Chapter 18:
Hook had avoided alcohol that evening, all night while he waited for her. He wanted to apologize, at the very least, and perhaps even force out some words that he had been holding onto for too long. Though it frightened him to merely think about saying such things to a woman, much less that woman.
She hadn't returned, and it had been long after the moon had risen in the sky. It was already on its way back down, in fact, but Hook continued to wait anyways.
Just when he was about to give up for the night, he heard the front door fling open, slamming into the wall behind it.
"James!" A desperate cry echoed up the stairs. Hook knew that voice all too well, and he had never heard it cry like that.
He ran down the stairs as fast as he could, rushing out into the foyer to find the owner of that voice, Wild Tala. She had collapsed almost as soon as she came through the door, falling onto her hands and knees and spitting blood onto the floor. Her hair covered her face from view, but her tattered dress and bloody, mud-covered feet told him enough.
"What happened?" Was all he could manage to ask, hurrying to her side. He gently grabbed her by the shoulders, sitting her up so he could see her face. He almost wished he hadn't.
There were tears falling from her eyes, mixing with blood around her right cheek and chin. Her face was dirty, as if she had fallen several times on her journey home. There was a gash between her right eyebrow and temple, and the skin around it was already bruising. Her bottom lip was swollen and bloody. She looked battered from head to toe.
"Oh, Tala." He glanced down to see more blood spattered on her dirty dress, more than what could have come from her mouth and head. "What..." He scoffed, unable to find enough words to form the right questions. "Who did this to you?"
That question seemed to wound her even further. More tears began to fall, dripping from her face in little red droplets. She shook her head, then leapt forward to bury herself in him, in his leather coat, in his puffy white shirt. She clung to him, gripping his collar in clenched little fists.
"He's dead."
"Who's dead?" He pressed, trying to brush her tangled hair back from her face.
"M-Morrow," she sniffed, using all her willpower to try and stop the tears. She didn't want to cry in front of Hook. She didn't want to be vulnerable. "I killed him."
"Did he do this to you?"
"I slit his throat and let him bleed out in the forest," she said in response, not wanting to let Hook feel sorry for her. "And his friend."
"Tala," he rubbed her back carefully, "what did they do?"
"He attacked me because I insulted him. He used a rock... and struck me with it. Then he... kicked me. When he tried to... I grabbed his knife and killed him with it. I didn't let him touch me. I killed them both."
Hook took a deep breath, trying to suppress the intense rage that overcame him once she told him her story. It didn't help anything. Mr. Morrow was dead, and Hook couldn't hunt him down to exact revenge. Justice was had. But Hook was unsatisfied because he wasn't able to deliver it.
"I'm glad you didn't let him hurt you any more than he did," Hook said, his jaw tightening and teeth grinding at the mere thought of anyone trying to put their hands on Tala. "Can you walk upstairs to the bath?"
"No. I am so dizzy. My head..."
"It's alright." Hook slid his arms underneath her shifting her weight so that he could stand and lift her with him. He picked her up like a new bride, cradling her against his chest. She was surprisingly light for how muscular her body was. It wasn't much of a struggle at all for him to carry her up the stairs.
She laid her head against his chest, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths. Her head was spinning, aching like it had never ached before. Her lips hurt when they moved, and all of her muscles screamed at her every time they flexed. Despite all of the pain, she found comfort behind held like that in Hook's arms.
After Tala bathed and returned to her room on her own, Hook gave it a little bit of time before he knocked on her door. She didn't answer quickly enough, so he turned the knob and pushed it in anyways. If there was something wrong with her, he needed to know.
She was simply sitting on her bed, combing through her wet hair with her fingers. Tala looked like herself again, cleaned of the blood and dirt that had dried and crusted on her skin before. After a warm bath, she was back to being the little wolf he had come to know.
"I was just... confirming that you were alright," he cleared his throat. "Are you?"
"I've never killed someone before. Even though I was trained to kill," Tala confessed, dropping her gaze to her lap. "I've hunted, but I've never killed a man until..."
"I'd hardly consider him a man. Do not feel guilty over his death, Tala. He deserved much worse."
"I know. Still his face haunts me." She looked over at him, meeting his gaze. There was a vulnerability in her eyes the likes of which he'd never seen. She didn't look angry or defiant. There was no fight behind her eyes for the first time since he met her. She just seemed defeated and despaired.
"You never forget your first kill, love," Hook tried to comfort her, taking a small step closer. "But it'll fade with time. You protected yourself. Anyone would have done the same. I'm just... so sorry I wasn't there to protect you myself."
Tala didn't respond to him, so he believed that maybe she was upset with him. Had he let her down so severely that she would never trust him again? Hook wouldn't blame her if she hated him. She was hurt on his watch, on the way to his home.
After convincing himself that she likely hated him now, Hook turned to leave. Her soft voice surprised him when it suddenly spoke again.
"Don't go. Please."
He turned back to her. "You don't want me to go?"
"Not tonight. Stay here. You can even have the bed."
"Can't we share it?" He asked her gently. He wasn't trying to push for anything, or to be inappropriate. Hook didn't want her sleeping on the floor, and he didn't want to leave her.
"You can... share it with me for tonight. Maybe tomorrow." She dropped her gaze again, this time her cheeks slightly flushed. "I feel safe when you hold me. So please... hold me again."
"I can do that."
Hook closed the door behind him, then carefully approached the bed. He sat down beside her and peeled the blanket back to create a spot for her. She hesitated for a moment, as if she still wasn't sure of her own decision. After a moment, she crawled under the blankets, and he joined her soon after.
At first she kept her distance, but it became clear very soon that she didn't like it very much. Tala slid closer to him, laying her forehead against his chest and closing her eyes. It felt right. It felt safe. For that night, at least, she didn't want anymore distance between her and Captain James Hook.
For that night, Hook let go of his infernal lust for her. He didn't think of her body, even as it was pressed so closely against him. All he could think about was protecting her, making her feel like nothing would ever hurt her again. He had failed her once, but he swore to himself that he would never even let her out of his sight again.
The truth was, as much as he hated to admit it, that Tala had become his greatest treasure. All the riches he'd collected, all the battles he'd won, nothing had ever mattered as much as the woman in his arms in that very moment.