Trials of the Bitten

Part 15

Sunlight woke Martin the next day. The warm rays drifting in from the window with a fresh breeze. He shifted and looked around, finding only Dominic and Andy still in the bed with him. The other men were gone, letting him stretch out his back comfortably without fear of hitting anyone. The bed was big but sleeping with that many people had been interesting. Martin was pretty sure Leon and Stein had also snuck in at one point, having vague memories of bodies moving to accommodate more.  His shoulders ached slightly from how he had been sleeping.

For now Dominic was awake, reading something on a tablet, with Andy still asleep curled on his stomach. It was a rather peaceful scene as one of Dominic's hand stroked through Andy's hair gently. Andy's shirt had ridden up and half his back was showing, his legs bare and tangled in with Dominic's considerably bigger and hairier ones, the image was very domestic. Dominic glanced over at him and smiled warmly as their eyes met.

"Morning," Dominic greeted softly, leaning his head back slightly and putting the tablet down. "Sleep well?"

"Yes, thank you," Martin nodded, rolling his shoulders. He had, surprisingly. He had woken up a few times briefly when stray limbs had landed on him but otherwise had drifted back easily. "What time is it?"

"Not particularly late. The others had school and Virgil had work. Andy apparently doesn't need to go in today," Dominic said dryly with a bemused look at the sleeping boy. "His teachers said he'd only be in the library doing self-study as his tutor is out so he could stay home," he sounded rather bewildered by the whole thing.

"He has a tutor?" Martin frowned. He knew Andy was clever but having a tutor was not a normal thing to have at school. It suggested Andy wasn't in normal classes. Just how clever was the boy?

"He's doing his university entrance exams two years early. They gave him a tutor but seem confident he'll do well," Dominic said quietly, a flash of something in his eyes that make Martin feel uneasy. Martin shifted unhappily, slightly confused by what was causing his stomach to shift unhappily. 

"Oh," Martin said feeling confused and slightly silly for not being able to say more about that. " How's Luka?" he offered instead.

Dominic's eyes darkened and his face twisted into a stormy, angry expression. "The hunter we did not catch in the act is very lucky he had his son with him," he rumbled with passion, clearly wishing he could have hurt the man in some way. "Luka will live. His healing kept him from death but one of them slit his throat. He can't talk at the moment and his legs are broken too. They injected him with poison so he isn't healing as fast as he should," he explained tightly.

"Damn," Martin whispered, not sure what to say about that. Andy curled closer to Dominic, apparently awake. Dominic rubbed Andy's back and the boy crawled for the man for a proper hug.

The hunters had slit Luka's throat? Virgil had said someone's throat had been spilt but Martin hadn't made the connection, too consumed with his own issues. These hunters had been serious about killing them then. He found himself pressing close to Dominic, as his body started to react to the fear.

"Hey, it's ok. They don't typically come into pack lands," Dominic promised, an arm wrapping around Martin and holding him close with Andy. "We just have to keep a better eye on our borders," he said solidly with an air of knowing. Dominic was sure of what he was saying and it did make Martin feel better somehow. His stomach still clenched at the idea someone could do that to him too but. Dominic. He felt safe. Things had been put in place now to stop it happening again, Martin could feel it in his bones. "Now. With both of you awake, why don't we get moving?"