Territory (3 page)

Biting her bottom lip Kya eyed the room nervously. “When will Dell let me go?”

Chloe instantly shook her head, “Oh, he’s not keeping you here. I mean you’re not a prisoner or anything. I’m sure once you’ve showered and fed and once he’s gotten some information from you…I’m sure he’ll let you go...I mean I know he will.”

There was a low growl on the other side of the door and Kya backed into the wall. Chloe glared over her shoulder before looking back to find a fearful Kya eyeing the window.

“That’s just Briggs.” Chloe held out her hand in an attempt to placate Kya, “He wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I-I’m fine.” Kya stuttered her brows drawing together. The room was silent for a moment before the unmistakable sound of a chair scraping on the floor was heard outside the door. “What’s that?” Kya asked cautiously.

“Oh…well…,” Chloe looked down and twisted her fingers together before continuing, “Briggs. He’s just been sitting out there all night and all day waiting for you to wake up.”

“Guarding me in case I tried to escape?” Kya bit out.

“NO!” Chloe corrected too loudly then continued more calmly. “No, nothing like that. He was just concerned and wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. Now that you’re up, he’ll go and get some rest. With the full moon the night before and staying awake the entire day he’s sure to be exhausted. Anyway,” Chloe began as she backed toward the door, “I’ll leave you to eat and get cleaned up. If you need anything Kya, I’m just downstairs.”

Again, Chloe held up her hands, “Look Kya, you should know that the only reason Josephine contacted Dell was out of concern for your safety. She didn’t give many details, but said that you could really use the protection of a pack, and that you no longer had one of your own. But, this works out perfectly now since you and Briggs are…” Chloe clamped her mouth shut and turned, exiting the room quickly with Kya limping after her.

“Briggs and I are what?” Kya shouted after Chloe, but received no answer as Chloe closed the door before Kya could reach her.
Fuck! What could Briggs and I possibly have in common aside from the fact that we are both apparently exhausted right now?
Kya considered chasing Chloe down the hall but decided against it, she still wasn’t even sure where she was.

Crossing back to the bed, Kya picked up the jeans Chloe had placed on the bed, folding down the waist to eye the tag.
Size 8, perfect
. An oversized gray sweater, white satin panties with a matching bra, a pair of ankle socks, and a pair of white canvas shoes completed the outfit. Aside from the sweater, Kya would fit the remainder of the clothes perfectly. She dropped the clothes back onto the bed and hobbled over to the dresser where the tray of food sat wafting delicious aromas about the room.

Famished, Kya stood over the dresser and took up the knife and fork that were set on a linen napkin and attacked the steak. In mere minutes, the plate was clean and Kya was finishing the last of the cold soda. She dropped two cubes of sugar into the still steaming cup of tea and grabbed it and the clothes as she slowly made her way to the bathroom.

She paused in front of the door to the room then decided that since Chloe had offered she’d take her up on it. Kya clicked the lock into place before continuing to the bathroom.

Once inside, Kya clicked the bathroom door lock as well. She set her cup of tea on the sink vanity and turned on the shower. The bathroom was larger than she’d expected it to be. Intricately decorated tile adorned the walls around the large claw foot tub and shower, while large marble tile lined the floor. An ornately wood framed mirror sat over the vanity and plush white rugs lay on the floor in front of the shower, the vanity and toilette. The room felt like an exquisite South Western spa with its earthy tones and warm atmosphere.

Kya opened a cabinet that sat recessed into the wall. The cabinet held rows of toiletries and fresh towels.

She retrieved a towel and set it on the vanity next to her tea before she slowly unbuttoned her pants and groaned as she bent to pull them off and kicked them into a corner before lifting her arms to remove her shirt. A loud moan escaped her as her muscles once again protested her movements. She slowly dropped her arms, unable to remove her shirt.
Shit! Now what do I do?
She eyed herself in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall just behind the bathroom door as she tried to come up with a solution.

Turning to the vanity, she pulled out a drawer that was just under the sink.
Empty.
Unable to find a scissors to cut the sweater off, she again tried removing the sweatshirt this time trying to pull one arm free at a time. She whimpered in frustration and pain before she growled, “Aaaargh!”

She jumped, startled when she heard a loud crash come from the other room. Her heart stuttered in her chest, someone had just kicked in the door to her room. Panic flared as she scanned the bathroom frantically.
No window!
Seconds later the door to the bathroom was kicked open.

She stood in just her sweater and underwear, clutching her hands together in front of her chest as steam swirled around the bathroom and enveloped Briggs as he stood breathing heavily, glaring at her. “What happened?” he boomed.

“N-nothing.” Kya dropped her eyes to the floor, her body trembling at his proximity.

Briggs shoved an angry hand through his short black hair, “I thought I heard…did you… what happened?”

Kya backed up a step keeping her eyes down. “I…I’m just really sore and it hurts to move. I can’t get my shirt off.” The words came out in a rush.

Kya stood motionless in the bathroom for several minutes before she heard Chloe yelling from the hall, her voice getting closer. “
I
told her she could lock the doors you idiot! How is she supposed to feel comfortable and relaxed without being able to feel secure? Then you go kicking in the doors while she’s in the bathroom like some Neanderthal. Honestly Briggs, what is wrong with you? Stay here!” Kya looked up as Chloe entered the bathroom, “I am
so
sorry! I don’t know what’s gotten into him. Well, I actually do know...anyway are you okay? He said your hurt?”

Kya shook her head, “Not hurt, just sore.” She smiled weakly. “I can’t get my shirt off.”

“Okay, hang on.” Chloe exited the bathroom and returned a few moments later with a large pair of shears. “I closed the door to the bedroom and put a chair in front of it so we can hear if anyone comes in. Once I cut your shirt off I’ll sit in your room to watch the door for you, and I guarantee you that no man in this house that wants to stay alive is going to come bursting through this door.” Chloe waved the scissors absentmindedly toward the bathroom door.

“Thank you.” Kya whispered.

“Alright, turn around and we’ll get this cruddy sweater off you.”

Kya turned her back on Chloe, who set about snipping her way through Kya’s filthy sweater. As it fell free Chloe exited the bathroom pulling the door shut behind her as she yelled from the other room, “Please take your time. In fact push the stopper on the tub and let the shower fill it up, your poor body could use a good soak. There are some salts in the cabinet and a new toothbrush too. Help yourself. I’ll be in here guarding your door.” As an after-thought, Chloe added, yelling from Kya’s room, “Not to keep you in, but to keep Briggs out!”

Kya adjusted the temperature of the shower before she stripped, removed the bandages from her wrist and ankle, and stepped into the claw foot tub, the hot shower raining down on her, stinging her flesh. She managed to brush her teeth, and shampoo and condition her hair, but it was a painful and slow process.

Not wanting to be rude and leave Chloe waiting too long, Kya opted out of soaking her bones, as much as she wanted to do so. After a final rinse, she stepped out of the shower. She patted her body dry with the oversized plush towel and stopped to take a sip of her warm sweet tea.

She slid on the satin panties followed by the jeans. She was only able to slide her arms through her bra straps before she went to the bathroom door and cracked it open to find Chloe lounging on the bed thumbing through a magazine. As the door creaked open Chloe smiled up at her as she sprung from the bed, “Need some help?” Kya shoved the door open then turned her back to Chloe as she strode through the door. “I was wondering if you’d be able to dress yourself. I don’t even know how you managed to wash your hair. I can help you brush it if you’d like?”

“Thanks”, Kya muttered as Chloe fastened her bra and retrieved the sweater still lying on the sink vanity. Kya was practically pouring out of the bra, but knew that beggars couldn’t be choosers. Kya turned towards Chloe and struggled to lift her arms into the proffered sweater Chloe was holding up.

“Wow, sorry.” Chloe smiled sheepishly as she looked down at Kya. “You’ve been graced with much more womanly charm than I.”

Kya looked down and felt embarrassment heat her cheeks. The sweater, while it was long enough, was too tight due to Kya’s large chest.

“I’ll find you something that fits better when we’re finished here.”

With Kya fully dressed, Chloe retrieved a brush from somewhere in the other room, “May I?” She asked as she returned to the bathroom.

“Mmm…sure.” Kya turned her back to Chloe and allowed the other woman to run the brush through her wet brown hair.

Chloe scooped up the length of Kya’s hair into one fist and started brushing from the bottom up, “Wow! You’ve got some real snarls. Let me know if I hurt you okay.”

“Mmhmm,” Kya muttered eyeing the woman over her shoulder through the reflection in the mirror. Chloe worked in silence for several minutes and Kya chewed her bottom lip impatiently, not used to such casual close proximity from another shifter.

As Chloe finally pulled the brush smoothly through Kya’s hair, she flashed a smile in the mirror, “You are officially detangled.” She set the brush down next to the sink. “Now, come into the room so I can re-wrap your wounds.”

Kya followed Chloe to the bedroom as Chloe retrieved a first aid kit from the hallway. She wrapped Kya’s ankle and wrist in silence. Then Chloe cleared her throat, “If you wanna slide on your socks and shoes. Dell is waiting to speak with you downstairs.”

Stepping out into the hall behind Chloe, Kya saw that several doors, including hers, lined either side of a long ornately decorated hallway. She took deep breathes, inhaling quietly trying to get an idea of just how many people were in the house.

“Dell and I share the room behind you, directly at the end of the hall.” Chloe pointed at a door as they passed it, the door was on the right side of the hall and directly next door to the room Kya had slept in. “This is Briggs’ room, and across the hall,” Chloe stopped to point to a door on the other side of the hall, the door was halfway between Kya’s room and Briggs’. “That’s Hannah’s room, and the one next to it is Mama’s, then Stevie and Pony’s. The other two rooms are empty for now. Dell uses them as guest rooms or bunk rooms for members of the pack that need a place to stay when they pass through.”

As they approached the end of the hall and were just about to descend the stairs, Kya looked back down the hall.
Wonder if they put my room between the Alpha’s and the Beta’s on purpose. Probably wanted to keep an eye on me.
Kya quickly caught up with Chloe who’d just reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs. Much to Kya’s surprise, the stairs didn’t lead down into a foyer or even a sitting area as she’d assumed they would, but led down into a massive kitchen.

A huge marble-topped island stood in the center of the kitchen. Cherry wood cabinets lined the walls and stainless steel appliances dotted the expanse of the room, while a rectangular shaped cherry wood table with long benches on either side sat on the opposite side of the island closest to where Kya stood.

Looking out the large picture window that sat over the kitchen sink and countertop, Kya watched as leaves fell from a mass of quaking aspens that stood out in the field. It was night, but Kya could still see the color of the leaves as they danced on the breeze. Beyond the trees and the field stood majestic white tipped mountains. It was late August in Montana and she’d heard from Josephine that the winters were long and hard, but this was the first time in her life she’d ever seen snow in August.

Bet I could be in those mountains in less than five minutes.

Chloe grabbed Kya’s hand, snapping her attention from her thoughts of escape, “Dell will be waiting for you in the study. Come on, it’s this way.”

Kya eyed the window then turned to stare longingly at the back door as Chloe led her out of the kitchen. The pair walked down another long hall and stopped at a door that Chloe pushed open without knocking.

As Kya entered, Briggs stood up from a desk he was leaning over and turned to face her. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and stood just to the side of the desk as Dell smiled up at her from the seat behind the desk. “Finally awake I see? I hope you slept well.”