Bronze

Chapter 18 pt.2

Leah

Wendy came and sat on my other side, curling her body around mine so I fit snuggly under her arm. My eyes weighed a thousand pounds, and they fluttered closed. I could have sworn I spoke to Lander, mumbling something about being thirsty, but my brain was so concentrated on sleep that it could have been just a dream. 

.

.

.

I woke up with a yawn, stretching my arms out and smashing my fist into a slimy hole. I jumped back, eyeing whatever weird thing I just smacked. Lander glared at me, rubbing his now red mouth with his fingers. 

"I'm so sorry," I said in a croaked voice. Wendy stirred, moving her arm from around my shoulders and curling it to her chest. 

I absently licked my lips. They were crusty and dry, far from any usual dry mouth that greeted me in the mornings. I sat up, not caring whether I woke up Wendy or not, and stared at the mirror on my dresser. My lips were pale, almost white, with small streaks of red in the corners. My eyes were sunken in with large dark circled beneath. 

"Lander?" I called when I noticed he was gone from my side. He stepped out of the bathroom and raised an eyebrow at me questioningly. 

I moved to the edge of the bed and extended both arms. He stepped closer. As soon as he got within a few feet of me, I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him close, letting my head rest against his chest. 

"Thank you," I said, though it came out as more of a strained mumble against his shirt. He sighed, letting his hand cup the back of my head.

"Always," he replied. 

We stayed like that until Wendy woke up. She moaned, rubbing her eyes of sleep, and blinked away the crust. I jumped on her and engulfed her in my arms. I'd never been so happy to be called her friend. Just having her support was enough to make my heart fill with joy.

An overwhelming cough forced me to back away. More blood came from my mouth. Along with that came a grueling headache and chest pains. I flopped down and covered my face with my hands, hiding away from the blinding light coming from the window. 

Wendy poked my cheek. I turned and glared at her for intruding on my dark space. "Kane's coming," she whispered in my ear.

She jumped back, surprised.  "I thought I told you not to tell him!"

Lander came over and put his arm around me. "I did," he said smiling at Wendy. She nodded and left, fixing her hair and clothes on her way out. I watched her go, knowing she still had to work and feeling my heart break a little because of it. 

I turned my glare to Lander. "Why?" I snapped jerking away. A sudden sense of vertigo made me fall back to his chest. 

"Look at you," he mumbled, lightly stroking my hair. The dizziness left me, and I sat up slower this time. "You're pale and cold to the touch. Wendy said something about a doctor, but-"

"I said no," I told him finishing the sentence. "I also said no Alpha, too." Glaring, I picked at a random piece of fuzz on my shirt. When I got it between my fingers, I flung it at his face. It blew with his breath, gliding to the bed instead of landing in his hair like intended. 

"I can see that you're mad," he stated. I rolled my eyes and looked at my reflection, seeing the main reason why I didn't want Kane near me. I looked like death. I looked vampiric in some ways. The pale skin, dull eyes, and sunken features. It wouldn't surprise me much if I started feeling the hunger that came along with being undead.