All I Ever Needed

Chapter 25

I slowly washed myself that night. Chase and Luke had taken me straight home, and as Chase was weary of leaving me alone I talked him into waiting for me in the room. Luke had wandered off to find Am who was with the kids.

I wrapped the warm, fuzzy towel around my body. The familiarity was comforting and I couldn't wait to snuggle up in a bed-Chase's bed. I peeked a glance at the mirror and frowned. My face was bruised, my wrists were colored purple and yellow. My cheekbones were protruding rather unhealthy and my eyes drooped from exhaustion. My hair had returned to its dark brown but had streaks of blonde from the sun.

I inspected the rest of my body, my ankles were still bruised from the shackles and I had bruised scattered around my knees from falling. I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face, a black eye was evident from whatever Ussicore had done to me.

I tied my hair up and pulled one of Chase's shirts over my head along with his sweats. His scent engulfed me and I felt a sudden urge to run to his arms.

I opened the door, letting the steam from my shower escape. Chase was sitting at the edge of out bed, his head was bowed and he was looking at his hands. As I approached him he didn't look up and I felt a surge of hurt run through me. It quickly passed as I reminded myself what he must've gone through without me.

I grabbed Chase's hands and gasped. They were bloodied and bruised, they looked as if they had connected with a wall multiple times. I ran my shaky finger over them to see if he'd show any sign of pain. He didn't wince, yet remained emotionless, staring at my hands.

I brought his pink and purple knuckles to my lips and placed a soft kiss on each knuckle for each hand. I tear fell down my face as I felt his pain. Chase gripped my waist and pulled my stomach towards him. He hugged me, his head against my stomach and his arms wrapped tightly around my hips. He sniffled and gasped, my shirt instantly wetting from his tears.

I ran my fingers through his black hair, it had grown long and was below his ears. His facial hair had grown also, a light shadow contoured his face making him look older. My other hand held his head as he sobbed against me. His cheekbones were also protruding from lack of nutrients. My heart ached at the thought of him not eating or taking care of himself while he was looking for me. Chase let out one last sob then lifted his head to look at me.

"I looked for you. I looked for days, there was no trace of you, no lead. I-I thought I lost you." Chase whispered, his eyes not meeting mine.

I grabbed his face with both hands and ran my thumbs underneath his eyes, wiping his tears, "It's okay. I'm safe now." The words felt like a lie coming out of my mouth.

"Are you?" Chase asked reading right through me, "how'd you escape?"

I took a seat beside him and held his cold hand, "I dug my way out of a cellar. It was old and falling apart so it wasn't very hard."

Chase's eyes casted a far away look, "Did he hurt you?"

I tear escaped my eyes at the sudden rage in his voice, "W-what?"

Chase looked at me then. His eyes were blood shot from lack of sleep and crying. His rage shook his body and he gripped my hand tighter, "Did he hurt you!"

I shook my head as the tears were free falling now. Falling in a small puddle on his lap, "Chase, he held me in a cellar for almost a week. I had no food and no place to sleep, I can't remember what all he did." I kissed the corner of his mouth, "People tend to block the most painful memories."

Chase groaned and looked at my lips. He stroked my cheek and brought my face closer, smashing our lips together. The kiss was romantic and intimate. It was our first kiss after finally finding each other. His kisses were eager and lustful, taking my breath away. His hands gripped my waist, one of them traveling up the length of my body, soon slipping underneath the shirt I wore. I moaned into his mouth as he ran his calloused fingers across my stomach. Our tongues fought each other until he dominated and took control. He laid me flat on my back on the bed and pulled down my sweats.

I ran my hands up his chest and back down his back where I gripped the end of his shirt and pulled it over his head. His hard stomach made me whimper but I gasped when I saw the wound slashed across his pecks, I straight line underneath his collarbone.

I sat up quickly causing Chase to sit up. He cast me a look of confusion until he noticed what I had discovered. He looked down at my lap and said nothing. He acted as if he was ashamed, but from what?

"Chase?" I whispered, "What is that?"

Chase ran his index finger over the wound and winced, "It's nothing."

I grabbed his finger and pulled it away from his chest, "What do you mean it's nothing?" I asked incredulously, "There's an eight inch hash across your chest and you say it's nothing? What happened?"

Chase shrugged, "I ran into someone while searching for you. They wanted to stop me so they did this."

"Chase you're a werewolf. Shouldn't it be healed by now?" I asked, staring down at his chest. The wound was red and blackish. It looked fresh as if it just reopened, dried blood rimmed it making it look ten times worse.

"Not when they use silver. She had a way with a spear." Chase mumbled, playing with the hem of my shirt.

I raised an eyebrow, "Her?"

Chase shrugged, "Kind of embarrassing actually. She just cut me then ran off. I called Luke and we tried tracing her steps. The moment we lost them we ended up seeing you."

I gasped. The thought of someone else out there in the woods frightened me, what if they did see me? An awful dread passed over me at the knowledge of the person.

I rubbed my temples and let out a breath, "Chase, who was the lady?"

Chase have me a wolffish smile, "Lola Vagabondo."

I groaned, "Oh gosh." And fell back onto to the bed.