Jensen’s Mate

Injured Paw

As Crystal, Jenny, and Kay approached the front glass door of the 1950s-style Shake Shack, the door suddenly swung open. Crystal, not paying attention, brushed her shoulder against a very large, very tall figure. She looked up into a pair of fully black eyes that met hers with a small rumble that turned into a light growl.

"I'm so sorry, sir. I wasn't paying attention," Crystal apologized, looking up at the man.

"It's all right," the man replied, his deep voice tinged with slight irritation.

Meanwhile, Kay and Jenny continued to walk through the door, engrossed in their own conversation, oblivious to the brief confrontation.

As Jensen walked back to his brother's pickup, Roman commented, "Jensen, that was our mate."

"I don't care if she's just a child. It's too creepy for us to stay around," Jensen retorted.

Just then, Parker noticed Jensen's eyes glaze over. "Are you having a dialogue with your wolf or what? Get in the vehicle; we need to get back," Parker said, throwing his hands on the wheel.

Jensen shook his head, snapping out of it. "Yeah, sorry," he muttered as he hopped in and buckled his seatbelt.

"Hey, wasn't that—" Parker started to say.

"Yes, it was, and let's hurry up and get back," Jensen cut him off mid-sentence.

"All right, but you're holding the pies," Parker replied.

"Man, I don't know why every time we come into town, Dad always makes us stop and grab him and Mom a couple of pies when we have plenty of kitchen staff back at the house," Jensen grumbled.

"I don't know, but you and I can both agree these pies taste so much better. Just look at how delicious that Key Lime pie looks, or the Lemon Meringue, or the Blueberry Cobbler. That little lady's recipe hasn't changed in years," Parker said.

"It's just freaking pie. Personally, I prefer the German Chocolate Cloud Nine shake," Jensen replied.

"Yeah, but do you really need to buy such a large one for your two-year-old son?" Parker asked.

"He's my boy, and I'm gonna spoil him any way I can since he's all I have," Jensen replied softly.

"Yeah, well, that's too much sugar for a two-year-old," Parker replied.

As Parker pulled the pickup into the parking garage, both brothers got out. Parker carried the pies while Jensen jokingly ran ahead to see his son.

"Hey, that's unfair, man!" Parker yelled as Jensen disappeared into the pack house.

"Alpha, let me take that for you," one of the warriors, who was walking out the front door, stopped and suggested.

"Oh, that would be great, Leroy. Could you do me a favor and put these in the kitchen fridge? Tell your mate, Julia, to keep these in the fridge for my mother and father. Thanks," Parker replied.

"No problem, Alpha. Of course, my mate might be a little upset seeing that you brought some outside pies, but knowing they are for the former Alpha and Luna, she’ll be more than happy to store them," Leroy said as he was handed the pies and gracefully walked off into the kitchen.

Parker made his way up to the office suite walking through the door he sees Phoebe snuggled up on the couch, reading a book with that large German chocolate cloud nine shake that Jensen had only moments ago.

Hey sweetheart, took you guys long enough.

Phoebe replied as she looks up from her book .

You know he got that for Chase right he replied

Yes, and I told him that two-year-olds shouldn’t be having sugar this late at night or in general, and I simply took it out of his hands with the fuss. And I got to say it’s quite delicious. Phoebe says as she slurp through the straw.

Didi shake shack is where it’s at parker says as he sues his hips over to his wife, removing the shake from her hand, taking a sip and kissing her on her lips.

Here's the improved version of the text:

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Xavier was fast asleep, and Chase was back with Jensen. Parker turned to Phoebe with a playful glint in his eye. "How about you and I have a little fun with this shake?" he suggested, scooping her up in a bridal style while still holding the shake in one hand.

"Oh Parker, I’m exhausted. But if you insist, I’ll oblige," Phoebe replied with a slight giggle, wrapping her arms around Parker's neck as they made their way to the master bedroom.

Suddenly, Jensen appeared in the living room, stopping Parker in his tracks. "Hey guys," he said out of nowhere.

"What the hell, man?" Parker jumped a little. "Aren’t you supposed to be the big bad wolf with excellent hearing?" Jensen teased.

"Not when you sneak up on me like that," Parker retorted, holding Phoebe tighter against his chest.

"Look, I just came to tell you that I’m taking Roman out to check on some commotion at the border. If you didn’t have your blocks up or checked your phone, you’d know patrol reported a disturbance. They asked me to check it out. I’ll knock next time, my bad," Jensen said with a hint of humor.

"Wait, so who’s watching Chase?" Phoebe asked.

"He’s in his bed asleep. I’m only going out for about an hour, tops. Here’s the monitor for his room if you want to check in on him," Jensen said, placing the small video and audio monitor on the coffee table.

"You should go check," Phoebe suggested, looking at Parker.

Parker growled slightly. "Jensen’s got it. Besides, my wolf and I would much rather spend time with our mate, my dear," he replied. He gently set Phoebe down so she could grab the monitor and take it to the bedroom with him.

Jensen left the Packhouse through the back door, shifting into his wolf form and shredding his clothes in the process. Within five minutes, he reached the border and shifted back to his human form. He retrieved a pair of blue basketball shorts hidden in a nearby tree trunk and approached the three guards at their post. One of the guards shifted back to human form, retrieved a pair of shorts from a small bucket beside the post, and swiftly put them on, greeting Jensen in the process.

"Hey, Jensen," Warrior Jerome said as Jensen met him at his post.

"Hey, so Parker’s busy, but I’m here. Report to me what’s going on and for how long," Jensen instructed.

"Sure," Jerome replied, standing next to Jensen. "About 35 minutes ago, ten minutes after you and the Alpha returned home, a car pulled up in the same spot where those three human girls were camping a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, that’s fine. You know humans don’t understand our laws and they wouldn’t know this is our territory to begin with, so as long as they’re not hurting anybody. Who spotted the car?" Jensen asked.

"Lance did. He said a 15-year-old girl, who probably just has her permit, parked and started pulling out camping gear by herself. She seemed oblivious to all that’s around her. Then he smelled a rogue nearby," Jerome replied.

Roman stepped forward, his voice filled with curiosity and irritation. "What kind of rogue?"

Jerome, sensing the power emanating from Roman, bowed his head. "A vampire, Beta. That’s all we know. According to Lance, he’s over there watching the girl right now. The rogue vampire looks very starved and has yet to make a move because he senses someone else is there."

"How far away is Lance from the rogue?" Jensen asked.

"About half a mile, sir, and the rogue is only 500 feet or less, hiding in the trees and watching the young girl," Jerome replied.

"Alright, keep watch and I will inform Lance. I’m on my way," Jensen said before shifting back into his wolf form.

"Lance, where is your location?" Jensen mind-linked.

"45° southwest from the Copperhead Pond," Lance replied through the mind link.

"Alright, keep watch on the rogue I’ll take him out . Jensen replied.

"Will do," Lance replied, his tone filled with depth and a questioning nature, as he continued to monitor the unfolding situation,

Jensen watched from the clearing in the woods, with Lance beside him.

Even in his wolf form, Roman remained in control, while Lance and Jensen communicated through their mind link.

"I'm going to sneak up behind him and tear his head off his shoulders," Roman informed Jensen.

"You have to be careful," Jensen replied. "One scratch or bite from him, especially since he's a rogue, could drive us mad and nearly kill us."

"I got this. Remember what the Lycan King once told us?" Roman responded.

"What, that they're immune to any supernatural bite or scratch and we're not?" Jensen said sarcastically.

"No, you i***t. If I’m as stealthy as possible and rip their heads off from behind, they have no chance to fight back," Roman replied.

"Hey, if you two can stop arguing, he's on the move towards the young girls' campsite," Lance interrupted through the mind link.

As Jensen stealthily approached the rogue, following his every step, Roman leaped into swift action., The rogue vampire, turned around, his sharp nails slicing into Roman's paw. However, Roman succeeded in ripping the vampire’s head clean off his body.

"Holy s**t, he almost got you," Lance said, running up behind them, now shifted into his human form.

"What are you doing?" Jensen asked.

"I came to assess your injury, dude," Lance replied.

"We're fine. Go back to your post," Roman growled slightly.

"What about the girl? And are you sure? Your paw is pretty bloody," Lance said, crouching down to get closer to Roman as he licked his own paw.

"Just go back to your post. I'll keep watch over the girl. Now go, don't make me repeat myself," Roman growled, his tone authoritative.

"You should really get that checked out," Lance replied as he shifted back into his wolf form.

"Go!" Roman yelled, his suffocating aura pushing through his tone, silencing Lance's wolf, Krev, who had been quiet the whole time.

**Rewritten Text:**

"I'm not feeling so good, Roman. Maybe we should turn around and head back to the pack hospital," Jensen said, looking down at his left paw. The pain was intense, and he noticed a deep wound that wasn't healing.

"No, I want to be with my mate. I'll endure the pain until morning," Roman replied.

"But we told Parker we'd be gone for at least an hour. What about Chase?" Jensen asked.

"Chase is fine. Parker and Phoebe are watching our boy. I need to protect my mate. You saw what followed her out here," Roman insisted.

"He was probably already out here before she arrived. Besides, I don't want that human girl as my mate. She's only fifteen; she's too young," Jensen countered.

"You're not even sure how old she is," Roman responded. "We do know she's in high school."

"We're not much older than her. I will wait for her," Roman stated firmly.

"No, you won't. Now that we know our mate is a human girl, we will reject her," Jensen declared.

Roman pushed Jensen to the back of his mind, focusing on the girl from the bushes.

Crystal was leaning against an old tree log, warming herself by a small fire. She heard rustling in the bushes and looked up from her book, setting it down in the direction of the noise.

Grabbing a walking stick that lay against the tent, she got up and walked toward the bushes, ready to strike if necessary. But then she saw the same big black wolf she had spotted the last time she was here.

"Hey there, fella. Please don't eat me. I just want to examine your paw," Crystal said, noticing the blood pooling from his paw.

Crystal squatted down, dropping the stick. The wolf crept out of the bushes slowly, putting no pressure on his injured paw, and crawled out, his beautiful black fur catching on a few branches and leaves.

Crystal ran her hand across the wolf's back, feeling his soft fur. Roman immediately stopped whimpering and let out a sound almost like a purr.

"Oh wow, that looks terrible," Crystal said as she gently took his paw into her hand. Roman felt a surge of emotions from the sparks he felt with her touch.

"I have a first aid kit in my backpack, but it looks like you have a sharp thorn stuck in there. I don't want you to bite me, so this is my favorite book, and it's thick enough that if you bite down on it, it'll help as I pull this thing out of your paw," Crystal suggested, gently caressing his injured paw.

Roman grunted in irritation but limped over to the tent, following Crystal.

"Here, take this book. It's my favorite, but you're more important right now. If you ruin it, I won't be mad," Crystal said, putting her Harry Potter book into Roman's mouth to bite down on. She rummaged through her backpack, pulling out the first aid kit, tweezers, alcohol rub, and a bandage.

Roman clamped down hard on the book. Despite her being a young girl obsessed with Harry Potter, her caring nature spoke volumes, he thought to himself, while Jensen remained quiet in the back of his mind.

Roman lay down, and Crystal sat beside him, grabbing his front left paw. She didn't care that she was getting blood all over herself and her clothes. She used the tweezers to yank out the thorn, which looked almost like a sharp fingernail.

Roman let out a loud whimper of relief as the pressure was alleviated.

"Ouch, whatever this is, I know it must have hurt," Crystal said, tossing the object aside.

Roman spat out the book and started licking Crystal's face.

"Hey, hey, thanks for the dog slobber, but let me finish cleaning up your paw. I have a couple of granola bars you can have. I'll sleep out here next to the tent to make sure you're okay unless you're going to run off," Crystal said.

Roman shook his head and barked happily at her, licking her face again.

Crystal finished cleaning up his wound and settled back down against the log with her sleeping bag. Roman lay next to her, keeping her warm throughout the night.

The next morning, Crystal woke up feeling like she had the best night's sleep ever. When she rolled to her side, she realized the wolf she had helped last night was gone. Her clothes were still stained with his blood, along with a couple of bloody rags.

Crystal sighed as she began cleaning up the mess from the night before, her thoughts swirling with concern. *I guess he felt like he was good enough to run off now. I can only hope that he’ll be okay,* she mused to herself.

Only a few moments earlier, Jensen stirred awake, finding himself naked beside Crystal, who was comfortably tucked inside her sleeping bag. *What the hell?* he thought, alarmed.

*Roman, you could’ve left after she fell asleep,* Jensen chastised his wolf.

*When someone is injured, having their mate close by helps the healing process. Look at our hand,* Roman replied. Jensen glanced down, noticing his hand was almost completely healed, with only a small pink scar in the center of his palm.

*We need to get back. We have a busy day ahead, and I woke up with my c**k hard as a rock, leaking pre-come just because I'm next to my mate. This isn’t right,* Jensen retorted.

Roman laughed. *Deny it all you want, human. I am the wolf counterpart, and if you deny your fully human mate, that's on you. I've accepted her, and I can't help it if she stirs my libido.*

*You're a sick f*****g wolf,* Jensen grumbled. He found a tree to hide behind, keeping an eye on Crystal as she woke up, unaware of his struggle and the intense emotions battling within him.