Medic and the Wolf

Swimming

We've already covered High Angle and Wilderness training. Now we are starting Water Rescue. I have learned a lot and I’m excited to see what else is in store for me. We all meet at the station with our wet gear, go over the maps of where we will be training and the river is explained to us. It’s a very unpredictable river. It has sections of very calm water where people like to swim in and has sections of level five rapids. There are flash floods that happen without warning and that's when people get into trouble. We all pile into the jeeps and head on out.

We arrive at a calm area and set up equipment ropes, floatation devices and such. We grab our bags with our wet suits in them, the guys find a tree or bush to change behind. I shake my head at them, I strip down to my underwear, it’s no different than a bikini and pull on my wetsuit at the back of the jeep. I turn around and face everyone as I’m zipping up the back. They all have their jaws gaping open and the look on Jake's face is anger. He stalks over to me, grabs my arm and starts walking away from the group. His grip is tight, I start to panic because he has never touched me, especially in this way. I ripped my arm out of his hand and stopped walking. He turns to me and is very very close.

In a low husky voice, “ What do you think you're doing?”

I’m shocked at first, then it’s replaced by anger, “What do you think I am DOING?”

“Looks like you're giving a free show to me” he hissed.

“How DARE YOU! If you or anyone else here can not handle seeing a woman in a bikini, then you need a new line of work” I hiss back.

“It’s not a bikini.. It’s your underwear.. There is a difference!! No one is to see you undressed at any time at all and that's an order.”

“And why is that?”

“Cuz YOUR MINE” he screams, his face as red as an apple, and walks away.

I was left standing there stunned, not knowing what to do or how to act. There are so many emotions going on; anger, embarrassment, hurt and confusion. What did he mean by I’m his?? I have decided I need to take a walk to calm myself down and clear my head. It won't be good to try and train while I’m feeling like this. So I started walking up the river.

Jake

I was so mad… I can't believe she would do that… How could she show everyone what is MINE. I paced around the area fuming, hands clenched on my sides and face red. My wolf is upset with me, about how rough I was with her. All I can see is how all the guys stared at her, with their eyes on her and how they looked like they wanted her. Troy came over to me with a tight face, he had become close with her, respected her for her abilities and kindness. They really started to have a friendship. He motioned for me to follow him. I know he's going to give me a piece of his mind and doesn't want the rest to hear. When he is satisfied with the distance, he stops in front of me. His face tells me all he is feeling. He's just as furious as me.

“What the HELL man!” he yells at me, face tight and red eyes shooting daggers at me.

At first I was taken a little aback. It didn't occur to me that he would be upset at me. I thought he was upset with her as well, knowing she is my mate and we all look out for each other's mates.

“You're mad at me?” I asked in a low growl. He doesn't say anything, so I continue. “ How can you be MAD at ME! She is the one who stripped in front of everyone, showing everything!!!!!”

He huffs, his face softening slightly, “ Why did you have to be so rough with her? She doesn't understand and you know it. She's HUMAN!!” Troy yells in the last part. I have to stop and think he's right. She doesn't understand, she was just doing what she would normally do on a job as we instructed. She didn't know how protective wolves are with their mates and young, she didn't know she did anything wrong. I close my eyes and all I see is the shock look in her eyes followed by a glassy look. Were those tears in her eyes? Did I hurt my mate to the point of making her cry? My chest started feeling tight. As realization hit me, my shoulders hunch my head low, Troy continues.

“ Look man, you have to remember she knows nothing about us. She thinks she's only here for training, then leaving and going back to her home. She doesn't feel the pull like you do. You HAVE to take it slow with her. I saw the look she had on her face when she walked away. You need to go and apologize. I’ll get everyone started.”

I take a few deep breaths, calming myself down. I know he is right. I have to do something to fix this. I looked Troy in the eye and nodded. I walked in the direction she went, hoping she wouldn't go too far. We still don't know who that mut was that attacked us a few weeks ago. We don't know how he got into the territory, but we do know that he didn't belong to our pack. We increased security and it seems to be working for the time being, but that only lasts for so long. I don't like her out here by herself without me or any of the guys. I looked around and couldn't find her so I put my nose up in the air, breathing deep looking for her sweet lavender scent. After a few minutes, I caught her scent and followed it. I find her sitting by the river bank, her knees are pulled to her chest and hugging them. She looks so fragile and sad. I get hit with guilt knowing I caused that. I slowly walked up to her and stood near her, not too close to invade her space. She likes her space, I’ve noticed, not even Troy, Sam and Ron can get too close to her. I cleared my throat to make my presence known. She looked deep in thought. She looks up at me and motions for me to sit next to her, so I do. She didn't say anything after a while, so I started.

“ Look Kate, I’m soo sorry for how I acted. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that.”

She looks at me, I see the hurt in her eyes and my chest hurts. It’s a shot in my heart.

“ So why did you? Did I do something wrong?”

“ I didn't like the way the guys looked at you, you're very beautiful. I didn't like how they all saw you undressed like that. It made me very mad and I couldn't control myself, the anger took me over.”

“ Why did you get so angry?”

I had to think about this question. It’s not an easy answer for her being human. She was about to stand up when I didn’t answer for a while. I reached out for her hand and held it. Sparks went up my arm as soon as I felt it. She pulled away. She looked surprised and mumbled sorry static electricity. She felt it, I thought to myself, but how could she? I stand as well, we are very close to one another. Her scent was swirling around me. I looked into her eyes.

“ That's because I like you. Really like you and I don't want any other man seeing you like that. “ My voice was deep.

“Why?” she whispered.

My hands move on their own, not thinking about it being lost in her beep blue eyes, one on her waist and the other cups her cheek. Feeling sparks as I do, she doesn't move away this time. She is just as lost as I am.

“ Not only are you good at what we do and have great skills, you're also willing to learn and kind enough to help others. I find myself looking for your smile and hearing your laugh. I would like to spend more time with you.”

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, then steps back out of my arms. My wolf whimpers at the loss. She has this puzzled look on her face, I start to think she is about to reject me and start to panic. I looked at her with pleading eyes.

“ I’m not sure how that is going to work, I’m leaving for home soon. Starting a relationship would not be fair to either of us, so the only thing I can offer you is friendship.” She looks worried as she says this. She is not sure of my reaction. I huffed and looked at the ground. It’s not a rejection and I'm grateful for that, but it’s not what I want to hear either.

Nodding my head, I looked back at her calmly. I accept that we can be friends, but please don't undress in front of the other guys again. You can change behind a tree or something.”

She nods in agreement. As she is about to say something, she stops, turns her head slightly to the side and her expression changes to one of concentration. My body stiffens and all senses go on high alert. She glanced at me then at the water a few times.

“ Do you hear that, what is that” she? asks in a whisper.

I can hear the low rumble of water in the far distance. I know it's a flash flood but I’m surprised she can hear it because of being so far away. I concentrate on her as she is concentrating on the river. The rumble is getting louder and closer.

“ FLASH FLOOD” I yelled. I picked her up and ran to a very tall thick tree. I helped her climb up with me right behind her. I link to Troy a warning of the flood so he can get everyone to safety in time. We are high in the tree sitting on branches across from each other. I saw a flash of fear in her eyes. I put my hand over hers holding onto the tree trunk and gave her an encouraging smile, then she put on her game face that I, was starting to love.

The sound of the water is like thunder drowning out all other sounds, it’s almost deafening. We both see a wall of water crashing down on us. When it hits the tree it shakes. I extend my claws to grip the tree better. She doesn't have that ability, but grips it as hard as she can, but it's not enough. She starts to fall and I reach for her as she reaches for me and we are barely able to grab each other's forearms. I held onto her with all my might, not worrying about hurting her at that moment, and slowly pulled her to me. I am able to settle her on the branch I’m on between me and the tree trunk, my arms around her protecting her from falling. I can hear her breathing short and fast, I whisper in her ear that everything will be OK in an effort to calm her. I can feel the anxiety come off her in waves even though I can't see her face. I keep repeating it until her breathing slows.

The rushing water passes us and it slowly recedes. The area is still flooded and the water is swift. We slowly make our way down the tree. When I’m finally able to see her face, she has her game face on. I’m not too sure what to think about that, not knowing if I helped her or not. We came to a branch right above the water and sat waiting for the rescue. Troy knows the rough area we are in and I know he will be here with a boat when it's safe enough.

“Are you OK?” I asked her, nodding while looking down at the water. We stayed quiet like that for a while, her looking in the water and me looking at her and her surroundings.

I hear a little thank you, like a whisper in the wind. I look down at her and see she is looking up at me now. My heart clenches at the emotion I see in her eyes.

“ Thank you for saving me. I thought I was a goner for a second there. Not many people would have done that for me.”

My wolf growls at this and I have to agree. I looked at her confused. “ What do you mean ‘Not many people would do that for you’? I’m trying to keep my voice even and my anger at bay, not wanting to scare her again.

“I'm not very well liked where I come from. Don't get me wrong, a few people do and they are close to my heart because they are the only ones who really know me, but most don't. They are either jealous that I’m better than they are or that I won't give them the time of day. Not counting my canning ability to piss everyone off not even trying to or meaning to, it just happens.”

“Why would anyone be jealous that you're better than them? I still don't see how they would just let you get swept away and drown…”

“ Men have very fragile egos. Like the guy on the first day. Men don't agree that a woman has a place in this job, let alone a woman being better than them. They can't understand how that happens, so they think if they threaten me or sabotage my equipment I’ll quit. That only makes the fire in me burn hotter and it pisses them off and I’m sure there are plenty that would have enjoyed seeing me get swept away.”

She has a blank face and no emotion at all as she says this. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding as I pulled her as close as possible to me. ‘You will always be protected here’ I whisper in her ear. I feel her sag her body as much as she can in my embrace, my wolf howls with joy that our mate is finding comfort with us and learning to trust us. A while later, she shifts away to find a more comfortable spot. I hear crying in the wind more like small yelps. I know that sound some pups are in trouble. The water is still moving quite fast despite so much time that has passed. Kate must have sensed the change in me, for now she started scanning the water to see what I had heard. Not seeing anything, she looks at me confused. “ What is it?”

“ I hear some yelping. I think some animals are stuck in the water”. Still trying to make it seem like wildlife. She carefully stands up on the branch scanning the water up ahead this time.

“There” she yells like I’m not right next to her and points to some small objects struggling to stay afloat. They are coming down fast and before I can say or do anything she jumps in right as they come past us. Kate pops up in the water, gives a thumbs up and starts swimming to the pups. I cursed under my breath and followed her in.

The current is very strong. I have a hard time getting to the surface myself. How is she swimming in this so effortlessly? I’m not far behind her when she reaches them. There are three and they are all holding onto each other's scruff so not to be separated. She snatches them all up, holds them to her chest and flips her back, giving more of herself for the pups to rest on. This is dangerous for the swimmer; it limits their sight of upcoming dangers. I swim to her as quickly as I can and hold onto her. I am now her eyes and can steer her out of danger from debris. I linked Troy and updated him, he needed to be ready to catch up as we passed. I slowly move us to the bank, it will be easier for Troy and the guys. Everything seemed to be going well, we had maneuvered around some big rocks and were closer to the water bank. I told Kate we were getting closer to the guys and to be ready.

They spot us as we approach, ready with a floating ring. It's thrown to us and I grab the rope but the ring hits Kate and the pups and knocks one loose. Kate tries to reach for it but misses, her face twisted in anguish. I put the ring around her so the guys could pull her to safety with the two pups.

“ The pup, get the pup” she cries out to me. “ I will just go to the bank, I'll get it”. With her secure, she holds onto the pups tighter as they are pulled to land. I swim after the other pup, it’s struggling to keep it’s head above water. It goes down a few times, I close in on it, then it goes down and doesn't come up. ‘s**t’ I dive down and start searching. I’m not too far off. I swoop it up as I passed it on the current thank goddess. I only had one shot at that. We surface the water, I try to rub it to arouse it, make him start breathing. He’s a little gray wolf with white paws and a white stripe down his nose. He lay limp in my arms with his eyes closed. I’m telling him to breathe and wake up, he can do it. I spotted the netting that was across the river. Troy must have set that up before the flood. I get slammed into it by the current. The water passes through but everything else gets trapped. I put the pup's scruff in my mouth, holding it like a parent, holding onto the netting, I moved to the water bank, climbing over trees that didn't survive the flood. I finally reached the side and everyone was there waiting for me. Troy and a few guys help pull me up and I flop on the ground like a fish completely exhausted.

It’s only Troy, Sam and myself left with her. The pup has not responded. I knelt across from her, slowly putting my hand over hers on the pup.

“ I’m so sorry but he’s gone.” I told her. She looks up at me, locking eyes with me. I can see the unshed tears in hers. Her mouth is open like she's gonna say something, then all of a sudden she has her game face on.

“NO HE'S NOT!!!!” and doesn't stop with new-found determination.

Troy, Sam and myself just sat next to her and waited. It doesn't take long for her hands to slow and stop the CPR, go from rubbing to caressing and tears start to flow. Her body gently floods over him and she whispers in his ear, ‘ I’m sorry little one, I'm so sorry. I tried my hardest for you’. Lifting him up and pulling him to her chest, she gave a small kiss on his snout. I feel my eyes fill with tears as I watch her gentleness and morning for a poor soul. I look at the other guys and they are doing the same. Cradling him in her arms like he is the most precious thing on this earth, she stands and walks over to the other pups. She gently lays him in the box with his brother and sister so they can say goodbye to him. I link them to try and not to shift, knowing it's going to be hard in their grief. I notice he is much smaller than they are as they nudge him, whine and whimper trying to get him up. Kate is looking down at them with a tear-soaked face, ‘I’m so sorry I couldn't save him, I tried so hard’, she tells the grieving pups, her voice full of sorrow. They look up at her and the girl jumps in Kate’s arms. Kate catches her and snuggles her to her chest. The boy does the same. I hear through the link their crying and mournful howls. I feel their pain, the whole pack feels the pain of the loss.

Kate looks at me and asks “ What do we do with them? They are orphans now and he deserves a proper burial”.

I look at her with amazement, she amazes me even more now, her gentle, caring soul. “ We have a center. Sam will take them too. Don’t worry, they will be taken care of and he will be honored.” She seems satisfied with this and hands the pups to Sam. I walked to her and put my arm around her shoulders. I feel her sag a bit against me. I walked her to the truck and drove back to the station. That’s enough for the day. We are all exhausted.

She is curled up in the front seat of the truck, she is staring out the window trying to hide her tears falling down her cheeks. I reach to hold her hand but she pulls away, hugging her knees to her chest. She buries her face in her knees. “ Please don’t, I can’t handle being touched right now, I’ll lose it.” she says in a hushed, strangled tone. I clenched the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. My heart was breaking seeing her like this and not being able to comfort her. The truck was filled by her soft sobbs until she fell asleep. When we pulled up to the station, everyone was outside waiting for me, they felt a connection break and were waiting to hear who it was.I got out closing my door as quietly as possible. I didn't want to wake Kate up, she needed her rest, being physically and emotionally drained.

“Who was it? What happened?” a council member asked.

“ There was a flash flood as we were setting up for training. Three pups got caught in it. We were able to get them but it was too late for one. She tried so hard”. The last part came out low as I looked at Kate’s sleeping form in the truck.

Everyone gasped and some started to cry. “ They were all taken to the center,” I informed them. I lifted Kate in my arms and she unconsciously snuggled in my chest. I carried her to the upstairs bunk room and laid her down on the bed. I asked one of the medical staff to come and check her out. Not long later, a nurse came to the room.

“ You called for me? Are you hurt Sir?

“ NO, not me. I want you to check Kate out for any injury and treat her. After there is a shirt to change her into, she will sleep better in this than the wetsuit.”

I walked out of the room as she nodded at me. I stood by the door, making it clear to anyone who tried to enter it was off limits. Why didn’t she want me to comfort her? Why did she pull away? I thought we made some progress. How did she hear the water so far away? It’s another puzzling thing about her, they just keep adding up. First she was seen coming out of the north trail, she arrived at the wolf gate, her fight with a rough wolf and now today. She not only heard the water from such a distance but she completed some of the death rituals for the little one. I was lost in my thoughts when the nurse came out.

“She’s still sleeping. Sir and will be for a while. She has depleted all of her energy. Her wrist is broken and splinted, she also has a few bumps and bruises but should be fine. I drew some blood to check for any abnormalities. Do you know if she is a hybrid or not, Sir?”

I looked at her in confusion. “ She’s human, as far as I know, why do you ask?”

The nurse blushes “ My mistake then.. When I changed her, I saw part of a birthmark on her hip. I’ll run the human tests and let you know if anything comes back.” With that she slightly bows and leaves. I go back into the room, shut the door softly behind me, my breath gets caught in my throat as I look down at her in the bed. She looks so small, frail curled up in the middle of the bed. I washed up and changed my clothes as well. I didn't realize how tired I was myself, I slid into bed beside Kate, just wanting to be close to her. She snuggles to my side in her sleep, I close my eyes and let the darkness take me.