Page 74 of Fangs
“I can’t,”I thought to Mac, suddenly panicked. “I can’t do this, right now. Mac, I can’t?—”
“Ok,”he interrupted. “Ok. We just gotta give him somethin’.”
My mind was a hornet’s nest buzzing with panic.
“Ok,”he said again, his grip relaxing on my upper arms. “It’sok. I’m gonna help best I can, ok?”
“Alright, here’s the deal,” Mac said out loud as he turned around to face Wolf. “Whatever story you’ve put together isn’t the truth.”
Wolf’s furious eyes narrowed on me again, but Mac continued.
“We’re gonna sort it out, alright? But right now, Em needs some fuckin’ clothes. So you’re gonna have to wait a minute.”
“You think—” Wolf started angrily, but Mac interrupted, his voice icy.
“I think, at the very least, you can let her get fuckin’ dressed.”
Wolf set his jaw, but he stayed silent.
“We can meet you back at the clinic in half an hour, alright?” Mac said.
“Take Lee with you,” Wolf said tightly.
I looked at Lee, but he just nodded at Wolf. Mac looked like he was grinding his teeth but finally nodded. He glanced at me and gestured with his head, and I followed him, trying to avoid Wolf, Scar, and Kai as much as possible. Lee trailed behind. I shoved my feet in my boots, not bothering to lace them. It was a cold, silent walk to the bunkhouse. The people we passed gave us odd looks. I knew I probably looked ridiculous in Mac’s huge jacket, my bare legs, and untied boots. When we walked inside, Sam, Griz, and Raven did a double take at my appearance.
“What the fuck is…whatever the fuck this is?” Sam stood, his eyebrows almost touching his hairline.
“Are you wearing anything under Mac’s jacket?” Raven asked.
Everyone’s faces darkened when Lee followed us inside.
“Everything ok?” Griz asked tensely.
“No,” I said, and Griz and Raven looked sharply at me.
“Whose question are you answering?” Griz asked.
“Both?” I muttered.
Raven smirked, but the furrow in Griz’s forehead deepened.
“Raven, you got any clothes Em can borrow?” Mac asked.
“Em, huh?” Raven drawled, and I tensed, but she stood and gestured. “We’ll figure somethin’ out.”
Raven dug through a dresser in the bedroom before throwing some undergarments and pants at me. I undid Mac’s jacket and slid it off, surprised to find I wasn’t too concerned about Raven seeing, well, everything. She’d seen it all many times when she was helping me recover.
“Those might fit. We might need to find you some suspenders.”
I huffed a laugh, and she did a double take, her lips curling up. The pants were too big, but they stayed on my hips. Raven moved across the room to another dresser, kneeling and pulling open a drawer.
“This is Trey’s drawer. You want to pick somethin’, or do you want me to?”
I crossed my arms over my naked chest, my heart aching. I could not look through that drawer right now. “You can.”
She tossed me a shirt, another one of Trey’s old flannels. I pulled it on and then froze. Barely daring to hope, I brought the fabric up to my nose, and immediately, tears flooded my eyes. It very faintly smelled like him, and the scent made my longing and grief roar to life.
“So, do I get to know why you walked in here wearing just Mac’s jacket?”
