Page 38 of The Bull's Head

One day passed into another, and then another. Despite repeated appeals from Alp, Teddy didn’t move. Didn’t sleep. Didn’t eat. He only stared at Byk, doing his best to will him back. Dr. Hamilton said he should get some rest, because Byk was still sedated and they wouldn’t be bringing him out until Gwyneth said it was okay to do so.

It didn’t matter. Nothing did. Teddy would sit there until Byk woke up.

“What are you doing, brother?”

He’d known Ivan was coming. He could smell him when they first entered the compound. As much as Teddy hated to admit it, he didn’t want to see Ivan. Not now, and certainly not like this.

“What does it look like?”

“To me? It appears as though you are sitting there and feeling very sorry for yourself.”

“Fuck you, Ivan.”

He chuckled. “No, I think not. Though I find you very cute, I am not into, how you say, those types of familial relations.”

Any other time, Teddy would have laughed, but he wasn’t feeling it now. “I’m really not in the mood.”

“And that is as it should be. However, I think it would be poor judgment for me not to point out that you reek, and if he was to wake, you would not want his first thoughts of you to be how badly you stink.”

Teddy knew Ivan was trying to get a rise out of him, but the words reminded him that Byk wasn’t going to wake up. “I can’t lose him.”

“And you will not. Gwyneth is here and she is working with the animal doctor. Together they will find out what is wrong with your bull.”

“Byk.”

“Byk? As in bull, da?”

Teddy shrugged. “It’s a nickname.”

Firm hands came to rest on Teddy’s shoulders, and then Ivan began to massage them, kneading the muscles. “You are far too tense. Have you shifted recently?”

Teddy shook his head.

Those strong hands spun the chair around, and Ivan glared at Teddy. “You know what will happen if you do not shift.”

Teddy didn’t reply.

“Tell me now, Theodore. What will happen?”

It had only happened once, and it had been years ago. After their failure to protect the family of their leader. Teddy wouldn’t shift, and his muscles locked in place, not allowing him to move. They’d given him muscle relaxants to allow him to finally unclench enough to affect a shift. After that, he did his best to ensure he did it at least every few days.

Looking at the people in Wald, those who hadn’t shifted for months or years, and who were now hobbled? No, that wasn’t what Teddy wanted for himself.

“What am I going to do?”

“In order to answer that, you must first tell me something. What have you done for him lately?”

Anger roared up, and Teddy shoved Ivan back. “What the hell do you mean? I can’t do anything. I’m fucking useless to him.”

Ivan’s features softened. Teddy wasn’t sure which was worse, the angry glower or the pitying looks. “This is not true, and I believe you know it. Why did you come to Wald in the first place?”

“To be something other than a bodyguard.”

“Yet here you sit, guarding his body.”

“What would you have me do? I’m not smart, so I can’t help the doctors.”

“Are you certain of this?”

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