by M. Ekman
Tyler gently set Ruth on his massive bed as Violet quietly opened the bedroom door. As soon as she saw Alpha Tyler’s amber eyes shining in her direction, Violet ducked her head in respect.
Even after capturing the attacker and getting Ruth out of danger, his wolf was still beyond livid. When an alpha’s mate was attacked, it was nothing short of a declaration for war. How one rogue knew Ruth’s significance was anyone’s guess, either that or that particular wolf was extremely unlucky.
Belaying her nature Violet softly spoke, “Alpha, she needs to be washed. Please let me take care of her. You know Ruth wouldn’t want you to see her like this.”
He made a grunting noise, which Violet took as permission, so she quickly ran to his bathroom to get the towels and other supplies. Once she returned, Tyler rose from the seat he’d taken beside Ruth on the bed and shifted into his wolf.
The tan colored behemoth that rose nearly to Violet’s shoulders made his way to the end of the bed where he sat on his haunches with his back to Ruth. It was as far from her as he was willing, or even able to, go.
Doctor Michael was still in the room, waiting to look at some of Ruth’s cuts without all the cloth fibers from her clothing stuck in them. While it irritated Tyler to have another male there, it definitely helped that the doctor was not only older, but also an omega.
While Tyler couldn’t relax his rigid posture he did manage not to take a chunk out of the doctor’s hide, which was something most mates would not be capable of. He was so attuned to what was going on behind him that Tyler heard the slight grunting sound Violet made as she shifted around Ruth’s dead weight to peel her out of the filthy clothes she sported.
Next he heard the sound of water sloshing around a basin Violet had brought out of the bathroom followed by the odor of Doctor Michael’s foul smelling disinfectant paste. Tyler had had it used on himself once or twice before and the scent always made him want to gag. The doctor would never tell him what was in it either, which didn’t help matters.
After an hour of strained silence, the doctor and Violet silently stood before their alpha in deep bows. “The few cuts on her body were not serious, and are already mostly mended. The bite marks on her leg are healing well, and the paste will draw out any bacteria or poisons. The worst injury was her break, which we got to in plenty of time. All your mate needs now is rest, Alpha.”
Tyler nodded to his pack doctor and turned towards Violet as she quietly cleared her throat, “Alpha, do you have a large shirt for Ruth to sleep in?”
Instead of responding Tyler trotted over to his closet and grabbed the first shirt he saw. It didn’t matter what he picked, because even though Ruth was tall, Tyler’s barrel chest meant his shirts were larger than the average wolfs. It took everything the alpha had to not glance at Ruth’s supine form. Not because of any ill intent, but rather he wanted to see for himself how her healing was going, to put him and his wolf at ease. However, he knew that this was not about him, and that Ruth would be furious if he invaded her privacy like that.
Violet gently took the shirt from out of his mouth as he resumed his position at the foot of the bed. As soon as Tyler heard the rustling of blankets being drawn he turned and lightly hopped onto the bed.
Ignoring the others in the room, he began licking Ruth from head to toe wherever there weren’t bandages or clothing. It wasn’t as good as completing a mate bond, but having her enveloped in his scent was as close as an out of control wolf could get to marking the she-wolf as his.
CHAPTER 25
Ruth felt warm and safe as consciousness gradually returned. She kept her eyes closed as she tried to remember what had happened before she fell asleep. There was a dull ache in her leg, but when she tried to move it Ruth felt pinned by something.
Her eyes flew open as her memory came flooding back, “A rogue!”
A snort came from something lying on her stomach. Ruth knew that she should feel fear, considering the rouge must have caught her (that dirty cheat) and taken her to his lair; but she didn’t. Or at least she should be furious at him for jumping her, but she couldn’t manage to bring up any emotion other than contentment.
Wait; was the rogue her second chance mate? That couldn’t be right, she didn’t feel anything but fury and pain when she’d fought him. Ruth groaned as she ground her hands into her eyes trying to make sense of her situation.
The head resting on her lifted and licked her elbow, “Little Warrior.”
Ruth’s inhaled too sharply and started choking on her spit.
The wolf slid further up on the bed and licked her jaw. Somehow this helped Ruth to stop her coughing fit. Not only that, but suddenly that content feeling that she’d had earlier amplified. She closed her eyes and realized that the emotion wasn’t hers.
“Tyler?” He had lowered the wall around his mindlink and was sharing everything with her.
He emitted a soft huff and, without thought, her hands went around his scruff and began running her fingers through his fur. Tyler made a rumbling sound deep in his chest and turned so Ruth had access to his back.
Looking down at the wolf’s beautiful tan fur she noticed that it was marred by two parallel black stripes that extended from shoulder to hip. Ruth hadn’t realized that the father’s curse had extended to his son even physically.
The last time Tyler had shifted in front of her all she got was a face full of his belly fur. She skimmed her fingers along the sides of his marks and wondered if the reason he didn’t shifted in front of her was so Ruth wouldn’t see them. In his human form he could easily hide his marks, which would look like burnt flesh, under his clothes. As a wolf there was no way to mask them.
Ruth tentatively placed a hand on Tyler’s head. “You can let me up.”
The alpha let out a gusty breath at Ruth’s touch, but didn’t so much as twitch an ear at her words.
Undeterred, Ruth tried again, “Tyler, please.”
Before Ruth could get well and truly frustrated, there was a loud knock at the door. Tyler swiveled his head, growling darkly, but after a beat he abruptly placed his wolfy snout back in Ruth’s lap.
She opened her mouth to ask whomever it was to come in, when she realized that she didn’t recognize where she was. The bed was massive and covered in a plush forest green comforter, under which Tyler had her pinned. There was a symbol etched into the center of the door that looked like…
Her eye’s widened as the door opened, taking the markings out of her field of vision. A blonde haired woman bowed low and spoke in a soft voice.
“I’ve come to bring some food.”
Ruth flopped back on the bed with another groan, “Violet, what happened?”
Violet did not move from her stance by the door, “You were attacked last night.”
“Yes, there is no way I’d forget about that anytime soon. I meant, what happened with him,” she said pointing an accusing finger at the silent wolf in her lap.
Violet smiled but didn’t look up, “He’s been like this ever since he found you. Until you are visibly better it will be difficult for Alpha to gain any control over his wolf.”
Ruth raised an eyebrow, “Why?”
Slowly Violet began walking further into the room though her head didn’t rise, “His wolf has officially claimed you as his mate.”
“Wha—what?” Ruth nearly shouted!
At her flustered response, Violet finally glanced up, “You might not have any signs of a mate, but it doesn’t matter to Alpha. He has claimed you from almost the first time he laid eyes on you. And when you were hurt he in no uncertain terms declared that no one was to disturb his mate while she recovered. I haven’t the slightest clue as to why or how it is even possible without his mate bond.”
Seemingly shell-shocked over that explosion of information, Ruth could only nod in response.
“I’ll just leave the food on your nightstand. Mindlink Doctor Michael or me if you need anything as we are the only ones granted permission to tend you,” Violet bowed
her head once more.
However, before she could leave the room Ruth softly uttered, “I still don’t understand. Even if his wolf has claimed me, the man has not.”
Tyler’s ear twitched, but other than that he remained frozen where he was. Violet, however, abruptly snapped her head in Ruth’s direction, “Alpha cares more deeply for you than anyone else. He has tried to deny it and push you away, but that doesn’t change the truth. Ruth, you can understand him in a way that none of us ever could. The loneliness you told us about having all your life is not too different from his own. Alpha couldn’t help but fall for you.”
With that, Violet swiftly left the room. Ruth flopped back on the pillows with a ‘harrumph’ and digested Violet’s parting words. She should be mad over Tyler’s constant emotional walls and avoidance, and a small part of her was, but a bigger part couldn’t be happier to know that he cared for her.
Ruth had felt drawn to Tyler ever since she’d met him, and now she knew for certain that it wasn’t one sided. She gazed down at the protective alpha in her lap and ran a hand over the top of his soft fur. Tyler let out another rumbling sound and snuggled closer towards her stomach with his eyes closed.
He wanted her, craved her touch—it was obvious. Tyler deserved just as much happiness as she did, and somehow Ruth just had to help him see that. She couldn’t wait for the games to begin.
In her first act of revenge, Ruth lifted the hand that had been stroking his fur and began whimpering. Tyler immediately jumped up trying to locate where she was hurting. As soon as the wolfman’s heavy weight was gone she quickly pulled herself up so she could rest with her back against the headboard, and dragged the food tray from the nightstand towards her.
Recognizing that Ruth was fine, Tyler gave a huff and moved to curl up at her feet with his head lying across her uninjured leg. To make up for her deceit she offered him a strip of bacon from her tray, which Tyler begrudgingly accepted. Eventually, they both cleared off the mammoth plate of food. Wolves only knew two portion sizes—huge and massive—since they needed large amounts of fuel for all of the shifting they did.
After setting the tray back on the nightstand Ruth gently slid her foot out from under him and moved to get out of the bed. Once he realized what she was doing, Tyler leapt to the ground to block her, and growled warningly.
She gave a longsuffering sigh, “I have to pee, weirdo. Move.”
He stopped growling and abruptly shifted into his human form, his eyes glowing amber the whole time. Carefully, Tyler picked Ruth up, causing her to squeak out an ignored protest. Swiftly, he walked into the bathroom and deposited her gently on the floor before changing to a wolf once again.
Ruth wobbled for a second, trying to balance on her good leg, before taking a breath, “Thank you. You can leave now.” Instead of moving Tyler sat on his haunches just staring at her.
“I don’t care if your wolf is more in control. I am not peeing with you staring at me. Now go,” Ruth demanded pointing a finger out of the bathroom.
He remained still as stone.
Ruth sighed in frustration, “How about I leave the door open so that if somehow, some wolf out there has figured out how to walk through walls you can save me?”
Tyler dipped his wolf head in acquiescence and exited the bathroom.
To his retreating back she shouted, “If I catch so much as one eyeball entering this bathroom without me having screamed bloody murder, you will be in huge trouble, mister.”
That oozy happy feeling filtered through the pack link again and warmed her from the inside out. Ruth attempted to shake it off lest she become too twitterpated to clean up like she’d planned when first trying to make her way to the bathroom.
She splashed cold water on her face, which helped clear her mind a little. Oddly enough, though, even with Tyler gone Ruth still felt like he was in the room. His spicy citrus smell was still incredibly overpowering. She knew that she was in his bedroom, but even so, it shouldn’t be so intense.
Ruth looked down and noticed something crusty on her arm. Bringing the appendage to her nose, Ruth took a big whiff—gross! What did he do, lather her in his spit? As much as she liked having Tyler’s scent all around her, though she’d never admit it, this was definitely overkill.
As quickly as her wobbly body could take her, Ruth moved over to turn on the shower to wash Tyler’s drool off. After removing the overlarge shirt she’d been put in, Ruth carefully peeled off her bandages and saw that her wounds had all closed. The scars left in the wake of her wounds were puffy and an angry red to compliment the myriad of nearly faded bruises all over her tender flesh.
Though Ruth was happy to be so far along in her recovery, it was very odd. If she had only been attacked last night, there is no way her body should be this healed yet. No one mended this quickly from injuries except for alphas, since they could use the strength of the pack to heal. Nope, Ruth refused to dwell anymore on that topic and how a female unmated to the alpha could achieve such a feat, claimed or no.
Instead, she stepped into the now steaming shower and cleaned herself as quickly as possible without giving her wounds any more scrutiny. After Ruth finished washing Tyler’s scent off and dried herself as gently as she could, she paused. There were no clothes to change into except the ill-fitting shirt she’d come into the bathroom with.
Ruth took a brief sniff and was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn’t saturated, like she had been, in her alpha’s spicy citrus aroma. It had obviously been freshly washed before she’d worn it and only sported a few hairs Tyler had accidentally left on her when he laid in her lap.
With a shrug, Ruth pulled the shirt over her head to find that it just barely reached her mid thigh. How had she not noticed this before when Tyler had carried her? It was with that thought that Ruth’s devious mind hatched yet another cunning plan.
After adjusting the shirt, Ruth hobbled over to the sink to get a better look in the mirror that spanned one end of the bathroom to the other. Looking herself over she mussed her damp hair to make her look a little more pathetic before deeming herself ready for her acting debut.
Turning to face the open door, Ruth made a mewling sound of fake pain, “Tyler, could you help me back to the bed, please?”
Before the sentence was fully out of her mouth, Tyler, in his human form, strode into the bathroom. He stopped dead in his tracks as his eyes roved over Ruth’s frame. His eyes went from amber to their usual brown within seconds as the man took over before the wolf could do anything.
“You are you wet,” he choked out.
Keeping her charade up Ruth spread her hands before her innocently, “I had to shower. I stunk. Please, can you take me back to bed? I’m tired.”
Tyler mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “minx” but nevertheless, gently cradled Ruth to his chest. She noticed that he tried keeping his eyes on anything but her damp scantly clad form. Though his rising heart rate betrayed his true feelings.
All too soon though, Tyler quickly sat Ruth down on the bed while still trying not to stare at her bare legs. Annoyingly enough, he somehow managed the feat and once she was safely in bed he made to exit the room. But before the alpha could make it two steps, Ruth made a low growl. He turned back towards her only to be pounced on by her silver wolf.
The sudden weight caused Tyler to stumble, and as he fell he wrapped his arms around her. After landing with a thud, Ruth gave a playful yip and began licking his face. When he tried to object, she snapped her jaws at him in a playfully menacing manner.
Chuckling, he surrendered as Ruth snuggled her head under his chin. He held her for a minute more before slowing rising and depositing Ruth back on the bed.
“This has to stop.” Tyler gazed at her sadly.
She shifted back into her human form, which Ruth noticed satisfyingly caused Tyler’s eyes to nearly bug out again.
She laughed, “Fight this all you want, Alpha, but I’m not giving up. I will wear you down one way or the othe
r.”
CHAPTER 26
Ruth mindlinked Violet as she rummaged around Tyler’s closet, trying to find sweat pants that she could wear without them falling to her ankles. Within seconds of pulling on a pair, she heard Violet trudging up the stairs. Before the she-wolf could knock, Ruth quickly opened the door and pulled the puzzled wolf inside.
“Vi, I need your help with the second phase of Plan Tyuth.”
The she-wolf’s confused expression didn’t change, “Um, you do realize we never really implemented phase one, right?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Ruth said waving the comment away, “my injuries, which I wouldn’t care to repeat, fulfilled the goal of phase one anyways. Tyler can’t lie to himself or me anymore. The whole pack saw, or at least heard how he acted when I was hurt.”
Violet’s expression transformed into a look of evil glee, “Touché. Shall we get started now, my lady?”
“Of course,” she replied with a grin of her own.
Violet peaked her head out of the bedroom first to make sure no one had passed by in the last few minutes. Even after she declared the coast clear, the pushy she-wolf demanded on helping Ruth down the stairs. The assistance was unnecessary, though, as she was hardly limping; yet another odd sign that Ruth was recovering more rapidly than she should.
After they’d made it to her room downstairs, Violet left to go find some boxes while Ruth starting pulling her things off of their shelves. Around the time she laid everything in piles on her bed, Violet appeared with Cassie in tow.
“I figured we could use all the help we can get. And this way, I don’t have to carry all the boxes by myself,” Violet shrugged.
Ruth rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop her grin, “Whatever you say, Vi.” At this point, she was beyond caring what anyone thought of her actions and she knew that Cassie was trustworthy.
Cassie interjected before Violet could voice a retort, “Glad you are finally gonna pull Alpha’s head out of his butt.”