His Wolf

Twenty Six

"Come on, let's get you something to eat," I moved to wrap my arm around her boney shoulders, only to have her swat it away.

"I'm not hungry, besides you need to check on Max," I was about to protest, but the sound of my mate's name shut me up. I let my sister lead me in the direction of the house; I was so out of it that I didn't even realize that Ben had followed close behind, continually glancing in Lucy's direction with worry clearly etched on his face. Reaching for the front door I willed myself to be calm as I stepped into the foyer. 

The first thing that happened was a series of loud, ear-busting barks that seemed to get louder as well as the sound of paws pounding on the wood floor. And there was my mate. Sliding to a stop, and crashing into the wall as her paws slid on the slick floor.

"Max!" Karas's voice shouted over the barking that my mate was producing. I felt like I should do something as my mate found her footing again and started bounding around the three of us, barks of excitement starting to mix with snarls of uneasiness. A sharp whistling sound had us all covering our ears as it pierced our eardrums. I watched in astonishment as Max ran back over to Kara before sitting a foot away from her, "Sorry guys, it's the only thing she seemed to respond to at the moment," she stated as she pocketed the dog whistle in her pocket.

I couldn't wrap my head around this. This was a completely different Max than the one I had met in the pits. That Max was skittish and persistent in following the rules that were put in place for her by those awful people she considered to be her owners. She was quick to anger when things confused her, quick to lash out when pushed too far too fast.

But this Max.

She was...different. That seemed to be the only word I could use to describe it. That barking was the loudest sound that she has made without it being accompanied by the red feral eyes or the panic and fear that usually always seemed to follow after a display like this. I was struggling to find the words I was looking for as I looked into my mate's bright green eyes. No trace of red. 

"Why don't we go in the living room and sit down," Ben suggested, obviously aware of my stunned state, "and I will go and make you something to eat," he said to Lucy, giving her a pointed look as if telling her that there was no room for argument. She sighed but nodded before Ben gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before slipping off to the kitchen.

Kara was the first to move in the direction of the living room, Max following closely at her heels, so much different than the wolf that was dead set on walking precisely five feet back from us on our walk outside just hardly a week ago. I rounded the coffee table and was about to sit down when Max surprised me yet again and barrelled onto the couch, making sure to sniff every nock and cranny before plopping down on the grey cushion in the middle of me and Kara. I shot a glance over a Kara who absentmindedly ran her hand through the fur on Max's head. She caught my eye and just gave a small shrug.

"She's been like this since you blacked out the other day," Looking down at my mate with confusion and astonishment in my eyes, I watched as she carefully licked the pad of her paw before turning it over to flee the top. That's when I noticed that her cast was gone. And so was the rest of her bandages.

"Why isn't she in her cast," panic hit me as the fear of my mate's health being ignored hit me like a ton of bricks, "and her other bandages for that matter?" I knew that they would never purposely do anything other than to help her, but I still couldn't keep my panic and anger at bay as my wolf's temper flared at the thought of his mate being neglected again.

A throat was cleared as plate its found its way in front of Lucy, she gave him an appreciative nod with a smile that almost seemed forced as she took in the sandwich that he had made her. I smiled faintly as I realized that he made her favorite.