Free mate

Mending wounds

I woke up in my bed when I hear the front door open and the whole house woke up, lights coming on and people moving around. My tiredness is replaced by anxiety so I get up and creep to the hallway to see what's happening.

It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the light but once I can see I recognize Oscar and Daniel, Sera rushing in to help them. Daniel is leaning against Oscar and I see a red stain blooming through his clothes, sight that makes my heart sink and I take an involuntary step closer. He turns his head as if to look at me but his eyes are closed tight, brow furrowed in pain. I follow them as Sera rushes to help him on the other side and they lay him on the sofa, Daniels quiet groan pulling me closer.

“Keep pressure on the bigger one. Matt, get water”, Sera barks orders while rushing to the bathroom where I know she has her first aid kit. Matt darts from behind me to do as Sera asked but I'm frozen there, watching the worry on Oscars face as he looks at his friend. I move closer so I can see the wounds better but his face distracts me.

He's breathing hard, a sheet of sweat making his skin glimmer. He's so vulnerable laying there with his eyes half-closed and jaw tight that I get a strange sense of wanting to protect him. His hand is clutching his side where I see blood seeping through the thin fabric of his shirt, staining it dark red. Oscar is pushing down on his thigh.

“You'll be fine, Sera will fix you up”, he says. Daniel grunts in response, eyes opening and closing again.

“Kate?” His voice is rough. Oscar glances at me, for once without any hostility. I swallow and step closer, kneeling next to the couch close enough to touch.

“I'm here.” His eyes open again, even though the pain I see his surprise. Sera comes in and Oscar and I move to give her space. Daniel's eyes follow me so I'm careful to stay where he can see me. I regret that when I flush bright red when Oscar swiftly takes off Daniel's pants so Sera can access the wound. The sight of him in his boxers is quickly overtaken when I see the deep cuts running down all the way from his hip to the knee, the whole leg covered in blood that's still flowing. The wound makes me want to throw up, the smell of blood filling the room but Sera quickly washes the blood with a cloth and water Matt brought.

Matt had quickly moved away in a spot where he could see what was happening without looking at the actual wounds. He's pale and bites his lip again but when we make eye contact he smiles tightly. This is the first violence I've seen here but I know they have kept me sheltered. Did something like this happen often? Daniel's pained breath grabbed my attention and I focused on him again.

“Sorry boss, I know it hurts”, Sera says softly. She's still cleaning the wound but now just focusing on the cuts. She has a bottle of disinfectant next to her and she's pouring it on his leg.

“ 'S fine”, Daniel grunts. Oscar is holding his one hand, keeping pressure on the other wound on his side while Sera fixes the other. There are other marks and bruises but they don't seem as serious as the other two, made by sharp claws of other wolves. The couch will be ruined, there are already stains from blood and Sera's disinfectant. The muscle deep wounds make me nauseous so I try to focus on his face, not that the pained grimace is any better.

I don't know what Sera did but he moaned in pain, head tilting back and eyes closing again. Without thinking I reach to touch his shoulder, a small effort to let him know I'm here.

His eyes open and I'm lost in the blue, the same electricity that I felt when I first saw him pushing through like lightning. For a second I feel some of his pain, enough to make my knees buckle and I sit there on the floor, hand still gripping his shoulder. It passes quickly, leaving almost a pleasant hum of energy buzzing through me. Daniel closes his eyes again but this time his face is just a little more relaxed, though he's still breathing hard and I feel the heat radiating from his body.

I glance up to see Oscar staring at me. I was expecting him to be angry again but he smiles at me, relieved and almost grateful. Sera finishes bandaging his leg and moves to see the other wound that Oscar had been covering.

“Doesn't that need stitches?” I break the silence. Sera shakes her head.

“We heal fast, he'll manage without”, she says. I let go of him so they can pull him up and take the shirt off. I see that the wound on his side is not cut like the other one but a bitemark. It must have been a big wolf, the ring or marks go to form his stomach to the backside, mostly clean but the punctures where canines were had ripped a bigger injury. Sera curses under her breath but starts cleaning without missing a beat.

Daniel lets out a little whine and I touch his shoulder again, this time more prepared but the same pain doesn't return, just the energy that must be out bond somehow pushing through us. I hope it helps him as it does me, it's almost like a warm current pulsing all around, easing my anxiety. I close my eyes, letting the feeling distract me from his pain and trying to gather that peace and sense of belonging.

I'm here for you I send the reassurance to him, hoping that he can feel some of it.

Mate

The short answer is more like a feeling than words but I know it wasn't from me. My eyes snap open and I see Daniel looking at me. The glassy eyes make me worried and I wish Sera was right and he would heal fast. He moans in pain again when she disinfects that and makes sure there wasn't anything in the wounds but Sera works fast and efficiently. While it felt like ages I knew she had him cleaned and bandaged fast, though Daniel was starting to fall asleep. Or unconscious at least, I wasn't convinced his rest was a good thing.

Matt got Sera's supplies and disappeared to the bathroom to clean them. Oscar stared at Sera, waiting to hear her judgment.

“He's going to make it”, she says but it sounded too much like she was telling it to herself as much as to us so I wasn't convinced. He was so pale and still that it felt impossible for him to heal.

“What happened?” she asked Oscar.

“Three wolves, young ones from Rubymoon”, he growls, “they ran off before I got there, all alive but learned their lesson.”

Three against him, the unfairness of it lit a rage buried in my chest. I hated the spineless action of ganging up against someone because you couldn't take him one on one, and who dared to do something like that to an alpha of another pack? I rumble rose from my stomach, angry growling that I couldn't control. Not that I wanted to, I wished I could shift all the way and find those wolves, make sure they didn't stay alive.

Sera and Oscar turned to me and though we were all worried Sera looked happy for me. Oscar nodded, agreeing with my wordless message.

“Hanna went to their alpha. She was pissed too, this was too far”, he says.

“Alone?” Sera asked alarmed.

“She took the Buckley and James”, that calmed Sera down but I didn't care about that anymore. I didn't care what happened outside of this room if I couldn't get the people responsible for this.

“Kate. The bond between mates makes healing easier”, Oscar said. Sera glanced at Daniel before getting up without a word.

I knew what he was saying was true, I could feel it in my soul when I touched Daniel. But I didn't know what exactly he wanted me to do so I didn't answer, just waited for him to elaborate.

“Just stay close to him tonight? Please?” It was confusing how fast Oscar went from hating me to pleading like this and it took me by surprise. Even if I wanted to I couldn't leave Daniel tonight, I knew it.

“I will.”

“Thank you”, he sighed in relief. It felt strange but I couldn't blame him for being surprised. I hadn't been willing to be close with Daniel in the past month so he had no reason to expect me to want to be by his side now. He had no reason to worry, nothing could tear me away from him now. Maybe it was because our bond was growing stronger or because I knew he couldn't do anything to hurt me now.

That wasn't true. Now he could hurt me so much more than any abuse I've faced before.

I refused to think about that possibility though. Sera came back with blankets hot chocolate for me.

“I'll check up on him but if there are any changes wake me up. Even if it feels like a small thing”, she pets my hair. When I nod she tells me good night pulling her reluctant mate with her to their room. I'm left alone with Daniel, who even in sleep has a pained expression and shallow breathing.