The Healing Souls

Helping and Asking for Help

[Carmen]

Sunday morning, we took some breakfast in to Austin. He was sitting up in his bed, waiting for us, I assumed. Rock settled his food on his lap while I gathered the things needed to treat his leg. We would wait until he was done eating.

“I got an offer from the queen of the Eaten Heart collective. She told me I can remain in the collective and never have to join a pack, but if I wanted to, I could. She said she would even make them let me talk to the omegas privately and come to tour the packs, so I could see they weren’t like my pack,” Austin told us.

“Did you accept her offer?” I asked.

“I did. Being in a collective feels almost like being in a pack. Something a little wilder, though. I feel safer than I did before, but I don’t know how much of that is you guys and how much is being in a collective.”

“Probably a mix of both. Eat so we can take care of your leg. Carmen, I’m going to call your mom and let her know that we won’t be at dinner tonight. I think you should take next week off to help care for our guest. It’s too soon for him to be alone,” Rock said.

I nodded in agreement. That was exactly what I was thinking. Rock and I chatted a little while Austin ate. We were making sure he was comfortable with us being around. It would be something important for his healing. He couldn’t be frightened.

Rock went to call my mom when Austin was finished with his food. He took the tray with him. I used my magic to help me inspect the wound. It wasn’t as bad now, but there had been some tearing of the ligaments and tendons along with skin and muscle.

Omegas healed slower than other werewolves, so I knew it would take a week or two before this was healed. I got it cleaned out and the bandages reapplied. Austin sighed as I covered him up again.

“Is the pack here really different? Was my life so different from the lives of omegas in other packs?” he asked sleepily.

“I’m sorry, it was. Other packs wouldn’t do what yours did to you. Omegas aren’t our weakness. They are our strength. They keep us strong while we protect them. You shouldn’t have had to endure what you did. The ranked members of my pack would never make a child take the blame for what another child did just because of their rank in the pack,” I replied.

“I should have found some way to fight for them. Do you think if I told the queen where it was happening, she would find a way to free the other omegas?”

“Queen Bellamy is a member of the Werewolf Association. She’s a High Queen. I think she would do everything in her power.”

“Radiant Moon. Tell her it’s the Radiant Moon pack. I don’t want anyone else to suffer like I did.”

That was the pack Gemma told me the man who assaulted her was from. Things started clicking into place. Timothy… I was sure that was the name of the man who tried to get her to sleep with him. The one whose ass she kicked.

Gemma would feel terrible if she knew her actions caused someone else to be harmed. It was probably best if I didn’t tell her where Austin came from. We were all planning to get together for Thanksgiving. Rock said we could host it at our home. Just a few friends, because fae didn’t celebrate.

I expected that Austin would still be here, since his healing could take a month or two in total. I talked to him about his healing and what I expected, but he was drowsy, so I left as soon as he fell asleep.

When I went to the dining room, I found Rock setting our meal out. I took my seat and started eating. He was actually a great cook and I worried I wouldn’t be able to make food as good as his once the kitchen was finished.

It was a silly thing to worry about. I liked cooking and I was pretty good, but Rock would be happy with anything that I made. Plus, maybe the magic would help me to be even better at it than before.

After breakfast, Rock did the dishes while I wiped down the table. We’d fallen into a fairly stable routine over the past month and I relished our calm weekends and evenings. Rock seemed to enjoy them, as well.

On weekends, Rock would spend time in the garage working on the things that my brother and Beth needed for the babies. He would come out smelling like wood, stain, or varnish. I loved it and, sometimes, I would go into the garage and use my magic to watch him.

Today, though, I was going to work on some stuff to prepare Viola to take over a week before we had planned for my heat. I didn’t know what we’d do the next week. Since I was mated, my scent shouldn’t make another male interested, but there were some things that were different from normal in my mating with Rock.

I couldn’t feel what he was feeling and he couldn’t feel what I was feeling. Neither one of us had a mental link to each other. And my heat didn’t start up as soon after my marking as it should have. There were other things that let me know the marking was normal.

The feeling of our marks, our bond with each other, and the desire I felt only for Rock told me that our mating was real. Sometimes, I wished we had the same connection I would have with a werewolf, but other times, the mystery was fun. I liked not being able to read his emotions on top of my own. I could sense them in other ways.

Rock went to the garage to work on his projects while I went to the office. I left the door open, in case Austin needed help with anything, and sat at the desk. A month ago, Rock bought a desk that was technically a standing/sitting computer desk. It was electronic and he programmed it so one of the buttons automatically lowered it so I could use it comfortably.

After lowering the desk, I turned on the computer and got it to my profile. My magic did nothing to help me with computers, except let me see where the buttons were, so I could turn them on. It didn’t take long to get logged in, then my screen reading software helped me a lot.

I focused on my work and getting instructions for Viola. She knew what to do, but I liked to make sure there was a list of things I had planned to have done by a certain point. Taking care of a wounded werewolf shouldn’t make me too busy. Right now, what was important for Austin was food and rest.

Sometime later, I heard a slight hiss and whimper. I got up from the desk and went to Austin’s room. When I opened the door all the way, I pushed my magic in and saw him standing at the side of the bed, leaning on it. With a sigh, I went to him.

“You should have called out for help. You’re not ready to walk on it yet,” I told him.

“I… I need to use the bathroom…” he replied softly. “I should be able to go to the bathroom on my own.”

“Austin, please don’t push yourself too much or you won’t heal right. Let me help you.”

“Okay,” he said with a sigh.

I went to his other side and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I helped him get into the bathroom and waited outside the door until I heard the toilet flush and the water run in the sink. Afterward, I opened the door and helped him back into bed.

“Feeling better?” I asked.

“Thank you. No one has ever taken care of me like this,” Austin told me.

“It’s really no problem for Rock and me. I was raised to help and take care of those who need it. I wish I could say this was out of character for me. It would make me seem like a much better person, but I learned to care for people from being raised as the Beta’s daughter.”

The scent of fear filled the room. “B-Beta’s daughter?”

“Please don’t be scared. In every pack, other than your own, ranked members and ranked blood members take care of omegas. My Alpha would be really pissed off if I hurt you. I know ranked wolves hurt you, but I’m not like that, I promise.”

“They kicked you out for being mated to a fae?” Austin asked.

“No…. Why would they do that? I’m still a member of my pack, but I live off the pack lands.”

“In my pack, you would have been kicked out because your mate was a male who didn’t belong to the pack.”

I frowned. “That’s not how packs work. Normally, we would offer to let the mate live with us on the pack lands, but Rock was established here in the fae lands and it made more sense for me to move to his house. My brother is the current Beta. He, the Alpha, and the Gamma all talked with Rock and me when we found each other. They tried to make the best deal they could for my mate and me.”

“In my pack, the woman takes her rank from her mate. If he’s a common wolf and she’s an omega, she is raised up. If he’s an omega and she’s anything else, she becomes an omega. A lot of us reject our mates so they don’t have to suffer. Some are stubborn, like the Alpha’s daughter.”

“What happened to the Alpha’s daughter?” I asked.

“Her mate was a farming omega. One of the ones who made food for the pack. She fell in love with her mate at first sight and wouldn’t let him reject her. She told him she would give up everything to have him. And she did. The Alpha declared his own daughter an omega and she was shunned by the family. If a female wolf finds out her mate is a rogue, she can be kicked out of the pack. They will reject rogues if the rogue won’t reject them,” Austin explained.

“Your pack is sick, Austin. That’s not how any of this is supposed to go. Finding your mate shouldn’t feel like a punishment and shouldn’t make you have to reject them. If the goddess wanted things to go like that, then she would only mate omegas to omegas and would never mate people outside of ranks or packs.”

He leaned against his pillows and sank down into the bed. Learning that about his pack must have been hard for him. He was still healing and I was heaping information about how flawed his pack was onto him.

“Rest, Austin. I’m sorry I upset you.”

“Please don’t leave. Just until I’m asleep. You’re the nicest person I’ve ever met. Stay with me a little longer.”

I smiled and took his hand. “Of course, I will. I’ll be right here until you’re asleep. Rest. We’ll wake you up when it’s time for lunch.”

“Thank you, Carmen,” he whispered as he started to drift. “Thank you.”

After a few minutes, he was asleep. I gently removed my hand from his, but it didn’t wake him. I was grateful for that.

I went back to the office and pulled out my phone. I called Gemma. She was the only person I felt I could talk to about this.

“Hey, Carmen, what’s up?”

“I found a rogue in a trap yesterday,” I told her.

“Wow. Was he a nice rogue or was he an asshole when you freed him?”

“He was too hurt to be an asshole, and I don’t think it’s in his personality. He’s the sweetest man, but his pack was terrible to him. He’s from the same pack that the asshole you ran into at the national conference was from.”

“Tell me everything,” Gemma insisted.

I told her everything we learned in the application process and what Austin just told me about mates. Gemma started growling while I was telling her what happened to the Alpha’s daughter. I’d stopped myself from having the same reaction when I heard it. I didn’t want Austin to think I was growling at him.

“Those bastards. I knew that pack was bad, but I didn’t realize how bad. Did you tell Queen Bellamy?”

“I think Rock did. I’ll check with him when we make lunch. If not, we’ll contact her and let her know. The seer is coming tomorrow to train me some more. I plan to see if she’ll take a look at him for us. Gemma, you should see him. He’s skin and bone. Way worse than two months with little food should make him. I don’t think they fed him much there.”

“Of course not. Well-fed omegas wouldn’t work as hard to get what they could from their masters. I wish I’d beaten that asshat even worse than I did. He deserved to get worse than he did. I hope he never finds his mate and has to spend the rest of his life alone.”

I gasped. That wasn’t like Gemma. She believed in love and the goddess’ blessing more than anyone I ever met. Gemma believed that the mate bond could heal anything. I hoped this wasn’t her getting jaded.

“Don’t react like that. If you saw this guy and what an asshole he was, you would wish the same things for him. I never met someone who deserved a mate less than he did. Hearing what this Austin guy said makes me think that even the mate bond couldn’t change this asshole.”

“I hope the Association can fix it. There’s only so much they can do, though. It’s not like they have absolute rule over all wolves. They’re not like the vampires,” I told her.

“True. How can I help?” she asked.

“I need clothes for him, probably the week after next. If the seer doesn’t have the charm to stop my heat, do you think you could trade me places? You come here to take care of Rock and Austin and I’ll go stay at your place. If non-related males are still attracted to me, I need to ensure I’m not here. Rock’s being good to Austin, but I don’t think he would if Austin tried something with me.”

“On it. I’ll talk to Ben. You let me know if that seer comes through with the charm. I’ll pray to the goddess that it works. You said he’s skinny, but how tall is he?”

“Almost six feet. Pretty tall for an omega male. I’m sure that didn’t help him much.”

“No, probably not. I’ll be ready when you need it. I’m gonna let you go, though. I want to talk to a few males I know about getting measurements from them,” she replied in a salacious tone.

I laughed. “Any excuse to feel up cute boys.”

“You know it. If your guest weren’t so damaged, I would come to feel him up, too.”

We giggled for a while but hung up after a bit. It was about time to start making lunch. I could hear Rock coming in from working in the garage. I went out to help him.

I would make sure Austin healed. This was his chance at a happy life after all he’d endured. Maybe we could even help him find his mate at the next regional conference. I’d see if I could convince him to join Hallowed Moon. A pack really was the safest place for an omega.