"Thanks." I hear Dale mutter, the bed moving a bit, I wince as the movement jostles me.
My eyes fly open when I feel a slight pressure on my arms, a strangled sob pouring out of my lips.
Virgil is still crouched beside me, his expression looks like he's in more pain. "Careful, dipshit." He growls to Dale.
"I am." Dale snaps at him, a raw edge to his voice as he carefully pushes a hand through my hair as an apology.
"I-I'm fine." I gulp.
Dale is really careful with the cutting, the entire room is quiet and I wonder vaguely if they've left.
I still can't help the tiny gasps that escape me especially when he gently cradles my arms so that he can gingerly pull off the duct tape the rest of the way, my eyes water up and I bite down on the sheets to reduce the sounds of pain.
I note that Virgil hasn't touched me once but I'm trying too hard to not burst out crying to think too hard.
"Ah!" I bite out when my arms are finally released from their cruel hold behind me.
Something is definitely broken because I try to reach for Virgil but my arms don't listen to me, the stars in his eyes hiding, going dull.
Dale makes quick work of my tied up legs and carefully gathers me in his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay." He breathes in my hair. "We need to get you to the Pack Clinic."
"So you're the young man that my son keeps talking about." The voice I had heard earlier says and I look up.
"Dad, please don't." Dale groans and I color up, hiding my face in his chest.
"Come on, stop hanging around joblessly." Alpha Ascott says to someone else in the room and the twins, and Jaxon make their way outside.
I note that Virgil is long gone and I feel my heart sink - something is horribly wrong.
"You too, Dal." He says in our direction.
"Just go on, we'll catch up." He says to his dad, making no move to get up from the bed.
"Where's Virgil?" I ask quietly when he wipes the tears from my face with barely banked anger in his eyes that I know isn't directed at me.
"He left." He says simply.
"Oh." I mumble, averting my eyes.
He slides a hand under my jaw and lifts my face to his, possessiveness burning so hot in the bright green depths that my mouth goes dry but he damps it, averting his eyes briefly.
"Let's go, the girls will give me an earful." He says warmly, the dark, dangerous aura I had sensed gone in an instant like it was never there.
"This is going to sting a little." He braces me and I nod.
He carefully adjusts my arms so that they rest on my body and no undue strain is put on them but I still wince anyway when he gets up.
"Where's your phone, Doll?" He asks like an after thought.
"Um, I threw it under the sink." I say sheepishly.
"That's fine, I'll come get it later or someone will." He leans down to kiss me then straightens up and I see him color up a bit when he looks forward but he doesn't break his stride.
I look to see what caused that reaction and I see his dad staring at me with an indecipherable expression and I duck my head as well, my cheeks burning up.
There's still more people outside than I had expected and I nearly die from mortification when I become the center of attention in an instant.
Dale is obviously not happy with this as well because he quickly ducks into the backseat of his Escalade and someone I don't know gently clicks the door shut.
There are lots of cars parked across the street as well as Werewolves, it would add up, considering that the maniac that had been terrorizing them for a good long while had been caught.
Ian is sitting quietly on the other side, while Leon is driving and Jaxon is riding shotgun, like I'm not already nervous enough, Dale seems to draw strength from how often he can press kisses into my hair.
"Get some rest, Doll." He murmurs and I do, letting my eyes slip shut.
I was just relieved, there were bodies of rabid Werewolves that looked unconscious but not worse for the wear but everyone else seemed fine and Alexis was caught too.
I keep my eyes shut but I don't fall asleep, I'm in too much pain to anyway and I'm really worried about Virgil, he just disappeared without a trace.
Asking Dale is out of the question again because he's reaction isn't exactly friendly, I could understand why but I can't explain Virgil's actions.
Is he mad at because I didn't call him first? No, that's not it or he wouldn't have come for me --- who am I kidding? It's Virgil, he'd come anyway.
But he didn't seem angry at all when he crouched in front of me, he just seemed sad?... Broken?
I'm not sure but I didn't like it at all, I needed to talk to him as soon as possible but that would be a little difficult for the next couple days because I know I'll be barely left alone or allowed to wander about by myself.
My sides start to ache when the pain in my shoulders fade to a full throb, which means my sides have always hurt but the pain in my shoulders surpassed it.
I keep my eyes tightly shut when the door gets opened and Dale steps out, even without seeing I can sense that there were a lot of people who were curiously watching.
It's to be expected considering that majority of the Werewolves in addition to the two Alphas drove out in slews of cars, I want to do nothing more than run back into my room and hide in my blankets but I don't even get the luxury of that.
From the little I had seen, the house was in shambles and would take a while to fix but that was just wood and concrete, I wondered if I'd be able to fix what was bothering Virgil too.