Page 16 of Blinded
"Let's wait on that. I have a friend who deals with eye injuries. He's a wolf and is willing to come and see what he can do. They have prosthetic eyes if we need to go that route, but he was actually talking some other ideas, but he needs to examine your eyes first to see what the full extent of the damage is." Cohen turned and reached for something behind him. "Until then, I thought this might be more comfortable than the gauze wrap. It's eye patches. They should stay in place better for you and won't draw as much attention from a distance." Cohen handed them to me. "I'm giving them to Bayne. He can help you put them on once we're done if you want."
"Thank you." Brett smiled. "I'm sorry I've caused all this work for you."
Kurt frowned. "You haven't done anything. I'm sorry you were attacked on our land. That should never have happened. We are the ones who should be apologizing."
"It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known." Brett sighed.
"And neither could you. So, for right now, how about we stop with the blaming and apologizing," Cohen said. "Let's find who did this and make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else."
"Cohen's right. We need to focus on finding who did this. We can't change the past, but we can make them pay for what they did. You lost your sight, and one of my wolves is dead because of whoever did this. We need to find out who it was. Have you remembered anything that might help us?" Kurt asked.
"No, nothing. It's all blank until I woke up alone and hurt. I remember the pain in my leg, then nothing. I don't know how long I laid there before I heard the bears. It could have been hours or days. Like I said, I am guessing I faded in and out of consciousness." Brett's grip on my hand tightened.
"Neither of you had enemies?" Cohen asked.
"There were some girls that were put off because Bridger wasn't interested, but they wouldn't have a way of knowing we were wolves or that we were going to be out running that day. As far as I know, he hadn't talked to those girls in a while. We made sure we were well into the woods before we shifted and that there was no one around to see us. We did everything by the rules. We were cautious. Safety and the protection of our kind was ingrained in us growing up, just like it is with all wolves." Brett sighed. "I wish I could help, but there is nothing I can think of."
"You have no enemies?" Kurt asked.
"No, seriously no one. The sibling rivalry with my sister is about as problematic as my life gets. I like it simple and calm. I've tried to think of anyone that would be upset with either Bridger or me, but there is no one. I even thought about the students I teach, but I get along with all of them. I don't have a clue who would do this." Brett reached up and touched the bandage over his eyes. "This takes real hate. What they did to Bridger takes hate. We weren't the type of people to make someone that mad at us."
"What have you found at the site?" I asked.
Kurt sighed. "Not much. There is a strong scent of humans. Two of them. We think they were who did this. Their scent is all over the scene. We managed to track it back to a small dirt road. It seems they were parked there. We followed the scent of the vehicle to the main highway, but there we lost track of it. Smells like two men, but we can't be one-hundred percent sure. We have footprints, typical hiking boots, tire treads give us no leads unless we find the vehicle. It's a common brand that many trucks in the area would use."
"Can I go to the site? Maybe a smell will help me remember something." Brett asked.
Kurt glanced at Cohen, who glanced at me.
"I can get you there. Might be a good chance for your wolf to try and navigate the blindness. We'll take it slow and work together." I was happy Brett wanted to go. It meant his suicidal thinking wasn't front and center any longer, but I would still keep an eye on him.
"Thanks." Brett brushed his thumb over my hand.
"You up to talking to Bridger's family?" Kurt asked softly.
Brett nodded. "Yeah. They'll hate me, but I need to talk to them. It's the right thing to do."
My heart ached for the blame he was putting on himself. "It wasn't your fault."
"I know, but maybe if I'd been paying more attention—"
"That's pack land. You shouldn't have had to worry about it," Kurt told him.
"Doesn't mean we should take our safety for granted." Brett stood. "Will you take me to them?"
I stood beside him. "Sure. I'll leave you to talk to them, but as soon as you're ready, I'll be right here waiting for you." I pressed my hand to his back as I led him out of the room and into the one next door where Bridger's family was.
His family sat on a small couch, his mother clinging to her husband's hand as Bridger's younger brother and sister sat on either side of them.
"I'm so sorry for your loss." I stopped in front of them, my hand wrapping around Brett's waist.
"Thank you." Bridger's father, Darren, stood, coming over to stand before us. "Brett, I'm so sorry." He gently touched Brett's shoulder before drawing him in for a hug.
I stepped back, giving them room. When Darren released Brett, I softly said, "I'll be in the other room. Call me if you need me." I kissed his cheek before giving a soft nod to the family and leaving Brett to talk to them.
I tried to ignore the pull to go back and stay with him, wondering how I would ever get used to the bond between us. Even being a room apart was hard. It was as if I needed to be touching him to ease my soul.
"You have that look." Kurt grinned as I sat back down.
