Gage
Igaze at her sleeping in Bain’s lap as he gently strokes her head and back. She looks so content, unlike how she was when we first found her. But it’s still not enough.
“We need to focus on her health and making her feel safe,” I tell them with a nod of my head.
We need a plan.
“I’ll order a bunch of cooked chickens,” Chase says, heading for the stairs. “I’ll go grab our phones too.” We had Maddox’s phone with us at camp but decided to leave the rest as it was too hard to carry in our wolf forms.
Chase returns quickly with our fully charged phones, passing them out as he starts ordering groceries on his.
“We’ll need clothes and other girl stuff,” Hunter says, deep in thought.
“Once she shifts, she can use our clothes until she can pick out her own, or we get a better look at her figure. Besides, I don’t think we are ready to let others know she’s here yet,” Maddox tells us.
“They’re going to smell her eventually.” My comment has Bain and Maddox growling. “I’m just stating a fact, don’t get mad at me,” I roll my eyes. “Besides, I’m sure James and Max smelled her out there if they didn’t see her,” I tell them, referring to the two wolves who greeted our return.
“I see your point,” Maddox concedes. “We tell them we found a wolf shifter who asked for sanctuary with us. Nothing more. Not even that it's a female. We just refer to her as ‘the protected wolf.’ It’s not a lie, so we don’t have to worry about lying to the pack, and when the truth comes out, we don’t have to change our story. ”
“It’s a good plan,” I nod, as I consider it from all angles.
“Do you think she’s safe?” Chase asks, which earns him a growl from Bain.
“I just mean that someone hurt her, right? The injury she had when we found her didn’t look self inflicted and someone put that fucking muzzle on her.
” His hands clench into fists the more he talks and I can’t blame him. I feel the same.
How could anyone harm such a sweet little wolf? Human or supernatural.
“Even if someone is in this town looking for her, they won’t know anything but the fact that there is a wolf here. It could be any wolf,” I tell them, though the argument feels weak, even to my own ears.
Although, I seriously doubt there are spies or sleeper agents in the Westgrove Pack. Most seem too lazy to care about anything other than their own life.
“The plan sounds good to me,” Chase adds without looking up from his phone. “And groceries are on their way.”
“I’m in too. This is the best plan we have. And in the meantime, we can help her feel relaxed and regain her energy,” Hunter says watching our little wolf sleep.
“Bain?” Maddox asks, looking at him. He simply nods and continues stroking her back.
“Okay, but now it’s my turn to cuddle her,” Chase says as he steps in front of them and starts to reach for her. Bain growls as he puts his arms around her, blocking him.
“Bain… my wolf is clawing at me to hold her. I haven’t even got a chance since she saved my life and literally died in my arms. Share!” he demands. Bain frowns but concedes by sitting back and removing his arms.
“Bain, we should go talk to the enforcers, anyway,” Maddox says.
We all take turns on patrols as needed, but Bain and Chase were two of Westgrove’s main enforcers.
Hunter would occasionally join them, and I was more of the researcher.
Maddox did a mixture of everything, and right now he would want to make sure he laid the proper narrative with the pack for why we were away so long and who we’d brought back.
“I’m going to double-check our home security system,” Hunter says, getting up and heading down the hall to the office.
Bain sighs as he stands, nodding and following Maddox out the door.
Meanwhile, Chase rearranges himself on his back on the couch, with our little wolf lying across his chest and leaning against the back cushions, her chin on his chest so he can see her face.
He strokes his hand down her the back of her head and lets out a deep sigh.
“That’s better, Blue, isn’t it? You just sleep here, and I’ll watch over you.”
I still can’t believe how small she is. She could almost be mistaken for a medium sized dog.
She has to be half the size of the twin wolves, who are the smallest of the five of us in wolf form.
I saw Bain literally stand over her earlier, his massive wolf dwarfing hers.
But there’s a maturity in her features and energy that tells me she’s well into her adulthood.
I watch them for a few minutes from my chair until Chase’s eyes start to drift shut, but he keeps pushing them open, making me snort. “Go to sleep, Chase. I’ll watch over you both.”
“Are you sure?” he asks as I stand and move to the bookshelf.
“Yes, I want to do some research anyway. I can do that here while you both sleep.”
“Thanks, man.” He shuffles a bit to sink deeper into the couch, then wraps his arms around her, and soon I can hear the soft breathing from both of them fill the otherwise quiet house.
I find the book I’m looking for and take a seat on the smaller couch opposite them so I can watch her easily.
When I skim the table of contents, nothing stands out, so I decide to flip to the section that talks about shifter skills. When that turns up with no results, I grab a couple more books. I read about some rare shifter abilities, but nothing like regeneration.
After a couple of hours, Hunter comes back in at the same time Maddox and Bain come home, along with the groceries, which must have arrived while they were out. They put them away while making sandwiches for all of us. I eat mine as I continue reading.
“Find anything yet?” Maddox asks.
I shake my head. “Nothing.” He nods, taking a bite of his own sandwich, his eyes moving to the little wolf.
“I’m going to go shower while she’s still asleep,” Hunter says, cleaning up his dish and heading upstairs.
“Yeah, I guess I should shower too,” Maddox says a few minutes later, staring at her.
I get lost reading a book about shifters and pack hierarchy until Hunter comes back down. I close it with a long sigh. “Can I help?” he asks.
I nod. “I want to start looking for reasons why she can’t change back to her human form, so look for anything around shifting. Especially if it focuses on wolves who can’t shift or struggle to shift.” He nods and heads to the bookshelf.
“I’m on it.”
Eventually, Maddox joins us, and the three of us spend the evening reading through every book we own. Only one thing is made clear to us: whatever is going on with her is not documented in any of these books.