Page 6 of Bonds of Fate

“Nothing specific that you’re worried about? I am concerned the effects of the concussion might linger past the transition, but that should pass very soon. No headaches? Nausea?”

Nix doesn’t mention the panicked-induced vomiting from earlier, and neither do his mates.

“No? Good. The breaks in your fingers, arm, and leg also seem good.” He turns to Ewan, asking, “Love, do you want to have a look?”

“I think you’ve got it covered,” Ewan confirms in his lilting voice, but his eyes haven’t left Nix, his nose twitching as if catching every detail. Nix feels the sting of unfairness—of not being able to smell them when they can surely smell him. His wolf bristles at the thought, taking umbrage at Dr. Campbell’s unwavering, almost piercing stare. The intensity of Ewan’s gaze feels like a challenge, and it sets Nix on edge.

“Well, Nix, I think you have come through with flying colors. Do you have questions for me or Ewan?”

He hadn’t known he was going to ask before he did, but once it’s out, he doesn’t want to call it back. “What happened to me?”

Smoke and burnt wood flood Nix’s senses as Jamie clenches his jaw. “Nix. No. Come on now, no good will come from that right now.”

The doctor busies himself with putting his equipment away and sighs. “I’myourphysician, Nix. I answer to you, and if you want to know, I will–not gladly, but honestly–tell you. But I want to qualify in the same way I did with your pack: that it’s not a pretty story.”

A bitter laugh bubbles out from his chest. “Dr. Kennedy, none of my life for the past nine years has been apretty story.If I don’t want to hear it, can I tell you to stop? Ask questions?”

“Of course; shall we sit? Jay, are you staying? Gideon? Finn? Is that okay with you, Nix?”

“Yes, we don’t have any secrets, right?” Jamie’s expression looks less than reassuring, and Nix thinks maybe they need to have another chat about lies of omission. Even Gideon and Finn smell…guilty.

Nix sits on the couch beside Jamie and grabs his hand for comfort, and it makes his wolf lie down and rest.Thank fuck.

Riordan doesn’t even pull out a tablet, notebook, or file; Nix clearly made enough of an impression on the doctor that he would remember the list of his injuries from memory.

And what a list it is.

From the broken bones to the perforated bowel to the punctured lung. From the damaged eye and facial fractures to the severe brain injury. The doctor doesn’t waver, and it’s like Nix is hearing a laundry list of pain in someone else’s body.

In all of his years with Dawson, he had never hurt him this badly, and there’s no doubt he’d had the clear intent of killing him this time. Dawson had always maintained that he was morefunalive than dead—but what could have changed his mind or incited such violent fury?

“Is there anything else?” Nix asks when the kind doctor pauses.

“Well, there were several older injuries in various stages of healing and…” The doctor looks uncomfortable and well—doesn’t that make Nix’s stomach drop even further.

It doesn’t stop him though. “Don’t stop now, Dr. Kennedy. What can be worse than a boot to the face a few times over? I assure you, it couldn’t be worse than everything you’ve just listed.” He’s bordering on disrespect, but he is genuinely curious in a detached way. Whatcouldbe worse?

He wants to feel bad that his mates are upset hearing it all again. Gideon paces back and forth like a caged lion, his movements sharp and restless. Finn sits with his hands clenched into fists on his thighs, his gaze fixed on the floor. Jamie’s eyes flash red, his fangs digging into his bottom lip, and the scent of a forest fire blazes around him.

But Nix doesn’t feel anything at all.

“You said you would tell me.”

“You’re right, Nix.” Taking a deep breath, the doctor sits up straight and clears his throat. “There was extensive damage to your rectum and colon. We conducted a rape kit, as is our protocol, and it has been included with your patient information when the police subpoenaed it. We noted it hadn’t been the fir–”

“Stop.” Turns out he doesn’t actually want to hear it. Nix stands, and the doctor subtly eases back, oddly wary.

Had Dawson raped him while he’d been dying? His wolf’s hackles rise, a relentless need to hunt Dawson down and tear his throat out surging through him. The avalanche of fury wears through the walls he’s built around his emotions, threatening to collapse them entirely.

He wonders why the thought of that violation feels worse than any other he’d endured. It’s ludicrous. Why is a torn rectum worse than a broken arm? Why is the desecration of his broken body without his consent worse than a punctured lung or a lost kidney?

The terrible questions must have slipped out aloud because the room has fallen into utter silence. The absurdity of it makes Nix laugh.

“Nix.” Jamie’s voice is thick with shock.

“What? You heard him. It’s not like it was the first time, Jamie—but it sure will be the last.” His tone is callous and biting, and he knows it. Nix has never deliberately hurt Jamie before, and the regret claws at him immediately.

Jamie whines.

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