Everland

Chapter 14

"You might want to take a seat and I'll start from the beginning," Nathan said as he sat back down himself. Once everyone was seated he began from seeing her in his store to her safe wording to the moment of them showing up. A few of the team members chimed in with their points in certain parts. Once done, the room dove into silence beside the monitors tracking Wendy's vitals.

"What name? I professional Russian, I deal with. They meat dead," Raven growled out as he looked at Wendy and then at her slightly protruded stomach.

"Dead meat, Ray, dead meat is how the saying goes. How far along is she? Is she okay? Is the baby okay? What do you want us to do?" Corey corrected before falling into a ramble of questions as he processed the information.

"Right now, Vic is beyond exhausted, can you take over investigating these parties?" Kota asked as he shoved a packet towards him. "This is what he has found out so far."

"She has hyperemesis gravidarum," Sean sighed as he wrote something down.

"What the fuck is that?" Brandon asked.

"It's extreme sickness," Sean explained. "Like morning sickness times 100. She is severely sick all the time, to the point she has trouble even keeping water down. That's why she is here. She passed out. I'm pushing nutrients in her now but she hasn't even had a prenatal check-up because of the asshole."

"Seriously?" Brandon growled as Nathan nodded. "You think he will show up tomorrow?"

"Maybe," Nathan shrugged, "I don't know but I wouldn't be surprised when he wakes up from his drunken slumber and realizes that she's gone."

"I'll go with you to the shop," Brandon nodded. "Just to be on the safe side."

"Are you wanting to end things with us?" Marc blurted out. "I mean, we never really did get what happened with you and her but obviously something did. You never talked to us about her and when we would ask you would get so pissed we just dropped it. Now that she's back, what's the plan?"

"You need to tell them, Nate," Victor yawned.

"And you are supposed to be going to sleep," Nathan growled out, throwing him a weak glare. "You don't want Draig to come in and find you awake do you?"

"Did she bring him out?" Axel asked.

"Yes," Nathan admitted, "she was actually the first one to recognize him and was the one to name him. She was the only one that used to be able to tame him, now we know that Raven can too."

"Barely," Corey admitted. "She most likely still has more power than Raven."

"She does," Draig said as he entered the room. His eyes narrowed at the man in a white tee and gray sweats, "Why are you still awake?"

"I just finished telling Corey what I looked into and Kota was giving him the packet," Victor admitted. "I was going to lay down now."

"You better."

The rest of the men in the room smirked at their interaction. Victor was always the one to be stubborn when it came to rest but when it came to Draig, he knew better than to protest or argue. With Nathan and Sean's help, he got on the bed next to the sleeping girl and laid down. Sean covered him with another blanket and Nathan moved Victor's arm so it was laying across her stomach. Within minutes he was fast asleep.

Draig watched with his arms over his chest for a few minutes then looked up at Nathan, "You need to tell them."

Nathan sighed as he ran his fingers through his red hair, "I know."

Axel narrowed his eyes at this, "Tell us what exactly?"

Nathan took the seat beside her bed once more and picked up her hand. He held her hand to his cheek and watched her for a minute, "You know we dated in school. What you don't know is the reasoning for our break up, the fight that ensued amongst us nine afterward, or the fact that we went and did counseling with Lily Anderson for a year. We still hold appointments from time to time though that is just to make sure everyone has a safe place to be fully open."

The Toma's eyes widened at the rushed information thrown their way. "Um, not to be rude but could you start from like the beginning there, Nathan?" Marc questioned in wonder.

"So, we first met Wendy in the seventh grade. She was a wallflower, always sticking to herself and trying to not draw attention to herself. Although, she couldn't escape my watchful eye as I witnessed her put the asshole jock in his place just by words. Well, this was about the time I was coming to terms that I was indeed bisexual. My father was completely homophobic and detested the idea of me being with boys. When he found out I had a crush on Wendy he said I'd be better off with her than anyone else. I asked her out not long afterward on one hand to claim her for myself though also to please my father. I didn't realize that at the time, I mainly acted on pure emotions," Nathan explained as he stared down at Wendy as he remembered the old days.

"I started to notice how the whole team reacted around her and realized I had feelings for them along with them having feelings for her. I couldn't comprehend how that could work with ten people. I became possessive over her. I would reschedule plans, cling to her, and would invite her on solo plans or dates. Wendy started to change and before I knew it we were in a full-blown argument after school at the end of eighth grade. She said she felt like I was controlling her and denying her of being friends with the opposite sex. I didn't truly listen to what she was trying to convey and we ended things. That was the last time I had ever seen her as she moved away. The team was so upset afterward, especially since she split town without so much as a goodbye. Might contribute to the reasoning of Draig in such a protective mode. After a long talk amongst ourselves, we decided to take therapy lessons with Lily Anderson and team building courses. That's why we strive for open communication and weekly family day. It was my fault we lost our girl and now I'm trying to make it right."

"She never knew of our true feelings for her," Kota whispered, "she still doesn't."

"But she is open to various kinds of love," North nodded. "She was a firecracker when it came to standing up for others. She was just a tiny thing but she got right up in bullies faces if they tried to mess with a few open gays in school. She even went off on a teacher one time once they found out a kid had transgender parents. It was something else," he chuckled at the memory. "I had to carry her out while she was still screaming."

"She will accept us being together," Silas nodded, "but we want her to know our true feelings towards her and see how that goes with the hopes of forming one family for all of us."

Axel's eyes widened, "you're saying she's the bird for us?" He turned to Nathan, "and you're okay with the possibility?"