Talons

Chapter 128: The Screwed

Colton's POV

My mate doesn't know what Marcy mind-linked me, which is why she came to the woman's defense, and while part of me wants to tell her, I'm too embarrassed.

Rhea says she has never been with anyone, while I have been with more women than I can remember. s*x has always come easy for me because of my title, and there was never a time when I thought about how my actions would potentially affect my future mate.

"We don't need to link Mandy, just let a professional do it." My mate fixes her eyes on mine and I swear there is pain in them, and not from her injury. She then hits me with a one two that shattered my heart into pieces.

"Colton, can you just close your eyes and remember why you've always hated me. Maybe it will make it easier for you to take it out? If not, let me do it myself."

My eyes water, but I stop myself from crying because even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to tell Rhea why I treated her the way I did. She was always quiet, she kept mostly to herself, and truthfully there was no reason for my behavior. I just did it because I could.

"Babe, please don't force me to do this." My mate shuts her eyes tightly before opening her hand palm up.

"Give me the tools I will need," she says.

Rhea's POV

With an attitude, the nurse places the surgical forceps into my hand, and I gently wipe the area of my foot with iodine before positioning the tool in place.

I have no idea what I'm doing, but it can't be any worse than figuring out how to relocate your own arm at ten.

"On three," I say more to myself than anyone, but Colton nods as he leans closer to me. "One, two…" I pause, unable to continue.

"What happened to three?" Colton asks, and I shoot him a look that makes him put his hands up in surrender. I try the count again, but three didn't show up this time either. 

Once more I make it to the number two before Colton makes a comment about ‘being strong’ and 'pushing through,' which sends me over the edge.

"Since you think it's so easy you try it." I hand him the forceps, and he first looks at me in concern before his face takes on an expression of determination.

"One, two, th-" I shut my eyes tightly, expecting to feel pain, but Colton chickens out.

"What happened?" I ask, genuinely surprised he couldn’t pull it.

“I can’t do this. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You never had a problem in the past.” Colton’s eyes flash with some unknown emotion before he gently places the forceps onto the surface near us.

“Mandy will be here soon.”

Just like Colton said, Mandy comes barging into the infirmary, but she isn’t alone. Miracle and Holly are with her, and both look angry.

They start accusing Colton, and I shock them when I interrupt them with the truth, but sadly, Colton takes their heat again. They are aware of why my boots were wet, so in their minds, he basically stabbed me.

“Okay, I’m a d*ck, but right now, my mate needs someone to take the screw out of her foot.”

“Why isn’t the nurse doing it?” Miracle asks, and while Holly and Mandy think the answer should be obvious, my cousin looks to me for understanding.

“She doesn’t like me, and I don’t want her treating me.”

“Why? Does she even know you?” Miracle knows that I have never been the sort to be rude or mean to anyone without reason, so when there is a person who ‘doesn’t’ like me, she automatically assumes it's because they haven’t gotten to know me.

“No, I don’t think she and I have ever met, but she’s one of Colton’s girlfriends,” I say flatly, and Miracle makes a face that doesn’t look good at all.

“And she doesn’t like you because...?” My cousin waits for a response, but I point to the nurse who now looks uncomfortable. “Speak,” Miracle says, and I can tell that a command was behind her tone.

“It’s not that I don’t like her, I just don’t think she’s qualified to lead this pack. She’s weak and-” Miracle cuts the nurse off, stepping toward the woman in a way that I know means trouble, and I gesture for Holly to block her path.

I don’t know what Miracle was trying to prove, but when she realized that no one was going to let her beat up the poor nurse, she reached for my injury and pulled the screw free.

“Oh,” I say, pulling the foot up to look at the wound. “It wasn’t that bad.” Miracle throws the bloody screw at the nurse before pushing closer to her, and my relief is soon replaced with another sort of worry. 

“And you’re qualified?” Miracle questions. “Being a luna has nothing to do with opening your legs to any male with the title of alpha and what you call weakness is actually the strength to say I’m scared.”

I have never heard my cousin insult someone with something that wasn’t extremely immature, but then again, I have only ever seen her really argue with Raven, who is family. 

Although we have all fought each other, we have never tried to hurt one another, because at the end of the day, we weren’t actually enemies. I’m now curious about what my cousin is actually capable of, and based on the trembling of the nurse, she’s strong for a human half breed.

“That's enough,” I say, snapping Miracle's attention back toward me. I take an experimental step on my wounded foot, and it doesn’t hurt as much as I thought, so I bandage the injury and prepare to walk.

“Don’t bully her,” I say to my cousin. “Colton is as much to blame for her behavior as she is.”

“B…” Colton says. “That isn’t fair. I’m not the only man who's slept with her, and-”

“Did Dolton?” Miracle asks abruptly, and while Colton didn’t say anything, he took too long to answer, and my cousin flew out of the room.

“Sh*t,” Colton says, chasing after my cousin, and unable to sit back and watch, I chase them too, much to the annoyance of Mandy and Holly who want me to have my wound properly wrapped.

I have literally had hundreds of puncture wounds all over my body in the past, so this is really not that serious. Few people know of the rogue attack incident, or how close I came to death after it, but if they had seen me back then, they would understand. Like Miracle said, I was just afraid of the screw, not actually hurt.

I catch up to Colton, who is arguing with Miracle and while I don’t have any intention of defending Colton, the man is right.

“Miracle,” I say. “Tu sabe.” (You know,) My cousin has to know that she will experience what I’m experiencing now when she returns with Dolton. The key difference is that it will hurt her, whereas I’m unaffected.

“How long was he here before we met, B? A day, two? That means that instead of coming to find me, he was sleeping around?” I feel for my cousin, who I have never seen look as hurt as she does.

“Give him a chance to explain. He isn’t Colton and like his brother said, he doesn’t know and didn’t want to lie to you.”

“You’re defending him now?” Miracle whines, and I hobble over to her before pulling her into a tight hug.

“No, I just don’t like seeing you this way. You have every right to be hurt, but not over a man who I don’t think deserves you.” Miracle’s lip quivers and she shocks me by hugging me tighter. “Come on Miracle, don’t let the bond break you. You are one of the strongest women I know, and you still have time to reject him if you aren’t comfortable.”

“Reject who?” I hear, but I ignore Dolton to help my cousin hide her tear-streaked face. “Miracle? What happened? Talk to me Hun.” I look to my cousin for permission to speak on her behalf and she nods at me.

“Dolton, how long were you here before you met Miracle?”

Colton’s POV

I watched my brother's face shift between shock, fear, and sadness before he responded. I wasn’t shocked when he told the truth, but I was shocked by how Miracle reacted.

I’ve only ever seen the girl laughing or joking, and to see her like this now makes me wonder how I would feel if Rhea was the one who slept around and not me.

“Miracle, I don’t know how we got onto this conversation, but please don’t let these two come between us. I was an i***t for not looking for you first.” My brother glares at me as I mind-link him details about what led up to what he’s seeing, and he gives me the finger. “Hun, if you ask me to, I will kill every woman I’ve been with, starting from whoever made you feel this way, but this is why we need to go home; so I can get those ugly things done.”

“You don’t even want to have s*x with me,” the woman says. “How am I supposed to believe you?” My brother rubs his face, and I already know he hasn’t been completely honest with his mate.

“Miracle, please listen to me. My pack follows a tradition. I can't touch you until after our marking ceremony.” Horror can be seen on the face of both Rhea and Miracle, who must have some idea what that entails. Holly and Mandy already know, so they aren’t as affected.

“You want me to lose my virginity in front of your whole pack?” Miracle asks, and I can’t help but to snort, making my brother glare at me again.

“No, that’s not what it-”

“Then what is it?” Rhea asks, and I can tell Dolton is annoyed by her outburst.

“Not that it's any of your business, but I will publicly mark my mate, we will complete mating in a nearby room, and we will take new oaths together.” 

“You mean tent,” Holly adds, and Miracle literally runs.

Dolton goes to give chase, but Rhea throws her body on the ground and in his way, trying to get him to fall, but he only stumbled before turning around and giving her the finger as well. I’m surprised when she laughs.

“Why?” I ask in confusion.

“He wasn’t lying. He really will kill for her.”