Damn, we’re so in love with this girl.
That’s the most emotion I have ever heard my twin convey out loud.
Lana doesn’t respond but continues to sniffle, as she snatches the towel he dropped onto the ground and cleans the blood running down the side of his face and neck.
As she cleans him up and I try to stop the bleeding, I take a minute to make sure the rest of the guys are okay. I say a ‘thank you’ to the skies that they’re good.
“We need to get a little further in,” Hale says, his breathing a little labored—from the sprint or the panic, I’m not sure. “If the wind shifts or if the hail gets bigger, it’ll easily break through the tree canopy. We’re not safe at the edge like this.”
“Hale will keep us safe from the hail,” I cheekily announced to the group. “No worries, guys.”
Luke chuckles next to me, drawing a glare from Lana. “Good one bro.”
“Oh, shut up, Leo,” Hale hisses as we follow him into the trees.
Come on, that was funny.
“You know I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to crack a joke,” I mutter, hoping I didn’t offend him. “It’s what I do when I’m nervous.”
“It’s okay. Let’s just focus on what we’re going to do if the storm gets worse, okay?”
As if he’s freaking clairvoyant, the wind starts howling, making the tree branches swing erratically. Some branches drop all the way down to half their length with the force of the gusts.
Fucking hell!
“Group together and duck down! Put Lana in the center and cover yourselves with your towels!” Hale barks out over the wind.
“No!” Lana yells at Hale, her hair whipping around her. “You are not putting me in the center. Protect yourselves!”
Hale grabs Lana’s arm and pulls her close, growling at her, “Not the fucking time, Lana. Get your ass on the ground. Now!”
“Lana, please,” Zedd pleads as she stares defiantly at Hale.
At his desperate plea, she glares at Hale one last time before turning away from him, her shoulders slumping as she crouches near the base of the tree. We surround her, kneeling to the ground, placing our arms out with our towels around the circle, creating a cocoon around Lana and our heads.
Please just let this be a hailstorm. I don't think we’d survive a tornado out here.
Chapter Six
Lana
I’m fucking seething.
My breaths coming heavy in frustrated pants as they crowd around me like I’m some fucking damsel in distress. All of a sudden, their dicks want in me and I have to bow down in front of them without a word? No fucking way.
Why can’t they see how precious their lives are to me?
Indignation and dark thoughts swirl in my mind as I stay burrowed in the middle of their cocoon, like we’re in a team huddle, giving each other a pep talk before the big game.
I wonder if they’ll let me smack their asses and say, “Good game,” when this storm blows over. That might make up for me wanting to throttle them right now. Fucking men and their cavemen behavior.
They have literally known me my whole life. I refuse to let them treat me like some fragile princess in a glass tower now that deeper feelings are involved.
I’m their motherfucking equal, dammit.
The wind howls around us as the tree branches sway. Zedd’s knee slips with the force of the gust and Luke pulls him by the arm before he can fall to the ground, blood still steadily flowing down his face. My own blood boils in my veins at the sight—and at the feel of them flinching away as they undoubtedly get pelted by the debris being thrown around the air.
They can’t cover themselves when the majority of their towels cover me.
Before I can swallow the rage, it consumes me and bursts out of me, louder than the wind tunnel that traps us. “Stop protecting me!”
“Sit your ass there, Lana! I mean it!”
“Hale! I’m not some precious china that will be broken!”
“No, you’re not. You’re so much more than that, Lana! We can’t lose you!”
Ugh, he’s such a bullheaded Neanderthal!
Though my heart swells at the way they care about me, I shake my head, refusing to accept them getting hurt because of me. I glare at him. “You guys are my family. You’re priceless to me. So, suck it the fuck up and protect yourselves first! Don’t fucking test me on this.”
Hale scowls right back at me, reading my eyes before his shoulders drop with a defeated grunt. Fucking finally. He knows when enough is enough apparently.
“Drop to the ground in the fetal position and cover yourselves with your towels over your—”
“Fuck no!” Ash yells. “She comes first.”
“Now, Ash! I’m not asking.”
After a tense moment between the stubborn asshats, the group shifts to their new positions. I follow suit and cover my upper body and head to the best of my ability with the pathetically thin towel.
Ash obeys but sticks close to me, laying in front of me, as close as he can. Though it will do little to protect me, at least he’ll feel a little better about the situation.
Who would have thought we’d get hit with a possible tornado the day before our birthdays?
Happy fucking birthday to us.
I wait with bated breath for the raging storm to pass, anticipating some semblance of pain because there’s no way I’m getting out of this unscathed.
So, when a sharp, stinging sensation travels up the length of my spine as I get hit by, what I can only assume, is a branch, all that escapes me is a harsh inhale. I duck my head so Ash can’t see me and bite down hard on my lip to avoid alerting the guys. A copper taste coats my tongue and warmth trickles down my chin.
Dammit, they’re going to give me hell for this later.
Refusing to draw their attention, I continue to cradle my head with my towel, praying to the sky that this passes. I think back to Gaia, Beth’s Goddess, and decide that this is the perfect time to pray to the Goddess of Earth.
Our own version of an outdoor service? I think, trying to find some humor in the situation. With a deep breath that pulls at the wound on my back, I pray.
Please, Gaia. If you can hear me, spare these men from this destruction. Hurt me if you must but please don’t injure them.
Tears leak down my eyes, unbidden, at the thought of one of them not surviving this assaults me. If this gets any worse—
Stop it, Lana. Pull yourself together.
As I pull the fear back inside me, a soothing sensation envelops my heart. Almost immediately, the wind begins to ease. I peek out from a small slit in my ripped towel.
Leaves float around us, drifting in the air before settling on the ground, as trees come to standing tall once more. As a silence descends around us, it feels unnatural, unhuman. The destruction that had ripped through the forest abates in just seconds.
I don’t need further proof.
I bow my head, acknowledging the higher being. Thank you for hearing me. I won’t forget this.
The warmth that I had felt in my chest as I prayed to Gaia spreads through my body and I feel a strange sensation of being heard. But that’s crazy.
Right?
Hands brush my back and I flinch from the pain I couldn’t brace for.