The Haunted Memories (Forgotten Series, #4)

Chapter 9

A banging on my door made me jolt upright in bed with thick confusion. I looked around, trying to figure out where I was and what was going on. Sleep clung to me tightly, bits and pieces of Maggie swirled around my head. So fuzzy. My stomach cramped slightly, an echo of her own faint sickness. The banging started again and I looked around with bleary eyes.

"Easy, Sorrel." Cai's rumbling voice rolled over me and I turned my head towards him as I blinked. His glowing coal eyes shined in the dark and I nodded slowly. Reality was seeping into my exhausted brain and I watched as the glowing of Cai's eyes moved towards the door. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the dark. He opened the door and I could hear Linnette give a sharp growl.

"Move it, blood sucker!" Linnette pushed her way into the room and I curled my lip at her slightly. There was no need for her to be so rude. It was too dark out for her to be like that. The light from the hallway was spilling into the room and I watched as Cai slid further away from it as if on instinct.

"So aggressive, mamacita." Cai's eyes travelled down her form in a very appreciative look and she gave a heavy snarl, posturing her aggression towards him at the blatancy he had showed. He was going to get slapped one of these times and I wasn't going to say anything. I blinked again, rubbing at my eyes.

"Back off!" The words were clipped and on again looked at them both before ran my hand through my sleep mussed hair. I frowned slightly as I glanced between them, trying to get the knots out.

Mordecai gave a rakish grin. "Make me." The taunt was clear as he put his arms out from his sides. "Fair warning if you back me towards a wall, seksual'nyy, we will have ourselves some fun." I wanted to slap him upside the head. I could practically see Linnette's hackles raise at that.

"I am going to-" She snapped her teeth together as a deep growl garbled her next words and I knew the situation was not going to end well.

"Why did you come in here?" Linnette wouldn't have barged into my room, at whatever ungodly hour it was, without a reason.

"Avery is having another episode." At that I was immediately out of the bed. Avery's episodes were bad. The poor female would be trapped in her mind, rocking back and forth, screaming and whimpering at anything and everything that moved. It was made even worse by Lucas, he became half feral when she got like that, his urge to protect her riding out common sense. Like it had with Willow but so much worse. I was nearly all the way out the door before Linnette and Cai followed me.

"Cai, I'm going to need you to deal with Avery." I knew I should have had Cai do another session with her earlier. This episode might not have been triggered by whatever lingered in her mind. As I moved down the hall I could already hear Lucas growling.

"I woke up to her screaming. Lucas nearly took me out when I tried to get in to try and calm her." Linnette moved to walk beside me and I nodded in acknowledgement. "That is why I came to you. You can deal with him." That was a solid basis of thought for her. As Alpha I could force Lucas to stand down without a serious fight, something Linnette couldn't do. She could beat Lucas down but with Avery in the room that made that option impossible. We always ran the risk of making her episodes worse with our actions.

I made it to the door and as if sensing us, Lucas's growling rumbles grew louder and there was a sharp returning cry from Avery. I found my link to Lucas and shoved the door open. You back the fuck down, Lucas! I shoved the words down the link as I flipped on the lightswitch. Lucas was growling, hovering in front of Avery who was rocking back and forth near the wall with her hands over her ears.

His face was angular and his teeth lengthened as he rumbled. I pointed at him, silently daring him to do something. His growling deepened as I moved closer. I watched his form tense up and I ground my teeth together as I braced for his attack. You better rethink that, Lucas. At the push of dominance he faltered for a moment, a very brief moment, before he tensed again, moving off the bed. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the behaviour. Lucas. I would not tolerate his refusal to listen, despite Avery's condition.