Chapter Ninety Nine - A Little Blood - Damian's POV

My hand presses against my side on top of the gash to stop the blood flow, but the blood seeps through my fingers. It burns, but it's a different kind of pain. My breathing slows as I stand there, looking at Maya. The danger has passed, but how soon until more arrives? She clutches the crowbar like a lifeline, panting for breath as she takes in the state of the hallway. It's a mess. Blood seems to coat most surfaces. She really shouldn't be here and should have stayed in the room, but what is done is done now. 'Why did you come out of the room?" I ask in a rasp. 'Well, we already covered this," she snaps and exhales a long sigh. For a moment, we just stand there in the middle of the chaos and dead bodies. I push myself toward the wall to lean against it. The wound pulls and I hiss from the pain. She comes toward me, reaching out to help me, but I wave her off. Instead of obeying my silent plea to leave me be, she comes closer regardless. 'You disobeyed a direct order and now you're not listening again. Why did you risk your life? You can't fight wolves." Her lips part as if she is ready to argue. 'Well, the way I see it is I killed one as a human." 'You saved my life," I say softer. She freezes, her hand over the top of mine as she tries to stop the flow. I meet her gaze and don't look away. 'You're not ready for all of this, but saving me makes me respect you more and maybe fear for my life a little. What if you smack me with the crowbar next?" She only laughs before tensing a little. 'I would say it's not up to my standards, but they may be wrong." That gets her. 'I think they are," she adds. 'No, I may not be able to fight like a wolf, but I am willing to defend however I can. Humans aren't completely incapable." She looks down at her hand holding the crowbar. 'Am I in trouble?" I almost laugh. Almost. A smirk tugs at the corner of my lips and it hurts so badly. 'No, not today, but this isn't the end of your training. You need to be prepared. That crowbar might not always be around to use." I watch her for longer than I mean to. She reaches up and wipes the back of her face with her arm, smearing blood across her left cheekbone. But she doesn't notice. There's a slight tremor in her shoulders, but the chaos has passed, so I'm not sure why. I roll my shoulder, testing the wounds. They should be healing, but the one on my side seems to be the worst. 'I need to get this cleaned up," I say, mostly to myself as I push forward. Every step hurts. Maya is there, though, right beside me and keeping me upright. 'Go to our room. I'll help you. Then you can go to your doctor or whatever it is called." I laugh to myself. 'Maya, don't worry. It's already healing." We make it a few feet to my bedroom door. She stops just inside and looks around, as if looking for danger. I walk inside, knowing that the coast is clear. A few steps later, I'm leaning against the wall near the bathroom. I just can't make it. She moves beside me, lifting my left arm to drape over her shoulders. I glance at her and her eyes are steady on mine. 'I think I was wrong about you," I admit. Her gaze hardens. 'Is that supposed to be a compliment or what?" 'It's supposed to be the truth, though it probably doesn't make sense," I say, letting out a throaty chuckle. 'I thought you couldn't handle this world, but I think you can handle more than I realize." She lets out her own laugh, then looks down at the floor. 'I guess that makes two of us. Now, come on. Let's get you into the bathroom before you bleed everywhere." With her help, I'm able to get into the bathroom and sit down on the counter. She never flinches or even notices my nudity. At least, not out loud. She just keeps busy and gathers everything she needs for my wounds, then gets to work. I watch her fingers work tirelessly to clean each wound until everything is free of debris. When she's done with each one, she moves directly to the next one, continuing her delicate task. The wound that seems to worry her most is the one on my side. She takes more time with it than any of the others. Then she wraps a gauze bandage around my midsection tightly, leaving me gasping for air. 'There, that should do it. This one we need someone to look at." I glance down at the bandage, noticing how white it is. The blood isn't soaking through, so it is already healing and should be fine. 'I think I'm okay." 'But it looks awful," she says, looking down at the bandage. 'If it's not seeping through, then it's already healing. By tomorrow, I'll be as good as new." She arches her brow. 'Are you sure? Because I'm not." 'Yes, I'm fine," I say as I slide off the countertop. I wince when I stand, which sends her into a tizzy. 'No, you're going." She wraps her arm around the opposite side to not touch the wound and then leads me out into the bedroom. Each step hurts, but it's getting better as we move through the estate. There's plenty of carnage as we walk by and I just stare as everyone watches her take care of me. I don't bother snapping at them, though I long to. They are staring way too much. Then again, I've never gotten help like this before. 'Where is the doctor?" She asks as she comes to the stairs. 'Up those stairs and to the right." Once again, she leads me. I just follow and let her. For once, I see that I don't need to be overbearing. If I give her room, she blooms. Maybe Evelyn has been right all along. She will handle it just fine, and I can just let nature take its course. As we pass some of the warriors that look fine, I give orders in passing. My main directive is for them to reinforce the border before anything else happens or gets through. Once we get into the infirmary, I find a few others scrambling around like they don't know what they're doing. 'Hey, go burn the bodies. We need someone on clean up duty." 'Right away, alpha," one of the men says before quickly darting out the door. I breathe a sigh right before Maya deposits me on one of the nearby behinds. My hands clench the crisp white linen before I realize that I'm leaving blood and whatever else on me all over the place. 'The doctors are going to be ready to kill me for blooding their sheets." 'They are doctors for a reason. A little blood shouldn't bother them."