Page 11 of Her Cold Brute
“What do you want to eat?” Sammy asks, standing in the doorway next to me after I slip into my seat.
“Nothing,” I admit pulling a frown from him. “There’s no way I’m going to stomach food anywhere near him.”
A low growl makes me shiver slightly and Sammy squeezes my hand gently before shutting the door. I glance out it, seeing him and the giant talking, the dark look on his face showing yet again why I don’t want to be in this damn car.
A couple minutes later, Sammy slips in around me, settling into the back again, before making sure my seatbelt is buckled. He’s no more in his spot than the front doors open, Cole and the driver getting in, and I shut my eyes as I rest my head on a pillow to ignore the giant.
A growling grumble sounds from him, but I don’t care. If I didn’t know he’d force me right back into this car, I’d get out and walk away from him right now. I won’t risk him releasing the savagery inside him on me though, and I try to simply breathe as the car pulls out onto the street.
The smell of french fries hits hard as the car slows once more and my eyes peek open, spotting the McDonald’s menu board growing larger.
The back window next to me rolls down when we reach the speaker, and a hint of a smile settles onto my lips when Sammy starts ordering for us. His question of whether they have ice cream makes my stomach growl a bit, and I don’t argue overly when the food is handed over to us. We pull around the corner and park, and Sammy takes out my fries, dipping one into the ice cream teasing me with it.
“Come on, I know you can’t resist an icy fry,” he says, and I give in, taking the bite before using the rest of them to scoop up the McFlurry. He tries to hand over the double cheeseburger he got for me, and I shake my head no. “Mora, you need to eat more.”
“I’m full.”
“I ordered it with no pickles the way you like, Sis. Just try, for me?” he adds but I can’t stomach another bite and shake my head no again. “Mora…”
“If I eat anything else I’m likely to be sick,” I warn, and he thankfully gives up for now, letting me settle back into the seat to gaze at the night sky once more.
There’s no conversation once we get back onto the road until about two a.m. when Cole offers to stop for the night again.
“We’re good,” Sammy says, his voice only half-awake. “She’ll sleep when she’s ready.”
It’s almost four before we stop again for gas, and I slip into the bathroom once more while Sammy grabs more drinks for us. He settles me back into the car, handing over the hot chocolate he got for me, settling the blanket up around me more.
“I’m right here, Sis. I’ve got you but you need to sleep, I don’t want you getting sick again,” Sammy adds, and I let the warm comfort of the drink relax me. My eyes grow heavy until I can’t keep them open, and I fade into sleep finally, with his hand resting on my shoulder.
Chapter 6
Cole
My wolf huffs as I slip back into my seat, spotting Sammy’s hands on my mate once more. The fact that he’s her brother doesn’t help me when she won’t let me near her. Won’t look at me. I want to tear the kid’s head off his damn body, so she has no one to turn to except me.
I know he can feel it as well, but not even my size had him backing down earlier tonight when we first stopped. Telling me to give her time to get used to this, to me.
I don’t need much sleep to get me through the day, but my little mate needs it, especially with her still healing. She hasn’t fallen asleep once. Her brother got in a nap earlier, but her breathing hasn’t changed once—well, not to the point where I know she’s asleep.
We pull back out onto the road, Evan assuring me that he’s good to keep driving for several more hours before he might need a break. It lets me keep an eye on my mate, watch her as she watches the sky as we slip down these highways, heading home.
If we drive straight through, only stopping for gas and meals, we’ll make it in just under two days. I don’t want that to push Mora’s healing back any though, so we’ll take it as slow as she needs.
A little after four, Mora’s breathing evens outs and I glance back, seeing the softness of her expression in sleep. There aren’t any worried or annoyed lines on her face. No pain. Just the comfort of sleep and it eases the band constricting around my heart.
“She’s asleep, don’t make any loud noises and try to keep to roads with less traffic, fewer opportunities for honking horns and stuff,” Sammy says barley above a whisper as he tucks the blanket around her more. “She’ll probably sleep until nine or so, it’d be later if we can keep the sun off her face.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for her to get in a nap and then be up for the day like normal?” Evan asks shooting a glance my way. “Keep a normal schedule up for when we get home?”
“This is her normal anymore,” Sammy states making my brow lift. “Since the attack, she can’t sleep at night. She only did in the hospital because they gave her sedatives. Once she was home, she wouldn’t sleep until three or four when she’s too exhausted to stay awake any longer, then will sleep until eleven or so. She then usually takes a nap from about three to five, before she’s up for the rest of the night.”
“Why?” I ask, my eyes caressing Mora’s sweet beauty in the darkness where she can’t see.
“Nightmares which turned into night terrors. She won’t take the sedatives any longer and she’s scared to sleep at night because of them.”
“She won’t need to be any longer. She’ll see that when we get home,” I muse, letting the fury of what those animals did to her flow through my veins, keeping tiredness far from me as the night fades into morning.
I might have killed both Mark and Tyler, which is satisfying, but now, knowing they helped attack my mate, didn’t care how broken she was, as long as she was alive, makes me wish I’d done more to them than I did. They both got off far too easily for what they put my mate through, and their sister certainly did. If I’d known that she was behind the attack, I’d have broken every single bone in her body before ending her life, rather than leaving her to bleed out on the ground.