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Chapter 26
Marcus POV
The heavy thud of paws passing behind my house alerts me to his presence before I scent him. He isn’t even trying to be quiet, always making the point that he isn’t a bear that needs to sneak around. He can do whatever he wants, and what are you going to do about it? I am right, this day really is going to suck.
I put down the files on Toby’s associates and yank open the door just as he shifts. His massive grizzly is scarred, covered in marks that show just how many scraps he’s been in, and won over the years. I knew this day would come, that he wouldn’t be able to resist coming here, but he couldn’t have chosen a worse time.
“What do you want, Dad?” I ask, coming out onto the porch to meet him as he strides up the steps, looking around and judging my new home as he moves. Nothing he does is without motive. He wants me to see his assessing my new life and finding it lacking. Despite myself, I can already
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Marcus POV As soon as I step inside the building, the smell of accelerant is obvious. No wonder the place has gone up like a bonfire. Toby and his buddies have doused the ground floor in gasoline. I doubt my father is stupid enough to have actively helped him, but he helped him hide and evade us, knowing he was going to do something awful, which makes him just as guilty in my mind. He loves the chaos. He only came to town for a front-row seat. And to rub my face in it, can’t forget about that. I take the stairs two at a time, keeping tight to the wall and as low to the ground as I can, and bat away bits of falling debris. Each step groans under my weight and I know that coming back this way will not be an option for getting back out. My skin stings from the incredible heat and I’m already choking by the time I reach the first-floor landing. I crawl along on my hands and knees, trying to reach the room John pointed to at the end of the corridor. My skin melts onto the
The Alpha's Inferno Chapter 28
Leila POV “No, no, Hayley…” I beg, praying that he’s ok. My world feels like it’s shrinking in around me and the sound of my blooding rushing through my veins is suddenly unbearably loud. I feel like I might pass out, so I grab onto the railing beside me as I sit on the porch steps and try to breathe. “He’s in the hospital, Leila. There was a fire at the guest house, and he went back in to get Sam. They’re both in intensive care. Cooper is going to kill me, but I knew you’d want to be there,” she says, wrapping her arms around me. “He’s going to need you.” I shake myself to snap out of it. He’s alive. That’s all that matters right now. And Hayley’s right. Whether he wants it or not, I can help him. The mate bond is proven to have amazing boosting effects on healing. We may not be fully bonded, but if it helps even a little bit, I’ll do it. I'll be there for him until he's better. I’ll do anything. I grab a bag of essentials and jump into Marcus’s truc
The Alpha's Inferno Chapter 29
Leila POVNatalie watches me closely as I pull myself together and examine him with a doctor’s eye before excusing herself to find Cooper and get an update on what’s going on. As the new deputy town, she’s technically in charge now that Marcus is out of action. She’s going to need to get up to speed quickly.Burns cover his body and his two broken legs are splinted to ensure that when the healing process starts, they will set in the correct position. It is the best they could do because of the extensive damage to his skin. His dark brown hair is wet from where they have tried to wash the soot and ash off him.I drag over a chair and take his chart from the end of the bed, before flicking through the details of his admission and treatment so far. Burns, crush injuries, smoke inhalation. The list is endless, and I struggle not to bawl my eyes out as I read what has happened to him, to his body.“You stupid bear. Who runs into a
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Leila POVHe still hasn’t woken up. He hasn’t moved, and he hasn’t opened his eyes.Some of the burns that cover his body have healed, the raw red and angry skin now pink. The cuts and bruises that covered him are largely gone. X-rays have confirmed that his legs and broken ribs are knitting back together nicely. It has been slower than they’d expect for a shifter, but given the extent of his injuries and what his body has been through, it’s not surprising. Which makes it even more worrying that he hasn’t regained consciousness yet. He is breathing on his own now. They took him off the ventilator a couple of days ago and it was an immense relief to see that he didn’t need it.Each night, I sit in the chair beside his bed holding his hand, talking and reading to him. Trying to draw him out of this state. I hope that my presence offers him some comfort, even just that of a friend. Once the nurse’s shift change has ta
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Marcus POVBlack. All I can see is black. But I can feel something, static, or electricity, racing across my skin, tempting me to open my eyes. It’s soothing. It makes me want to push through this fog and swim out of the murky depths I feel surrounded by. But I can also feel him, my bear, trying to calm me and convince me to rest for just a little longer. There is something I need to do, need to see, but he’s never wrong, so I try to be patient. And I am tired, so tired. If waiting will make us better, that’s what we’ll do. Just for a bit longer.Leila POVMax drives out to the cabin to save Natalie from coming back to the hospital after her shift at the station. I know she’s frustrated about being kept out of the search for Toby, but someone has to stay in town and keep everyone safe here. We drive in companionable silence along the winding mountain road that leads away from Grey Ridge and up into the hills that Marcus calls home. He lives right on the edge of the pack territory as i
The Alpha's Inferno Chapter 32
Marcus POVWaking up feels like being lifted out of the fog that has been clouding my mind. My sluggish brain is starting to work again, and I can almost think clearly. My bear is telling me it’s time to get up, urging me to drag myself out of my deep sleep. That he has done what he needed to do. Details of what happened slowly trickle into my mind and I remember the fire. Pushing Sam out the window. Falling. Lying there, trapped, too weak to push the heavy beams off my broken body. And finally letting the darkness come, giving in to the inevitable. Or so I thought. Unless heaven smells like antiseptic and flowers, it clearly wasn’t my time just yet.I wriggle my fingers and toes first, making sure I have some movement. Then I clench my fists and roll my ankles. I lift one arm and then the other, repeating the process for each leg. It hurts like hell, but I can move. Whatever damage was done in the fall, it seems my bear was able to repair it.The room is small and functional with no
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Leila POVHayley corners me in the waiting room, and I need to hide my smile when she approaches. She looks as though she might throw up. I know exactly what’s coming.“Leila, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” She wrings her hands together, then goes to reach for me, and pauses.“It’s ok, Hayley. He doesn’t want to see me, right?” I ask and her stunned expression tells me I’m spot on. She opens her mouth and closes it again, a deep frown across her forehead.“Wait, what? How?” she stutters out, confused.“I promise, I’m alright. He’s just tired. He needs to rest. I can wait.” And I really can. Stupid bear. I saw his face twitch when I looked at him through the window. He was awake and heard every word. The big, scary grizzly bear faked sleep to get out of talking to me. He’ll run into a burning building, but facing his feelings is too much.I should be offended or hurt. I should be a mess. Which is why Hayley is looking at me as if I have lost it. But I saw the corner of my bla
The Alpha's Inferno Chapter 34
Marcus POVFour enormous wolves approach as I tear up the long driveway towards Steel’s packhouse. I haven’t even attempted to be quiet or discreet. I am so impatient to get to her now that I am tempted to put my foot to the floor and just drive straight through the gate, but I have a feeling my presence is going to be unwelcome enough as it is without breaking and entering and damaging their property. Plus Leila seems to like it here, and I am trying to win her back after all. I should probably play nice.“Can we help you, sir?” A tall man, with dark hair, covered in tattoos, leans down to speak to me through the window as I roll to a stop. He’s unsmiling and unimpressed at the disturbance. It’s dark now, and they were probably expecting a quiet evening.“I need to see Alpha Steel, or Leila.” I try to appear relaxed, but the big guy immediately seems taken aback, like her name was the last thing he expected to hear. His friendly but stern demeanour takes on a more intense feeling as
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