Protected Promise by Julie Trettel

Kaitlyn

Chapter 25

 

 

 

Now that I was starting to feel better, the last thing I wanted to do was stay in bed. I needed fresh air and to move around. Landon had gone into town to test the tea Clover had been shoving down my throat. I didn’t need the results; I knew she was poisoning me. I could feel the difference in less than twenty-four hours.

“Tobi, please. Let’s just go for a walk,” I begged.

“No. I have strict orders. You aren’t to drink anything that whacko gives you. You aren’t to leave this room or do anything at all until we know for sure that you’re safe.”

“But I’m going to die of boredom. I need to move,” I protested.

“Landon will kill me if I let anything happen to you.”

“Landon loves you. He would never hurt even a hair on your head.”

“Well, I’m not willing to test that theory.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and dramatically sat in the chair in the corner of the room. At least she’d let me out of bed. I supposed I should be thankful for that much.

“How’s our patient?” Abby asked as she peeked into the room a little more chipper than I was ready for.

Cadence was right behind her. “Wow, you actually do look better. I guess the rumors are true.”

“Can we just apologize again?” Abby asked. This wasn’t exactly the first round of this exact conversation.

“Abby, I already told you, it’s fine. You two didn’t do anything wrong, at least not that I’m aware of.”

Both of them shook their heads.

I couldn’t help but be a little concerned though. After all, I was pretty convinced their friend was still trying to kill me.

“Clover hasn’t brought me any tea this morning. Where is she?” I asked.

The two girls looked at each other and I had an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Um, so, about Clover,” Abby said.

“Oh, just tell her. That ungrateful wench packed up and just left,” Cadence blurted out. “We were just starting to fit in a little. People weren’t looking at us with daggers in their eyes every time we came in here to help you. And now, rumors are already starting and fingers pointing.”

“About what?”

“With Clover’s hasty departure and your sudden recovery, they are saying we had something to do with it all.” Abby shook her head in disgust.

“All we’ve tried to do is help you and make amends for what River did. She never should have attacked you. Clover knew that too. She just wanted to help,” Cadence insisted.

I shook my head. “I don’t think she was helping me at all. We’ll know for sure soon.”

“What do you mean?” Abby asked.

“I asked Clover what was in the tea she was giving me and she rattled off several things. I am positive I heard her say hemlock and she smirked at me when she did it, like I was too stupid to know what that was.”

“But hemlock’s poisonous to humans and our animal spirits,” Abby said softly.

I could see her brain fast at work, no doubt going through my symptoms and comparing them to the side effects of hemlock poisoning.

“That bitch!”

“I guess that’s why I haven’t been able to help speed up your healing. Did you stop taking it?” Cadence asked.

“Yesterday,” I admitted.

“I’m so sorry, Kaitlyn. I should have seen the signs. In hindsight, they’re so obvious.”

“It’s okay, Abby,” I said. “We trusted her.”

“I don’t blame the others for looking at us as evil psychopaths. I guess she heard about your improvement and bailed. What a coward.”

“We aren’t like that though,” Cadence insisted. “Abby and I have been working nonstop to try and help you. Please don’t punish us for her. We didn’t even know her before coming here.”

“Yeah, none of us knew each other,” Abby added.

I didn’t want to trust them, but I did.

“Do you want me to try to expedite your healing?” Cadence asked. “I won’t blame you if you’d rather not. Honestly, it’s a little weird for me. No one outside my immediate family knows about my powers. My parents have always been scared of them. Mostly I’ve only healed animals, but our human sides aren’t so different really.”

I was still feeling a little rundown and easily wiped. Anything she could do to help would be a blessing. For some reason I wasn’t scared at all. Landon probably wouldn’t be happy to hear I told them, but I’d watched their reactions closely and I had no doubt they were just as horrified by her actions as I was. They were truly only trying to help and caught in a crappy situation. I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

“I’d like that, Cadence. The faster I’m back to full strength, the better.”

“But just know I’ll be watching,” Tobi warned.

“Maybe it’s not such a good idea,” Cadence said, wavering on her confidence.

“It’s okay, Cadence. You haven’t done anything wrong,” Abby reminded her.

I gave her an encouraging smile and reached my hand out to take hers. I gave it a squeeze. “If you can do anything, I’d greatly appreciate it. It’s not safe for me to be this vulnerable right now. What if others come?”

I knew Landon would keep me locked in a fortress until he was absolutely certain there would be no further threats to my life, but I had a Pack to integrate into, and in my eyes, hiding was a sign of weakness that I simply couldn’t afford.

“Okay. Just get back to bed and lie still. I need to concentrate.”

Abby and Tobi helped me back into bed. I didn’t think I really needed their assistance, but I didn’t argue as they fussed over me.

Abby did a quick check of my vitals, happy with the stabilized results.

“Already improving. That bitch better not dare show her face around here again,” she proclaimed.

“Okay, don’t move,” Cadence said.

Her hands hovered just above me as she closed her eyes and sort of hummed. At first, I didn’t feel anything and tried not to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, but then my whole body began to warm from the inside.

“Are you okay?” Tobi asked.

“Fine,” I said.

There was an odd sensation within me as if things were mending themselves.

“Her color’s improving,” Abby whispered excitedly.

It felt as if a huge weight had been removed from me.

Cadence opened her eyes and smiled. “There,” she said before she collapsed on top of me.

“Cadence!” Abby yelled.

It took her a minute to come to. “Sorry. I’m okay,” she mumbled.

“Get her into bed beside me,” I ordered.

When I sat up, I felt completely normal, whole again.

“No need to fuss,” Cadence tried to protest. “It was a big healing and just took a lot out of me. I just need a little time to recharge. Can you help me back to the cabin?”

“No,” I said. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can stay right here.”

Tobi gave me a look. “Landon’s not going to be thrilled with all these other female scents in his bed.”

“Then we’ll move back to his room,” I stubbornly insisted.

“How about we move her to the guest room?”

Cadence looked so pale that I didn’t think we should move her just yet, but Abby and Tobi wouldn’t hear it as they carefully helped the girl and carried her down the hall.

Abby came back first.

“How do you feel?”

“Fine. Great even,” I confessed.

Abby beamed. “That’s fantastic.” She ran a few quick checks and declared me well on my way to a full recovery. “I just wish there was some way to confirm the speculation on Clover. I can see all the medical signs, but I still don’t want to believe it.”

“Where is Tobi? Why have you been left alone?” Landon barked from the doorway startling us both.

“She’s just down the hall, relax. I’ve remained on full lockdown,” I said jumping out of bed and walking to him with a huge smile on my face.

He stared at me in shock. “You’re better. Much improved, even since this morning.”

I threw my arms around him feeling all the tension cording the muscles across his back. I hated that I had worried him so much.

“And you can stop shooting daggers at Abby. She didn’t do this. Cadence and Abby have only tried to help me.”

“You trust them? After everything that’s happened?”

I looked over at Abby. She was standing on the other side of the bed looking pale and terrified. I gave her an encouraging smile.

“I do. I can’t explain it, but despite everything, I trust them both with my life.”

Abby beamed but didn’t dare say a word.

Landon shook his head. “But they could be…”

I placed my hand on his cheek and gently guided his lips to mine. His body shuddered.

“I can’t risk being wrong about them. You almost died. That girl almost killed you,” he said.

“I’m not wrong about them. Cadence is recovering down the hall because she healed me, Landon. Look at me,” I said twirling around before him. “I feel great.”

He looked so torn between concerned and ecstatic.

I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“She tried to poison you,” he said softly as he gently ran his hand up and down my spine. His light touch caused me to shiver, but certainly not in a bad way.

“I know,” I said squeezing him tighter.

“You had it confirmed?” Abby asked.

Landon nodded. “Water hemlock.”

Abby gasped. “No.”

“Confirmed by a toxicology report.”

“But that’s the worst one of all.” She stared at me in amazement. “You shouldn’t even be alive today. That is lethal. We need to check your wolf, right now.”

Landon let me go and nodded. “She’s right.”

“She’s fine,” I insisted.

“We have to be sure,” Abby said. “You need to shift. We have to make certain Cadence healed her too.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. I thought they were over exaggerating, but to appease them both, I stripped out of my clothes and shifted. I’d done it several times since I’d come to, allowing her to heal me faster. They weren’t being rational.

“May I?” Abby asked.

I nodded, but then realized she was looking to Landon for confirmation.

“Yes, please,” he finally said. I could feel his tension though. He clearly wasn’t happy about the situation.

Abby was in clinical mode and got right to work checking me over. I grunted when she shined a bright light in my eyes. The rest was pretty painless.

“She’s fine. It’s like a miracle or something,” Abby finally said.

I shifted back. “See I told you. And after Cadence’s healing, I feel completely normal.”

His hand cradled my face, and I could see hope in his eyes. He wanted to believe it was true. His thumb caressed my cheek.

Abby cleared her throat. “Uh, I think my work here is done,” she said grinning. “I’ll check on you later, Kaitlyn, but I think you’re going to be just fine despite Clover’s cowardly plan.”

She growled and instead of getting angry, Landon finally began to relax.

Abby grinned. “I’ll just leave you two alone.”

“Thanks, Abby,” I said as she closed the door behind her.

Landon’s eyes scanned my body and he growled.

It was the sexiest thing ever and I was more than ready for him.

I jumped into his arms knowing he’d catch me. I wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed him hard.

At first, he didn’t resist, but then he started to pull away.

“We shouldn’t,” he mumbled against my lips. “You need to heal.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

He leaned away from me and stroked my hair. “I don’t want to risk you having a relapse.”

I groaned in frustration, and then grinned up at him.

He gave me a quizzical look suspecting I was up to something.

“In that case, can you at least help me shower? I’m tired of stinking.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I can do that.”

He carried me to the bathroom attached to the bedroom. Instead of starting the shower, he turned on the faucets to the large garden tub. It wasn’t what I was hoping for, but a hot soak in the tub sounded heavenly.

As Landon helped me into the hot water, I moaned my delight. My muscles weren’t aching as much since Cadence’s healing, but it was still relaxing everything. I thought he was going to leave me there to rest but instead, he slid in behind me and nestled me between his legs so I could recline back against his chest.

“Comfy?”

“Mmhmm.”

He chuckled as he worked up a lather with the shampoo and started massaging my scalp.

“Oh, Landon, that feels amazing.”

I could feel him rock hard and twitching against my lower back and realized quickly my praises were affecting him as much as his ministrations were turning me on.

I let him rinse my hair and take the bar of soap to begin washing every inch of my body. It was sweet that he was careful and caring, but the more he cleaned my body, the dirtier my mind got.

It amazed me just how quickly I’d crossed over. Touch had always been something uncomfortable for me, especially intimate touching. I had good reasons for that, but somehow with Landon, everything was different.

I was okay. Better than that, I craved his touch. I knew my body was safe in his hands and all the ugliness I’d thought sex would always be for me, was gone. He’d replaced the nightmares with light and love.

“You should get some rest now, gorgeous,” Landon said.

I turned to look at him like he was crazy. I was not going to sleep anytime soon.

My body was on fire.

“Not until I have my way with you,” I told him.

He grinned and kissed my shoulder. “We have a lifetime for that. I just need to know you’re okay.”

I rotated around and straddled him. He was so large I was surprised we both fit in the tub at all. Still, it amazed me at how perfectly my small body aligned with his.

“Let me show you just how okay I really am.” I kissed him before he could protest and maneuvered myself to ensure he was just where I needed him before thrusting my hips to meet his.

He growled and I knew there was no way he was going to back out of this, even if he thought it was for my own good. I howled in victory as I got exactly what I wanted.