Page 89 of Five to Love Him
“Well,” Xander said before working his jaw that looked too small for the amount of sharp teeth he was featuring now. It was one thing to know a werewolf was wallpapering your room, another to really see it.
“We’ll make sure that human can’t come back to hurt the hive again, that’s all.” Coral smiled at me as if he were bringing me a cocktail, but that wasn’t what this was.
“And how exactly are we going to do that?”
Conrad laughed dryly. “Only two ways to go about it, and both involve cutting stuff off. Head or dick. I say both, just to be on the safe side.”
“Why, your verbiage is shocking, shocking I say,” Farrow purred. “And I second everything you just said.”
“Not a vote, Farr.”
“Do we need the pack? My pack would help,” Xander said.
Coral clicked a big ring against the coffee cup in front of him. “I know a few people too. There are swamps and wetlands that are home to many of my kind and those close to us.”
“A-are you all plotting to kill a person right now?”
I wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do. I knew I shouldn’t admit that this was right. Maybe it shouldn’t even feel right. Upstairs, my hive was still asleep, and I had no idea what shape he was going to be in when he woke up.
It felt fucking right.
“Sweet Leopold, take care not to ruin that resting bitch face of yours. You’re looking quite shocked right now, but this is not a plot at all, this is just, ah, what’s the word?”
“Consequences,” Conrad said. “We’re just gonna make sure that guy gets a fair dose of consequences.”
No one said anything for a while. I wasn’t sure if they were waiting for me to tell them not to. I didn’t say anything but picked up my coffee cup and drank. There wasn’t any cashew milk in it, because my hive, who always made sure I had some, wasn’t here.
The coffee’s bitterness strong on my tongue, I nodded.
“Consequences.”
I left them at the family kitchen table and went back upstairs to watch over my hive.
forty
We drifted in darkness, but the darkness wasn’t complete. Through the abundance of black, we saw something bright. It came closer and closer, and we knew what it was.
Who it was.
“Hive? Hey. Are you feeling a little better?”
Leo spoke softly, and we had to blink several times to get him into focus. We were in bed, and he was there, wearing the sleep things he favored.
“Leo.”
He ran his finger over our forehead.
“Yes. You look a lot better today. You’ve been asleep for almost a day. Are you feeling any better?”
“We…we behaved poorly. Yesterday?”
He nodded. “Yes. You didn’t behave poorly though. I’m just glad you’re looking at me again.”
“We…were ashamed.”
“I know. I understand. Last night I was wondering what you needed to hear, but I have no fucking idea to be honest with you. You have to know that I don’t think anything, any of what happened to you, makes you shameful. I love you, and I’m not going to leave you. I just really wish I knew how to help you.”
“Leo…” We nodded, shook our heads. Everything was confusing and hazy, though not as bad as yesterday.
