Chapter 21 21.Remedy
Tabitha’s POV
The door swings open with a sharp bang against the wall, making me jolt where I sit. Jace scoffs and turns around to glare at the door.
Reed charges into the room with heavy footsteps and squared shoulders like some kind of enraged bull. His gaze cuts across the space and locks on me like a laser. Luca follows behind him with calmer steps, while Evren walks closely behind. He stands near the door with his arms loose at his sides and his eyes fixed on me like he’s trying to figure out what I’m hiding.
They all still when they see me sitting on Jace’s bed. I’m wearing his oversized shirt and my shoulder is wrapped in a thick bandage. My legs are bare because I didn’t bother asking for pants.
Awesome. As if sitting half-naked in front of Jace earlier wasn’t bad enough, fate has to taunt me some more and bring in the rest of the party.
I sit awkwardly on the edge of Jace’s bed, wrapped in nothing but his oversized shirt that swallows me whole. My knees are pressed together, bare legs drawn to the side. The bandage on my shoulder feels too tight and the gauze stark white against my skin. Jace stands a few feet away, arms crossed over his chest, leaning back against his desk like he’s not very pleased about the unexpected intrusion.
“Jeez guys, you could’ve at least knocked,” Jace grumbles, rolling his eyes. For once, I agree with him.
I fumble on the helm of Jace’s shirt as Reed, Luca, and Evren stare at me in a mixture of surprise and concern—interesting. They have the same almost tender expression when Jace was tending to my wounds. What’s up with them today?
“What the hell happened?” Reed’s demands, his eyes fixed on the bandage around my shoulder.
“She ran into the greenhouse and slammed into the glass wall because she wasn’t looking, and it shattered and cut her,” he explains.
“What? Why would you run inside the damn greenhouse, Tabitha?” Reed looks at me as if I just did something stupid.
And maybe he’s right. Running inside a narrow space filled with fragile glass wasn’t exactly my smartest idea. But I’m not about to admit that in front of them.
So, Jace answers for me instead, “We just had a little argument. That’s all.” Well, that’s basically what happened.
“A little argument led to her crashing through glass?” Luca’s gaze cuts sharply to Jace.
“She panicked and ran off. What was I supposed to do, tackle her?” Jace shrugs like it’s out of his hands.
“Damn it, Jace. That shirt looks like a mess!” Luca points at my bloodied shirt that is now laying poorly on the floor. “You said you were going to talk to her, not injure her!”
“I didn’t injure her!” Jace fires back, looking frustrated.
“You might as well did. Look at all that blood.” Reed surges towards his brother, anger stirring in his eyes.
I don’t understand what’s going on right now. I’m both confused and overwhelmed by the way they’re acting. I didn’t expect this kind of reaction to my injury. Evren, Luca, and Reed look furious, and Jace looks genuinely remorseful. It’s strange. They’re not supposed to care about me or what happens to me. But here they are, acting like it actually matters. And now, watching them direct all their anger at Jace, I feel guilty.
“I—uhm… Jace isn’t really the one to blame here,” I say, the words slipping out before I can overthink them. “It was me who ran. I wasn’t watching where I was going, and I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. I just… wanted to get away.” My voice dips, not quite ashamed but not proud either.
Evren lets out a sigh. He sounds frustrated, but certainly not as pissed as he was when he first entered the room. Meanwhile, Reed still looks annoyed, but some of the sharpness in his glare eases. Luca presses his lips into a line, and Reed drops his shoulders just a little.
I expect them to say something, maybe shift the blame to me. But instead, Luca silently steps and crouches in front of me, his eyes lowering to the bandage on my shoulder. His hands rest on his thighs as he leans in to get a better look.
“Looks nasty,” Luca murmurs, reaching out carefully. His fingers ghost near the edge of the dressing. “Did it go in deep?”
“The largest one did quite a number,” Jace is the one to answer.”
I glance down at my shoulder. The bandage is clean, but I remember the sting, the glass, and the ooze of blood. Still, I shrug. “I’ve had worse. I used to get scrapes like this all the time back in high school. I was always tripping on something or running into stuff. Kind of comes with being clumsy.”
“Yeah, you were sort of a clumsy kid back then,” Reed comments.
I scoff. I’m not sure if he’s trying to insult me or he’s just stating his observations.
Luca’s brow lifts slightly while examining the bandaged wound. “Does it hurt when you move your arm?”
“Yeah, a little.” Definitely more painful earlier. But after Jace patched it up, the pain became manageable. “It’s not like I’m not used to pain.”
“Being used to pain doesn’t give you the excuse to keep getting hurt,” Luca lectures. I want to laugh at his face for that. Hearing that advice straight from the mouth of one of my high school bullies who used to be the main cause of my pain—emotionally—is just funny.
Life really has a weird way of turning things around.
I exhale slowly and glance at my lap. “Look, it’ll heal. You don’t need to act like it matters.”
“Why do you keep saying stuff like that?” Reed’s eyes narrow.
“Because it’s true,” I mutter. “You guys didn’t exactly want me here in the first place. I’m not expecting sympathy just because I scraped my shoulder.”
“You think we’re pretending?” Luca asks, straightening from his crouch. There’s no teasing in his voice now. No softness either.
“I think it’s easier if we don’t play make-believe,” I reply, forcing a smile that doesn’t reach my eyes. “You don’t have to check in or act worried. I’m used to handling things on my own.”
Reed crosses his arms, shaking his head. “You’re bleeding all over the damn place and we’re supposed to what—ignore it?”
“Yeah, I can still smell the lingering scent of your blood on Jace’s floor.” Luca points at the barely-visible stain on the floor. I didn’t realize that I bled that much earlier, that’s why I was feeling a bit lightheaded.
“And in case you haven’t realized, If we didn’t give a shit, we wouldn’t be here,” Reed says matter-of-factly.
My heart flutters at their words. They… care about me? Why does that sound better than I like to admit?
“We’re tied through the mate bond. If one of us is in danger, the rest of us feel it. So when you’re hurt... yeah, it hits the rest of us too,” Luca explains.
The butterflies in my stomach instantly die. Right, this is all just because of that damn mate bond. Why do I even let myself think otherwise? It’s always the bond. That invisible thread tugging at our guts, twisting emotions, blurring lines.
It’s not like they’re here because they want to be. They’re just driven by instincts—an obligation dressed up as concern. They feel something because they’re supposed to. Not because they actually see me, not because they choose to care.
I grit my teeth as I try to ignore the tightening in my chest.
I am taken aback from my thoughts when Evren speaks, “It might leave a scar.” He tilts his head to the right, nodding at my bandaged wound.
“Yeah, I already figured that out.” I remember the huge chunk of glass that Jace had removed from me. That thing will most certainly leave a nasty mark.
“You know what? There’s an effective remedy to help heal a wound faster,” Luca offers straightening as he stands.
“Great. And you only think of telling me that now?” I arch my brow.
He smirks. Suddenly, I regret showing any interest in this so-called remedy of his. That devious smile screams of trouble.