Running From the Devil

Chapter 17

Ben

I woke up feeling like a new man.  Loving Laney had been almost a religious experience as I spent hours erasing her old pains and teaching her what real love felt like.  The deep ache that had taken up residence in my chest the day I met her finally dissipated leaving a deeply satisfying joy in my heart.  My life had started anew the day I met Laney, every day before then just another marker on my journey to find my purpose.  In the early morning hours I held her sleeping form and let my mind wander.   I remembered back to Mark's pursuit of Jenna and how nuts he had gotten trying to lure his mate in.  We had all rolled our eyes and kept the pack running in the right direction while he lost any motivation to do anything besides chase her. If the pull he had felt was even a fraction of this feeling then I owed him an apology for the whispered jokes at his expense.  There was simply nothing else in my world but Laney. 

Her humanity pulled at me, trying to break into my well of happiness but I brushed it aside.  Surely we were not the first wolf/human couple to be life mates and I would just have to ask Doc about it later.  She would be my life mate no matter how many obstacles I had to demolish.  Even her fragile human life wouldn't stop my love from keeping her with me.  She had already used up a third of her natural years and my heart quailed at the thought of only having her with me for another 6 short decades.  The demon in my heart whispered "Sixty years?  Only if she's lucky.  Humans are so delicate, she could be gone tomorrow."  No.  I squeezed her a little tighter and vowed to talk to Doc in the morning.  A hundred years wouldn't be enough time with her.  Finally I drifted off to sleep only to dream about the thousands of ways Laney could be taken from me. 

I woke up a few short hours later and headed to the kitchen to get us some breakfast.  As embarrassed as she was at the dinner after our big fight I was sure she didn't want to be faced with a lot of people who would know instantly what we had been doing and would be sure to comment on it.  The first person I ran into was Steve who smiled at me in greeting before his nose twitched and he stopped dead in his tracks. 

"So you did it then." 

I knew what he smelled.  Even after showering Laney's scent lay heavily on me just as mine would stay with her.  It was another one of those natural things that just happened.  He ran a hand through his hair and stared at the wall.  I knew he liked her but he had respected my interest in her and stayed away.  I tried to make it easy for him and refused to rise to the natural aggression that urged me to stomp him for even thinking about her.

"Yes, she's mine now." 

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes, probably fighting against his own instincts to challenge me for her.  Sometimes our natural urges were just impractical and this was definitely one of those times. 

"You'll be good to her?" 

"Of course I will Steve, I love her.  I want her to be my life mate." 

"Have you talked to Doc about her being human?" 

"No but I plan to today." 

"Good, don't fuck this up Ben or I'll have to kill you." 

"I won't."

It was one of the strangest and most tense conversations I'd ever had but it needed to be done.  I would hate for my lifelong friendship to be destroyed in this moment and I hoped Steve felt the same way.  Finally he cleared his throat and stopped glaring at me. 

"I think I'm going to go back to the city for the winter.  I need some space." 

"No man, stay.  I'll try to keep it discreet, we won't bother you."  I laid my hand on his shoulder, urging him to reconsider but he was done talking and he turned away.