Weddings Bells Times Four (5 page)

His gaze held hers. “Yes, I’ve sent out men searching for Nora and Brian. Nothing since the attack, it’s like they have vanished along with the pack that was here. I should have known he would plan something if she came back, but I was so wrapped up in everything else…” He snapped, angry at himself.

“Nooo,” the crackle of her voice along with a surge of her power almost sent him to his knees. It caressed him like her hand had done so many times before.

“Wow.” He worked at getting his body under control at the same time Edward noticed he wasn’t the only one having difficulties.

Her hands opened and closed on the blanket as she tossed her head back and forth. But what drew his attention was the movement of her small tongue as she wiped her bottom lip, wetting it.

His gaze jumped to her eyes which he could tell she was trying to open. He stepped to the edge of the bed when they flew open and stared at him.

It was the most beautiful thing he’d seen. Those large round green eyes looking up at him for a few moments before he noticed them fill with tears.

“No, Beth don’t cry.” He sat on the bed, careful of the IV tubing in her arm. Edward scooped her up into his arms. Dred and Rock sat down on each side of them.

“Can’t blame self, knew he’d come.” She tried to reassure him reaching up to his face, but her hand fell to her lap, drawing a small moan from her.

“Beth, you’ve been in the coma for over two months. You’re going to be weak and it’s going to take time to get back to normal,” Dred leaned in and kissed the top of her head. “Even for a wolf or a vampire, you’re still going to have patience.”

“No time…” she tried to move, but Edward shook his head.

“Stop now!” Edward ordered and carefully grasped her chin. “Your aunt has already called in her sisters. They’ve protected the house and started working on the castle. Nothing is going to happen to you. We won’t allow it. This time we will protect you, not the other way around.”

Reaching around them, Dred opened his shirt. “You will feed now. I’m going to call the doctor and have him come to remove the rest of the tubes after you’re done.”

With her being weak, Edward pulled her close to his bare chest. He buried his nose in her hair and took a deep breath. For the first time in two months, he could actually breathe without having a constant lump in his throat.

She placed a small kiss on his skin. His cock hardened under her, but he welcomed the uncomfortable ache. Even though the brothers had eased some of his sexual tension, his frustration was back.

With her fangs deep into his skin and drinking, Edward kissed the top of her head. “I thought I would warn you now.” He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “When you are fully healed, that cute little ass of yours will be red from my hand. You will not place yourself in harm’s way again. Do you have any idea what it was like to watch you fall and not be able to do a damn thing? You are very lucky you had the magic from the house to protect you. But it should have been us who placed you on the bed.” Edward tried to keep from shaking, his anger barely in check.

Both Dred and Rock ran their hands up and down his arms, trying to calm him and it did help to some extent. “Why Beth?” He mumbled into her hair and let the tears fall.

Ever since the attack, he’d snapped at everyone, almost killing two of his best advisors, and everyone around him was tense and afraid of what he’d do next.

She sealed the holes and rested her head onto his chest. “I had no choice. Just as you would protect me, I had to do the same. I wasn’t about to let my brother take you away from me. I’ve already lost my best friend; I wouldn’t lose you three.” She slipped one hand under his shirt and tried to hug him the best she could. Her strength was coming back with the feeding. Soon Beth would be able to shift and heal right.

“The three of you did save me. I knew my brother had slipped into the house. There was no way to stop his attack. If it wasn’t for your love, I wouldn’t have come out of the spell as soon as I did. Even with my Aunt’s power, the three of you were what kept me alive.”

“Excuse me, sir…” Andrew flew into the room, causing Dred and Rock to jump in front of him, growling. “Oh, sorry.” Andrew drew up short and backed towards the door. “I thought you would want to know her brother has been spotted along with the woman about 30 miles from here.”

Edward stood and placed Beth onto the bed. “Andrew, call the doctor and have him come remove the…” Edward stared as tubes disappeared. “Beth…Stop it. You’ll use what little energy you have.”

“I’m fine. I might be a little stiff, but the feeding helped. Right now we have bigger concerns. I knew he’d show up, but I was hoping we would have more time. Where is Aunt Melody?”

“I’m right here and don’t you move from that bed, young lady.” Her aunt came back into the room pushing Andrew out of the way, followed by two other women. “We’ve already cast the invocations and they’ll hold just fine. We’re on our way to the castle now to finish up. My sisters and I have slowly built the protection around the place over the last month adding to what you’d already done, but with that place being so large, it’s been draining. I can see why you were so tired the last time we talked.” She leaned over and kissed Beth’s forehead, as did the other sisters.

“You won’t have to worry about the palace when we’re done. Your parents helped from where they were, but they were limited. Even in death they still help in small ways when they can.”

Edward held up his hand and everyone stared at him. “Wait! Let me get this straight. My Little Witch has been going outside, by herself, casting spells around the estate?” his voice thundered in the room.

***

She flinched and inched down the bed. Having the sense not to lie to Edward, Beth looked down at the ground. “Sometimes, but most of the time Dred or Rock were with me when I was doing it.”

When he said nothing, Beth looked up to see the tiny vein on the side of his face twitching. Only when he was furious did it start to pulse, and right now it was doing its own dance.

Next to Edward, Dred and Rock snarled. “When did you go outside by yourself? We were with you…” Dred stopped midsentence. “You lied to us?” she heard the hurt in his voice.

She shook her head. “No. When I couldn’t sleep and Edward wasn’t back yet from his meetings, I’d go for walks. I’d stay close to the castle though. Only when one of you was with me did I go beyond the inner-walls,” she squeaked the last part when Dred crawled up the bed and stared down at her.

His gaze burned into hers. “Edward is right…soon.” He jumped off the bed, shocking her. “Let’s go see what your men have to say, Dred. Rock, stay with her since we can’t trust her,” Dred ordered before leaving the bedroom.

Taking one last look at her, Edward turned and left without a word.

“I didn’t lie!” she shouted at their backs, too tired to follow them. Her aunts stared at her as Rock sat down on the bed. He propped his feet up and leaned against the headboard.

“You know they’re only trying to protect you, Beth,” Aunt Melody said, sitting at the bottom of the bed as she reached over and squeezed her foot.

“I know that, but I should be allowed to walk around my home. What, am I going to be locked inside, never to see the outside at all?” She took a sideway glance at Rock.

“We took you out every day, anytime you wanted,” he said crossing his arms over his chest.

“Well excuse me. I didn’t know I was a dog on a short leash,” she snapped just too tired to care. “I want to thank you Aunt Melody, Carmen, Suzy. I’m sorry you had to see me like this. I think I’m going to take a nap now.” She rolled away from Rock as her family departed, but not before each aunt hugged her and mumbled words of encouragement to her.

Beth knew she’d never sleep. After laying on this bed for so long, all she wanted to do was get up and walk around, but first she needed to shift and for that she needed more strength.

She hugged one of the pillows to her stomach while staring out at the large trees outside her window. “Why are we here and not at the castle?” she asked.

The bed linens shifted and Rock curled up behind her. He pulled her back against his body and held her. “After you were attacked, the three of us talked and realized that the castle was too open to attack. Even with your Aunts performing their magic, it’s too big and too risky for you. We decided that for now, we’d live here. My brother and I have moved the pack closer so if the other pack does decide to come back, we’ll be ready. At least that is what we thought.”

She turned and looked up at him. “Do you think the other pack is somehow connected to my brother? I’ve had a while to think about it and it would make sense, but…” She rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling.

“I’ve never known my brother to have anyone around him. To count on others is just not his style. Brian never made friends that I can remember.” Beth frowned. “But then again, maybe he just didn’t bring them home, because he knew our parents wouldn’t approve.”

Rock placed his hand over hers. “Why do you keep rubbing the inside of your wrist? Does it hurt? I don’t see any marks there.” He lifted her arm, turning it this way and that.

“You won’t, they’re hidden. Have been for years,” Beth mumbled a few words, vanishing the spell that her mother had placed over her scars years ago.

Both Edward and Dred came back into the room. “When my parents kicked Brian out, my Mother or Father took me everywhere afraid Brian would try and attack me. They noticed the stares I got from others at school. Everyone thought I’d tried to kill myself. I even had a few counselors call home. We thought the scars would go away when I hit puberty, when all our gifts are reveled to us, but they didn’t. I guess even young, my brother was a powerful wizard.” She ran her thumb over the scar on the one wrist before lifting it up for her men to see.

“Not real pretty. Mom came up with the charm to hide the scars when I need to. I just never took it off…till now.” She sighed. “So what did your men find out?”

Edward came around to the other side of the bed and slid in next to them. “It’s not good news, Little Witch. He’s already killed and sent a message.” He lifted her up and placed her on top of his body, holding her. “I don’t know how he got into town, and believe me I’ll find out. Whoever let their guard down will pay, but I’m afraid it’s the store owner, Mr. Beads and his family. The store was destroyed, burned to the ground with him and his wife inside.”

She squeezed her eyes shut. It had started. “He didn’t need to be in town to do anything. Since he had already been in the shop, he could have easily placed a spell around the place.” Beth knew Brian would strike out at her as soon as he could and he had. She could see Mr. Beads smile and remembered the last time she’d talked to him. His wife had been in the store at the time and had insisted she take home a dozen of her home-made carrot cupcakes, her favorite.

Nora and she had stayed up all night watching TV while finishing off every single cupcake. Beth had gained three pounds, but it had been well worth it. She rubbed her cheek on Edward’s shirt.

“That woman was the best cook. The desserts she made…He always insisted on giving me a huge discount even though he knew I could afford it. I want to pay for their funerals and I want to set up a trust fund for their grandchildren.” She looked up at Edward and he nodded.

“It will be done. I’ll have Avril come by tomorrow. He’ll help you set things up.” He lifted her arm, kissing and licking the scar that ran across her wrist. “Never hide anything from us, Little Witch.”

“I didn’t lie. I really didn’t think it would be a problem going out walking since it was inside the protective walls.” She sighed and laid her head back down watching as Dred scooted next to Edward.

“Tell me what happened while I was out of it. What day is it? Did Avril locate the scrolls?” Edward released her wrist and she waved her hand, covering herself with her favorite blanket.

Dred tucked the blanket under her, as did Rock, on the other side. “We have one more week before it’s the human’s Thanksgiving Day. And yes Avril found the scrolls. You know Dred and Rock are our mates.”

She lifted her head and looked at Rock, then at Dred. “You’ve already…well you know.” Beth thought she would feel betrayed, but she actually was angry because she didn’t get to see them come together.

“Yes, I’ve marked them both and sealed my bond with them as they have done with me. I’m sorry we didn’t wait for you, but with not knowing when you were going to wake up…” He shrugged.

“We needed each other to get through the wait,” Dred said leaning over and kissing her cheek. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier, but, Beth, you cannot go off without protection.” He leaned back on the bed.

“We each learned a few things while you were comatose.” Edward hugged her tight. “We can’t survive without you, Beth. I must apologize to you for not seeing how unhappy you were at my home, but that will change. We’ll live here. It’s easier to protect, as Rock has informed you. When we need to we can stay at the castle. I want our life to be as normal as we can get, but that does not mean you will going into town without protection.” Edward rubbed her back till he slid his hands under the blanket and cupped her ass.

“Why are you frowning?” Dred asked, looking at her.

“Something just isn’t right. You said there was no trace of my brother after the attack, but how did he get away? When he attacked me, Nora and he were in the air, beyond the protection of the house, but I could still see them. So when I bound my brother, cutting his magic, they should have fallen to the ground. I know for a fact Brian should have been hurt. He can’t shift, so he can’t heal like we do.”

Sitting up with her in his arms, Edward leaned away from her, frowning. “Are you sure you bound his magic? Maybe someone else was helping him?”

Beth was already shaking her head as she swung her legs around and tried to get up. “Dred, help me shift. I want to check something out and I can’t until I’m fully healed.”

All three men started to complain, but she held up her hand and stopped them. “I can’t sleep or stay in that bed another minute. Well I could, but we’re not doing that yet. Anyway, there is something that has been bothering me and I need to check it out, please.” She looked up at Dred and he sighed nodding.