Page 86 of A Wolf's Heart

We began running back to the house. I knew my way home, but I was tired, weakness coming over me.

Running might be causing more blood loss, Rainor said.

In the next instant, Kage shifted. He walked over to me, moving towards me, as if to take me up in his arms. My wolf form was much larger than my human form, heavier too. I fought against him and shifted. My transitions were gettingbetter—not as quick as Kage and the others—but faster than they’d been before.

The injuries in my human form must’ve looked worse because Kage’s eyes narrowed while Weylin huffed. Rainor tucked his head, ashamed. I could feel the blood dripping down my chest, however I could also feel the tightening of my skin as it worked on healing itself.

Kage scooped me up into his arms, and I laid my head against his chest. I closed my eyes, knowing I would be safe as he carried me out of the woods while the other two walked on either side of us.

Someone kept tripping, breaking branches beneath their feet, sloshing up the fallen leaves with each uncoordinated step. “Is Rainor okay?” I asked, suddenly worried. Had he been injured?

“Yes,” Kage said. “It’s new to him.”

I frowned. “What is?”

“Being in his wolf. The beast has always taken over his wolf. You’ve given him control back, for the first time in his life.”

I turned my head, so I could see Rainor. He was extremely sloppy as he walked, disorganized and unsure. Now and then, he tilted his head up, taking deep breaths. His eyes were wide as he gazed at everything around him, his eyes flickering in every direction possible. But most of all…he looked happy. Then his eyes met mine, and though I couldn’t hear the words, I could feel the emotions filter from him into my heart.

The answer to the unspoken question he asked me right now was… I didn’t know. I didn’t know how I did it, only that it felt natural, and the more I did it, the easier it became.

Kage didn’t slow his steps or hesitate as we entered the house. Not even as Max jumped up, trying to sniff me and figure out what was going on.

“I’m fine,” I reassured Max.

Kage took me right into the bathroom, standing me on my feet while he turned on the shower and adjusted the water. I almost expected him to get in with me, like he had before, but he didn’t. Once everything was to his satisfaction, he stepped out of the way while Rainor came in, helping me into the stall.

The hot water falling over my wounds felt nice. It didn’t sting, a sign that the skin was already beginning to close over.

Rainor pressed his lips tightly in a thin line, his eyes almost unreadable as he stared at my neck.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Already, the pain is going away. It just needed more time to heal. It was a little deeper than my body could keep up with.”

He ignored me, reaching for the soap and lathering it up in his hands before he began running them over every inch of my body. I remained silent as he took care of me, cleaning me not once but twice. His fingers even dipped between my legs and gently washed. After that, he directed me under the water, wetting my hair before he turned me around so my back was to him.

I closed my eyes, lost in the feel of his fingers in my hair, massaging the shampoo in, his fingertips working the tension out of my scalp. I was nearly putty by the time he turned me back under the spray of water, rinsing out my hair. He repeated the process with conditioner, taking his time to massage it into each strand of hair on my head.

Once he was finished, he turned the water off. I went to step out of the shower, but Rainor stopped me. He remained silent, grabbing a towel that had been laid out on the vanity and drying me off.

“Rain, you don’t have to—”

“I do.” He cut me off. “You may not understand it, but in the shifter world, this is important.”

I felt guilty. He likely thought he had really injured me, and yeah, it hurt in the moment, but I was almost, if not fully, healed by now. Once I was dried, he dressed me before tugging on a pair of Weylin’s sweatpants. Then he pulled out the hair dryer and began drying my hair. After all the tender care, I was a large pile of mush, more relaxed than I had ever been in my life.

I was ready to go lie down on the couch and veg out for a while, but walking wasn’t allowed, either. Rainor picked me up in his arms, one under my legs, the other around my back, and carried me out to the living room. Weylin or Kage must’ve been cooking because it smelled amazing out here.

Rainor sat down with me on his lap, then grabbed a throw blanket that had been sitting on the other end of the couch. He wrapped it around us, his arms going around me and holding me close.

Weylin walked over, holding a bowl of some sort of rice dish and handed it to Rain. Rainor took a spoonful and held it to my lips.

“Wait, wait, wait.” I smiled, unburying my hand from the blanket and pushing the spoon away from me slightly. “I’m not hurt, at all. I’m fully healed. The beast didn’t injure me that much. This is a bit of an overreaction.”

“I’m not doing this because of what the beast did, not because of the injury,” he said.

“Then, why?” I asked, puzzled.

“He’s doing it because it’s the utmost form of respect, of care, of love,” Weylin said, walking back to the kitchen like he hadn’t just dropped the “L” word on me.

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