Chapter 143

Helen POV

I tried to sit up, sore and weary after my last stent with the Huntsman.

I block out his torture from my mind, reaching to find my mate but there’s nothing in bed beside me. Instead, Russo stood by the window, watching intently while little Freya sat perched on the edge of the bed before me.

“What’s wrong?”

Russo turned quick, his eyes cold and dark. “Hey, little Luna. How are you?”

“Sore,” I mumbled. “I don’t remember everything. I just know I was back in his dungeon again. I was supposed to be safe from that, Russo. It doesn’t make sense. I had to take that stupid poison to prevent all of that from happening.”

“I know but…” he looked to Freya. “She was only trying to help the wounds on your face. Her dust seemed to heal everything, instead, which included the poison. I’m supposed to give you another batch of it as soon as you wake up.”

He pulled out the small vial and set it down on the nightstand. I hated the taste of it before and it made me feel so weak and pathetic. While Russo is turned around, I took the bottle and dumped it out on the carpet, flicking the cork back in the glass bottle.

Russo grinned when he turned to see the bottle empty, sticking it back into his pocket without a single ounce of concern in his features. I hated betraying his trust but I also couldn’t stand taking that stuff if I still had to deal with the Huntsman’s torment.

I decided I could just sleep less… That should work.

“Where is my mate?”

“He seems to be having a tiff with your human friend,” he mumbled. “Looks like she’s upset, mostly screaming about her brother, but that odd little rogue who was friends with he pixies is arguing alongside her. I don’t get any of it.”

Once I knew Justin was yelling at Martha and she was screaming in return, I hurried outside, only grabbing a long shirt to cover the stains of blood on my blouse and neck. I was sure my face is freshly bruised from the Huntsman, but I ignore it.

I reached for the main door, Russo catching me before I can get outside.

“Whoa, little wolf,” he grunts, scooping me into his arms and carrying me back to the bedroom. He plops me down on the bed and I groan, rolling over on my sore, wounded side, my ribs cracked somewhere. “You can’t leave bed yet. Lycan’s orders.”

“He is handling pack issues and I should be out there helping,” I grunted. “Martha is my friend, I am the reason she is in this pack, I need to protect her.”

Justin turned the corner right as the words left my mouth. “Protect her from what exactly?”

I sat back a little further, Russo shaking my mate’s hand on the way out of the room. Justin leaned back against the door, eyeing me carefully.

I didn’t feel like I said anything wrong, then again, by the accusatory look on his face, it was clear he was thinking I didn’t want him to hurt Martha. She may be a human, and with her brother gone she had the chance to leave, but I wouldn’t let Justin just kick her out.

“What happened out there?”

He gave me puzzled look and then shook it off right away. “It was really complicated, Helen. Do we have to talk about it right now?”

“Are you going to kick her out of the pack?”

“I should for how she spoke of me,” he grunts, turning his back to me. “But I don’t particularly care for the human either way. If you want her to stay, then she can, mate.”

I still felt responsible for her. “I can talk to her if you’d like.”

“No, she is spoken for,” he grumbles, trailing off to the bathroom.

I stay back, puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

“She thinks that ole rogue Oscar is her mate,” he chuckles. “Screamed at me about her brother’s innocents and he backs up the claim.”

“So what does that mean now?”

“Mean for what?” he poked his head around the corner and furrowed his brow. “He did take your friends the pixies off, mate. He earned his death in my book. He betrayed the Luna.”

“If Martha is saying he is innocent then we should listen!”

He came into the room again, naked and holding a towel like he was ready to bathe and I stopped him. I bit my lip at his beautiful exposer in front of me. I wanted him on me, but that wasn’t looking like a possibility right now.

“Why are you yelling at me?”

I crawled back and groaned. I haven’t been very good at keeping my tongue in check around Justin. I’m supposed to be winning back his trust. Instead I’m arguing with him as always.

“I’m sorry I yelled,” I breathed. “But I want to help and Russo said I wasn’t even allowed to leave the estate. That makes me feel so useless, Justin.”

“You are healing,” he bit back. “If you don’t settle down and heal yourself over time, your wounds will worsen. I can’t allow that.”

“I feel fine,” I grunted, though we could both tell it was a lie. “I woke up in a little bit of pain but I’m better now and I want to help the pack. Martha is part of the pack. She is my responsibility.”

He only shrugged. “Go for it. But I’m just going to catch you, little wolf. But if defying my orders and trying to get involved in this mess is what you want, go ahead. Try.”

I laid back in defeat. It wasn’t right of me to argue with him so constantly. Instead I just listened to him shower in somber defeat.

Before the incident with our fathers, I would have joined him in the shower. Now I had so little interest in his focus. I would still heal like a wolf, considering I dumped out my dose this morning, and eventually he may figure that out, but it’s not my problem today.

Maybe tomorrow’s problem.