“Your eyes—Eli?” Noah’s voice accompanied shuffling, and then rushed footsteps. Eli made out his approaching shape, and was prepared when Noah grasped his shoulder.

“How are you feeling?” Eli asked him. That Noah was up and walking around lifted an immense weight from his shoulders and loosened up that tight feeling in his gut that made it difficult to breathe.

“I have a headache, but it’s not that bad.” There was worry in Noah’s voice. “What did the doctor say about this?” Noah turned his head, addressing Matthew.

Matthew stood a few feet away but approached when Noah addressed him. “It’s photosensitivity from hitting his head. Mild, and by no means permanent.”

“Photosensitivity? That’s light related isn’t—” Noah cut off in a grunt as Eli hugged him hard. His taller body stalled a moment, then Noah wrapped his arms around Eli, rubbing his back. “It’s okay.” He reassured him.

Eli was feeling for himself that Noah was the one who was okay. He pressed his ear to his chest, picking up on the steady rhythm of his heart. He was okay. He was okay. Eli released a long, shaky breath. He tilted his head and spoke quietly so only Noah could hear. “Can we see dad and Jenny?”

Noah immediately asked Matthew. Unlike when Eli had made the request, Matthew answered in the affirmative. They were led through the hospital, Noah placed his hand against Eli’s back to carefully guide him, and they came to a stop at the end of a long corridor.

“Marcus is in here and Jenny is next door,” Matthew explained. “They’re both out of critical condition and are resting.”

There were several more machines bleeping and beeping in his dad’s room than there had been in Noah’s. It smelled worse too. Not as if his dad smelled bad, but more that the chemical, sterile scent hurt Eli’s nose. He reached for Noah, wanting to ask how their dad looked, but not really sure he wanted an answer if it wasn’t good.

“His leg was bleeding pretty bad in the car,” Noah said.

“Yes, he lost quite a bit of blood.” Matthew agreed. “But he’ll be fine. He’s already gotten a transfusion and is out of any immediate danger. Now, he’s being watched for any signs of infection or complications, but so far, everything is looking good.”

Eli could feel the tension in Noah’s body. He shifted toward Matthew. “Can we see Jenny too?”

“Of course.”

Jenny was just next door. Eli stayed glued to Noah’s side as Matthew explained that her seatbelt had been too tight around her chest, causing her to pass out from a lack of oxygen. She was also out of the woods, and all she needed now was rest and recovery. According to the doctors she would wake up when her body was rested enough, which could be any time.

“I’m sure you two are hungry. Let’s go downstairs to the cafeteria and we can talk while you eat.” Matthew said. Noah was the one who agreed. Eli was reluctant to leave Jenny’s side, but even if he pretended otherwise, he was hungry. His appetite had come back when the doctor had mirrored Matthew’s sentiment that his dad and Jenny were out of danger.

Noah nudged his shoulder, apparently picking up on his reluctance. “We can get you a nice cup of tea, and cake.”

Eli nodded.

His limited vision bothered him more downstairs with people milling around. He imagined the rushing bodies were the doctors and nurses, while the pacing people in the corridors were the friends and family of patients. Noah described a serve-yourself buffet to him, and said he’d pick something out for Eli, so he should sit down with Matthew.

“I can carry the tray,” Eli said.

“It’s okay, I can manage.” Noah promised. “Go on.”

Matthew put his hand onto Eli’s shoulder, turning him. “This way.”

Eli’s feet were heavy, reluctant to leave Noah behind. There were people around them, buzzing and chatting, and Matthew led him through the crowd to a table that was near the wall. Eli was tense and on edge every moment until Noah came back.

“A fry-up is good, right?” Noah asked Eli, putting a plate in front of him. “Sir, I wasn’t sure if you wanted anything.”

“I have my coffee here, thank you.” Matthew said.

The first thing Eli did was take a sip of the tea Noah had made him. It was scalding, just how Eli liked it. He shuffled closer to Noah in the booth and picked up the cutlery, immediately digging in. Noah buttered a slice of toast and cut it in half, placing one half on Eli’s plate, the other in his mouth.

“I’m going to get straight to it and let you know what’s going to happen.” Matthew began. “We’ll be going upstate to a privately run training facility and you two will be staying in the dorms.”

Eli went still, a forkful of food halfway to his mouth.

“It’s a highly secure location, and given the nature of the facility, every person on-site has extensive training in all areas of combat. It will serve as a safe-house while my men and I work with the police to track down the man who attacked you.” Matthew explained calmly. “At the moment we think there’s a possibility that there will be another kidnapping attempt which is why it’s important to move you to a more secure location.”

“You said you had people around the hospital,” Eli slowly lowered the fork. Matthew worked with people who dealt with—as he’d put it, ‘violent’, werewolves—and if this was a training facility filled with people who were trained to that end then no way did Eli want to be anywhere near it.

“Yes, and I’ll leave two men stationed outside your parent’s room in the meantime. But keeping an entire hospital under strict supervision when you have hundreds, maybe thousands, of people coming and going everyday isn’t feasible. Plus, it’s likely your stalker would be able to find you very easily here. Even if Noah was to stay, it’s not safe for you to do the same.” Through his bandage he saw Matthew raising his hand to have Eli wait, “Before you suggest your house, it’s not going to happen. It’s not even a speculation to say he knows where you live given that he’s attacked you there in the past.”

“Why can’t you secure the house?” Eli suggested it anyway. “There won’t be hundreds of visitors that could slip through the net. And if he does try grab me you can stop him.”

“Eli,” Matthew said. “I was hired to keep you safe, not use you as bait. I want you out of harm’s way, which is neither here nor your home. When your dad regains consciousness, we’ll be having a long conversation about how we’ll be moving forward, and he very well may decide that he wants you at the house. But until then, I’ll act as I see fit.”

Okay, yeah, it did make sense to Eli, and it was hard to argue against the points Matthew made, but he wanted to argue anyway. Obviously, he didn’t think it was fine to just go home, and he knew since his dad had hired Matthew for this that he wasn’t just going to go away either so it wasn’t like he could call Cameron and get the pack involved, so… what was he supposed to do?

“Noah, your situation is a little different. It’s up to you if you want to stay here with your dad and Jenny or come with us,” Matthew said.

Before Noah could answer, Matthew stood. “Excuse me a moment.”

Eli listened to his footsteps disappearing. Noah’s cutlery moved food around on his plate, but he wasn’t eating either. Eli reached for the tea and wrapped his hands around the warm takeaway cup. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ll come with you.” Noah answered immediately.

Eli let out a breath of relief. He wouldn’t be alone with Matthew.

“How is your chest?” Noah asked. His voice took on a strained edge. “Last thing I remember is that man kicking you.”

“It’s fine.” Eli said. “I think I got it easiest of all of us.”

“Have you slept?”

“A bit.”

Noah was still scraping the plate with his fork. “Who is he?” He asked.

Eli felt Noah’s gaze on him.

“I don’t know.” Eli’s throat was tight. It felt wrong to hide it from Noah given what had happened. When his dad woke up he didn’t know what he would say, because this wasn’t a situation where Eli could keep his mouth shut. Not when they could have died. Matthew hadn’t been completely wrong earlier—the only reason his family had gotten hurt was because of him. “I’m sorry.”

Noah put his arm over his shoulders, “You don’t need to apologise for some psycho, that’s not your fault. Dad and Jenny aren’t going to blame you for his actions, and neither should you.”

Eli nodded.

“Have you talked to anyone back home?” Noah asked.

“Matthew wouldn’t let me.”

Noah didn’t even miss a beat, “Probably because of safety concerns.”

Eli pressed his lips together. Probably, it was safety concerns that kept Matthew from involving the pack. But not Eli’s safety. Before Eli could tell Noah that Matthew was creepy, he came back. Matthew let them see dad and Jenny once more before bringing them outside, where two more men walked either side of Eli, and they got into a car. Eli was blind for the entire thing, and when that door swung shut a heavy feeling settled in his stomach.