**OLD DRAFT**Sworn: Book 2 of Protectors**OLD DRAFT**

Chapter 5

Jade slept with pants that night, and she was glad for it. Reiner was restless again. Phantom was woken by him in the late hours of the night. He didn't get out of bed this time, and he wasn't violent, but he sat straight up and looked around his room. His eyes were red with tears and he clutched at his chest again. Jade eased him back onto his pillow and shushed him like a small child. She smooth his hair back and his clutched her hand again until he fell back to sleep. Phantom fell back asleep on the bed again and Jade collapsed into her own bed until dawn.

                Reiner had no recollection the next morning but he noticed Jade's tired eyes. He simply asked, "Did I hurt you?"

                Jade shook her head, "No, you didn't even leave your bed." She accepted the coffee that she now recognized as something that had become a peace offering between them and listened as he told her the plans for the day. Jade was glad to discover that they would be with Louisa and his family for most of it.

                "My father found out about you teaching Louisa to shoot the bow. He wasn't even mad. Apparently he just laughed and said nothing about it after he was told. Louisa was giddy when she told me."

                "She was here?" Jade asked surprised.

                "Yes, she ran into my bedroom and jumped onto the bed to wake me up this morning. Phantom seemed a little surprised by it but didn't seem to mind. I was worried he might have seen it as a threat. I told her not to do it again just in case."

                 Jade looked to Phantom who sat nearby, she grabbed ahold of his presence. You didn't tell me. She thought as she felt him out, he met her gaze. A small fox isn't much of a threat, she imagined him saying and she smiled; glad to discover that he seemed to have quickly learned who was friend and foe. He came over and placed his head onto her lap and she gentle rubbed his ears. Reiner watched them quietly.

                "He's a strange animal," Reiner said finally. "I've been around Protectors most of my life, I'm used to their presence at court, and with Thatcher and Charles I've grown accustom even to the Great Wolves, but him..." Reiner shook his head. "He's different. He looks like a wolf sure, could even pass as Great Wolf until he continues to grow, but there's a feeling about him that's not ordinary. When you aren't around and he's guarding me it's almost like I can understand what he's doing and I feel like he understand me when I talk to him. It doesn't feel like having a dog heeling, it doesn't even feel like a Great Wolf watching me. This morning when Louisa ran into my room I was worried that he might react like any animal would the way she stormed into my room without notice. But when he looked at me I felt like he was almost human the way he snorted at Louisa and moved over on the bed when she disrupted him. She even greeted him when I told her his name and I swear he seemed to smile at her."

                Jade moved her hand and scratched under his chin and Phantom stuck his tongue out of his mouth and closed his eyes. Jade knew he'd be purring if he were a cat and not a wolf. "I wish I knew more about his kind," Jade admitted. "He surprises me every day. Great Wolves and Protectors train together for years in order to communicate and learn each other's movements and commands. The bond between Great Wolf and Protector us unexplainable but the training is still necessary to hone and perfect that bond. I never had that opportunity. I learned everything I could by myself but I never learned the dynamic of Protector and Guardian.

                "When he bonded to me I was panicked, how was I to train a wolf? How could I ever teach him the discipline and commands needed to protect someone? But he learned faster than I could have imagined or ever hoped. Sometimes the bond between us overwhelms me. I can see inside his head and he sees inside mine. Communicating with a Great Wolf, from what I've gleaned, isn't like how I communicate with Phantom. He understands my thoughts, maybe not the words themselves but he hasn't misunderstood what I've told him yet. What's more is that sometimes I feel like I pick up words from him. There's not voice in my head and I think it's my imagination translating his emotions into human words and feelings, but sometimes I feel like he's really speaking to me."