a/n: NOT edited

Chapter 42.5 – Chelsea POV

“This is my limit,” I murmured as Gabriel and I walked home, we had just left Chris and Rainy’s, on top of everything we were going through with trying to place all the pieces of the puzzle together with the Elders, home, the Lawsons, Logan, just everything, I could honestly say I was starting to regret coming here. There was no order here, these people all felt awfully entitled, “I’ve already said that I don’t need them but bit by bit-”



“It’s grating on your nerves…” he finished for me.



I nodded, loving that we seemed to be on the same page.



The problem is that you’re trying to save everyone and some people Luna, you can’t force them – well you could however you’re trying to give everyone their free will – without them becoming resistant to what you are molding, my third wolf told me.



“I mean at this point, we might as well bring George, the rest of your family, mine and the Lawsons down here to join the chaos,” I snorted.



“Hot water to hot oil,” he muttered shaking his head.



“It’s not everyone, but I just feel like we deal with one problem, then we get another…” it’s exhausting, we’re wasting time, how don’t they know that? See that?



If you’d let me shoot them… he shrugged nonchalantly.



I stopped in my tracks abruptly and Gabriel turned to me, a brow lifted in question.



“You told me you-” never hurt women and you shot Judy, I pointed out not that it was on my mind.



“That’s true,” but she can heal Chelsea, you’ve now just gathered that they’re testing your patience, I’ve never had to deal with this – this – kind of defiance in my life, the words stressed as he gestured wildly. I snorted, because you just go around shooting, blowing up and killing people.



But it was successful.



I blinked, we’re on an island filled with undisciplined stowaways, he nodded.



They need to get in fucking line. I shook my head; Gabriel always had an answer – violence. It didn’t matter what the question was though.



I don’t want them to think I’m a tyrant, I never want to become Leo, Gabriel or the Elders. I just… even here, so far the only ones that seem to fall in line are Leland, Marlon and Lux. the rest it’s like they feel like I’m supposed to do it all, be the army, general and message that has to be sent out while they just lounge. I rubbed my face in frustration, it was strange to me.



I hadn’t realized that now, I had begun molding into what I was meant to be doing and to meet such contempt and rebellion when the fight hadn’t begun was maddening.



“At least Marlon and Leland fell in line,” small victory?



He snorted loudly, the two of us strolling along once again.



Nothing had gone as I wanted too tonight, I had told Ben and Oakley that we needed to learn to play the violins, giving each child a copy of the letter our mother wrote but when Kieran came down, that all went to hell, followed by this Kayla situation.



I’m pleased – exceptionally – with the way that Leland and Marlon handled Kayla, as well as Anthony, he could’ve strike her but he didn’t, Gabriel added listening to my open thoughts now. They had seen the video when Logan played it on the beach, I nodded, yeah, but seriously, they just turned fifteen… I didn’t want to judge but, yikes!



Well what else can they do here on the island? Gabriel shrugged, I mean granted they were told not to trespass and they did, outside of where they were doing it, what they were doing… that’s up to their parents…



Leland wasn’t pleased…“I wouldn’t be either,” he muttered, images of things he did when he was much, much younger than them flooded his mind.



None of them bothering me.



Not when he thought of them with such revulsion in his mind. But nothing he thought was enough to rival the utter nausea that Kieran had when he thought of what was done to him.



Gabriel stopped again mid-step, Love, that pain he has, it’s so overwhelming, I don’t understand how his parents thought that they were protecting him from everyone else and not just that condemning him when that girl was in the wrong… it’s absurd.



“I need to apologize to him tonight before we even get to bed,” I said nodding. “Maybe you should wait?” his mind was a whirlwind after he stumbled into you by accident. I was shaking my head before Gabriel even finished his sentence.



No... Waiting until tomorrow morning to just set the record straight, that type of anxiety could make him sick, I remember being like that Gabriel. Leo would hold off on punishments, my stomach would be so unsettled because of that anticipation for what was coming, not knowing "when," was the problem sometimes… I try to explain but it’s always hard when I do try to put my feelings from back then into words.



Granted it was easier to speak to Gabriel about these things now, there was always that part of me that knew he wouldn’t fully understand. Just as I wouldn’t understand completely how his father treated him; but that didn’t take away from wanting to hear him out. Listening when he wanted that because I knew that sometimes it wasn’t even about trying to explain it right, it was about having someone to listen.



It didn’t escape my attention that my little brother and sister all had mates that seem to have gotten the worse end of treatment on the heinous, vicious horrors, but pushing that aside I reached out to Kieran’s mind, just as we were approaching the back entrance.



Nothing.



Oakley? I tried her instead, when I couldn’t reach him, Gabriel and I going to Kieran’s room together, Gabe, don’t be all alpha male on him, I warned as he strolled behind me. Not getting a reply when I knock on his door, or hearing a heartbeat I try him again over the link. Kieran? Again, nothing.



Yeah? Oakley replied instantly.



You’re home with Grant and Julia?



Yeah… they came in maybe five minutes or so ago, why what’s wrong?



Nothing, just checking, did Kieran and you eat? I say going down to the stairs, maybe he was in the kitchen, granted



No, we didn’t, but he walked me home, her reply was given with utter shyness.



That was very thoughtful of him, I replied knowing she was unsure of herself after him saying he didn’t want to be her friend; do you have any pain meds Chelsea?



I stilled in the kitchen, not finding Kieran, Gabriel started checking thoughts of his family, thinking maybe he went to see them, or he was wandering around after walking Oakley home. Why Oakley, are you hurt? I asked then.



No, I just have a headache, but it’s worse, it’s a throbbing and my ear feels like I’m underwater, there’s a ringing too.



The slight smile on my face dropped, when did you start feeling like that? Did Kieran… did he hit you by accident?



No! She replied adamantly, it started maybe five minutes after Kieran walked me home; my neck went stiff too, so do you have pain medication? She came back to her main point and Gabriel shook his head, I can’t place him anywhere, he thought worriedly.



Can you take headache pain medication over to Oakley’s house? I asked Gabriel, just as Nonno was coming down the stairs with Nona. I don’t think she has an actual headache though, I think some thing is wrong with Kieran and she’s feeling it slightly since they haven’t marked one another. Gabriel nodded and he was gone.



Some thing is wrong with Kieran, I can’t find him, I informed them worriedly as we left the house from the front and taking the path Kieran would have taken with Oakley when he walked her home. It wasn’t a paved way, like most other roads here, this one was hidden and unless they were coming to my house, they wouldn’t be on it.



Slightly hidden with trees and fallen trunks, yet, those things wouldn’t slow down Kieran.



At the half way mark, I raced up and saw Kieran, on the ground, blood pooled around him and his arm twisted at an impossible angle behind his back. Sniffing I wasn’t able to scent anyone, that wasn’t Gabriel, Lux, Marlon, Leland, or the Lawsons.



Gabriel get Jack and Chris now! I wasn’t sure what to do, the head wound was way out of what I knew how to heal. Was it even safe to touch him? Would I injury him more, “Who would do this?” Nona growled already having grown a soft spot for Kieran. She fret around him, not touching him at all, and within a few seconds Jack was with Chris, “What happened?” Jack asked both he and Chris sank to their knees on opposite sides, I just shrugged, “I can’t find anyone that’s thinking about it,” Gabriel muttered.



“I’m not sure if I can touch him, or where to…” his breathing was delayed, but other than that I didn’t know what to do, “he’ll freak out when he wakes up and my hands are on him,” I added Jack nodding and well Chris I’m sure he understood my words.



“Intubate and sedate him, then Chelsea you’re going to have to heal him, his brain…” Jack said, while Chris nodded, “someone was trying to kill him?” Nona whispered in shock.



I stood back as Gabriel and Jack teleported in return, dropping supplies on the ground, my blood, the equipment needed for anesthesia, as well as intubation. Working together quickly, Jack and Chris had him set up immediately and brought him back to our house. Instead of what I was used to just placing my hand somewhere, Jack and Chris took him to the machine room. “What are you doing?” I asked confused trying not to be in the way. Just as Violet came down, Lukas following.



“Getting an image of his brain,” Chris said his eyes focused on a screen. When a final image came up, Chris finally spoke, not that I understood his words.



“There are two brain bleeds, there’s already swelling,” I nodded washing my hands as Jack and Chris brought out a drill, I blanched. “Oh god,” I groaned, swallowing, “what are you doing?” I noted Jack quickly shaving parts of Kieran’s hair off. Violet at his side helping in the process.



“We are removing a piece of his skull, right now the bleeding is between his brain and the membrane that covers it, and you’re going to stop that…”



“You said he has two,” I tried concentrating, never having been in this position, Chelsea something’s wrong, the medicine isn’t working, it’s getting worse, Oakley whined in my head, her thoughts betraying her actual pain that was nearing pure agony.



How is she feeling this?



They aren’t mated completely or at all really.



Just as I was completing the thought Chris answered, “the other bleeder is between the skull and the covering of the brain, but we’re going to fix the other one first,” he was distracted. Screwing a bolt of sorts to Kieran’s head. Shivers traveled down my back as I watched with wide frightened eyes.



Neither Chris nor Jack had told me to touch anything, heal anything yet and I couldn’t understand why? I mean if I could heal why weren’t they letting me just do that?



Gabriel, I don’t know how, but Oakley said she’s feeling pain, can you take Lux and Leland over to her house and see what’s going on, explain what’s happening to her if she asks. I – I don’t know who did this but I think maybe it’s Connor so keep and eye out for him, tell his parents what’s going on as well please, I sent him, getting nothing back, I waited for instructions from Jack and Chris.



“There was a lot of blood on the path,” I said to the room neither man answered me, not that they were questions. “What I mean is, this – what is he going to be like – I mean can-” I stumbled not sure what the hell I was trying to ask first. There was so much, “We don’t know Chelsea,” Jack murmured when Chris handed him the drill and waved me forward.



“Place your hand here,” Chris took my hand, placing it where he wanted “and stop the bleeding, and try to do what you can to heal the bruised area as well,” I nodded.



“Why didn’t he heal on his own?” Kieran had a wolf; there shouldn’t have been that type of problem at all.



I asked just to take my mind off from what I was doing, my hand, bare finger touching his brain; this wasn’t supposed to be happening.



“Most likely the trauma to his head stopped the part that had to send the message that he even needed to heal that area,” Chris answered. Pulling my hand away he checked the area, nodding “that’s good, now we need to just drain the excess,” he murmured and Jack handed him the drill, “It’ll release the pressure that is being put on his brain,” he murmured inserting a long needle into Kieran’s brain and another one of the machines in the room came to life.



“Is all this necessary?” I said from the side, all their thoughts were on what they were doing, using terms I hadn’t heard Jack use before when we practiced healing animals.



Not that we had healed any one with these injuries.



“Yeah, Chelsea do you really want the first time you try to heal something like this to be on Oakley’s mate?” Jack answered and I swallowed, but my mouth was dry.



“I didn’t think so,” he said lowly, “this is different than when you healed Marx’ mate, that was a tumor and you had your blood work differently. Without doing it this way, you could have caused injury to his brain without that actually being your intention. The blood that pooled needed to be drained, once we finish that, you can work on healing the damaged or bruised areas,” he explained but by then I just nodded.



“Will he be himself?” I asked wondering how this worked.



Both Jack and Chris took a long moment to answer, but when one of them finally spoke it was Chris, “where the bruising is affects his speech, the second area affects his memory,” I sighed.



For a small moment, I wondered would it be so bad if Kieran couldn’t remember his life before now? All those memories of abuse? The feelings of anxiousness and loneliness created by past abuse, making him believe he was unwanted? And unloved? Just a broken individual that needed to be isolated from others because he was bad? I shook my head, going to rest against the wall, counting thirteen different wires and two restraints on Kieran at the moment.



“We’re just waiting for the blood to drain right now,” Chris murmured, sighing, “For what it’s worth, this isn’t the worst brain injury I’ve seen, it’s hard to tell how he comes out of this because he does have you healing him-” he stopped abruptly cursing under his breath, “We need to set his shoulder,” the words directed to Jack who nodded.



“Hey you okay?” Violet whispered for once not her bubbly self, “You’re shaking,” she noted, “he’ll be fine,” the words added but she was reading me incorrectly. I wasn’t shaking in worry, I was burning inside, and fury was taking up my every thought.



It burned me inside that someone here did this to him; he didn’t fall, twist his arm and hit himself twice in the head. Someone actually went out of his or her way to hurt him and for what? Why? Hadn’t he suffered enough? A growl was forming deep inside my belly, as my vision changed, tinted red. Marlon, I want everyone children and all at the auditorium in five minutes! I commanded.



“Do you guys need me right now?” I all but growled the words between clenched teeth. My hands at my side fisted, shaking.



Jack looked up from one of the machines, eying me carefully, “No…” he paused, “he’s stable in a induced coma right now, we’ll take him off when everything is taken care of, no need to have him awake,” his voice softened remembering the panic attack Kieran had when he accidently pumped into me.



Call me when you need me, I sent over the link rushing out of the room, only to be faced with Oakley’s empty green eyes, this is all my fault, she thought, her bottom lip shaking against her will.



“He didn’t have to walk be back, he could’ve stayed and I would’ve gone home but…” she shook her head stopping. Grant, Julia, and Ben behind her, “This isn’t your fault, he didn’t trip and hurt himself, someone was waiting for him to be alone and took the opportunity,” I said monotone, “Kieran’s going to be fine, Oakley… I swear.” I said looking directly into her eyes, pushing my anger to the side while I gave her the reassurance she needed.



When she nodded slowly, “you – you wouldn’t lie right?” she whispered.



“I wouldn’t lie to you,” she nodded distracted. I took a step to leave but then I stopped, facing her again.



“Oakley when you were walking home, did you catch any scents?” I hadn’t caught any trace of someone else, but there was a slight edge to the window this evening maybe she caught something where I hadn’t. She shook her head after thinking it over.



I’m at the Ryans, do I tell them to go to the house or the auditorium, Gabriel asked me. I knew my answer instantly.



Auditorium, all of them!



Instead of going there myself however, I called Remy. Can you please meet at Gabriel’s office? I asked going to my bedroom and changing my clothes.



I’m already there… I’m still working, she answered confused.



I’ll be there in five minutes, I replied. I had truly met my limit, no more playing nice.

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A few people thanked me for updating so much... I'll say it again, I post as quick as I do because of all of you guys that are voting and commenting. If you weren't doing that I'd probably only post like once a month. Since I have the ideas in my mind, I find there aren't enough hours for real life and typing here lol so you get lots of chapters that are between 4,000-5,000 words. I know some people would love longer chapters but I don't think you understand just how much I'm typing everyday... I don't mind it because I love writing this story but still... it's a bit much.

someone said Ben is so... much... that he handles this so maturly sometimes too much... especially last chapter. In my opinion he's an old eleven, but he's still so immature, but one thing is he is kind. Even from the beginning, he was taking care of Oakley kinda, he was her only friend, he was always doing things for her. She told him so, he'd sit on the swings with her, so I think if you factor in how he cared for Oakley, then you get him lol.

AND for all you guys that read the first two books in a few hours and caught up (those of you who told me) thanks for doing that... and THANK YOU for telling me. I know it's kinda much because you want to read this one, but not the others and then you see just how long those books are... they aren't hard to read and you few that rush to read them just to read this one, you are all amazing!

And all my readers that started this journey with me a year ago... Thanks for not giving up, so thanks again everyone,

ugh, it's four am... so yeah I'm going to stop here lol

Hope you guys enjoyed, think of this chapter as the catalyst....

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