“Sophia.” Chase’s growl snapped her out of her trance.
She jumped and turned horror-filled eyes to gawk at Chase’s human body. Since he shifted, she was able to see the multiple cuts and bites that covered him.
She tried to swallow down the bile threatening to come out, but her stomach recoiled. For her, it was one thing to say she would kill someone, and quite another to actually do it. She darted past the bloody scene, her sneakers squeaking, and slid over a pool of blood and almost fell on her ass.
Sophia made it to the attached bathroom in the lab just in time to lose all the contents of her stomach in the toilet. Her body heaved until all she could do was gag when nothing else came out.
Chase walked in a moment later in his jeans. After she rinsed her mouth, he helped her clean her face. He used wet paper towels to get rid of the spots of blood that had splashed her when she tore the hyena’s throat out.
“Are you OK?” He spoke softly and caressed her cheek with a warm hand while his eyes took in her probably still green face.
“Yes, I…I’ve never done anything like that before. It was too much. All that blood, and something inside of me wanted to keeping going, to shred the man apart.” She was filled with alarm at the thought.
He pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment. His warmth helped alleviate some of the panic inside her. He bent down and kissed her lightly.
“Come on. We need to get out of here before any others show up.” He pulled her down the hallway and back to his car.
“Where are we going?” She leaned back on the headrest and closed her eyes, tuning out what had taken place a few moments before. She was too tired to dissect anything else for the night.
“To my house. It’s a little farther down from River and Julia, but they’ll be coming over in the morning to catch up.”
She felt like she’d run a marathon and needed a week’s worth of sleep.
She drifted, and the motion of the vehicle lulled her to sleep. Her stomach was burning and she was starving, but she refused to leave the soothing bliss she found in her dreamlike state. Soon she was lifted, and she curled into the heat of the man holding her.
Strong hands undressed and lowered her into a warm pool of water, washing her and almost pulling her awake, but it was too hard to open her eyes. Afterward, she was placed on a big soft bed. She snuggled into the pillow and blanket, and Chase’s scent surrounded her. She sighed in contentment and allowed sleep to take over.
* * *
“Sophia.” Chase’s voice was low but firm.
“Hmm?” She sounded more asleep than awake.
“Wake up, love. You need to eat.” He kissed her ear, licking the shell, and she moaned.
She blinked her eyes open, and he smiled at her sleepy look.
“What? What’s wrong?” She sat up and peered around the room.
“You need to eat. Here, munch on this and I’ll bring you some other stuff after.” He helped fix pillows behind her back and set a tray on her lap. He brought her steak, chicken, and a bunch of side dishes. She gave him a sleepy look as she assessed the amount of food on her plate.
“I’ll bring more in a moment, but you need to eat that first.” He knew she’d eat that and more.
“Are you crazy? I couldn’t possibly eat all this. I’ll turn into a cow,” she grumbled but grabbed the fork and knife and cut into the steak.
She chewed through the entire trayful of food, and when he brought a second tray with fruit, chocolate cake, and warm bread she dove through that as well.
After he took the tray away from her, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her with critical eyes. “How are you feeling?” He could see she had a hard time keeping her eyes open once her stomach was full.
“Sleepy…so tired.” She yawned and leaned back, closing her eyes once again.
Chase watched as Sophia slept. He needed to figure out how to help her cope with her new situation. At least she’d eaten enough to not have to bother her for a while.
He stepped into his kitchen and glanced from Julia to River, who both looked troubled.
“So? Do we know why she’s so tired?” River asked.
“Chase, she’s been sleeping for over twelve hours. This can’t be normal. Even I don’t sleep that long and I’m pregnant.” She toyed with her teacup as she spoke.
Chase didn’t want to divulge his mate’s business to anyone but saw the need to add some insight into Sophia’s situation. He’d already called in the pack doctor and asked enough questions to have a clear understanding of what was happening to her. She’d told him to call her if necessary, but he’d put that off unless things changed for the worse.