13. VANYA: LEFT BEHIND

Either shock was starting to set in or I was starting to get sick. In a matter of a few minutes, I had gone from being fine to feeling like absolute shit. It could be the fact that I had been standing under the hot water for nearly half an hour.
I sighed and closed the taps. Grabbing a towel, I dried myself and then wrapped it around my body. I used another towel to wrap around my wet hair before I headed for the door. A wave of dizziness hit me when I was about to open it. Stepping forward, I pressed my forehead to the wood and closed my eyes. After a few deep breathes, the dizziness was gone.
It wasn’t really a surprise to find all three of them in my bedroom. They looked up when I entered but I ignored them and headed for the chest of drawers. Pulling open the top drawer, I dropped the towel and grabbed a tong—the only underwear at home.
A loud purr filled the room when I bent forward to pull it up my legs. Smirking, I slowed my movements to tease them.
“I thought you said that you picked up your stuff from the house?” Obsidian asked, sounding unaffected.
“I did,” I told him. “I left the stuff Joy bought me.”
“She bought you that?” Ezra breathed. “It’s different than the ones you always wear.”
“These”—I snapped the thin straps against my skin—“aren’t comfortable to wear every day.”
“But they look fucking good on you,” Obsidian purred.
I paused and blinked at the wall in surprise. Swallowing, I nodded in agreement with them as I turned around. Planting my hands on my hips, I narrowed my eyes when I realized that they had stopped what they were doing and was staring at me.
“Don’t you have better things to do than to stare at me?” I questioned.
“Nothing sounds better than ripping that off your body,” Ezra growled. “Tease.”
I smiled at him. “You’ve seen nothing yet.”
He winked at me before he turned his attention back to the contents on the bed. With Devrim and Obsidian’s eyes still burning into my skin, I pulled on some tights. I picked up the towels and carried them back into the bathroom where I pulled on Obsidian’s shirt again.
When I entered my bedroom again, Obsidian was busy packing clothes into a black suitcase. I took in the blankets and pillows folded neatly in one corner with a few winter coats that had been left behind.
“Are you okay?”
My eyes darted to Devrim. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look okay.” He stepped around Obsidian and towards me. “You’re shaking.”
“It’s the adrenaline wearing off,” Obsidian told him. “You need to eat.”
I rolled my eyes but I didn’t argue with him because for ones I agreed. Maybe some food in my stomach would make me feel better. Ezra grabbed my hand and led me down to the kitchen where he proceeded to hand feed me.
With my stomach full, my eyelids started to droop. I smiled at Ezra and dropped my forehead onto his shoulder with a low groan. “You fed me too much.”
He scoffed. “You barely ate.”
“I ate too much.” Leaning back, I studied him silently for a moment before I looked away. “Do you think Obsidian will kill me if I take a nap?”
His eyes darkened with worry. Reaching up, he pressed his palm to my forehead and frowned, but he remained silent. He slid his hand to my cheek and leaned forward to press a kiss to my nose.
“You can take a nap while we pack everything we need,” he said. “It’s going to be a few days’ drive.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, unable to handle the curiosity any longer. “Please tell me.”
“Later.” Hooking an arm behind my knees, he stood, making me gasp and reach out to wrap my arms around his neck. “I’ll tell you once we hit the road and there’s no risk of anyone hearing us.”
It made sense why they were so secretive. I hadn’t even thought of anybody overhearing us or even of any bugs that could have been planted around the house. Everything we did was a risk and I hated it.
I just wanted things to go back to the way they had been before the kidnapping. I wanted us to be. . .normal. Ezra agreed with me when I told him what I wanted.
“Do you want pups?” he asked as he carried me up the stairs.
“Pups?”
“You call them kids,” he explained.
“Oh.” I frowned as I went over his unexpected question in my mind. “Do you?”
“Yes,” he paused, “but I’m not sure if our seed will take inside you. Obsidian bonded you so I guess that there’s a possibility of that happening.”
“I want. . .pups,” I said softly. “I’m just not sure that now will be a good time to start a family.” I laid my head down on his shoulder and closed my eyes. “I don’t want our kids to constantly be in danger.”
He pressed his cheek to my forehead for a second. Low hisses could be heard from my bedroom but they fell silent the moment we entered the bedroom. My eyes darted from Obsidian to Devrim.
“What happened?” Devrim asked. “Why are you carrying her?”
“I’m fine,” I repeated.
“She’s tired.” Ezra walked around the bed and lowered me onto the bed. “Vanya can rest while we get everything in order.”
He grabbed one of the blankets and covered me with it. I didn’t listen to what Obsidian and Devrim had to say. Pulling the blanket over my head, I turned onto my side and sighed as I relaxed and closed my eyes. Another wave of dizziness hit me, making my stomach twist with nausea.
Definitely not the adrenaline wearing off.

***

The sleep slowly faded, making me realize that I was moving. Panic hit when I opened my eyes and only found darkness surrounding me. The soft blanket still covered me and there was a pillow underneath my head but the mattress was harder than it had been.
I’m moving!
I jerked upright, throwing the blanket off and reaching to my left to switch on the lamp, but my hand only encountered air. The panic was made worse when someone grabbed hold of my arms and stilled my movement. An arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me back against a hard chest.
A scream rose in my throat I swallowed it when a sound penetrated my panic-filled mind.
“It’s okay, you’re okay.”
I swallowed a few times until I managed to find my voice. “W-why is it so dark?”
“Hold on.” He gripped my hips and manoeuvred me into another position. “Close your eyes.”
I hesitated a moment before I followed his soft order. His warm breath fanned my lips and because I couldn’t ignore the sudden need filling my body, I closed the few inches between us and kissed him.
Devrim stilled but his lips parted beneath mine. I was briefly aware of something being pulled from my eyes and over my head. My arms slipped around his neck when he took control of the kiss and deepened it.
I was forced to pull away because my lungs were screaming for air. Opening my eyes, I blinked a few times to get used to the sudden light.
“Hey,” Devrim whispered.
Smiling, I leaned forward to steal another kiss from him. “Hi.”
“How are you feeling?” He reached up and pressed his palm to my forehead.
“Fine.” I pulled my head out of his reach and glanced around.
“It feels like you have a fever.”
Ignoring him, I frowned as I took everything in. We were driving in what looked like an SUV. Obsidian was behind the wheel while Devrim sat in the back seat with me on his lap. The back was packed to the roof with stuff that I didn’t remember us taking from the house.
“Where’s Ezra?” I asked when I realized that it was just the three of us.
Devrim looked away, his hands dropping to my thighs. When he didn’t answer, I scrambled off his lap and pushed and slid across the seat to get closer to the window.
With my face pressed to the cold glass, I stared at the miles and miles of untouched nature that consisted mostly of rough terrains. Turning, back to Devrim, I repeated my question.
“Vanya—”
“Where is he?” I yelled.
Obsidian cursed and pulled off to the side of the road. The moment the car stopped, I pushed the door open and got out. I sucked in a shocked breath when I was hit with a blast of icy wind. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my waist and started moving to the back of the car.
“He didn’t come with us.” His words made me freeze in my tracks. “Ezra stayed behind to figure out why they’re after you,” he continued.
I spun around to glare at him. “And you let him?”
“What did you want me to do?” Obsidian threw his hands in the air. “Should I have forbidden him from staying? If Ezra hadn’t stayed then Devrim would have and who do you think stands a better chance of staying alive?”
I stormed over and pushed him but he didn’t even budge an inch. “You’re only saying that because of your feelings for Devrim.”
“Vanya.” Devrim took a step forward.
“You don’t care whether Ezra survives or not!” I yelled, ignoring him. “You—”
I gasped when Obsidian gripped my upper arms and slammed me back against the side of the car, knocking the air from my lungs. He leaned forward until an inch separated our faces.
“I’m getting fucking sick and tired of you making accusations about me,” he snarled. “We’ve been together long enough for you to know that both of them mean a lot to me.”
“I don’t know you,” I croaked. “I don’t know any of you because you won’t tell me anything.”
Blinking, he took a step back. “We can’t run forever, sweets. Devrim wanted to stay but they would have killed him the first chance they got. When Ezra stayed at the main house he made some friends. It would be easier for them to believe that we took off without him.”
Spinning around he took a few steps forward and pulled open the door. “Get in the car.”
I stepped away from the car on shaky legs and turned to glare at him. “I don’t care if it’ll be easier for them to believe him or not,” I hissed. “We need to go back and—”
“Get in the fucking car, Vanya,” he interrupted.
“Listen to him,” Devrim told me.
It was the first time had spoken since we started the conversation. I threw a glare at him and crossed my arms over my chest.
“No. If you won’t come with me then I’ll go back on my own.” When neither of them said anything, I let out a frustrated scream.
“Vanya—”
“You say that they both mean a lot to you then how can you just leave him there?” I asked Obsidian.
“Get in the car,” he repeated once again.
“You—”
“Ten seconds Vanya.”
Narrowing my eyes, I took a step back, followed by another and another. “Fuck you!” I screamed as I spun around and took off running.
I knew that I wasn’t going to make it that far but it sucked that I barely made it five steps when he caught me. Obsidian hoisted me off my feet and ignored my thrashing and screaming as he carried me back to the car. Throwing me onto the seat, he said something to Devrim and surprised me by climbing into the back with me.
With one knee resting on the seat and his foot on the floor, he watched me with narrowed eyes. My stomach did a flip when Devrim climbed in behind the wheel. For a moment our eyes locked in the rear-view mirror but he quickly looked away and started the car.
Fingers wrapped around my ankle, making my eyes snap back to Obsidian. He smirked as he gave a sharp tug. I gasped when I slid down the seat a few inches. Before I could sit up again, he leaned over me.
“We’re not going back for him,” he growled. “He’ll come to us when he knows what’s happening.”
My lips parted but the words died down when he gripped my throat.
“It doesn’t matter whether we wanted him to come with us or not because our priority is protecting you.”
“Because I’m human?” I questioned.
“Because you’re our mate,” he rasped.
“But I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” I whispered. “He didn’t tell me that he was staying behind.”
Obsidian’s eyes softened. “You wouldn’t have left with us if you knew.”
Tears filled my eyes as I thought of all the different outcomes their plan could have.
“W-what if I n-never see him again?”
Leaning down, he brushed his lips back and forth over mine twice and then pulled back to look down at me. “You will see him again because he has the motivation to do everything to stay alive.”