Page 88 of Blood of Vengeance

Before I could even think about how to get them to leave, Zella jumped and hissed, yanking her arm away from the doctor. That set off a chain reaction where Cutter then Flinch both basically exploded into angry men. Cutter lurched forward, towering over the doctor and Zella’s bed in one go, while Flinch jumped to his feet. Both looking ready to fight. To kill. Again.

“Enough,” the doctor said, rising to her feet with a grace that seemed almost inhuman as Cutter leaned over the bed and glared at her. “Get out. I need time with my patient, and you two are impeding that.”

Cutter didn’t like her demand. “Lady, if you think?—”

“Go,” Zella said, interrupting him with her calm but firm voice. “I can’t get better without her, so go. Lock and I will be fine.”

Cutter didn’t look happy. He stood in place staring at the doctor for a good five seconds, probably waiting for Zella to rescind her banishment. But Zella had made her decision—she wanted the men gone from the room, which meant they needed to go. And oddly enough, the doctor didn’t back down from his animallike stare. She stood with her head up and her eyes locked on his. Looking ready to fight him.

“She said get out.” I crossed my arms and glared, refusing to give either man an inch when it came to Zella. “Go.”

Cutter growled but finally broke his stance, nodding to Flinch before the two sulked out of the room.

The doctor kept her eyes on Cutter until both men had left, then shook her head as she reclaimed her seat. “You sure you don’t need any help?” She looked my way before refocusing on Zella’s wrist. “You wouldn’t be the first women who came in here needing more than wound care. Especially from…”

She looked up at me, sentence left unfinished. Implication floating in a sea of possibilities. Especially from…bikers? Big men?

Shifters?

Paranormal creatures?

What did the doctor know?

“We’re good,” I said, not taking her bait. “Just take care of Zella’s pain.”

The doctor sat back, finished with the burn ointment, and shook her head. “There’s not a lot I can do other than write a script for pain meds.”

“I know.” Zella sighed and moved, stretching slightly. “It was a stressful night, and now my pain is super high. If I can just get out of this pain cycle, I’ll be fine.”

The doctor nodded. “I can give you OxyContin tonight and a script for some steroids to try to knock out this inflammation. But if the pain persists, you’re going to need to make an appointment with your regular doctor. Do you have a primary care physician or no?”

Zella looked my way, reality hitting us. “I have a full team—rheumatologist, pain management doctor, PCP, everything. They’re just all in Detroit.”

The doctor nodded. “Looks like it might be time to take a trip.”

Or go home. Because that was what was going to have to happen—we were going to have to go home to help Zella.

But Flinch had made going home more difficult than it should have been.

The reality of which infuriated me even more.

And made me want to leave simply out of spite.

“We’re going home.” I gave Zella a single nod, the decision solidified in my mind. “This week. We’re going back to Detroit.”

Twenty-Nine

Flinch

Being kept away from my mate was torture. Pure, unadulterated torture.

“This hospital is filled with fucking sadists,” Cutter said, locking my opinion into my head.

“Agreed.” I took a sip of the horrible coffee being offered in the waiting area then paced the length of the room. I needed to do something. Needed to see or feel or, fuck, even smell Locklyn. Keeping her away from me, especially after the total fucking mess of the past few hours, made my wolf one agitated motherfucker.

And Cutter wasn’t doing much better.

“You think Zella is going to be okay?” he asked for what had to be the hundredth time.

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