Chapter Thirty Seven

Liam

Damien and I wrapped up and he left the office to find the girls. I wanted to give my uncle a call before going out there myself. Before I could dial his number, many things happened almost all at once. I heard Azalea scream out in pain causing me to appear in the living room almost instantly. I was simultaneously hit with her scent. Damien was in front of me and Lily in between him and Azalea who was now clutching her abdomen on the floor.

“Here we go again,” Damien said as a growl reverberated through my chest.

“LIAM!” Azalea screamed, folding her body over in half. She was sweating bullets and her scent was driving me crazy.

“Mate her now!” Gavin yelled in my head.

“No, she's not screaming for that. She wants our help!” I shot back.

“We can help her by mating. It will take away all the pain!” Gavin fought me. He was trying to come to the surface and take control.

“We had a deal!” I roared at him.

Damien hovered over me, clearly unsure about letting me near Azalea. I fought Gavin, trying to shove him down so I could focus on helping Azalea. Lily was now over top of her, trying to get her up to the couch. Every time Lily touched her, she screamed even more. A touch from anyone but me was going to cause her pain.

“Lily, stop,” I said as calmly as I could. “Azalea, just give me a second baby.” Lily and Damien looked at each other. 

“Lily, I think you’re hurting her more,” Damien said.

“She needs him; he will be the only one that can soothe her,” Lily said, realizing. “Liam, get yourself under control. Now. We need to take her upstairs.”

I closed my eyes tightly, channeling all my energy into pushing Gavin down. He was not making it easy. After a few seconds, I felt like I was in control for now. I opened my eyes. Damien looked at me for a moment before nodding his head and stepping aside. Lily did the same before she backed away from Azalea and let me near her. I held my breath, trying to take in as little of her scent as possible. The need to mate her was overwhelming but her needing me was overcoming it for now.

“We need to get her in a cold bath now,” Lily said next to me. I bent down placing my hands on her shoulders.

“Go get the tub full of ice and water, now,” I said to Lily. Azalea screamed in pain again. “Baby, I am right here, hold on,” I said to her, trying to soothe her. She was sobbing in between screams. I carefully pulled her up into a sitting position so I could pick her up. Her eyes were bloodshot; I could see the fear in them. “Shhhh, it's okay, we’re going to make it better okay?” She whimpered as I picked her up. Damien and Lily were gone, hopefully getting a cold bath for us to get her cool.

Azalea’s skin was on fire and her clothes were already damp in places from her sweat. I held her to my chest, hoping my presence was helping. “I am so sorry, baby,” I told her as I carefully made my way upstairs. I did not want to move too quickly and hurt her more.

“Liam, it hurts,” she wept in agony.

“I know, sweetheart,” I told her. I kissed her forehead hoping to calm her down. She closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. I entered our room and could hear the water running in the bathroom. “Right in here, baby,” I whispered to her. I carried her into the bathroom. Not even bothering to undress, I stepped right into the water and lowered us down.

“Uhhhhh…” she moaned. I felt her body relax slightly against me.

“Lily, we need ice,” I said to her.

“I know, Damien is coming,” she said. “Liam, she needs as much contact with you as possible. Your touch will help lessen the pain and the heat,” she said with a worried look in her eyes.

I knew what she meant and why she was worried. I needed to undress us. She was afraid the closer we got, the more likely I would be to lose control. I nodded my head at her as Damien came in with two large buckets of ice. They carefully dumped the buckets into the water around us. I reached my hand under her shirt, rubbing circles on her back. Her sobs had simmered down to whimpers now.

“How are you feeling baby? Does it still hurt?” I asked her quietly. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She nodded her head ever so slightly. She leaned into me, burying her face in my neck, and gripping my shirt in her small fist. I brought my hand up and rubbed the back of her head, trying to help her relax. The ice water seemed to be helping some, but it was melting quickly.

“Damien, get more ice,” Lily said. He followed her directions immediately, grabbing the bucks and exiting the bathroom. “Liam…” she said looking at me.

“I know…” my voice trailing off. This had escalated more than we thought it would from yesterday, probably because she is the mate of an alpha. “Azalea, I am going to take our shirts off. Okay? If our skin is touching, it will ease the pain,” I calmly told her. Now that she was not screaming in pain, the need to mate her was getting worse again. I knew she needed me and that was the only thing I let my focus on right now.

Grabbing the bottom of her shirt, I carefully lifted it up. I managed to pull it off her only having to move her minimally. I sat forward a little to make a small amount of space so I could also remove my shirt. Once it was off, I laid her back on my chest. I could feel her still hot body under me; her heart was still racing.

“Lily, what if this doesn’t start working?” I linked her a little worried.

“I don’t want to lie to you; you won’t like my further suggestions…” she linked back. She looked at me with worry in her eyes.

I rubbed circles on her back and cooed softly in her ear as we sat in the cool water. Damien returned with more ice, bringing the temperature of the water down further. After what felt like forever, her body temperature started coming down. Her whimpers subsided and she started to breathe evenly. As her body relaxed and her flare up died down, I was also able to relax.

“I’ll get some towels,” Damien said. Grabbing Lily, they left us alone.

I continued to rub her back. Her body started to shake slightly. “Are you okay now?” I asked softly. She continued to shiver on top of me. I wrapped my arms around her, hoping to put a little warmth back into her.

“Y-yea,” she croaked quietly. She cuddled impossibly closer to me. I felt warm tears against my shoulder.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay,” I said grabbing her face in my hands. I brought her face to mine, rubbing the tears away. “See, everything is okay. We will get you through this, baby.” I said trying to reassure her. “Let's get you dry and warmed back up; sound good?”

Holding her close, I stood up letting the water drip from us. Climbing out of the tub, I set Azalea on the countertop so I could grab a towel to wrap her in. After grabbing a few towels, I helped her out of her wet clothes and wrapped her up in a towel before removing my own. With a towel slung around my hips, I turned back to Azalea.

I stood in front of her, her face almost level with mine sitting on the counter. My chest hurt a little looking into her eyes. I could tell how bad this was for her and all I wanted to do was take the pain away. “I am really sorry, baby,” I said quietly to her.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. She hugged her arms to her body.

“What can I do?” I asked her.

“I’m cold. Hold me?” she said. Her eyes told me how hard this was for her. I pulled her into my chest, her arms wrapping around my torso. I gently rubbed her back as we stood there.

“Thank you,” she said in a small voice.

“I would do anything for you,” I told her.

“Yea, but this isn’t so simple. I know it is hard to be near me like this. You’re the only thing that made it bearable.”

“I just wish I could make it go away for you.” I want to make sure nothing ever hurts her.

“You can,” she said, pulling away from me.

I looked into her eyes, trying to see if she was serious.

“No, not like this. Not just because this is hard and hurts. We will get past this and then when the time is right, we will mate.” I said to her.