The 27th

Chapter 20

The jostling of the fabrics of the covers and the slightly creaking of the wooden floor boards had roused him from his sleep. As the floor boards continued to groan from added pressure, of someone walking, he sat up straight, looking around the room and sniffing the air for intruders. When no threat was detected, nor another being in general, he looked to the bed. It sat empty, the covers thrown off and absent of his sleeping mate. Placing a hand on the sheets, they were warm to the touch, indicating she had just been there.

"Thealia?" He called out, his voice lazy and pronunciation slurred.

"I didn't mean to wake you." A weak voice whispered back, coming from the floor on the other side of the bed. Standing up, he caught sight of small figure, curled in the corner of the wall, facing the foot of the bed.

"Why you on floor?" He took her in, looking for any sign of distress but he only noticed that she was tense. "You okay?"

She shook her head and blankly stared at his feet, rather than acknowledging his presence by making eye contact. A sense of cold ran through his body at her response; fear, waiting to know what was wrong, eager to fix it.

"Why? What wrong." He approached her, only to crouched in front of her, taking a position of vulnerability, exposing himself to an attack. She needed to know that he wasn't a threat, that he would never serve as a threat to her.

"I'm going to get in trouble." She continued to stare at the floor boards where he stood prior. He response baffled him.

"You not in trouble." He assured. "Why you be in trouble?" He urged to hold her but with the body language she was emitting, he knew she would not take well to it. She needed her space, to not be cornered like an animal.

"I slept on the bed." She said it like it was obvious, her voice harden as she stated her reasoning, her facts. "I was on the bed." Her voice turned soft once more, as if she needed to repeat it in order to convince herself. "I was on the bed." This time, it was spoken with horror, fear igniting in her golden eyes as she dug her finger nails into her skin.

"You not in trouble." He repeated, keeping his voice soothing and even.

"Yes I am." She insisted. "They will know. They will come."

"You not there anymore. That over now. They not know."

"It never ends." Her lip trembled. "They told me it never ends. They will always know. I am in trouble."

"No, no." He slowly brought his hand to her face, turning it so that he eyes met his, ensuring that this went through to her. "You safe. You not in trouble. They not here."

"But I'm in trouble." She insisted, her eyes breaking their connection, staring at the bed behind him.

"Why you on bed bad?" He asked, directing her eyes back to his.

"Because." Her bottom lip trembling. "Beasts don't get beds." Her reply rendered him frozen, stunned as the feeling of numbness over came him.

"What?" Was all he could conjure up in his mind.

"I am a beast." She looked away, bowing her head to him with shame. "Beasts belong on the floor." The sheer fact that she thought those things about herself had him spiraling. He was numb, he was cold, devastated and ashamed. He hadn't protected her, and now he was tortured with her self deprivation. She had to suffer and now, he would too.

"You not a beast. You a wolf." He took his hand from her face and laid it on his chest. "I a wolf."

"We belong on the floor." She nodded to herself, as if she were correct.

"No. Bed is okay."

"Beasts belong on the floor. That's why you were on the floor but you broke the rules. We don't get blankets or pillows. You are going to be in trouble." It was the most he had ever heard her say but the more she spoke, the worse he felt. He almost wished he hadn't learned this information at all, what they did her, making her think as if she were less than a person.

"Look." He moved to sit on the bed. "Bed is okay." She stared at him in absolute terror, glancing from him to the door, as if they were enter and take her away at any moment. "They not here. They not come."

"They will."

"No. If they do, they not hurt you. I not let them." He slowly put himself to the floor again, and somehow managed to coax he into his awaiting arms. He held her tightly as she trembled in his arms, her eyes still staring at the door, waiting on their arrival. He whispered words of comfort to her, reassuring that she was fine, even though in his core, he knew that she wasn't. They did something to her, trained her, beat her into submission that being her true self was wrong. That she was so lowly that she didn't even deserve the luxury of a blanket, let along something proper to sleep on.

He was determined. Determined to show her how wrong they were, how the thoughts she was thinking were far from the truth. He would show her, endlessly, how important she was, how much she meant to him. He vowed to spend the rest of his days ensuring that she knew that she was as nature intended; a wolf. A beautiful creature, created by a goddess to bless the land with their their unmatched devolution to family, to love.

He would do this, but in this current moment in time, the only thing he that he was able to do was hold in his arms, attempting to shield her from her own thoughts and tell her that everything was going to be okay.