It Came From Salem- A Lycan Story

The Return of the King

Dorsey had carried me home that night. He brought me into our apartment and placed me into our regal clawfoot tub. The warm water washed over me, allowing me to wash away the feelings of the crazed man's hands. Slowly and softly, Dorsey ran a cloth over my skin, washing away all dirt and blood sticking to it. I felt as though I could not move, couldn't even register each time the cloth wiped over my body, instead feeling his hands and his tongue.

The Healers were there when we were done as well as one of the Councilmen, whose name I could not remember in my pain. 

The Healers grumbled under their breaths, complaining that my wolf should have healed me by now. The Councilman shut them up with a growl and a quiet command I could not make out. With pale faces they continued, not daring to speak any more than necessary.

Their prognosis for my back was grim, a fractured vertebra. Though they felt confident I would recover, without the help from my wolf, it would be long and it would be painful. They fastened me with a brace and told me to take it very easy. 

I was not supposed to walk on my own, so the Councilman gave Dorsey leave for the time being from his duties to care for me. No heavy lifting was allowed, no standing for long periods of time, no stairs, and definitely no pup-making. 

They were all under the impression my back injury came from Rudy being too rough when finding me. He said the Moon had told him tonight was the night we would get our pup. He was so excited he couldn't wait, he said.

They believed him. The Councilman promised to check in on our claims in a week or so when it would be evident that I was with a little pup. The words he used reminded me of the man's chants, 'little mate, little mate.' Soon the phrase took up all the noise in my head until I couldn't register anything else. 

It was nearly light out when the Healers and the Councilman left our home, leaving us alone in a thick silence. The chant had quieted down enough that I could hear Dorsey pacing around the room, though his voice still plagued my very being. 

I had not uttered a word since when I had told Dorsey to make it look like the pup was his. A man taking another man's mate was bad, impregnating her was even worse. 

It showed the Council that the husband was not strong enough to keep her safe. It was unacceptable in the eyes of the Council. A man had only two duties to his mate. Protect her at all costs and impregnate her. 

Considering Dorsey was falling at the latter, failing at the former would not have bode well for him. The Council would have had his head. 

It was also bad for me, as the rules of their pack made it very clear that infidelity of any kind would be dealt with accordingly. Infidelity that leads to a pup would result in the loss of said pup. 

I could not bear to have either happen. As much as we did not enjoy each other's presence most of the time, Dorsey had been such an important facet of my life. The only person who was actually in my life for the past three years. That and losing a mate led to madness. And losing my pup on top of that would have been the worst of fates. Even though I wasn't even certain the events of tonight would have led to a pup, I could hardly imagine the pain of losing my own. 

The events of tonight. 

I replayed the night over and over again. Finding the little blue bird, walking through the forest, tripping in the cemetery, finding the man, what he did to me, Dorsey finding me and him having to do the same to me. 

The memories repeated, over and over. 

I was broken out of my thoughts at the sound of Dorsey's voice.