Body Bag

"Did no one bother to check the humans for guns before we let them walk into a Head's office? All of you will be sent back to the tower for retraining before you are allowed back on guard duty," shouted Sasha into his earpiece. He was definitely not impressed with the current situation.

Van Helsing had sent him here originally to deal with one of the soldiers that had shot Natalia, but this should not have happened right in front of him.

"What do we do?" asked Mathew calmly as he held Natalia in his arms. There was blood and grey brain matter all over the place and even more seeping onto the wolf's arm.

"Last time, she just came out of it," replied Greyson as he stood beside the other General, pointing a gun at his head. "I still say we kill the fucker."

"We will," said Mathew in a reassuring manner. The wolf inside of him was pushing against the confines of the human body, wanting to burst out of his skin and rip the person that threatened his mate to shreds. The fact that the person was human and he wasn't supposed to touch him didn't mean much to the animal.

"You seem to be calm," pointed out Sasha as he studied the human in front of him. He had originally thought that the other man was interested in Natalia, but he seemed to be too calm given the situation.

Greyson looked at the man in front of him, a man who was equal in terms of height and muscles, but there was a quiet deadliness to him that caused him to be wary. He had met many men like that in the military, and they were all proven killers.

"Do not mistake my outward appearance for what I feel inside," said Greyson, calling upon his many years in the military to keep cool under pressure.

Sasha looked at the man before nodding his head in understanding.

"Fucking hate that," groaned Natalia as she struggled to sit up in Mathew's arms. There was a small, crisp sound as the mangled bullet fell to the floor. Sasha turned his attention to look at the woman on the floor and then quickly closed his eyes.

It was one thing to see his fellow knights covered in blood, whether their own or someone else's, but it was a completely different situation to see Natalia's entire face stained red with her own blood. And that brought forth an aspect inside of him that he never knew existed. One that called for blood.

Mathew slowly rose with the woman leaning on him, letting her come to her feet. He left one arm on the small of her back just in case she lost her balance.

Sasha quickly righted her overturned office chair and held it steady for her to sit in. She stretched her neck from side to side, the blood still dripping down her face. She looked like a killer in a horror movie that just refused to die.

Natalia then reached out and picked up the phone on her desk. Sasha and Mathew stood on either side of her just in case she needed them. "Stephanie?" she said slowly. "Can you bring in a towel and some water? I need to get cleaned. Oh, and is there any chocolate peanut butter ice cream still in the freezer? Bring one of those too. And a body bag."

She hung up the phone before Sasha could hear any response from Stephanie and turned her attention back to the humans in front of her. Her expression unreadable.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked, sitting straight in her chair, her hands folded on the desk. "I mean, you must have a pretty good idea now, right?"

General Richards paled more, and Mathew could scent the fear pouring out of the man in front of him. The putrid smell was almost like a dinner bell to the wolf inside.

"I am Natalia Nadezda Sokol Tesalor, Head of House Gypsy and the last of the Weaver line," she said slowly, and every man in that room could feel a solemn blanket descend on their shoulders.

The door to the office opened, and in walked Stephanie, a copper basin in her arms filled with warm water and two towels on her arm. "Head," she said, bowing her head. Behind her ran in a young girl, and in her hands was a tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and a fork. The young girl stared at the floor as she held up her offerings. Not willing to meet Natalia's eyes.

Mathew walked over to the child and took the items from her hands. "Thank you," he said softly. "You can go." The child bowed her head even further before turning around and running out of the door.

Stephanie walked over to the desk, and Sasha quickly moved the blood-splattered computer and paperwork that was in front of Natalia so that her assistant had room to place her burdens.

"Thank you," said Natalia in a somewhat cold voice. Then again, Greyson was pretty sure that if he had been shot in the head twice in a matter of hours, he would have been more than a little cold. He would have been furious.

Natalia took the facecloth and placed it into the basin of water in front of her. With meticulous care, she rang out the excess water and proceeded to gently pass the cloth over one cheek before replacing it in the water, cleaning it out, and then repeating the process all over again.

Everything in Mathew demanded that he be the one to clean her, but he forced himself to stand still.

It took 10 minutes, maybe a bit more before Natalia's face was completely clean again. There was black stitching in her forehead where the bullet had entered, and Sasha was sure that if he looked, there would be more black stitching in the back of her head where it exited.

Her long black hair hung limp with blood, the lights causing it to look almost maroon. But still, she sat there straight, simply staring at the humans in front of her.