Chapter 18: "Deceiving wounds"

"Man is not what he thinks he is, he is what he hides."
André Malraux

"I killed him…"

Fifteen seconds, that's how long it took for Lena to register Kara's words, the same time it took to Kara's legs to finally give in and fall towards her mate's body. The sight before her was a mess of blonde hair, mud and blood. She saw darken veins popping up on Kara's skin and could feel how her mate was trying hard to not change right there and then.

Lena was really having a hard time recognizing herself at this particular moment, once upon a time she was the perfect poise of a collected and compose woman, but now, her hands were shaking as much as Kara's body was. They were shaking because she cared, she cared too much and yet not enough. She had cared about someone twice before, and on both occasions, she was left with a broken heart and worse than that, a broken trust, but for Kara… she cared and trusted again.

When her trembling hands were finally able to move enough hair and mud to see Kara's injury, she gasped.

"Kara, what happened? Is that a bite?" Lena asked with exasperation but Kara was almost unconscious and the mumbled she gave in return was almost incomprehensible. "Please hold on a little longer, we need to move you, I can't help you if I can't see your wounds" She tried to move Kara's limp body towards the main bathroom but the almost dead weight was too much for her to handle. "Kara please, I need you to move, just this time, then you can rest, please" her voice sounded raspy and desperate, she realized she was crying when the first tears went down the valley of her mouth and felt the salty taste.

"I'm tired…" Kara replied with a shallow voice, she made eye contact and Lena saw how her sight was unfocused.

"I know honey, but look, we are almost there" Lena said while showing her mate how close they were to the bathroom, that apparently gave Kara one more boost of energy, and with the little force she had left and Lena's help they were able to reach the room. Once there, Lena laid Kara's body carefully on the side wall and got the water from the shower running. With as much speed as she was able, she undressed Kara tossing the ruined clothes at the side, without wasting time with her own, she dragged Kara towards the shower. The sudden touch of water on her body made Kara regain some consciousness, but apparently this was worst, her adrenaline was wearing off, and her pain kicked back in as soon as the water touched her open wound.

"Who did this to you?" With the water running and cleaning Kara's skin, Lena was able to assess the damage being done to her mate, the skin at the side of her throat had been ripped leaving a nasty bleeding wound and Lena hoped there was no muscle damage there, there was a massive hematoma at the side of her abdomen, and scratches on her face and rest of her body. Seeing her in this state, so small and broken brought new tears, tears that were masked behind a curtain of falling water.

"Another wolf, at the park… I was distracted and he ambush me…" Kara hissed in pain when she felt Lena cleaning the wound on her neck and Lena stopped her movements when she saw daks veins once again showing on Kara's skin.

"I should call for help Kara, I think your ribs are broken, you could be bleeding internally" Lena said in a low voice while she was barely touching the nasty bruise on Kara's side.

"No!" the statement came in the form of a loud growl and the sudden movement made Kara scrunch even more.

"Okey darling, I get it, please calm down" Lena said while she grabbed Kara's face with both hands, her thumb stroking her skin in a soothing manner.

"All I need is you, I will heal, I just need you by my side" Kara nuzzled her mate's hair and Lena took a deep breath.

"Right, I won't call the DEO, but you have to let me take care of your wounds, I know it hurts but there's no other way"

Kara just nodded and let her head rest in Lena's shoulder.

It took Lena almost an hour to finish cleaning Kara's wounds and taking the mud off her hair, Kara had growled three or four times but she was able to control herself enough for Lena to finish her job. While doing her ministrations, Lena had prayed, to whom she wasn't sure, but she had prayed for Kara to be right about healing fast. Lena wondered how was her mate able to tolerate such pain but then she remembered, the things Kara had gone through the first time she was bitten, the pain, the burning, the screams… she stopped praying there, and decided to believe in her mate instead.

After the shower Kara was able to reach the couch and she laid there for what would be a rough night for both. Kara woke up several time throughout the night, screaming and covered in cold sweat, her conscious flooded by guilt. Every now and then her neck wound would bleed and Lena had to replace her bandages and did whatever she could to calm Kara down.

Lena was exhausted to say the least, physically and mentally. Seeing her mate wounds made her sick to her stomach, even when Kara put a brave face, sometimes she would let herself feel what the blonde was feeling just to make sure she was okay but what she felt scared her even more, because of this, she wasn't able to fall asleep, she was alert all night, too afraid of what could happen if she closed her eyes.

The fact that she wasn't able to help Kara through the pain annoyed her to no end. Lena was always trying to help others in whatever way she could. Only one other time she had felt completely useful and the consequence of that was losing her mother forever, now, the love of her life was being attack by someone and she couldn't stop it even if she wanted to, Kara was in so much pain and all she could do was watch and clean her nasties injuries.

Kara had slept for about ten hours and during that time Lena wasn't able to fall sleep, instead, she had taken that time to see if she could find some information about the man known as the Prime Alpha, she also went through most of her brother's journal once again, but she wasn't able to find anything new.

"Hey" Came a tired and raspy voice just when she was becoming frustrated with her research because of the dead end. Lena quickly set the laptop on the coffee table and kneeled in front of Kara, she could see the blonde fighting to keep her eyes open.

"Hey you, how are you feeling?" the brunette asked while tacking a lose blonde lock behind Kara's ear.

"Tired… thirsty" Lena grabbed the glass of water resting on the table and slowly took it to Kara's lips, the blonde took a long gulp and set her head down once again.

"You should sleep some more, you need to rest" Lena tucked Kara in, making sure she was as warm and comfortable as she could be considering she was lying on a couch.

"Please… stay with me" Kara mumbled before closing her eyes again.

"Of course darling, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere" Lena kissed Kara's forehead and once again the blonde fell asleep.

The rest of her day was spent taking care of Kara and finishing some details on a project she was working on. While she was preparing dinner, her phone rang, when she grabbed it she had two missed phone calls and a text from Jess asking her to turn the TV on, she took the pan off the fire and went to grabbed de remote control, once the TV was on, she went completely still.

"The National City police has yet to give an official statement, but sources confirm that the body found this morning at the National City Park, does indeed belong to Alexander Luthor, ex CEO of LUTHORCORP…"

The sound of the remote control falling and hitting the floor made her jump but her eyes were still glued to the screen before her.

"Lena?" came Kara's hoarse voice.

"Lex" was all she could reply. She heard Kara moving, probably trying to get herself in a sitting position.

"What about him?" when Lena didn't respond, Kara's eyes went straight to where her mate was looking at, she gasped once she read the title.

"They say some creature attacked him, their guess is a bear" Lena's voice sounded foreign, even in her own ears.

"Lena, I… I didn't know…" A hiss of pain was what took Lena out of her shock and she quickly went to prevent Kara from standing.

"You shouldn't move" she said while Kara was giving her a pleading look with glassy eyes.

"I didn't know it was him, I…"

"You did what you needed to do to defend yourself, it's okey Kara, I just need time to process" Lena interrupted.

Kara didn't dare to say anything after that, she would let Lena take the first step, so they stayed in complete silence for almost an hour, Lena still standing, her eyes set on the TV which was by now showing the sports results.

"You know, when my father brought me in to live with the Luthor's, Lex welcomed me right away. For years he was my accomplice, my partner in crime, the brother anyone would be happy to have, but then, years later I found one of his journals, it was then that I knew I was just one more of his projects, he never loved me, not really, and he blamed me for taking our father's attention. I can't tell you that this doesn't affect me because I would be lying to you and myself, but believe me when I say that he deserved what happened to him" Lena said between broken words just when the silence was becoming too much to handle. A soon as Lena's shoulders began to shake, Kara gather all of her strength to stand up and wrapped her arms around her mate. As soon as Lena felt Kara's arms, she finally let herself be vulnerable, she cried and screamed with sadness and rage, letting all her frustrations out while she was in the only place she felt safe enough to let go.

"I think I ruined your shirt" Lena said after a while, looking at Kara's not so white anymore T-shirt "I must look awful".

"As if" Kara said while she held Lena's face with both hands "You, my love, could be dressed in a trash bag and you'd still be the most beautiful woman in the universe" Lena chuckled at her mate's words before they made eye contact once again "I promised myself I would be always be honest with you Lena. I'm really sorry you have to go through this, but now that I know it was him in the park, I can't avoid but to feel relieved, I think I can't really find it in myself to be sorry for him… for what I did. When I came home last night, I was so scare and disgusted about what I had done, but, now that I know it was him…" Kara lose balance before she could finish and Lena was quick to grab her and set her on the couch. The brunette could see Kara's neck bandages being tainted in red.

"Your neck wound is bleeding again" Lena stated changing the subject while she searched her first aid kit once again. "How long it would take for you to heal?" she was now sitting besides Kara, with a bottle of antiseptic and some gauze, she set the items on the coffee table and with care Lena started taking off the old gauze.

"I think is taking more than usual this time because of the bite, but I'm sure I'll be good as new in a weak or so" Kara answered but Lena could hear the hesitation in her tone.

"I surely hope so, my plate is already full, you are the only one keeping me on mi right mind right now" Lena said with a small smile on her face.

[…]

"So, what do you think? He asked while taking a sip of whisky.

"I must admit, the bear attack was a nice touch" the man replied while he took a sip of his own glass.

"Now that I'm off the hook, it's time for us to talk business" he set the glass down and stood up from his chair turning around to see the man directly.

"So, what's your proposal, what can you give me that I can't obtain by my own means?"

"Well Mr. Lockwood, what would you say if I tell you that I can give you the Zor-El heir on a silver plate?" he said with a wide smile on her face.

"The Zor-El heir? You've found her?" the disbelief was evident on his tone.

"As unlikely as that seems, I have. So? do we have a deal?"

"I would never refuse such a great deal Mr. Luthor…"

I know this chapter is short but I was having a writer's block, I've been so stress about work that I wasn't even able to write a sentence. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I know is not one of the best, I hope I can do it better on the next one, thank you for your comments, and staying around for this one...