Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“The fiercest anger of all, the most incurable, Is that which rages in the place of dearest love.”

Euripedes

Even if the large man wanted to respond to his question, I wasn’t sure he was physically capable. He was gurgling and choking and turning red like a plastic doll who’d been squeezed too tight.

As for me, I’d pressed myself against the opposite wall as far as I could go – but I wasn’t nearly as afraid as I should’ve been. From the moment Alpha Enzo had stepped in, my panic had already started to subside into relief.

I knew he wasn’t here to hurt me.

Alpha Enzo must’ve realized that the man wasn’t going to be able to truly answer him, not like that, because a moment later, he dropped him like a sack of potatoes.

The large man fell to the hardwood floor with a thump, immediately clutching at his throat and gasping for air.

My mate suddenly turned to me, his eyes alight with worry as he scanned me for injuries. His gaze settled on my arm immediately, and with a speed that certainly wasn’t human, he moved to stand in front of me, and took my injured arm in his grasp.

As soon as I registered what he was doing, I tried pulling away, but his grip, while gentle, was also firm. “Don’t try to move your arm, not even an inch,” he said, his tone low. “It may be broken or sprained. I’ll need the pack doctor to inspect it thoroughly, now and over the course of the next few days. I’m sure she’ll be able to provide you with a sling as well as pain medication.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“That’s a little overkill. I doubt it’s broken or sprained, probably just bruised. I’ll be fine –”

He leveled me with a glare that was enough to cut me off mid-sentence.

“The pack doctor will determine if you’re fine,” he said in a tone that left no room for argument. Then, I watched curiously as his eyes suddenly glazed over and he went silent. He was still looking at me, but not at me.

I almost opened my mouth to ask what was happening before a memory hit me.

He was mind-linking someone, or maybe multiple someones in his pack.

It had been described in Scarlett’s book, but I’d forgotten about the ability – and it felt weird to see it in person. Kind of like watching him take a phone call in a separate room while his body remained rooted in front of me.

That glazed-over look only lasted a moment though before he was suddenly present again, looking at me with more concern than ever. “The pack doctor is already on her way,” he said, and his fingers rubbed over the sore spots on my bicep. “Did he try to hurt you anywhere else, sweetheart?”

I couldn’t help but notice when his eyebrows crinkled up in concern, the long, thin scar on his face did too. At times, I almost forgot that the thin, silvery scar ran from his eyebrow to chin. But times like these, it was a lot more noticeable.

“No,” I said, “You got here right on time.”

The furrow of his eyebrows deepened, as did the scrunching of his scar. “No,” he replied, his voice barely above a growl, “I was too late. He never should have gotten his hands anywhere near you.”

Before I could argue, there was a slam of a door from downstairs, a rush of footsteps, and we were suddenly swarmed by four different people. Or the large man still lying on the ground, gasping for breath, was swarmed.

None of them really got close to me – not with the way Alpha Enzo hovered over me like a mother hen. Three of them, large, hulking men, surrounded the man on the ground, immediately restraining him.

“What would you like us to do with him, Alpha?” One of the men asked.

“Throw him in the dungeon,” Alpha Enzo said. “I don’t care if you’re rough, but keep him alive. I’m not done with him yet.” There was something dark in his voice that made goosebumps prickle over my skin.

The men followed his order without hesitation, hauling him up and dragging him down the stairs without any care. Whether he was resigned to his fate or still trying to recover from a crushed windpipe, my attacker didn’t resist – although he did yelp in pain whenever they “accidentally” banged his head on the railing.

Some small part of me wanted to inquire about what Alpha Enzo might have in store for him, but I never got the chance. The fourth person in the group, a slim, petite woman with a large bag slung over her shoulder, approached us.

The pack doctor, no doubt.

She looked to be of Asian descent (and much younger than I expected her to be) with dark, shoulder-length hair and a lean, wiry frame.

Her eyes were fixed on my arm as she said, “May I?”

I wasn’t entirely sure if the question was directed at me or Alpha Enzo, but he let go of my arm and moved to stand beside me.

The doctor must’ve taken that as a “yes” because she immediately began unzipping her bag and pulling out a handful of supplies: what looked like an arm sling, gauze, and a pill bottle.

I eyed her array of medical supplies. “I really think it’s just bruised,” I told her, “There’s no need for all…that.”

“You can let the doctor decide that,” Alpha Enzo said.

I wanted to argue, to ask if this woman had really gone to medical school (because I seriously doubted it), but I kept my mouth closed. It probably wouldn’t deter my mate, and I’d just sound like an asshole to her.

So, with a sigh, I held my arm out for examination.

“Good girl,” Alpha Enzo praised, and my knees nearly buckled in surprise.

*What am I, a fucking dog?*

And even as I thought it, my cheeks flushed bright red, and it took everything in me to stay composed.

I was pretty sure the bastard could tell though, if the growing smirk in my peripheral vision was any indicator.

*Who is he to say that to me, and in front of someone else? To think I’d…like that?*

Although I was sure the pack doctor must’ve heard him, she was at least professional. She held my arm gently but firmly, and used two fingers to prod where he’d grabbed me. “You’ve got some significant swelling and inflammation,” she said, and poked a sensitive area that made me flinch. “But from my knowledge of human anatomy, I don’t believe it’s broken or fractured. Most likely bruised.” She opened her medical bag to retrieve an ice pack as well as another pill bottle.

She handed them both over to Alpha Enzo. “The ice will help with the swelling, and these should take care of the discomfort.” Her gaze shifted to me. “But if the inflammation and the pain don’t improve within a few days, I’ll need to re-examine your arm, Luna.”

*Luna.*

I wanted to disagree with her, to tell her that I was not her luna or anyone’s luna, but I knew it was probably a pointless argument with Enzo standing beside me.

The pack doctor lingered for a few more moments to explain my follow-up care to Alpha Enzo – like he was my caretaker or something – before she took her leave with a, “It was good to meet you, Luna, although I do wish it had been under better circumstances.”

I almost didn’t want her to leave, only because I knew that as soon as the front door closed behind her, I’d still have to answer as to *why* I’d been out of bed in the first place.

And that was not a conversation I was looking forward to.