Prey.

15.

NOT EDITED

This was it. This would finally be the day that Ryan can be with the human he was destined to. His emotions were all over the place; he felt angry at himself for her situation having to be this way. He was scared for everyone in the house, what if he loses his cool? He was anxious but he couldn't decipher if it was a bad or good anxious. His hands were quite literally shaking. His heart was jumping with joy, knowing that in a few hours, she'll be walking about the same house he does. 

None of the pack had to cause any mayhem for Andrew to work late at night. There was a recent influx of 'animal attacks,' which seemed fishy to Ryan and all of his brothers. They vowed to check it out once they all knew Neela was safe and secure in their home. 

"Can you both," Sean started, "especially you," he pointed to Ryan, "please stay in your rooms until we have her pacified?" Ryan looked at his brother with a confused look. "Just until she's not freaking out if she does. And for the love of god, don't bring up the destined to be together thing for until you can control it." 

"Okay, fine." Ryan sighed out. He was hoping that he could've told her early on to have a smoother transition into controlling his condition. Maybe it would've made her feel better since she knew that he wasn't going to allow anything to harm her under his watch. Then again, it could've freaked her out more. "Alright, you two in your rooms now. She's gonna be in the hospital for a night, just so I can do an evaluation on her and make sure she's healthy." 

"Are we not allowed to see her during the night?" Ryan asked. "No, I'd like her to get a peaceful nights sleep." Ryan let out a silent groan, he hated this. Ryan knew that he would hear her heartbeat, feel her presence the second she was in here. 

But, he complied and went to his bedroom, which was right next to Neela's. This night was going to be hell. 

Ryan never heard them come back, he never felt her presence. He fell asleep waiting for the group to come back. 

~~

Sean and Landon both snuck into Neela's home from the window in the kitchen, there was a lot of creaking from different body weights going on and off the sensitive spots. They checked around the downstairs part of the house and found no sign of living there, the house was spotless. 

Thump, thump, thump 

The pair heard a series of beats from a heart -- the beating was rapid. They slowly went up the stairs, while trying their best to not trigger a sensitive part again. Once they got to the top of the stairs, they went about five feet to their left and found a bedroom. The walls were made entirely out of wood. They turned to their left and saw shelves that held guns and other weapons. An unoccupied bed was also found. 

They went ten feet to their right and slowly opened the door as the thumping of the heart grew louder. There she was. It looked like a generic teenage girls' bedroom. The walls were painted white with pastel pink on the trimming of the room. Neela laid in the bed, curled into a tight ball. Her head was covered by the blanket, so the intruders could not see the rest of her -- including her bleeding palms. 

The sons all had an agreement to not pack any of her belongings except things that would be of great importance to her. They'd take some things now and when she woke up, they'd take everything else that had importance. They couldn't make all the trips back and forth to the car with the risk of getting caught by neighbors or cameras. They'll buy brand new things for her, money isn't a problem. 

Sleep. Sean spoke in his head, speaking directly to Neela and her mind, her body visibly relaxed even more when her body comprehended the word. They were now to walk freely and make noise without the danger of waking Neela. Landon took the quilt off of the girls sleeping body while Sean collected journals and pictures in a suitcase he found in Neela's closet. 

Landon picked Neela up, making sure to support her neck and legs. He gently brought her head to his shoulder and allowed her to nuzzle his neck. There was a smaller, cotton blanket sprawled across her headboard, Landon secured Neela's legs around his torso and swiftly wrapped the blanket around the girl. "Everything ready?" Were the first words spoken since before they've entered the house, "yes." They hurried out of the house and hurried home, hoping that no one saw them. 

Once home, Sean took Neela to the basement. They had a 'pack hospital,' in the basement. A few beds and all of the hospital necessities they've needed, needles, threads, various medicines, etc. Sean was in charge of this hospital, he knew his way around medical things like this. 

He laid her on a soft hospital bed and instantly noticed her hands; blood was seeping out of her palms and slowly making its way down her arms. "Oh fuck," Sean whispered to himself. Should he tell someone about the injury? No! Ryan would never believe that Sean didn't inflict the injuries. He decided to just hurry and clean the wounds. 

While he tried his best to squirt the cleaning alcohol onto the cuts very gently, Neela kept whimpering and tried to veer away from the help. "I'm sorry, this must hurt you a lot," Sean kept repeating the phrase. Once the blood was gone, he was able to clearly see the shapes of the cuts, which were shaped like long fingernails, the wounds were crescent-like. 

Sean precisely wrapped both of Neela's hands up to her wrists. He wasn't sure if the wounds were inflicted purposely by her or if they were accidental, he wanted to be safe just in case they were purposeful. 

~~

Neela slept very well that night. Her breathing stayed steady and consistent, not once did Sean hear her heart thump like it did before they took her. 

At around noon, Sean decided that Neela should wake up. Everyone was down in the hospital, Sean and Landon did not want Ryan in the room when she woke up, but his begging became so annoying, they had no other choice. Why? Because they knew he'd still be telling them to let him in while they were tending to awake Neela. 

Neela began to stir in her sleep, Landon put his hand on her cheek. Neela cuddled into the comforting warmth and began falling back into her slumber. "No, Neela, you have to wake up." Neela swiftly opened her eyes, knowing that the voice was no identifiable one. 

Her eyes were sad, same with her face. That was when Landon came up with the perfect nickname for her, which was 'sad eyes.' She slowly looked around the room, starting at her right side. She studied every single one of their faces until she got to Ryan's face. Ryan's heart filled with love once their eyes met. Neela's heart filled with fear once their eyes met. 

Neela brought her hands up to her eyes and let out a howling scream.