his goodbye.
“Get her back in the fucking cells and make sure no one goes near her,” he snarled to his son before he stormed out the door, dragging Glendra with him. She was in trouble, but I was too busy trying not to succumb to a concussion to worry about that stupid bitch. She’d made her bed, and now she had to lie in it with that shitbag she called a mate.
Jaxson got to me first, his touch gentler than I’d expected as he hauled me up.
“It’s the eve of the moon,” he said in a whisper. “The healing will kick in soon.”
“Ugh,” I groaned, the first sound I’d made since getting hit. I was pretty proud of myself for not even whimpering. Victor would never have the satisfaction, the sick bastard.
And I’d die before I let him touch me.
“Let’s get her downstairs,” Torin said, reaching his best friend’s side. “Before dad comes back again and does something worse.”
Maybe it was the blow to the head, but that sounded a tiny bit like judgment against his dad. I’d never heard Torin show anything other than respect bordering on reverence to the walking bag of sperm he called a father. Interesting. At least it would have been in normal circumstances. Right now, I was just trying not to pass out.
Torin held his hands out to Jaxson, like he was going to take me, but beta-in-training shook his head. “I got her. I’ll make sure she stays safe in her cell until the shift tonight.”
Torin shrugged, his interest in me already waning, especially as Sisily pranced her stupid ass into the room, looking fresh and perfect despite the early hour.
“Keep her alive,” Torin murmured before he walked away, leaving me with Jaxson.
I wasn’t too steady on my feet, so there was no choice but to let him half-carry me while I tried really hard to vomit on him. Again.
By the time he deposited me back in my original cell, the pounding in my head was worse, so I sank into the hard floor. Closing my eyes helped, as I focused on breathing in and out evenly, while praying I’d pass out for a few hours.
A clank outside my cell roused me sometime later, and I gingerly lifted my head to find Jaxson sprawled back against the wall opposite the bars, watching me.
“Creep,” I snarled, wincing at the jab of pain in my skull.
He shrugged. “You haven’t been attacked in your cell again, so maybe you should be thanking me.”
“Not even on my death bed,” I replied with all the sugary sweetness I could manage.
He just smirked, and I closed my eyes to block out his face. At some point, I dozed off, only to be woken again by an angry voice. When I managed to get my eyes open, I was ecstatic to see Dannie ripping Jaxson a new one.
“What happened to her?” she snarled. Her face was turned away from me, but I knew the expression she’d be wearing. Angry Dannie was scary.
“She insulted the alpha,” Jaxson shot back, standing up taller, towering over her. “She’s lucky to still be alive.”
Dannie scoffed and Jaxson narrowed his eyes on her. “What are you even doing down here? No one is supposed to be on this level.”
Dannie tilted her head back, meeting him glare for glare. “I’m here to check on my friend. I don’t trust you all to ensure her safety, especially since the alpha takes great pleasure in punishing that poor girl for an event that had nothing to do with her.”
I waited for Jaxson to argue with her, laying out in detail how my father’s treason had doused the Callahan name in shame, and that we all must suffer for it. Only… he didn’t.
His eyes met mine over her head. “She’s awake if you want to talk to her.” His voice was grim.
Dannie, no doubt, had already known I was awake. She took an extra moment to stare Jaxson down before she spun and made her way across to the bars. “Hey, sweet girl,” she said with a gentle smile, crouching down to my eye level. “I missed you.”
Guilt hit me hard. “I’m an asshole,” I choked out, pushing myself up, thankful my head wasn’t pounding quite as hard.
Dannie laughed. “Yep. Total asshole. You’re just lucky you weren’t around Simone when you first left. The mouth on that girl…”
A burst of laughter escaped me, followed by a groan as the pounding surged back with vengeance. When I was in a