37. VANYA: BREATHING

The bed dipped, making me tense. I held my breath as I waited for the sheets to be pulled off me. The exact opposite happened. Whoever climbed onto the bed, crawled under the sheets with me.
The head of his body spread into mine as I breathed in his scent. He smelled of sea air and Obsidian.
“Is he gone?” I whispered.
Devrim hummed, wrapping an arm around my waist and pressing his face to the back of my neck.
Every day, a few hours before sunrise, Obsidian left on the plane with Red to go search for Ezra on the island, but he made sure to return before dark.
I was okay with him being away from me for a few hours a day, especially with Devrim at my side, but I was positive that if he stayed away longer I would get sick again.
“Do you think that he’s really dead?” I asked him.
He was silent for a few seconds. “I want to say no, but I’m not sure. I don’t want to give you false hope.”
“We would have known for sure if we were bonded, right?”
“Yes.”
Licking my lips, I reached down and gripped his hand.
Devrim sighed loudly. “Obsidian was planning on bonding all of us once we took out the threat.”
“We should have done it sooner. . .the moment we heard about the danger,” I told him.
“We should have done a lot of things sooner,” he whispered.
“Why do you think he stayed?” I turned onto my back, wincing as my muscles protested at the movement.
Our joined hands dropped to my stomach. Freeing his hand from mine, he pushed it underneath my shirt and rested his hand on the curve of my stomach. My body slowly relaxed as he traced random shapes on my skin with his fingertip.
I turned my head to look at him. Devrim’s eyes were closed and his lips parted as he breathed. I took note of the dark circles under his eyes that surely matched mine.
“Dev?” I whispered.
“I can’t think of one reason for him to stay,” he answered.
“Maybe he wanted to help the others.”
“Maybe.”
“I feel like we should be helping,” I muttered. “Or doing something. W shouldn’t—”
“Obsidian wants us to stay here,” he interrupted me.
“You’re the Alpha.”
Devrim opened his eyes and blinked at me. “I’m the Alpha of our Pride, or I use to be. I’m not sure how things are going to change now that most of us are homeless. But between the four of us, Obsidian is the Alpha. We all know that.”
“Much to Ezra’s disappointment.” I smiled.
“Unfortunately.”
Our smiles slowly faded. I blinked back the tears but a few escaped anyway when Devrim pulled me to his chest.
“He won’t leave us,” he whispered. “You’ll see, he’s going to show up and joke about us crying over him.”
Nodding, I tangled my legs with his and slipped an arm under his as I wrapped it around his ribs. His chest vibrated as a purr fell from his lips but even that sounded broken.
We were supposed to be fixing our relationship. If Ezra’s gone, would the three of us be able to stay together?
“I’m scared,” Devrim whispered, shocking me. “I’m scared that if this continues, you’ll wake up hating us one day. Sometimes I think that you might have been better off with a human male.”
“They don’t make me feel like the three of you do,” I told him. “It always felt like something was missing with the men I dated, but with the three of you. . .with you, I feel complete.”
“I love you, Vanya.”
If I was standing, I would’ve melted into a puddle at his feet. It sounded even better than how it sounded the first time he told me. Pulling back, I waited until he opened his eyes to look at me. “I love you too.”
Devrim smiled. “Are we going to stay in bed all day again?”
I rolled onto my back with a loud sigh. “Considering the fact that we’re practically grounded, why not? I’ve considered sneaking onto the plane.” His body tensed. “But I will get caught because nothing ever escapes Obsidian’s notice.”
“I’m glad that you’re aware of it, sweets.”
I jackknifed upright so fast that the room spun. The aching muscles were forgotten but only for a few seconds before the pain from my sudden movements hit. Groaning, I slumped against Devrim’s chest.
“You’re back early today,” Devrim muttered.
Obsidian snarled as he shrugged off his jacket. “We’re not allowed to leave by plane or boat. They said that there’s a big storm rolling in and all flights have been canceled.”
“Red—”
“I didn’t want to take the risk,” Obsidian interrupted with a glance in my direction.
His eyes darted between us for a few seconds before he spun around and disappeared into the bathroom.
I waited until I heard him open the tap before I turned to look at Devrim. “How did we not hear him enter?”
He smirked. “You didn’t hear him.”
My mouth dropped open. I blinked at him as I snapped out of my shock. Unfortunately, Devrim easily dodged the punch. Chuckling, he hurried towards the bathroom but stopped in the doorway to look back at me.
“Are you coming,” he asked.
I nodded. The moment he disappeared into the room, the smile slipped from my lips. I swallowed the lump in my throat and slowly slid off the bed. Halfway to the bathroom, there was a knock on the door so I changed direction towards it instead.
Unlocking the door, I pulled it open a few inches and leaned around the door to see who it was.
But the person pushed his way into the room, making me stumble backward.
My lips parted but a hand clamped down over my mouth, cutting off the scream. The man wore a hoodie with the hood pulled low over his face, preventing me from seeing his face.
A grunt fell from his lips when my elbow connected with his ribs but other than that sound, his hold was tight. Panic hit. He managed to grab hold of my wrist, preventing me from fighting him. In the back of my mind, it occurred to me that my mates were close by.
I kicked out but the intruder must’ve seen it coming because he easily dodged my foot. I parted my lips, making him growl.
“Don’t fucking bite me, sugarplum.”
The fight drained from me. My body went limp. I would’ve hit the ground if he hadn’t jerked me against his body by the hold he had on my wrist.
“Ez—”
Something flew past my ear. He jerked to the side but not fast enough. The blade sliced the skin of his upper arm through the material of the hoodie before it lodged into the wood. Another knife flew through the air but missed him completely.
“Stop throwing knives before you hurt her!”
Ezra jerked me behind him, blocking my view.
“Where the hell have you been, Ezra?” Devrim questioned. “Red said that the town was destroyed.”
Stepping out from behind him, I glanced at them and did a double-take. Obsidian was naked and dripping wet while Devrim was half undressed with a few wet spots on the clothes he still wore. Were they. . .?
“Why didn’t you identify yourself when she opened the door?” Obsidian growled at Ezra before his eyes snapped down to me. “I fucking told you not to open the door.”
Colour flooded my cheeks. He had told me that but I had been too distracted by my worry for Ezra.
“Why are you wearing that?” Devrim frowned at him.
Ezra ignored them and reached for me. He cupped my cheek after turning me around to face him.
“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he said softly. “Forgive me?”
I nodded, trying to get a look at his face, but he pulled away.
“Are you okay?” I asked him.
He didn’t answer. Ezra took a step away from me and suddenly collapsed.
Rushing forward, I dropped to my knees next to him. Hands pushed mine aside before I could touch him. I sat back and watched as they rolled him onto his back. My eyes instantly darted up to his face when the hood slipped off.
I froze, stomach rolling with nausea.
Devrim muttered a curse that sounded like it came from far away because of the ringing that filled my ears.
Ezra might not have been killed in the fire but he had been burned by it.
“Sweets”—fingers gripped my chin and forced my eyes away from Ezra’s face—“pull the sheets from the bed.”
My lips parted and my eyes dropped again.
“Look at me!” Obsidian snapped, making my eyes dart up to his. “Focus, Vanya. Ezra needs medical attention. The faster we move the sooner we can help him.”
“I want to help,” I breathed as I struggled to my feet.
He was alive but he was injured.
Badly injured.