Lover Laid Bare (continuation of Lover United)

Part 1

BJ laid on his bed, the ceiling spinning above him, making him wish he hadn't finished the bottle of liquor that laid empty on the floor by his bed.  He mused that he and that bottle had quite a bit in common.  Both were full at the beginning of their lives, ready to give all that they had.  And little by little they poured bits of themselves out, giving everything thing they to anyone who wanted and needed a sip, until nothing was left to give and they were discarded.  The cheering and laughter had continued well into the day from Kade's mating but BJ couldn't bring himself to stay and try to fit in with the happy couples.  He was genuinely happy for his best friend, and Rhaylynn was truly the best female that he could have ever come upon. But he always believed he would have been the first to be mated out of the four males in their group.  Sykes and Jhinx rarely spoke about women, although he knew they were fooling around with a few at the clubs. And Kade was far from looking for a mate, although he supposed Rhaylynn found him, instead of the other way around. 

Malina left after a few more drinks, her phone constantly ringing from those nosey elitists, faking their well wishes, while trying to extract as much as they could from her.  He could see her face fall every time it rang with a new name on the screen. Word had spread the last couple days that she was staying with the brother's and the King himself, as a guest and ward until she was better.  BJ wondered vaguely if even one of those calls was genuine and he was disappointed to know that the answer was most likely not.  

After she left, he found the silence of the once occupied study too suffocating.  The silence he had originally sought out became deafening, allowing the thoughts that haunted him the most to creep into his head. Liquor he thought, was the only solution to ensure he got a decent, and hopefully dreamless, sleep.  But that seemed to elude him as the ceiling spun above him. Closing his eyes only seemed to make his head swim more and he cursed the daylight that kept him trapped.  No, he supposed it wasn't the sunshine that confined him, it was his damned leg.  The thought had come to him to just cut the thing off and get a prosthetic leg, like Phury.  The male was still a hell of a fighter and without the discomfort of a broken joint, he kept up with the best of the brothers. Only, there was no way to explain a suddenly missing leg was there?

His mind wandered to what Malina said, about how Soreen's parents wouldn't participate in the Fade Ceremony, which would allow their daughter's soul to cross over and be presented to the Scribe Virgin.  BJ knew Soreen's parents were not only fiercely close with Malina's parents, but they were also incredibly religious, believing that staying close to the old ways would keep them pure in the eyes of the deity who they wholly believed would reign down on Caldwell and return it to its once 'former glory.' It was why they were always so careful when they snuck away, or when they made love, fearful of her parents sensing BJ's bonding scent on her. 

Everyone told him finding love and bonding with another female wasn't impossible, Tohrment had done it after Wellsie was killed. But to BJ, it was far different.  Wellsie didn't betray him, cheat on him, throw him and his family to the enemy.  From all he knew of her, she was the epitome of a female of worth and BJ wasn't sure which was worse, to lose a female of worth or to realize you never had one. Shutting his eyes once more he fought hard for sleep, until he heard the shutters rise for the night, signally that he had stayed awake all day, his memories surely competing with what nightmare he would have had, had sleep every finally taken him. 

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ONE WEEK LATER. 

Malina scanned the guest room once more, and found no evidence of her having ever been there.  The room was exactly how it was given to her a week ago when the Brotherhood and the King offered it to her.  Jane had been so kind over the last few days, stating over and over, that Malina didn't have to leave, that she could stay for as long as necessary.  She thanked the doctor, but knew the longer she stayed away, the worse it would be for her when she finally did return home to her father and mother. While everyone one had been so inviting to her outwardly, their looks of pity or distaste kept her away most nights as she took all of her meals in her bedroom.  Some days while everyone was sleeping, she would wander down to the study and often find BJ there as well, his face becoming scruffier without the attention of a razor, and his eyes becoming more and more sunken, the bright brilliant blue of them off set by the deep purple bags under them. They didn't talk much, but they raised their glasses in greeting and drank.  She supposed it was better than drinking alone, and the doggen did a fabulous job of keeping the liquor full.