What It Means To Be Me

Overbearing Instincts

It was several hours later when I finally calmed down. As soon as my mom noticed, she began trying to tug me gently off of the bed, but I really didn't want to leave him.

"Your father will be here in a moment. He'll watch over your mate. You need to get yourself cleaned up, Tanner."

I whined and stared at Cole over my shoulder until she pulled me around the corner so that the wall blocked my view.

Coooleeee.

"Shhh, don't shout into his mind. He needs to sleep," Mom whispered.

Crap, she's right. B-But... A gentle hand tenderly ran over my fur until my hackles lowered and I stopped panting from stress.

"He'll be okay, sweetheart."

At that second, my father walked around the corner with a tired smile on his face.

Hey there, son.

My tail wagged even though I didn't really know the man walking over to us. However, when his fingers sifted through my fur, I felt the need to howl well up inside my chest. Parents... I never thought I'd ever meet mine again. My mind was wandering a little but quickly snapped back to the present when my father easily scooped up my wolf. Whoa! He was laughing quietly as I mentally panicked. It was so weird having my wolf picked up since it was so much bigger than most.

"You did grow up to be quite big. But you're an alpha, our little alpha boy."

My ears flattened as I pouted at him.

I'm not little... or a boy.

His brow rose and a smirk slid across his lips.

"So you're a girl alpha? I thought that man in there was your conquest, but was it the other way around?"

Okay, that got him a slight hint at my teeth, but he just laughed it off before setting me back down and nudging me toward my mom.

"Go let Clara clean you up. You also might need some stitches."

Ewww, I hate stitches. Getting the bite was one thing, but stitching was constant pain. I began creeping away around the corner before I felt Mom grab my scruff. I grumbled at her, but she just shook her head and smiled.

"Come on, I'm not that bad at sewing. I'll make sure it's quick. You don't want to get sick from the infection and not be able to be with your mate when he wakes up, right?"

No no no! I shouted into her mind before I quickly turned around and nudged her thigh with my head, then tromped down the hall into the bathroom that already had its door open. If it would get me back to Cole faster, I would sit through the stitches.

"Look after his mate, dear," I heard my mom say as I turned to look back at them, seeing my dad nod before he vanished into the master bedroom. She then hurried down the hall and quickly got the water going in the tub. There was a pot sitting on the counter, which I assumed was used for bathing wolves, as well as two big fluffy towels.

"Alright, in the tub."

I did as told, even though my wolf wasn't a big fan of water. Mom was thankfully very adept at bathing wolves and had me scrubbed down in mere minutes. Once rinsed, she pulled out a small sewing kit from a drawer beneath the counter by the sink. My body braced for the pain but, huh?

"I told you I was good at this, now just stand still so I can finish up. Then I'll get you dried off and you can go back to Cole."

Cole mine.