The Witch's Mate (completed)

Homecoming

My father's body went limp as his eyes stayed wide open. No where in me could I find regret or pain for the loss of the man. I didn't know if I should be ashamed or not. I never loved the man, nor did he ever love me.

I turned around and limped over to Nora. She was out cold. There was no one coming down and I wondered where others were. I guessed women and children and maybe some males scattered back to their homes, leaving the fight at the pack house alone. I wondered what my mother was going to think. What other pack members would think when they find their brothers and sisters here on the floor dead. Dying for a stupid cause. How regrettable and shameful and dishonorable. I wonder how this pack is going to get along from now on.

I nudged Samuel but he wasn't moving. Noah came limping towards me as a man.

"I'll take the kid, you go grab Nora." He said huskily.

"Noah," I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you. Are you alright?" He shrugged.

"I'll live." I smiled and patted him on the back. He threw Samuel over his shoulder as a wolf and I hoped and prayed the young man would soon turn into human so that it wouldn't be so hard on Noah. I myself grabbed Nora in my arms and carried her lifeless body up the stairs of the mutt cellar and soon out of the pack house.

We grabbed our hidden gear then left through the woods. Noah got tired about five miles in so I decided to reluctantly switch him where I was carrying still a wolf Samuel and Noah carried Nora. Then, once it got dark, we decided to rest and camp and hope for Samuel to be human by morning. We bandaged each other up and I tried to clean up Nora as best I could.

"I think I lost my sense of smell after getting my nose jammed into." Noah said.

"Lucky, Nora here reeks of feces and death."

"I'm sorry about your dad." Noah said as we both laid on our backs, looking up at the stary sky.

"I'm not. I think the pack will be better off without him."

Noah didn't respond. I looked down at my wife and my heart sunk. She was still unconscious and I wondered when she'd wake up again.

I didn't cuddle her because I was incredibly sore and could barely move and my nose was still very sensitive to her smell. But for once, I didn't have a dream of us from the past. I slept peacefully, full of new hope for the future.

*****

The noise of someone grunting and groaning woke me up. I looked over and found Samuel naked and sitting up.

"Let me get you some clothes." I offered. He nodded as I got up, muscles aching with every movement, and fetched him some jeans and a t-shirt out of one of the backpacks. He slipped them on slowly.

"How is Nora?" Were his first words. I looked down and wanted to cry.

"She hasn't woken up just yet."

"Well, she will. Soon. She's a tough witch." I smirked.

"Thank you." I said to him.

Once Noah was up, we headed out again. I carried Nora in my arms as I carried a backpack like the other two. And my little Nora was not a problem in the slightest. She was all skin and bones and the worst part of her being asleep like this was the fact that I couldn't feed her!

The next day we came across a stream and decided to bathe then try to find a hotel or motel or something! I was ready for a bed and breakfast.

At the stream I stripped along with the guys, then once we were done, I went privately with my wife. I undressed her as careful as I could wearing a plug over my nose. It dawned on me that she hadn't taken a single bath or shower since she was kidnapped. That was more than eight weeks!

Her bruises and scars made me want to cry. Her skin was so pale and her bones were so visible through her thin skin.

I dipped her into the water and felt a shiver go through her body. My heart began to beat fast.

Her body shivered once more, and I began watching her eyelids. They were moving rapidly. A groan escaped her crusty lips.

"Red?" She moaned.

"Baby!" I rushed. I cupped her small head in my large hand.

"Red?" Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"I'm right here, Nora. I'm right here." Her eyes began to slowly open. Tears filled them.

"R—Red!" Tears of my own dropped onto her face as I laughed with joy and wrapped her filthy body in my arms and to my chest.

I knew what she was feeling. She'd missed me. She missed me holding her. She missed waking up in my arms. She'd been alone and left to die. But her hero was here now. I was here now.

"I'm right here." I said once more, to reassure her this wasn't a dream. And, to reassure myself that she was really here with me.

She sobbed and clung to me desperately. I allowed a few minutes to pass before I got her to clean herself up. I gave her some of my clothes from my pack and promised that I'd get her cleaner clothes in town.

We found a motel where Nora and I got one room and Noah and Samuel got another.

We had eaten at a restaurant earlier and I couldn't remember a time I'd eaten so much. Poor Nora stuffed her face and was now throwing up in the toilet at the motel. I knew this was going to happen but I didn't have the heart to stop her hungry self.

She groaned as she came out of the bathroom as I sat on the bed watching TV. She was in my t-shirt that I had bought earlier and was squeaky clean.

"I still feel sick after throwing up all of that food." She said. She crawled onto the bed and I wrapped her in my arms. I kissed the side of her head and rubbed her back.

"We'll just take it one step at a time. Tomorrow, I'll make sure you eat small portions before moving onto bigger ones."

"I just want to be a big, fat blob right now." She sighed. I laughed.

She nuzzled her face into my chest and hummed. A door slammed outside and Nora jumped. She whimpered in fear as her fists clung to my shirt. I began rocking her and that seemed to calm her down.

"Nora?" I began, softly, "will you tell me what they did to you?" She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, then nodded.