from him would be a lecture about how I deserve to feel some discomfort after what I’d put them all through.
I try to rest but instead I slip in and out of sleep, the pain waking me up more often than not, and I don’t know how long that’s been going on when I'm startled by a knock at the door. I consider ignoring it because getting up is going to cost me. I lay there and try to figure out if I can even get up, and then I hear the door unlock.
Who the hell has a key to my door?
It swings open and Gryphon steps through. He is the last of my Bonds I expect to be here. He stands and looks over me critically, his eyes taking in every inch of my disheveled form. I've never been so aware of how much of a mess I must look. He's standing there dressed in his ripped jeans and biker boots, with a leather jacket slung over his shoulders and his hair curling around to his chin. His jaw keeps flexing like he’s grinding his teeth and he looks as though he's fuming.
"I'm going to need you to be really honest right now, Oleander. The girls downstairs are saying this is a botched abortion. I checked your GPS tracker and I know that it can't be unless you did it in a bathroom stall by yourself over lunchtime. So, what's going on?"
Hot tears of rage fill my eyes and I think about risking the wrath of North by running away from this fucking place. "Does it even matter what I say to you? It's not like you will believe me anyway."
His eyes follow the silent tracks of tears down my cheeks and I wipe them away hastily. Damn him for seeing me at such a freaking low point!
"Just tell me the truth."
I roll my eyes even though it hurts me to do such a small movement. "Well, it’s not a fucking abortion and it’s not a miscarriage. I have my period and I'm in a lot of pain. It's like this every time I get it but normally, I can get pain medication that will help. I don't have a bank card to get it delivered, and all of the drug stores are too far away to get back in time for curfew. I'm here for the long haul tonight and tomorrow, I’ll just have to be late for classes to get the damn Midol."
His eyes widen. I guess he wasn't expecting that sort of honesty from me tonight. Either that, or he doesn't believe me, which, to be honest, I'm in enough pain that I don't care. I just want him to leave me the hell alone until I’m feeling up for this sort of interrogation.
He nods at me slowly and then he hits the lights, the whole room plunging into darkness. My breathing becomes a little unsteady which, again, hurts a whole fucking lot. "What the hell are you doing?"
He doesn't answer me. He steps up closer to the bed and then I hear the rustling of his clothes. I swear to God I could laugh in his face. I just told him that I’m in complete agony and he wants to bond?
"You need to leave. I can't give you what you want right now."
He scoffs at me and I feel his hands moving me on the bed so that I'm teetering on the edge, then he slides in behind me. My heart begins to race so hard I can hear it pulsing in my ears.
"Gryphon, what the hell –"
"Just shut up," he snaps.
He pulls me back into his chest so that I’m laying a little more on the bed, and then one of his hands splays out on my bare stomach underneath my thin nightshirt. His palm is warm but it becomes scalding hot as his power flows through his skin and into mine.
The pain stops.
I start to cry all over again.
I stay stiff in his arms, mostly to stop the sobs from taking over my entire body and letting him know exactly how freaking pathetic I am. It doesn’t bother him, he starts to move me, just little adjustments until I’m more secure in his arms and we’re both comfortably wrapped up together.
I wait until I think my voice will be steady and not drenched with my tears before I croak out, “Thank you.”
He hums under his breath dismissively. I feel like the world’s biggest