan whimpered, curling up in a little ball in my mind.

‘But…I deserve it,’ I whispered, watching him. Finally, he pulled his teeth out of me, leaving behind the absence of him, making me whimper with the loss of him. His tongue darted out and licked the wound closed, already healing from my werewolf genes, and almost instantly his hand fell back down and his head slumped down, his eyes closing again as he fell back into a deep sleep. “What the f**k was that?” I asked softly, letting out a breathless sigh as I sat back up.

I felt dizzy, but I could feel my genes healing myself, the blood loss replenishing as I took each new breath. ‘Is he a vampire?’ Ryan asked, sounding breathless.

“I’m not…I’m not sure.” I whispered, confused. How could he be? He could walk in the sun, and he’s gone months without drinking blood, right? I didn’t know what to think as I stared down at him, his face a more natural coloring. I lifted my left hand, looking at the puncture mark, two little dots, healed scars.

‘What the f**k…’ Ryan whimpered, confused.

I shook my head, taking a deep breath as I stared at Grayson’s sleeping face. “I don’t know, but I’m not telling him. He didn’t seem like he was even conscious, I don’t want to confuse him more than he already is.” I said, running my fingers through my hair as my body slowly started to calm down. “Looks like I need to get ahold of Jasper,” I said with a groan. I didn’t want to have to deal with that d**k again.