It would also help if she could place her whole body within water, submerging the wound and her head, but that would have to wait. For now, she let the magic of her people wash over her, reminding her that she had something more than breath to fight with.
When she was finished, her side ached only slightly, more like a dull throb now, and both men had wide eyes. She smiled softly and lifted her hands out of the bowl. Water slid over her skin until it absorbed into her greedy reservoirs of magic.
She’d always loved to watch that happen. Roland used to make it dance along his skin and hers to make her laugh when things were dark.
Now, she wasn’t sure she could do it herself, not when it would only remind her of happier times. Though thinking of the dark as happy only depressed her so she ignored it and nodded in thanks to the two Talon wolves who watched over her.
Walker took the bowl away in silence as Ryder studied her face.
“Are you feeling better now?” he asked.
She nodded. “Immensely. Thank you.” She turned to Walker as he removed her IV. “Thank you both.” She swallowed hard. “I will be forever grateful to you for healing me.” She pressed her lips together. “I’d like to see my brother if that’s okay.” She let out a shuddering breath. “And then I’ll get out of your hair so you can focus on what you were doing before I fell into your lives.”
“You’re not leaving yet,” Gideon said from the doorway.
She stiffened and looked at the Alpha wolf to her right. These damn brothers kept startling her. She’d have to be better at noticing when they were near, though they were wolves, and she didn’t have the extra senses they did.
“Excuse me?” she asked.
“Oh, honey, you suck at commanding sometimes.” A smaller woman walked around the large man and patted him on the ass as she walked by.
Leah raised a brow even as Ryder, Walker, and a fourth man that stood behind Gideon chuckled.
“Hi, Leah, I’m Brie. Gideon’s mate.” The slightly taller-than-average-sized woman held out her hand for Leah to shake. Brie only looked tiny compared to Gideon and the rest of the brothers, but the woman also had a…fragile air surrounding her that Leah couldn’t quite explain.
“Uh, hi,” Leah said then took Brie’s hand. A sense of calm spread over her and she frowned.
Brie winced. “Sorry. I’m a submissive wolf and I can’t help but want to comfort. Usually, it’s just with Packmates, but sometimes, my wolf reaches out to others. Anyway, what Gideon meant was you don’t have to go, and frankly, we’d like you to stay so we can figure out what happened. We haven’t contacted the local Coven to tell them we have you because we wanted to wait until you were awake and all, but we can do that now if you want.”
Leah held out both hands. “Please don’t.”
Brie’s eyes widened, and the rest of the men moved around the bed to face Leah.
“Is there something we should know?” Gideon asked as he put his hands on his mate’s shoulders. The large Alpha wolf looked so fierce compared to the soft Brie, and it boggled Leah’s mind that an Alpha would mate with a submissive. But, it wasn’t Leah’s business, nor was it something she should be focusing on right then.
“I…I should just go.”
Ryder gripped her wrist gently and she met his gaze. “Just tell us, Leah. We can’t help you if you don’t tell us. You were running from someone. Who was it? Why don’t you want us to talk to the Coven? We’re fighting a war on one side with the humans, but we need to know if we’re fighting elsewhere, as well.”
She let out a breath. “I wasn’t born into a coven. Roland was all I had.”
“I thought that’s what you meant when you said you were alone before,” Ryder said softly.
She jerked. “You heard that?” Heat slashed across her cheeks and she tried to pull away. Only, he wouldn’t let her.
Brie cleared her throat. “My aunt Hannah wasn’t in a coven either. She’s an earth witch.”
“It’s not uncommon for witches to not want to join forces. We’re not as…connected as wolves. We don’t have bonds or the same kind of structure you do. Each coven has its own Council, and there’s even a larger Council that tries its best to rule all the covens.” She let out a breath. “That’s actually the local Coven.”
Gideon let out a little growl. “That much we know,” he said. “They tried to summon us for a meeting to discuss the Unveiling, but one does not summon a wolf.”
Leah let out a snort. “I wouldn’t think so. You guys tend to bite, I would think. As for the Coven? Well, they don’t really care if you have claws or fangs. They don’t care if someone shares their blood. The local witches, at least the ones in power, aren’t used to hearing the word no. Their word is law. At least to their own ears.”
Gideon tilted his head, much like his brother had earlier. “I had a feeling. We would like you to stay here, but,” he looked down at his mate, “we will not force you. It’s not safe out there, but if you are on the run, then we need to know what—or who—is after you.”