Seeing Red

Chapter 14

"How's Agent Palmer?" I asked when Mark returned from the hospital, "I know that she was pretty messed up by the wolves back at the old camp."

"She's still got some internal damage," said Mark as he walked over and sat down next to me on the couch, the show I had been watching forgotten, "Doc said she's gonna stay out of commission for another week or two, as if the last three weeks haven't been killing her from boredom already. She's lucky she didn't become one of us, according to her."

"I feel so bad for her," I said, "Good think Agent Carter's keeping up from where she left off, but you know Palmer just wants this whole rebellion to go away already."

"Well, we're lucky our part in it is just over," said Mark, "Though I have to say, a part of me hopes they keep us informed so we'll know when this is all over."

He snuggled in a little closer to me and went to put his arm around me.

"Have you heard from Gwen?" Mark asked.

"Nope," I said, "Thank god."

"Do you ever wonder if she'll come back?"

"I made it clear that she's out of my life for good, or she's dead," I said, "As far as I'm concerned, that's all she wrote between us."

"And you don't think that she'll come back, just because you told her not to?" Mark said.

"Gwen's not stupid," I said, "Crazy yes, but not stupid. If she decides she wants to keep coming back, next time's gonna be the last time."

Mark wasn't happy, he had made that clear. He wanted to rip her throat out just as much as I wanted to, I could tell. But I knew this was the better choice.

"Why would you do that?" Mark asked, "After everything she's done to us, to you specifically, why would you just let her keep living?"

"Because now she gets to spend the rest of her long, long life knowing what she could have had," I said, "And what she's never going to get. For the rest of her life, she'll be thinking of me, and that's the worst kind of hell someone like her can go through. She'd be better off dead, and she damn well knows it. Besides, in a couple of months, I'll be off at Yale for a bit."

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," said Mark, suddenly looking a little dejected, "You'll be leaving soon, right?"

"And I'll be coming back as often as I can," I said, cupping his chin and making him look at me, "And you can visit me whenever you want, promise. We're lucky Grace and Elliot are letting all of this happen, not that they could keep me from you. Hell, I'm lucky they let me stay here."

I leaned in close to him as he gave me a small smile, when Simon walked past us in a dress shirt and with his hair combed, very much unlike him.

"Where are you suddenly off to so fancy?" Mark asked.

"Marther and I are going on our first date... again," said Simon, "We're trying to get a fresh start, so he's taking me for a day out, movie later, then dinner."

"Good luck," I said, "Send him my regards."

"Will do, don't wait up." said Simon as he hurried out the door, almost joined by Becky until Mark waved her to stop.

"Where are you off to?" Mark asked.

"I got a date too," said Becky, "Met the guy while I was in town seeing Carter, we're having a coffee date to see if things click."

"Does he know you're a werewolf?" I asked.

"One thing at a time," said Becky, "Besides, I don't know if this is going to be serious or not, so we'll see. Catch you guys later."

With that, Becky was out of the house as well.

"Speaking of first dates," said Mark, "I figure if we're ever gonna have one, now could be a good time. What do you say, want to... go for a run in the woods?"

"You mean you trust me to stay safe in my wolf form?" I asked.

"You've been doing just fine so far," said Mark, "I think we'll be able to... loosen the collar, if you know what I mean."

"Bad analogy," I said, though I couldn't help but smile a little, "Really bad."

"I know," said Mark, also smiling, "So, let's get going!"

Mark helped me to my feet and the two of us went out the back door, heading for the woods behind the house. The sun was out - it was just past one in the afternoon - and there was a warm breeze that made me feel right at home.

"Ready?" Mark asked. I nodded, and we shifted at the same time. Mark's wolf form was just as handsome as his human form, but I loved every inch of him. I felt as though his wolf form was smiling at me as we ran into the woods where no passerby would happen to see us; though Carter said co-existence talk was happening, it would take a long time before it truly went anywhere. All the same, we were happy and living together.

The wind ripped through my fur and seemed to make me go faster through the trees with Mark right by my side. I never expected to get my happily ever after, but I was so happy things worked out the way they did.

Hi! I'm the author!

I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for reading this and Pack of Wolves! Pack of Wolves was a story I wrote for NaNo back in 2019, and I spent the better part of the dumpster fire that was 2020 writing Seeing Red.

Whether you've been reading since I uploaded the first chapter of Pack of Wolves, or you just got here, I want to thank you for reading.

While we might come back to this universe one day, I think it's time we let Scarlet and Mark go, and let them be happy, wouldn't you say? But hey, you never know if we might see them again! ;P

Once again, thank you for reading, and stick around, since I still have some ideas clanking around in this messy brain of mine!