Page 43 of Pack Coffey

"Come on," he says, leading me into the room that's on the other side of the one-way glass.

My heart breaks as I get my first look at her. She's in the corner huddled underneath a blanket still covered in blood. Iwant to break this glass and crawl through it to get to her, but I don't want to make things bad again. "What happened?"

Saint fills us in on what he knows, showing us the video that was screen recorded from her live and sent in. She fought viciously for both of them. "She's a fucking savage."

Saint growls in agreement.

Lawrence is sitting in a chair facing the mirror, not letting his eyes drift off of her. I go over and clap him on the shoulder. "It's not your fault, man. It could've happened on any of our watches."

He doesn't make a sound and probably won't until she does.

The sheriff comes into the room. "She's going to have to stay here until she talks, boys."

"Sir," I start. "She's newly bonded and just experienced something extremely traumatic. Please let her bonded in there with her to pull her out of her shock and I'm sure you'll get your statement."

His lips purse like he's already been asked this request before. His eyes flick over to where Henry is standing with his arms across his chest. "It's you, yes? Come with me."

Lawrence perks up at this as the rest of us go to stand beside him to watch. As soon as he steps foot in the room, her whole demeanor changes. He falls to his knees in front of her, pulling her down into his lap as she begins to sob. He soothes her hair down and rubs circles on her back while rocking them back and forth.

I feel like something is breaking inside of me. I can only imagine what he's feeling right now.

By the time her sobs turn to hiccups, he's fully sitting on the floor with her between his legs and arms wrapped around her as tight as they'll go.

Her red swollen eyes finally look up to him.

"There you are," he murmurs, kissing the side of her head.

Then she whispers something I don't think I'll ever forget. "I'm a murderer."

They get their statement after that, and its case closed within a few days. All of the girls were traceable back to that piece of shit, and he's dead and gone. She managed to save one of them and herself, which is more important than anything. Something we will be reminding her of for a long time coming.

Epilogue

DARCI

It's been a little over a month since the attack. I still have nightmares sometimes about the knife going into Morton. Sometimes he pulls it out and stabs me with it. Sometimes I wear a shirt stained with his blood with the word murderer written on it. Luckily, I have a damn good pack that takes care of me every time one of them makes an appearance.

I'm trying to get on with life and get back to normal. With the campus on Christmas break, though, I don't have much to keep my mind occupied. Every time I pick up a book or movie, I put it down or turn it off. I'm restless in a way that nothing feels right.

I spent the entire day today going around to all of my pack's rooms collecting pillows and clothes that I don't feel like they'll miss. Henry might miss his blanket off his bed, but he can get another one from the closet. I'm sure he won't mind sacrificing it to me. I've got them all spread out neatly in the room in my closet, including the blanket.

I'm headed down for dinner to help cook when Henry walks through the door. I bounce down the last few steps to throw my arms around him. He lifts me off my feet easily, planting a kiss on my lips and carrying me into the kitchen with my feet swinging the whole way.

"You smell good today," he murmurs into my ear, tickling my neck.

"Save that for after dinner," Banks teases from where he's sitting, loading up a plate of spaghetti.

Something smells off in here and it's not the food. Letting go of Henry, I walk the space trying to figure out what it is. My nose finally leads me to Banks. He grins up at me from his chair. "Hey, baby."

My nose scrunches. "Why do you smell like that?"

Keaton, who's mid drink, spits it out accidentally with his laugh.

Banks' face falls as does his brows and he sniffs himself, making the others laugh.

Lawrence, always one step ahead of all of us, states, "She's been going around collecting stuff from our rooms for her nest."

All heads whip to him, including mine. "Oh damn."

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