THE NORD BROTHERS

CHAPTER 20

Mariana's POV. 

That distant beeping in the darkness was damn annoying. Her head ached like someone had ran a school bus over it and her throat was sore. Who had the flipping nerve to put a blaring alarm clock right besides her ear in time like this!? 

The sound grew louder, more focused and no matter how she clawed and fought to remain in the comfortable darkness, it yanked her from her precious sleep. 

Heavy eyelids peeled open and an unpleasant rasp escaped her lips. The headache intensified. Not just one school bus, make it ten. 

Mariana woke up in familiar room she had been free loading in for the past month. But something felt different. An IV drip was attacked to her arm and the beeping thing turned out to be a heart monitor. And then there was this gurgling noise that came from the couch at her left. 

It turned out to be Caleb, spread out like a star fish with two weeks of worth junk food littering the space around him. Even through blurred vision she could make out ketchup stain on his shirt and the smell of unwashed dude made her scowl. His tan skin was ashen and dark bags sat underneath his eyes. His playboy luster was buried deep beneath exhaustion. 

What the hell happened? 

Her lips parted to voice the question, but all that came out was a croak and a dry cough. 

Caleb stirred. His eyes fluttered open and a manly grunt came from his chest. The second their eyes met he shot up to his feet, nearly tripping over the coffee table in the process. "Mariana!" His voice was deep with sleep and moves groggy as he fought through the pile of junk to reach her bed. 

Caring little about peace of dirty tissue stuck to the sole of his sneaker, he threw his arms around her, enveloping her in his warmth. Mariana groaned with the added weight. "W-what happened..." She managed to whisper while peeling his arms from her body. "Where's Natalie?!" Her heart thumped loudly at the last memory. They were in the warehouse when hunters attacked and shit hit the fan.  

"She's alright." Caleb assured, pulling back from her. "She delivered a healthy boy." He perched on the side of her bed, his expression growing solemn. "Do you remember anything?" 

"Not really." 

Everything was a blur of chaos. 

"I see." Caleb sighed, struggling to get the next words out. "You shifted and lost control. Logan had to..." He frowned, a low growl forming in his chest. 

"He had to what?" 

I have a bad feeling about this. 

"I had to mark you." A deep male voice came from the other side of the room. Logan stood in the doorway, his broad figure taking up most of the space. His voice was flat and strict as if he hadn't just dropped a damn bomb on her. 

"You...what..." Her break clogged up her throat. She couldn't yell if she wanted to. Her hand instinctively moved to her neck, feeling around the edges of bandage. With a groan she moved to sit upright, but was stopped by Caleb's warm hand resting on her shoulder. 

"Lay back down. You took a nice hit across your head. You were out for four days." 

Four days? That makes for yet another thing to be shocked about. 

Mariana directed the finest glare she could muster towards Logan. "How could you?" 

He scowled right back. "I had no choice. You were feral. You endangered Natalie and her newborn." 

"I would never! Caleb, come on! At least you're on my side with this." 

But he remained silent. Caleb cast his eyes downward like the topic was hurting him.