Page 25 of Emily's Essence

“Yeah.”

“But the Black Demons are gone, aren’t they?” Hawk asked.

“There’s always a chance a few are still out there and wanting revenge, and that’s why I’m hypervigilant with the girls. I have no idea why Emily was alone. She’s always supposed to have a man with her.”

“I’m going out to look with my guys. We’ll find her.”

“Good.” Striker hung up.

Hawk whistled for the men. When he saw several, he told them about the situation. “Let’s go.”

They fanned out.

Five minutes later, Hawk saw her on the ground behind some bushes. There was a gash on her head, and her jeans were pulled down. Her panties were still in place, and he didn’t see any blood, so he hoped that meant she hadn’t been raped.

“Over here,” he yelled as he pulled up her jeans and removed his cut to wrap around her.

“What the fuck,” Striker said as he ran over to them.

“I know. Someone hit her in the head, dragged her body behind the bushes, and pulled her jeans down.”

Striker growled. “I will find out who did this, and they will feel so much pain before I slit their throat.”

“No, the fucker that did this is mine.”

They were hurrying up to the big house.

“Someone get Alicia and make sure she’s in the office,” Striker shouted. He turned back to Hawk. “So, you’re finally going to stop fucking around with her?”

“Yes. We’ll talk later.” They walked into the back door and directly to the office where Alicia, Stone, Kristina, and a few other women were waiting. They had put a blanket on the sofa, and Alicia had her box of supplies and some already laid out on a table near the sofa.

Someone yelled for a bag of frozen peas for the knot on Emily’s forehead. Hawk was pushed aside as the women gathered around Emily and worked on her.

Hawk was worried that she hadn’t woken up yet.

Alicia wiped the blood off her forehead and was now probing the cut. It looked deep to Hawk. He found himself cringing every time he saw more damage done to her. Jesus, what the hell happened to her? She hadn’t been gone that long.

“Do you think she has a concussion?” Striker asked.

Alicia looked at him. “Maybe a mild one. I’ve checked her pupils, and they look fine. But I’m going to want her to wake up every hour overnight and maybe tomorrow. We’ll need to take her in if I see anything I’m concerned about. Right now, I think she’s doing fine.”

“I can stay with her tonight,” Hawk said.

Everyone in the room froze and stared at him.

“Are you going to stop being an asshole?” Willow said behind him.

He rolled his eyes. Leave it to Willow to ask what everyone was thinking. “Yes, Willow. I’ve never had a relationship with a woman, so I have a lot to learn.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help train you,” Meg said.

Hawk smiled when Feral growled.

“Train? Woman, you don’t train us.”

Meg patted his arm in a condescending tone. “Of course not, baby.”

There were a few snickers in the room, and everyone was fighting a smile.

---