The Broken Wolf
Chapter 85

“This space is all just for us?!” I ask him, looking around the enormous kitchen. I open a few cabinets and replace every kind of equipment you could possibly imagine.

Seth laughs. “It’sYOURS. I think you’ll replace that I shouldn’t be here at all. The kitchen is yours, and there’s a dining room across the hall.”

I continue my search, looking through a pantry stocked with everything I could possibly want and the refrigerator is filled as well. “This is so amazing,” I whisper to him and I feel him come up behind me and wrap his arms around me.

“I love to see you so happy,” he whispers in my ear.

“Thank you,” I whisper, holding back tears.

“They wanted to keep you tonight,” he whispers, and I can hear the emotion in his voice. “I just wanted to give you something that would make you happy, since… well… the moon.”

I nod and begin to feel so guilty about not telling him what Sage had told me.

Don’t tell him, Molly. He may try to stop you.

But he can’t. You’re the one who pointed it out.

If he sedates you, we can’t.

He won’t. I’m sure he won’t.

“Here, let me show you our bedroom. Your mom packed your stuff and sent it. One of the maids put it away, but if it’s not how you want it, just let her know,” he says, taking my hand and leading me back to the main room.

I roll my eyes at him. “I can move it myself if it’s not how I want it.”

“Please, take it easy,” he says, concerned for me. “At least for a few days.”

I look down at the floor, unwilling to let him see my eyes, knowing he’ll know I have a secret. Thankfully, we make it to the door and he opens it, holding his arm out for me to enter in front of him.

“Mom tried to get the colors you had in your home,” he says sheepishly. “I wanted you to feel comfortable.”

My plants from my home are all about the room, but now there’s giant windows where they can get actual light. There’s a sage green bed spread on a giant, dark wooden bedframe with matching bedside tables. There’s a sitting area in the other end of the room with a couch and 2 chairs, a coffee table in the middle.

I walk to a door and turn the golden handle, pushing it open to enter. It leads to a large bathroom with what is possibly the largest walk in shower and a giant sunken in bath tub.

“Be careful with the shower,” he tells me with a small smile. “It’s made for my height. Don’t want you to lose an eye.”

“I’m sure I’ll survive it,” I tell him with a laugh.

Seth leads me to another door at the end of the bathroom and opens it, leading me into an enormous walk-in closet.

“Holy s**t,” I say, taking it in. I can see my clothes hanging on one side, but I definitely didn’t have that much at home.

“Mom got really excited about finally having a daughter to dress,” he says, motioning to the right side of the closet. “She may have been a bit extra. If you go around the corner, you’ll replace your shoes. I haven’t looked, but I’m sure she had even less control with that than the clothes.”

I can’t help but smile at the thought of her being so excited that I’m there. I walk to the clothes and look through a few things, yawning as I do. Seth comes up behind me and gently takes my hand, turning me to face him.

“You need to get into bed. You’re tired,” he says, pushing my hair back.

I shake my head at him. “I’d like to take a shower first,” I tell him, trying to hide how tired I really am, but I fail miserably as I yawn again.

“Can it wait until the morning?” he asks me gently. I can tell that if I push the matter he won’t argue with me, but I can feel how worried he is about me.

I look at him and smile. “Yeah, it can wait until tomorrow. I need to replace my pajamas, though.”

“I think Mom said they’re over here,” he tells me and releases me, leading me over to an enormous vanity next to a chest full of drawers. He opens the top and replaces it full of bras, and moves to the drawer next to it, replaceing more of the same.

“How the hell many do you even need?” he grumbles, opening the drawers below, full of underwear.

“Would you like me to get rid of them? Maybe just keep two and rotate them?” I ask him in what I thought was a sarcastic tone but his horrified face tells me he very much missed the humor. I laugh at him, pulling open the drawers below those. “I’m joking. This is an excessive amount, but I need more than two.”

The drawer I open is a winner and I look through, replaceing a pair of light blue and cream cotton shorts and a loose, cream tank top to match. I go to remove the sweatshirt a nurse had helped me into earlier, but Seth gently swats my hands away and helps me out of my clothes. He looks at me longingly, helping me out of the sweat pants, and gently rubs his hand on my bare him.

“I’ve missed you so much, Molly,” he says, and seems to be a little choked up. “I was so worried about you. We don’t know enough about magic, and I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.”

“I did, though,” I say, reaching up to touch his now hairy face. “I’m fine, and I’m here.”

“I’m so sorry you can’t shift,” he whispers, and I can see he’s holding back tears. “Maybe next full moon you can. We don’t know for sure that this will hurt your wolf.”

I shake my head at him. “I do know. Sage told me.” I feel so, so guilty. He’s holding back tears, taking care of me, and I’m planning to go against his wishes and surprise him when it’s too late. It’s terrible.

He’ll stop you if he knows.

You can’t know that.

No, but we can’t take that chance.

Seth releases me and helps me into the pajamas I had pulled out. He leads me over to a vanity, much larger than I had at home, and pulls out a hair brush. He attempts to remove my hair tie, which is barely holding anything back at this point, but he can’t figure it out.

“Watch,” I tell him and reach back, taking it out slowly so he can see.

He reaches forward with a hair brush but I stop him. “I’m sorry. You can’t use that in my hair now. It will get lost in the curls. I look through some drawers and replace a wide tooth comb. I take it and show him how to get the tangles out, spraying stuff in my hair to make it easier. When I finish one side, he takes it from my hand and begins to work on the other side. He tries hard, and it pulls pretty badly a few times, but he always stops and slows down.

“I… uhh…” he starts, looking at me in the mirror. “Is that what it’s SUPPOSED to look like?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah. That’s what it looks like when you brush it. I’ll wash it in the morning and it will be good as new.”

I take the comb and part my hair, beginning to braid each side. I finish one side and he looks down, gently taking my hair. I catch his eyes in the mirror.

Seth looks at me sheepishly. “I don’t think I can do this.”

I giggle and take my hair from his hands. “I didn’t expect you to,” I tell him with a smile.

After I finish my hair, Seth scoops me up and carries me out to the bed, but he stops when he gets there. “Umm, do you want the same side of the bed?”

I giggle a little. “I don’t care. I slept in the middle before you.”

“Of course you did,” he says as he rolls his eyes, but he also smiles.

He places me on the bed gently and tucks me into the side that we had naturally fell into the first night we spent together. To my surprise though, he kneels down and takes my hand, placing his forehead on it and I can feel an emotion through our bond, but I’m not sure what it is.

He looks up at me and when I see his face fully, I realize that he’s crying. “I’m so sorry, Molly. I truly am. I should have taken you and hid you instead of helping Alex. I shouldn’t have been in a position to get hurt. Benjamin shouldn’t have had to save me like that. I’m sorry that I ruined this for you.”

“You didn’t ruin anything,” I tell him, wiping away his tears and smiling at him.

“I did, though. I never should have even left you. You’re mine to protect, and I failed,” he tells me.

“No, listen to me,” I tell him, taking his face into my hands. “You’re not going to panic, and you’re not going to stop me.”

Don’t. Don’t do this.

“I’m shifting tonight. You’re not going to stop me. You’re going to be with me, holding my hand.”