I whimpered as Charles lifted me off of the ground. My vision blurred for a moment as the world went spinning around me, but then it stabilised again.

Charles shot me a worried glance, he must have noticed what I'd felt through our bound. He loosened his grip on me slightly, but that didn't improve the way I felt.

My leg was throbbing and I thought my wrist was broken too. I didn't even want to think about how I would look for the next few days, covered in bruises and cuts.

Charles was already running as softly as he could, but still a jolt ran through my whole body with every step he took. I squeezed her eyes shut and wished the heavenly quiet darkness back.

This time the look Charles shot me was more angry than concerned. It wondered me how he seemed to always know what I was thinking, and it frustrated me that I couldn't do the same.

I had learned to read his face and his body language, and I was getting better at figuring out what he was up to. But still, the ease with which he seemed to do the same on me frustrated me. Women were supposed to be a mystery to man.

But not for Charles.

I sighed, and stopped as pain spiked through my body. My chest must be bruised, judging by how much it hurt to breathe. Or maybe I even had a cracked rib.

I closed her eyes, not wanting to see Charles concerned gaze. At least he knew better than to say anything to me.

I would have thought that it would be harder for me to contain my wolf, but Charles, Charles who had always been the master of controlling his wolf, he seemed to be having trouble rather than I was.

In a way, I could understand it too. I wasn't that upset, at least not yet. My thoughts were just floating around in my head, not really sticking to anything and I knew that that wasn't good, but I couldn't get herself to really care. I noticed my wolf, it was stirring underneath the layers of wool that apparently had settled in my brain. It couldn't get out, and without his comfort I felt vulnerable, more vulnerable than I remembered ever having felt, even as I was still in Leo's pack.

I snapped out of my thoughts as I noticed that Charles had stopped.

I squinted one eye open and stared at Samuel. He was standing a few feet away from Charles, having reacted to both Charles warning growl and my wolf trying to rise. She wanted to protect me, and she couldn't. That made her more aggressive than I had ever seen her.

"Dad told me you would need my help" Samuel said, and I was surprised at how calm his voice sounded.

Sam knew better than to stare Charles down, so instead he focused his eyes on me. I saw him frown.

"Why won't you let your wolf help you?" he asked.

Charles growled again, but this time it was directed at me.

I wasn't like other wolfs, so I didn't feel the need to cringe or even submit before him. Still, the growl unsettled me and even more her wolf.

Samuel had taken another step forward, and Charles concentrated his attention back at the apparent threat at hand. He growled and raised his upper lip, showing his teeth.

Samuel raised his hands, but he didn't step down. He knew better than that. To step down would mean to submit, and he needed Charles trust and consent to be of any help in this situation.

I let out a sigh of frustration as Charles took another step back and away from what was a threat to him and meant relief for me. In a split second, Charles attention was back on me. I looked him in the eye and tried to convey what I wanted him to do through my eyes. Giving orders wouldn't help me in this situation at all.

A few seconds passed and nothing changed. I was about to admit defeat, as suddenly Charles sighed and visibly relaxed.

His gaze went to Samuel again and he nodded once.

Samuel nodded back and took another step forward, so that he was now standing directly in front of me and Charles.

He mustered me with concerned eyes and looked me up and down, trying to assess the damage. I rolled my eyes, but tried to keep my head as still as I could. I didn't want to stir it more than I needed too.

Of course, Samuel noticed.

He frowned his brow, but apart from that all the emotions vanished from his face. I growled under my breath, I did not like not knowing what Sam was thinking.

He heard my growl and smiled lightly, relaxing his face again to show his emotions.

Great, I thought, Samuel had the same gift as Charles did. Were her thoughts nowhere safe?!

But then I flinched as Samuels hands brushed over my scalp. Even though he barely grazed me, it hurt. Both him and Charles noticed, but while Charles tensed again and held me a bit tighter to himself, Samuel only glanced quickly at my eyes, then continued his sweep over my head.

He quickly found the place where I'd hit the ground and I tried to hide my wince, but of course Charles still noticed. He growled again, but Samuel didn't pay him any attention.

I closed my eyes so that I could ignore both of them easier, but Samuel had other ideas for me.

"Open your eyes" he said, his voice comfortably low.

I only grunted at him, I didn't want to open my eyes, I just wanted for this to be over and then go back to sleep.

But Sam wouldn't have any of that. Instead of waiting for me to comply – which I probably wouldn't have done either way – he just pried my left eye open and blinded me with a light.

I winced again and tried to get away from Samuel, but this time Charles was working against me. He held me still and stopped my attempts at scrambling away.

I shot him an angry glance, and Samuel used that to blind my other eye.

Sighing, I relaxed into Charles arms. There was no use fighting this, so I just contented myself at observing Samuels face.

If I hadn't met Charles, I'd have said that Samuel was more handsome. But fact was that Charles was more attractive, and besides, I loved him, so that would have tipped the scale to his side either way.

Samuel had gone over to trail his hands down my arms, and before he could get to my wrist Charles said:

"Her right wrist" through gritted teeth.

Samuel nodded to him and without looking up caught my wrist in between his big hands. I flinched again, but more out of surprise than because it hurt. He was careful, his hands barely touching my skin. I wondered how he could feel anything like that, but he was a werewolf so that probably wasn't a problem.

He put my hand down again and looked reassuringly at me again.

"It doesn't need setting. In a few hours, it'll be as good as new."

I sighed relieved, although I couldn't bring myself to care as much as I should have. I definitely needed some hours, maybe even days, to sleep.

Samuel sniffed the air and I without even trying I knew what he was smelling: blood.

He pulled up the leg of my trousers and I took in a sharp breath of air. Samuel ignored me, again, but there wasn't anything he could do anyway.

Charles pulled me closer, but not as aggressively as he had before. I glanced up at his face and saw his brown eyes. He was in control again. I sighed in relief and directed my eyes again to what Samuel was doing.

That proved to be the wrong decision, because he had already peeled the jeans away from my wound and the blood was slowly oozing out of the it.

"Gross" I whispered and got a sympathetic smile from Samuel and a gentle squeeze from Charles. I smiled too. I was lucky to have them both.

Samuel poked and prodded at the wound, leaving me gasping and clutching Charles hand as hard as I could. He didn't protest to that but just squeezed back.

Then, finally, Sam was happy with what he'd seen, pressed some cloth over the wound and looked into my face again.

"No serious injuries" he stated and then turned towards Charles. "She should be fine in a few days."

I should have been sulky that he directed those words at Charles, but at the moment all my brain could come up was that I needed to sleep.

My eyes were already closing and I just nuzzled closer into Charles strong arms, giving up the fight against unconsciousness.

"Rest, my sweetheart" was the last thing I heard and a soft touch on my forehead sent me into darkness.

OoOoOoOoO

As I woke up again, the sun was shining. Either I had slept only a few hours – very unlikely – or at least a day. I settled for the latter.

I rubbed my eyes with my hands, but stopped soon again because that hurt. Moving in general hurt.

So I decided to just stay where I was for a few more minutes, then I would try to get up. Until then, I could maybe sleep some more.

Of course, that was not what happened. Charles had heard that I was awake, and after a few moments he was standing in my doorframe. His doorframe, I corrected myself looking around. I was in his house.

Our house, now.

„Our doorframe" I said, knowing how weird that sounded but finding pleasure in the confused look on Charles face.

Still with the frown on his face he came walking into the room and crouched over me. His hand went to my forehead before I could slap it away, but doing so elicited another grunt from me.

"Slowly" he said, but took his offending hand away again. "How are you feeling?"

I stared at him.

"Probably worse than I look" I said and relished in the grin that spread over his face.

"That's hardly possible" he said. "You look like crap."

"Thanks" I sneered, but I was already feeling better.

I stared into his eyes and was relieved not to find Brother Wolf lurking there. Thinking about Brother Wolf, I searched for her in my mind and sighed with relief as she answered my call.

I let her come to the surface and take over, torn clothes weren't my concern right now.

Panting I was lying on the bed, Charles hand hovering over my side.

It hadn't hurt as much as I had feared it would, but it was never pleasant. Still, now that it was over I felt better, more in control of myself.

I shook my fur and came to my feet, nudging Charles arm with my nose. He understood and ruffled me behind my ears.

Thank you I told him and he just buried his nose in my fur.

I will be here for you. Always.

Hello! *waves*

I hope you enjoyed this little story of mine.

I just finished reading this amazing series a few days ago and this idea has lurked in my mind since then. Because I couldn't find a story that would suit my needs, I decided to post this as a oneshot.

Please tell me what you thought, I would dearly appreciate it!

Have a nice day :)