The Broken Wolf
Chapter 13

“What exactly is my brother doing?” I ask Oliver.

“I’m not sure, I didn’t see it. But I heard he came running out of the pack house and attacked Seth. It was, apparently, a decent fight. But I also heard the Prince wasn’t fighting back too hard.” He tells me the rumors going around the pack.

“I’m too exhausted to even think of dealing with that.” I respond because it’s the honest truth.

“We don’t NEED you here, if you want to go rest.” Oli offers me.

“No, I can’t rest. This damn mate bond won’t let me sleep.” I tell him, my voice laced with irritation.

“That’s because you didn’t let him sleep next to you, kiddo. Didn’t you pay attention in any classes?”

“I did pay attention. Last night was the run. He couldn’t. And he won’t be tonight either, because he’s a complete a*s.”

“Oh, damn. You need to talk about it?” he asks.

“No, I don’t. I’m just ready to not think about anything for a bit. What do you need done?”

“I mean, if you’re offering, there’s onions and garlic to be cut.” He tells me and I can tell he’s halfway joking, but I’m more than thrilled to help with something that won’t require any thoughts. I grab my knife roll off the shelf and head over to the empty prep area with all the garlic and onions. I throw in my headphones and begin to work on the small mountain of garlic.

I thought this would help me clear my mind, but it’s just giving me more time to think. Maybe that’s what I need to do, because I’m still not exactly sure why I’m so upset. I’d always known my mate would probably reject me if I had one. When he stopped to talk, I’d assumed it was a rejection, and even though it wasn’t, I was still upset with the conversation. What exactly from all of this is really upsetting me? I continue to chop the garlic. When I’m done, I grab a lid and place the container in the main prep fridge, returning to my station.

As I begin chopping the onions I decide to evaluate the situation as if there were no Royals involved. Perhaps that is where the problem lies. But I can’t come up with a better reason from that viewpoint either. I realize that it’s brought up new feelings, so I look for new information and realize that it’s that Seth was with other women. I can feel myself become more upset and just as I’m about to take a moment to calm myself, I manage to slice into my ring finger on my left hand. “Shit.” I say to myself as I walk off towards the sink. I’ve cut myself plenty of times, but this is probably the most painful.

I rinse my hand and the b***d just keeps coming. ‘This isn’t good’, I think to myself and decide to apply pressure quickly. I wrap it up in a few paper towels and decide to tape it up and put a glove on to finish the few onions I have left and deal with it then. I step back over and check the area for b***d. Fortunately, there’s not much on the work space and I’m able to clean it all up quickly and with a new board and knife, I grab the next onion. It hurts pretty badly, so I decide to try to finish as quickly as I can and just ignore the pain. I’m on the last onion, finally, when I can smell him.

I hear the door open and turn around to see Seth with a look of complete worry on his face. At some point today he’d managed to clean up and put a suit on, but there’s some bruises and healing cuts on his face. “What happened?’ he asks me quickly.

“What do you mean?” I return with confusion.

“You’re hurt.” he says matter of factly and walks over, grabbing my arms and noticing my gloved hand. He reaches to remove it but I stop him.

“What are you doing?” I ask him, pulling my arm away. “How did you even know I was hurt?”

“I can feel it, through the bond. Please, Molly, let me help you.” he says, and I can sense he’s genuinely concerned.

“It’s not the first time I cut myself, Seth. I’m fine. I’ve only got one onion left and then I’ll take care of it.” I tell him and turn back to finish my job. I expertly slice the last one and then lid the container and place it in the fridge next to the garlic. Seth had stood there waiting the whole time and when I return he reaches for my arm to pull me away. “I need to clean my area”, I tell him and turn back to put everything away and clean the counter.

I don’t bother saying anything. I know he means well but he’s hovering and it’s bothering me, so I just walk over to the sink and grab the first aid kit down again on the way. I take the glove off and realize that b***d has soaked through the paper towels. I KNOW I need to go have it looked at but I don’t want Seth to know how bad it is. I don’t even get the chance to try to blow him off before he notices the b***d and quickly grabs my arm.

To my surprise, he gently takes my arm in his hand and slowly removes the bloody towels. He gently places my hand under the water and when he pulls it back he’s carefully inspecting it. “You can’t heal, can you?” he asks me.

“No” I tell him sadly. “I didn’t get that part of the wolf.” and he nods at me while grabbing a gauze out of the kit.

“Do you all have a healer that can help you?” and I know he means help humans, because I heal like one, but at least he had enough sense to not say it.

“Yeah. Sofia has been stitching me up for years” I say with a smile. Dad took me to her the first time I cut my knee badly and needed stitches. She didn’t have anything to numb it because wolves don’t typically need it. She was a nervous wreck while she stitched me up and Mom had to send Dad out of the room. The second time I fell and cut my elbow, we discovered that she had been studying healing humans and had many more things on hand for me. She was able to numb me that time and the handful of other times since.

“How many times have you been hurt this badly?” He asks, concern evident in his voice.

“It’s really not THAT bad. But when normal wolves get hurt your wolf starts to heal you immediately. That doesn’t happen for me, so I have to have someone take care of it.” I tell him, embarrassed that I have to explain yet another way that I’m not good enough.

Seth steps towards me and before I have the chance to figure out what he’s doing, he grabs me and lifts me to carry me. “Which way?” he asks.

“Seth!” I say sternly, hoping no one sees us. “I’m perfectly capable of walking!”

“No” he says so sternly I know not to mess with him. “You’ve lost a lot of b***d. Which way?”

Resigning to my embarrassing fate, I tell him “Out the door, down the street to the west.” and he begins carrying me there, for everyone to see.

He’s walking quickly with me in his arms, like I’ve had an entire limb severed off and am bleeding out. Honestly, this feels very dramatic. People are outside and looking at us curiously as we pass. I doubt anyone will assume we’re mates- he’s the future king and I have a broken wolf, after all, but I am still slightly worried about that.

We reach the medic building in what I’m sure is record time and someone who was walking out holds the door open for us, clearly looking me over for the reason I’m being carried and not replaceing any significant damage. The receptionist’s head pops up at the sound of someone entering and she immediately bows her head and bares her neck at the sight of Seth. “Your Highness, Molly.” She says.

“Hey Claire” I tell her. “I cut my finger today. Is Sofie available? I’m pretty sure it needs stitches.”

“Absolutely, Molly. She’s with someone now, but come into a room and I’ll let her know.”

“Is the patient she’s currently with in danger of dying within the hour?” Seth growls out lowly.

“Umm, uhh, no sir, Prince Seth. It’s a check up” She stutters out with fear. “ll get her now.”

“Seth, she can’t just stop what she’s doing.” I tell him. “I’m also not in danger of dying within the hour. Claire,’ I turn to her “don’t interrupt, I’m OK to wait. Which room should I go to.” I say, as if I have a chance of getting down and walking there myself.

“This way.” She says and leads us to the room. She closes the door as she leaves and I hear her knock on the door next to us. I guess she’s going with Seth’s plan then.

“Honestly, Seth. It’s not as bad as you think it is. You’re just used to your wolf healing you quickly.” I try to calm him as he places me on the exam table and I can feel the anxiety he has rolling off of him in waves.

“We’ll see what the doc says” he tells me, absentmindedly rubbing my arm for comfort, and I’m not sure if it’s to calm him or me, but it’s nice. Sofie comes in and immediately bows her head and bares her neck to Seth.

“She’s hurt.” Seth says plainly to her, and I’m not sure why he even bothered saying anything at all, because I’m sure she’s worked out that part.

“I cut my finger. It’s not great, but it’s not amputated.” I tell her, rolling my eyes at Seth.

“Let’s have a look” she says, walking up to me, placing my hand on the tray she’s pulled over as Seth steps closer to me so he can see as well. He’s almost hovering over her when she looks up at him and tells him “Prince Seth, I need you to step back a bit. I need as much light as I can get.” and I’m sure it’s a practiced lie from years of my dad acting similar to this, though not quite as bad.

Seth takes a step back and is right next to me as Sofie starts to take off the bloodied bandage he’d applied. “Molly.” She says sternly “This is to the bone.”

“Yeah, I mean, I told you it wasn’t great.” I tell her shyly, wishing Seth wasn’t in here with me. “Could we have a moment alone?” I say, looking up to him.

“Absolutely not.” He says, and we both know he’s not to be messed with right now.

“Your mate?” Sofie asks me questioningly with a smile.

“Yeah. We met yesterday.” I tell her, realizing this is the first time I’ve said it aloud to someone other than family.

“Oh, Molly! That’s wonderful! I’m so happy for you!” She says and I can feel her genuine happiness for me. “But back to your finger, this might be beyond me. Can you bend it?” she asks.

“I can bend it a little, but it really hurts and it started to bleed more when I tried.” I explain to her, avoiding Seth’s glare at me, realizing I’d not told him exactly how bad I thought it actually was.

“Ok. She says, reaching to grab a metal tool with a point. “Close your eyes and tell me when you feel something” and I dutifully close my eyes, waiting to feel something.

“I feel that” I tell her when I feel something on the tip of my finger, and now on the opposite side “and that” and this continues 4 or 5 more times.

“Well, it seems you missed the nerves, but I believe you just barely did.” She says as I open my eyes.

I hear Seth growl deeply beside me at her words “Do I need to replace a human doctor?” he asks her, with fear rolling off of him and onto me through the bond. I take his hand with my uninjured one and he calms just the slightest.

“No, I don’t believe so. Not yet anyways. Let me get some supplies” She says and leaves the room.

“You said it wasn’t that bad.” Seth snaps at me the moment the door latches closed.

“It’s not. You heard her, I missed the nerves.” I tell him.

“ Molly, you can SEE your bone in the cut.” he says.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to think I’m even more weak than you already do.” I whisper out.

Seth’s anger quickly dissipates and he wraps me in his arms and places his chin on my head. “I don’t think you’re weak. But I do think that you have to be honest with me when you’re hurt. Would you have even come if I hadn’t come downstairs when I felt it?”

“Yes, I would have.” I tell him honestly. “I knew it wasn’t good, I just needed to finish what I was doing.”

“The pack would have survived being a few onions short at dinner, Molly. Keeping your finger attached and b***d inside your body is more important.” he tells me and I know he’s right. “You’re the future queen. You don’t have to prove anything.” he says, and it’s weird to hear.

There’s a knock at the door and Sofie enters with some supplies. “Ok. I’m going to stitch up your finger. You’re going to keep it dry, put ice on it to keep the swelling down tonight and then tomorrow you’ll come back and we’ll make sure you can bend it.” she says to me and to my surprise she looks up to Seth. “Don’t let her into the kitchen until the stitches are out. It’s important they stay dry for a few days.”

“Absolutely.” He tells her. “I won’t let her out of my sight.” he says and releases me slightly, but keeps a hold on me. “How bad will this hurt her?” he asks her and I giggle a little.

“Worried about how it’ll feel for you through the bond?” I joke.

“You can feel each other’s pain through the bond?” Sofie looks at us shocked and I realize that maybe this isn’t a normal thing. I also realize though that only one of us has felt the others’ pain.

“He could feel mine when it happened. But I didn’t feel anything when… whatever… happened to his face.” I say, confused as to why I didn’t if he did.

“Probably because I deserved it.” he says flatly and no one says anything else about it.

“I’m going to numb it. That part hurts for a moment, but she won’t feel any pain once it kicks in.” Sofie explains to Seth.

“You’ll wait for it to work before putting the stitches in?” he asks for confirmation.

“There’s no point to numbing it if she doesn’t wait for it to work.” I tell him dryly with a roll of my eyes. “I’ll be fine, really.” I tell him in an attempt to comfort him.

No one says anything for a moment and Sofie decides that’s her sign she can begin. She pulls out a syringe she’s already filled and begins to inject it right next to the cut. It hurts, but I know it hurts less than getting the stitches completely unmedicated. She moves to inject it into the tip of my finger and this hurts terribly badly. I bite my l*p and hold in tears when Seth wraps his arms around me tightly and k****s me on the cheek. She injects in a few more spots, Seth never moving, and says she’ll be back in 20 mins to make sure it’s numbed.

“Are you ok?” he says in my ear, still not releasing me from his hold.

“Yeah” I say meekly. “That’s the worst of it.” I tell him, drying my eyes. We sit there in silence for a few minutes before I decide it’s too quiet. “A year or so after my dad found me I slipped on a rock and cut my knee pretty badly. That was probably the first sign I didn’t have a wolf, because I wasn’t healing. He carried me here and Sofie stitched my knee, but she didn’t have the stuff to numb it because it’s rare that wolves ever need it since you all heal yourselves. Dad didn’t handle it very well” I say with a small giggle. “He was hovering over Sofie, like you were today, until my mom made him leave the room.” At this, Seth chuckles a bit.

“I’m just worried about you. You’re mine to protect now.” He tells me.

“I know. Thank you,” I respond, and it feels good to hear him say I’m his. “A few months after that, I fell and cut my elbow open. When we got here we discovered that Sofie had learned a few things to help care for me better- the numbing medicine being one of them. She’s always taken the best care of me.” I tell him with a smile.

“I’ll be sure to get some to have at the palace with us, though I’m considering just bringing in a human doctor to be sure you’re properly cared for.” He says, and continues. “Something tells me you’ll be exploring in the forest the moment we get there.” I hadn’t realized there was a forest around the palace, and I’m excited to learn of it. It was then that I realized that he’s absolutely correct.

“I’ll drag you out to watch the sunrise with me every morning.” I tell him, unsure if I’m joking, but he doesn’t seem to mind the thought.

“So you’ll be going back to the palace with me?” He asks, hopeful.

“Do I have a choice?” I ask him. “You can’t reject me.” I say, slightly bitter, remembering everything from this morning.

“I can’t reject you, but if you tell me not to mark you and leave, I will.” He says, and I think about that for a moment. I guess that’s the only loophole anyone has found in this situation.

“Seth, why were you with other women if you knew you couldn’t reject me?” I ask him and that’s the root of all my upset with this situation.

“I’m an i***t, Molly. And I’m sorry.” He says with a sigh, raking his hair with his hand. “You want the honest truth?” He asks me and I nod. “I had thought if I found someone who would be a good enough mate and queen that if I marked her, it would release the bond with you since I hadn’t actually met you. My wolf wouldn’t let me mark anyone though. Altair was furious with me. He wouldn’t let me shift for the past 6 months or so until the other night.” He says and I’m surprised at his honesty.

It hurts to hear, but I’m glad he’s telling me the complete truth. I knew he said before his wolf had been angry with him, but I didn’t realize it had been so bad. “I’m sorry, that must have been really difficult.” I say to him.

“Why are you apologizing? It was all my own fault. You didn’t have anything to do with any of it.” He says kissing me on the head. “You’re so kind and thoughtful. I wish I’d been willing to meet you 4 years ago. I could have saved us both so much pain.” He says.

“What about your girlfriend?” I ask, afraid of his answer.

“Gone.” He says and I feel relief wash over me. “After I saw you outside from the window, I stepped out and called her. I told her we were done, that I’d met my mate.” and he pulls me just the slightest bit closer to him. We sit like this for a few minutes before I decide to break the silence.

“Seth.” I begin, and I’m nervous to even say any of this. “I’m worried I won’t be good enough. For the Kingdom as a queen, but also for you.”

“You are good enough, though.” he says earnestly. “You’re too good for me.” he says, not releasing his hold.

“I’m not. I’ve never been with a man. You’re the first person I’ve ever even kissed” I say quietly, feeling embarrassed. That’s the problem though, isn’t it? What all my feelings come down to- the feeling that I won’t be good enough in any way for him. And that feeling increased when he admitted that he’d been with other she-wolves, trying to replace someone better. He’d wanted to mark at least one of them. That’s why his wolf was mad. They must have been good enough in his eyes.

“You’re perfect, Molly. ” He tells me and pulls impossibly closer to him and places a k**s on my head. “You won’t be my first, but I can promise that you will be my last.”