The White Wolf #Wattys2020

Chapter 5

Laura

After I had lifted Mira into my arms, I carried her back to the pack house. I took her upstairs to her room and set her on her bed, pushing her sleeve gently to the side to see her bruises. Amaranth growl furiously in my head as we took in the little purple indents, showing where his fingers had pressed into my Protected's skin.

I rose to me feet, closing the bedroom door, locking it. "Mira, I'm going to shift so Amaranth can heal you faster, okay?"

"But doesn't just being around you already heal me faster?" The little girl looked up at me with big eyes. I hated the confusion she was feeling, knowing she was struggling with the fact she had found her Mate, whom she would love unconditionally, but who had also hurt her.

I ran a hand over her head, pushing her hair behind her ear. "It does, but Amaranth will lick your bruises to make them heal even faster. They'll be gone by the time I shift back."

I slipped into the bathroom and leaned the door against the frame, not closing it completely. I shed my clothes and places them by the sink, folding them. I turned to look in the large mirror, taking in the wounds from my encounter with Kai's little brother. There were small scratches coating my shoulder and waist from where he had tried to push past me to get to Mira, and then there was the gapping wound on my left forearm. I twisted my arm to look at it closer. There were slash marks the length of my lower limb. The blood had already begun to dry and I knew the wound would be completely healed by tomorrow night.

Kneeling, I prepared myself to shift when my bracelet caught my eye. Shit, I forgot I had to take it off. My hand hovered above it, debating how I should proceed. I would have to act quickly if I wanted to ensure that Kai didn't catch my scent. I slipped the bracelet off and got on all fours again. I closed my eyes and allowed Amaranth to take over. She howled in joy to finally come out again.

I clenched my teeth as I felt my bones begin to crack. I bit back a cry of pain as my shoulders dislocated and my claws began to protrude. I lay my forehead on the floor as I went through the transformation. When I felt my bones settle and my fur pressed against the floor, I rose to stand.

Amaranth let out a purr of pleasure. "It feels good to be a wolf again. Two weeks is a long time to bear as long as the Black River Pack is here."

I grunted in agreement and made my way out of the bathroom to Mira, who was waiting patiently on the bed. When she saw Amaranth's snow white pelt she let out a squeal of excitement. "Snowy!"

She threw her arm around us and we let out another purr of pleasure, happy our Protected was excited to see us. We pulled away and nudged her arm, indicating she should push her sleeves up. She did as we wanted and sat herself on the floor in front of us.

We made quick work of her bruises. After a couple of licks, they began to fade. While we were healing her we kept a careful eye on the clock on the nightstand, to make sure we didn't stay in wolf-form for too long. It was a shame that vervain burned us when we were shifted, or I would have kept some on me.

When the bruises were almost completely faded, I rushed back to the washroom and shifted back quickly. I snatched up the bracelet before anything else and slipped it on, feeling more protected already. I knew that my scent must have reached Kai not long after I had taken it off, and I could only hope he didn't have enough time to follow it here.

I slipped my clothes back on just as Mira's bedroom door slammed open, tearing the lock off with it. I leaped out of the bathroom and took my protective stance in front of Mira, snarling at the intruder. I immediately stopped when I saw it was our father, and he did not look happy.