Chapter Ten
one month later…
I love you. Please stay with me.
Vic was lost in his mind, barely able to comprehend anything that was happening, but he had understood those words from Pretty Lyric.
I love you.
It played over and over again, like lyrics to a song.
Those words had been said to him before, but never had they held a note of such truth, like they had in Lyric’s voice.
Vic lowered his head and sniffed at the trail through the grass. His head hurt, but it always hurt now. The pain behind his eye was just a part of him now. The wind shifted and he caught a scent of something familiar. Something that made his heart pound a little harder.
It was her. Lyric.
He kicked up into a trot, aiming for the clearing with the houses. These woods were home now, but he still got to keep her—Lyric. She had stayed. She visited him every day.
He locked his legs at the tree line and was caught up in her again. She wore her hair down today. It hung down in loose waves, and her eyes were already glowing. At least, one of them was. She was ready for a Change. He could tell from her scent, and from the excitement that hummed from her.
She looked the way she always looked when she saw him—happy and then sad.
He padded up to her and rested his forehead against her stomach. Her breath hitched, and this is the part he never understood. She was happy, but sometimes she cried when he touched her.
It confused him. If he was the man, perhaps he would understand, but the wolf and the man were different.
As the wolf, he hunted, he chased, he marked territory, he fought, and he stayed with his mate as much as he could.
His instincts were basic. His logic was unerring.
His emotions though? Well, the wolf didn’t have much use for those.
He backed up so he could see her face and searched her eyes. Lyric didn’t say anything. She just looked into his eyes and forced a smile.
I love you.
He knew she did. The wolf could understand that well enough.
Lyric was a creature of habit. She liked to Change in the same place each time.
Vic had learned that and paid attention.
She walked beside him stiffly, her hand gently gripping the fur on the nape of his neck as she quietly made her way to her Changing place.
The grass was all matted down here, and it smelled like her wolf.
These were getting harder on her body. Even now, as she Changed, it looked painful and happened too slowly.
He didn’t know how to fix it. She should just remain a wolf, with him.
He guarded her body as she finished her Change, his senses on the woods, always scanning for danger. She whined and it tugged at something protective inside of him. He didn’t like when she hurt, and he wanted to kill whatever was causing it. He couldn’t though. He couldn’t do anything.
She was Changing too often…for him.
It didn’t sit right with him. The bond between them was always stronger when she joined him in the forest, and could be herself, in her most important skin.
Hours passed, and as always, he could barely take his attention from her.
He loved watching her explore and run. He was faster than her, but he always stayed at the pace she set.
He loved the wonder in her eyes as she sniffed at trees and watched birds in the sky.
If she found dandelions, she liked to jump on them, but not today.
Today she seemed tired. Their gold bond had dimmed to a bronze color.
He rubbed against her side and asked her to stop by standing in front of her. Even her ears weren’t perked up today. He whined. What’s wrong?
She searched his eyes for a few seconds and then pressed her forehead against his shoulder and just stood there, melted against him, just breathing.
Something was wrong. Lyric was sad.
What can I do?
But she didn’t seem to know answers. Instead, she sat down, right there on the muddy trail. She sat and kept her head pressed to him. Vic looked around, scenting the air for danger. He wanted a reason. He wanted something to defend her from.
She seemed tired, and laid down, and he sat there watching her for a few minutes, confusion swirling in his chest. She was lying in the mud.
Her fur would get matted. She never laid in the mud like t his.
Maybe she was hurt. She’d been hurt after the big fight.
She’d been clawed up and hadn’t been able to Change for the first few days he’d been living out here.
He’d seen her skin though. Her human skin had scars but they looked healed.
Maybe she was hurt on her insides still.
He curled around her body and rested his head on top of her back, ever watchful for danger.
What can I do?
But still, she had no answers. The bond stayed bronze between them, and her breathing steadied as she fell asleep.
Right there. On the muddy trail.
Something was wrong.
Vic needed help for her. Maybe it was time to visit the Pack. He wouldn’t try to fight them this time. He wouldn’t go berserk on them again. The big pain was past, and he could think straight again.
If he couldn’t help her, maybe the Pack could cure his mate.