Disguise

It's a Free Country

For the next few minutes, I bordered on unconscious. I could hear some shuffling motion, doors being opened and closed, a few gasps and Grey's worried tone. Atticus had disappeared somewhere.

Reece was carrying me so gingerly, as if I weighed nothing more than a book, and for quite a while now too. My eyes were still shut and my face was towards his chest - his bare chest. The contact was soothing, and it made me feel sleepy but I refused to pass out.

We were indoors now, I could tell because the cold AC air hit me, and I shivered slightly.

"She's cold, switch on the heater. Somebody get me a change of clothes. Where are the towels? Where's Dani?" Reece kept giving out orders.

Who were these people? The hotel staff maybe?

"Yes Alph- Mr Wolf." Came a man's voice, sounding apologetic for the title he was about to use.

What did that mean? Alpha?

"It's okay." Reece replied, his tone warm despite how tensed I could feel his muscles were.

He's a good leader.

"What happened? Seriously, she looks white!" Grey hushed softly to Reece while the rest were bustling around.

I tried not to move, hoping they'd continue to converse openly.

"She's fighting it Grey. And I can't even blame her - after what happened - why should she ever trust me?" The anguish in his voice was the only indication of how close he was to a breakdown. It tugged at my own heart and I had to suppress the pain that blossomed.

"Alpha it wasn't your fault - you couldn't have known," Grey spoke desperately. "Please calm down or you will hurt someone." He spoke more urgently.

"She's in my arms, Grey. I'm not in danger of losing control"

What the heck is going on?

He stiffened after a second, and I didn't hear any more conversation. After a minute of silence I heard Grey say, "Okay. Link if you need anything."

I heard the distinct sound of a door being shut and I knew that we were alone.

Crap.

Reece moved forward and placed me on the bed, and I immediately missed the warmth he provided.

I opened my eyes to see him turn around to a set of towels as he opened one up.

"Reece." my voice was low. He immediately dropped what he was doing and stood by me. His eyes going over every inch of my sleeping form.

"How are you? Are you okay? " His tone was laced with worry. He sat down on the edge of the bed with one hand gently stroking my wet hair.

"Yeah." I spoke without meeting his gaze, which was now fixated on my face.

He took the towel and sat on the bed next to me, "are you sure?" He asked again and I nodded.

"What happened?" I looked directly at him this time, it was my turn to read his eyes.

Reece averted his gaze,"I'm not sure Flora. I think you just over exerted yourself." He was lying. I was so sure he was lying.

But the concern was real.

"Reece, is something going on? Something you're not telling me?" I tried again and he sighed. I could tell that he didn't want to lie to me.

"Flo, you need to rest." He wasn't going to answer and I knew that, but that only got me more agitated. If he refused to clear the air then he was only going to confuse me more.