The Rogue

XIII

*Faye*

"Just pull it up!" Maxen yelled as I fled to the other side of the bathroom. "Faye, if you do not stand still, I will—"

"I can dress my own wound perfectly fine," I hissed, glaring at him now.

"It's on your shoulder. There is no possible way you can dress it. Now, come here or I will pin you to the floor and do it anyway."

Although my wound was aching, I still crossed my arms over my chest. "I'm not pulling up my shirt for you to dress my wound. Isn't there a girl in your pack who you can send in?"

"I'm not going to entrust you with anyone but myself," he snapped impatiently while stalking towards me. "Do as I say or I will throw you back into that cellar myself."

Ugh. He could be so unbearable! I blew out a sigh and waited for him to reach me. When his head dipped down at me, motioning for me to lift my shirt already, I pursed my lips and lifted the hem of my shirt. The bathroom door on his side suddenly flew open. Maxen spun around, growling, with the gauze and anti-bacterial cream in his hands.

"What do you want?" he bellowed.

I cringed against the wall. This was the first time I'd heard him get that loud and that angry.

"Michelle is here," the man standing in the doorway said. His eyes flickered to mine with some unrecognizable feeling before Maxen huffed and stepped in front of me. "She wants to meet the girl."

"Send her in." Maxen tossed the gauze and cream into the sink and turned back to face me. "Michelle is my Healer. She must have just returned from your pack."

My pack. What a strange concept.

A pale girl with enormous blue eyes and stick-straight, platinum blonde hair ambled into the room. She was bony and looked fragile, like a china doll. The moment she stepped into the room, our eyes locked. She seemed to be sizing me up.

"Michelle," Maxen greeted coolly. "I trust you completed your business in Oregon?"

"Of course." Never looking away from me, she began to approach. "So, this is Faye?"

"Yes," he answered for me.

When the girl was only a few feet away, I shrugged off the wall to feel less vulnerable. Even so, she had more than several inches on me. Her eyes did a cold, analytical scan of my body, which still made me squirm.

"Where is your Alpha wound?" she asked, meeting my eyes again.

I swallowed heavily and pointed to my shoulder.

"Show me."

    Clenching my jaw, I looked over at Maxen. He returned my defiant gaze until he finally sighed and stormed out of the bathroom. What a girl has to do around here to maintain some modesty. I lifted my shirt up over my head, wincing when the skin around the gash stretched. Michelle's icy hands took a hold of my arm while she got a closer look.

    "It's deep," she remarked scientifically. "This might take a few hours."

    "What do you have to do?"

    "You speak?" A smirk crossed her face. "I just have to transfer my energy into the wound."

    "Does it hurt?"

    Her left eyebrow rose. "Are you afraid of pain?"

    "No," I muttered.

    "Then you'll be fine." Snickering, she turned away from me. "I'm going to get something to eat. Make yourself comfortable."

    Maxen entered the room as she headed for the door. They paused before passing each other, some unspoken message flowing between them. I quickly hugged my shirt to my body and sent Maxen a glare.

    "Yours wouldn't be the first body I've seen," he told me, rolling his eyes. "We're doing this in your bedroom, so you can lay down."

    "Terrific. Are you going to be in the room?"

    "Yes. Is that going to be a problem?"

    I shifted my jaw in frustration. "Why do you have to stay?"

    "Because." He pointed to the door to my bedroom. "Now move, Faye."

    Although I wanted to do nothing more than sprint headlong out of that room, I knew he would just throw me over his shoulder if I didn't comply. That would be far more humiliating. So I wrapped my shirt around my chest and back and marched into my bedroom, Maxen following right behind.

I drew the sheets back on the bed and crawled under them. While Maxen situated himself against the adjacent wall, I pulled them all the way up to my neck. It didn't make sense that he wanted to be in here for this. Michelle seemed completely capable of healing me on her own. Maxen's presence only served to make me uncomfortable.

"Do you think she's going to hurt me?" My voice was quiet and calm, which surprised even me. I was a little worried about this whole ordeal.

"No," he replied, "but she tends to get jealous. I don't want to risk it."

"Jealous? Who is she jealous of?"

Shrugging, he didn't bother with a direct response. I couldn't press him for more information, because Michelle then walked in. My pulse started to pound in my ears. She insinuated that there would be pain involved. I wished I didn't know that.

"Lean against the headboard," Michelle ordered while pulling up the chair from the corner of the room. She sat down as close to me as she could get. "Close your eyes. Relax."

As if. I obeyed her anyway. She peeled the covers off my wounded shoulder, and I couldn't stop myself from shrinking into the bed frame. Still, I kept my eyes shut. Her hand stretched out over the gash. Then I felt it. Like fire, her energy burned its way into my body.

I clenched my teeth and pressed deeper into the bed. Maxen snarled, but the pain didn't lessen. I focused all of my attention on blocking out the fire. Which may or may not have made it worse.

The fire snaked its way across my chest, up my neck, and into my head. I moaned. Now I couldn't even force my eyes open. They felt glued shut. A beastly howl tore threw the room, penetrating my senses even through the agony, before consciousness was sucked out of me.