A Nurse Among Wolves

Chapter 16: Rowan

Our mate's house was a mess. She had a stove and running water to the kitchen sink and the bathroom toilet but that was it. And don't get me started on the electricity!  How she hadn't burned down the whole house was a fucking miracle. It seemed that all the work she had done was to make the main level look livable while the upstairs was definitely not. The moment Ash had seen her room he had started cursing in Norwegian, which he only ever did when he was royally pissed, and when he saw the bathroom the swearing only got louder.
"How could she have been living like this" he growled so loudly my wolf wanted to submit.
"I have a feeling she didn't have many options" I say quietly "she seems to be on her own". Ash gave a huff, scrubbing his hand over his face.
"Let's start on the electricity before this place goes up in flames" he said stomping his way into the basement to flip off the power. I got were he was coming from. Our mates safety and comfort was our number one priority and knowing that she had been living here in danger from more then just other shifts left a bad taste in my mouth. The image of Miren trapped in this house burning flashed through my mind I whined. There was no way in hell that we were letting her come back here until it was completely redone. NO. WAY. IN. HELL!

It took us hours to go through the wiring and fix what we needed to. At last we were happy that everything was updated and reliable but we would still have an expert come out and check the house before we called it good.
"Do you think Miren will let me hug her when we get back?" I thought out loud as we packed up our tools to head home. Ash chuckled at me "I think it will depend on how you ask her" he told me. I wonder if I could get away with just rushing in and throwing myself at her. Probably not the best idea considering Ash and Torin would both beat my ass if I upset her.
The drive home was the longest 20 minutes of my life and when we finally got there I was vibrating with excitement.
Before I could open the door and run into the house Ash grabbed the back of my neck, not hard enough to hurt but enough to know that he meant business.
"I need you to calm down" he said calmly "if you go in there like this your going to scare her".  I took a deep breath nodding, knowing he was right. It was hard to pull my wolf in, he had always been closer to the surface then the other guy's wolves.
"You need to back off" I growl at him in my head.
"Mate!" He growls back.
"I know she's our mate but if you come out in front of her right now she's going to run away screaming" I tell him, frustrated with him.
"Fine!" He snarls "but we need to touch her, and take comfort in her touch" he finishes, finally settling down.
"Better?" Ash asks me, sensing my internal conversation is over.
I sigh "yes but he still insists that we need to touch her" Ash nods as if he gets what is going on even though I don't.
"It's part of the bonding" he tells me "touch is the first step, to take comfort and to give comfort" that made sense now that I thought about it in that way.
"So how am I supposed to do this then?" I ask him. He just shrugs "seek her touch and see if she'll return it". Wow! Big help there Ash, I rolled my eyes at him and got out of his truck. The lights in the house were on now that it was getting dark. We headed into the kitchen and there was Miren, back on the stool she found goddess knows where, in front of the stove humming to herself. I walk up behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist and putting my head on her shoulder just like Roman had done that morning. She laughed, reaching up to pet my head "your back just in time, dinners almost done". I blink a few times trying to process her words.
"Wait you knew it was me!?" I asked, shocked she could tell Roman and I apart.
"Of course I can tell" she smirks, using her nails to scratch the back of my head. I'm not to proud to deny the groan but I did restrain myself from kicking my leg like a dog. She laughed again throwing her head back at my antics. I nuzzled her shoulder and she turned to kiss me on the cheek before hopping off the stool and heading towards the table with a huge bowl of salad she had grabbed off the counter. I held the cheek she had kissed, grinning like an idiot while my pants grew uncomfortably tight. Goddess help me not die from blue-balls!