Page 18 of Forced By the Alpha

“That blood is caked to you,” I pointed out. “It’s going to need to be scrubbed off, and you don’t look like you’re in any state to do it yourself.”

He shrugged, dropping his torn, bloodied shirt to the floor before removing his jeans.

“Can I leave these on?” he asked, pointing to his boxers.

Heat rose to my cheeks as I nodded and moved toward him. I visually inspected his legs and feet to make sure there were no open wounds. Once he was in the tub, they would be submerged in water, and I wouldn’t be able to see. Plus, I didn’t want the hot water to loosen the scabs over any partially healed injuries and cause him to bleed more. But as he had said, there was nothing amiss.

“See?” Franco sighed from above my head. “There’s nothing there. Are you satisfied now?”

“Not even a little bit. Get in the water, and I’ll check the rest of you,” I instructed.

He clambered into the tub awkwardly and settled himself against the back. His eyes closed, and he sighed in relief as the warm water submerged him up to his chest. I watched as his face relaxed into a more peaceful expression, admiring his high cheekbones and the line of his jaw. His blond hair wasin disarray, as always, and I found myself wanting to wash the blood from it and feel the locks in my hands.

As I watched him, I realized that the water was beginning to turn redder than I expected it would. A line of blood was trailing out from him at an alarming rate.

“Sit up,” I barked.

“Why?” he replied groggily.

I pulled him up by his shoulders as he protested the sudden movement and saw a large gash across his back, reaching from his shoulder to his waist.

“Dammit,” I cursed. “I knew you were hurt. The water is increasing your circulation and making you bleed faster. If I don’t close this, you’ll pass out in a minute. Hold still.”

Franco nodded in assent as I set about using the same incantation I had used on the rest of the pack earlier today. My strength had returned somewhat, but I still wasn’t at one hundred percent. As soon as the flesh had knitted itself back together, I felt a drain on my energy. I took a steadying breath as I eased Franco back into a relaxed position against the ceramic surface.

“I need to get my crystals so I can focus on finding your other injuries,” I said.

Franco mumbled something indistinguishable as I stood and hurried as fast as I could back to the bedroom. By the time I returned to the bathroom, Franco’s eyes were closed again and he had begun to sink further down into the water.

“Wake up,” I told him sternly. “If you fall asleep in the water, I’m not strong enough to pull you out again.”

He repositioned himself and opened his eyes as I grabbed my opal and began searching for internal injuries. His demeanorwas more subdued than usual. Wherever he had been and whatever he had done, it hadn’t been good. Luckily, he was a captive audience for me to question.

“This might take a while,” I told him.

“I’m not sure I can stay awake,” he admitted.

“I’ll talk to you while I work so you can focus,” I said. “Let’s start with why you’re covered in blood?”

“Next question,” he said evasively.

“What injured your back?”

“Something that’s dead now.”

“Franco, I’m serious,” I said. “You also have a broken collarbone. I’m going to fix that now.”

I started my spell, and Franco gritted his teeth as the splinters of bone melded themselves back together inside him. The femur I had fixed earlier was easy compared to the delicate structure located in his chest.

By the time I was finished, we were both covered in sweat from exertion. I wiped my brow and began my questions again.

“Where did you go?”

Franco sighed as I began washing his hair, removing the blood and dirt so that I could see what other injuries remained.

“When Dylan stopped by earlier, he said that there was a disturbance that needed to be checked out,” Franco said. “I started heading that way. I wanted to clear my head of everything that’s been going on, but the curse took hold of me. I’ve been keeping my bloodlust at bay the best I could while you’ve been here so that I didn’t frighten you, but even I can only hold it off for so long.”

I rinsed his hair and began searching with my crystal again, locating only minor cuts and scratches that would heal on their own with time. I poured soap into my hand and began to wash his neck and chest. He sighed again as his eyes closed.

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