The Beta's Care

Travis

I brought Lyla back to my small one bedroom home later that day. They gave her crutches but I just picked her up and carried her all the way. I'd get the crutches later. I walked through town with her in my arms and a blanket wrapped around her since she had only had on destroyed pajamas when we'd found her. She looked at all the buildings, shops, and homes that we walked past with curiosity in her eyes but didn't question me about any of them. Most of the wolves that were walking through town had stopped to stare, but I didn't care. They knew she was human, they could smell it, but they weren't disgusted by her, they were merely curious. I could hear their questions in my head.

"Where did you find her?"

"Is she your mate?"

"Wow! A human! I can't wait to ask her about humans!"

No one acted like they thought she was a sub species, only a curiosity of a world they knew very little about. I couldn't blame them. I wanted to know everything too, but I had to be patient, and so did they.

She hadn't noticed them staring because she was too busy looking around at the town. Forest Moon was clean and always bustling with our pack. The schools were always filled with children's laughter and the shops were filled with people, It was a booming town, to put it in human terms. We were very proud of what had been built here.

I reached my house quickly and shouldered open the door, closing it with my foot and setting her down on my over sized couch. I grabbed some pillows and propped her broken leg up. "Since you've been in bed for so long, I figured you'd want to sit on the couch for a while."

She smiled a little. "Thank you." She said. "I do."

I felt Midnight's tail start wagging in my mind. She already had him acting like a lap dog.

Like I was any better.

"Are you in pain?" I asked her. "Doctor Allan said any pain at all and you should take a vicodin so you can rest."

"I'm fine."

I quirked an eyebrow at her. I knew she was lying. She didn't know it yet, but I could feel what she was feeling. The mate bond, though I'd heard from stories of other human mates, wasn't usually as strong before they were marked, but she was just different. In every way. 

She rolled her eyes. "Fine. I have a bit of a headache." I looked at the bandage on her head, just above her temple. She looked a lot better than the first time I had seen her. Her color was no longer pale, it was an ivory tinged with pink. Her black hair now shined since the hospital staff had bathed and washed her hair while she'd been unconscious. The scratches on her face were starting to heal and her busted lip had scabbed over. The swelling had gone down in her nose to show the small, adorable tilt to it. Her cheekbone still had a faint bruise, but wasn't swollen like it had been.

I walked swiftly to my little kitchen, silently thanking Anna for the clean dishes, and grabbed a glass of water. Pulling the vicodin bottle out of my pocket, I opened it and took one out. I walked back to Lyla and handed her the pill, waited as she put it in her mouth, then handed her the water. She quickly swallowed the pill and handed the glass back to me.

"Thank you." She said, then snuggled herself into the couch to get comfortable.

I put the glass on the counter and sat in my easy chair, the one I liked to watch tv in and turned to her. "You can rest now, Lyla." I told her softly. "I promise you are safe here."

I could see her confusion. I had heard her thoughts as she was waiting for the pill. She had been having flash backs of that bastard shoving pills down her throat and forcing her to swallow them. I didn't see what the outcome of that was, but from what she was feeling while remembering it, it was pretty horrific.

That was when the guilt set in. I had killed him in my rage. I had selfishly taken away her closure, as she'd said. She had deserved her justice and I had stolen it from her.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly.

She frowned. "For what?"

"For taking away your justice. You were right. I took away your closure and I'm sorry."

She looked stunned. Of all the things I could have said to her, I doubted she ever thought I would say that.

"When I saw you there, the only thing I could think of was that he needed to pay for what he'd done to you. That I had to make him feel the fear that you had felt." I told her quietly. "He felt the fear, all right. He wet himself right there. Then, I made sure he knew I was going for the kill and that bastard... he told me to kill you instead." I ground my teeth together trying to control my anger. "I couldn't let him live after that. But it was wrong. I should have let you have your justice."

When I finally stopped talking, she just stared at me. Then, a huge smile lit her beautiful face. "He wet himself?" She whispered, and I realized she was trying not to laugh.

I let out a relieved chuckle. "Yeah. He was really a coward. Probably didn't feel too good on his torn balls."

Though I couldn't give her back the justice I had taken from her, I could at least tell her about the humiliation and suffering that I caused him on her behalf. I didn't know if it would help give her closure, but it was certainly worth a try.