28 Alleviate

♔Tristen (P.O.V)

"What did you decide?" I ask, pushing Eustacia away gently, fear and anxiety rushing over my body.

Is she going to leave me?

I shouldn't have suggested it.

"Wolf," she barked at me softly, her eyes meeting mine. In that split second, she licked the right side of my cheek and burrowed her head in my chest.

Relief sizzled the anxiety and fear bubbling up inside my stomach.

"You're staying," I sigh as tears feel my eyes once again.

I wrap my arms around her petite figure and pull her onto my lap. With sheer happiness, I squeeze my mate tightly, not letting her go. The stinging pain of my injured hand pulses through it, but I could care less. She's staying!

~~~

I held her for a solid fifteen minutes before she barked at me, telling me to let her go. I expected her to jump back down, at least until Evelyn came back, but she stayed on my lap. Within seconds she fell into a deep sleep.

"I adore you," I whisper, staring down at my mate's beautiful black fur, with that white heart glowing at the back of her neck.

She's curled neatly into a tight ball on my lap, her small wolf head laid delicately on her back paws. Her rear end propped snuggly against my stomach, her tail grazing the floor.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone lightly taps on the office door. A heavy smell of herbs and spices waft from under the door. The scent gave who it was away without the door even opening, Evelyn. That heavy plant smell isn't contained by any normal werewolf in the pack, not even by the doctors.

"Come in," I holler, loud enough for Evelyn to hear, but hoping I didn't wake Eustacia abruptly.

Silently the door is opened, as Evelyn pokes her purple hair through the door frame. "I have it, but I'm not going to guarantee it'll work," she says in her soft voice.

"It isn't going to hurt to try it," I shrug softly, rubbing my fingers through Eustacia's fur.

Evelyn walks herself over to the remains of the desk. "I- um- also brought something for that," she whispers, pointing at my injured hand. I notice a large wooden bowl filled with medical supplies hugged closely to her chest.

Shock radiates off of me, "Evelyn, you didn't have to do that?"

"I do though, you are my king. I'm mated to your duke, and that makes me your duchess, so it's my job to take care of this pack and you," she states, her eyes meet mine and don't waver for a second.

"I suppose you're right," I grunt, "can we do it after we fix Eustacia?"

"I would prefer to do it now because you'll want that hand when she turns," she shrugs softly.

I growl loudly in annoyance, causing Eustacia to jolt awake on my lap. A loud growl erupts out of her tiny body. She stuffs her head between my knees, almost as if she was trying to hide.

"Hey, hey, hey. Shhhh," I coo, trying to calm her down.

"It's fine, look it's just Evelyn. She's here with the serum, and a fix for my hand, that I kind of don't want," I say, shrugging softly as I pet her back.

A small sting hits my knee, almost as if a wet towel had been snapped against my skin. Eustacia, who had previously had her head tucked between my knees, is now staring me dead in the eyes. Her right paw hovers over my knee where the spot still stings from where she assumingly smacked the shit out of it.

"What was that for?" I growl, questioning Eustacia.

"She said that's what you get for not accepting the help," Evelyn translates to me, a look of concern creeping across her face, "she also said if you don't do that first, she isn't accepting the serum."

This crafty woman.

I feel a smile form on my face. "Fine."

Eustacia and Evelyn, both stare at me shock written all over their faces. "Really? Well, alright then, this won't take long I promise!" Evelyn squeaks, not giving me any time to reply.

Eustacia jumps down off of my lap as Evelyn grabbed my injured hand. She has a slew of herbs in the basic, I knit my eyebrows in confusion at one of the items. "Pineapple?"

"Mmm," she nods her head. "It's great if combined with turmeric," she points at a small wooden bowl containing a fine bright orange powder.

"Uh-uh, I have no idea what you just said."

Laughter spills out of Evelyn as a soft howl of laughter leaves Eustacia, who is sitting beside my chair, watching Evelyn.

"I didn't expect you to. The pineapple has an anti-inflammatory property, the turmeric helps amplify it," she giggles.

"Ah that makes sense," I pause for a moment, "I guess," I say shrugging.

"This isn't going to feel to nice," she softly states, as she pulls out what appears to be plain tweezers.

"What isn't go- arg!" I shout in agony.

I could feel as she pulled out the splinters that have lodged themselves into my skin. It felt almost as if someone had stuck a broken needle into my skin and tried to pull it out. I could smell the metallic freshness of blood wafting over the smells that had already lingered there.

"You could have warned me!" I howl, scrunching my eyebrows together, and pursing my lips.

"I did, literally a few seconds ago," Evelyn scowls at me.

"Ah, you- right," I wince as she continues removing the small bits of wood.

"It's pretty much clean from the wood. I'm going to apply some crushed tea leaves, it might sting a little," she pauses, biting her lower lip, "so, please don't freak out." Evelyn and Eustacia both laugh together once more.

"I'm glad you two are getting along," I muse, staring at Eustacia's beautiful wolfy features. She needs someone, female wise, to be there for her. Even more so one that can understand her, if this doesn't work.

"It's nice," she places a few leaves in a mortar and pestle, grinding them gently, "Eustacia thinks so too." Evelyn smiles and Eustacia and begins rubbing the leaves onto my wound.

Squeezing my left hand together, I clench my teeth tightly. She didn't lie, it fucking stings like hell.

"You're a big wolf, you shouldn't need any more help with that," she giggles. "Eustacia? Are you ready?" She asks.

Eustacia's ears perk up as she looks at me and back to Evelyn. Almost as if they were communicating. Evelyn shifts on her feet, as if she's uncomfortable. I notice her look at me and shift her footing around nervously.

"Um, she'll need something to wear when she shifts. She doesn't want to meet you bare-ass naked."

"Oh! Yea, yea. I understand, umm," I gently grab the blue ombre shirt from around Eustacia's neck and hand it to Evelyn, "this will have to work until someone can go get her clothes."

I don't know what she looks like. I don't know her size. I don't even know the color of her hair or eyes. I know absolutely nothing about her appearance, but I still adore the shit out of my mate.

"She wants you to close your eyes," I close them, " and cover them with your hands, no peaking," she orders.

I place my hands over my eyes, the scent of blood and tea leaves fill my senses.

"Tristen, what if this doesn't work?" Remus, my wolf, questions.

"You've been hella quiet Remi, I done thought you left me," I say, hurt.

"I'm still here jackass, I was letting you two have alone time..." he trails off, "she doesn't have her wolf," he states sadly.

"Well, it makes sense I guess. She's been through hell it seems. Not to mention being injected with shit to make her shift," I whisper, pain surging through my heart at the very thought of what she's been through.

A loud howling sound burst through the air as the sound of bones breaking almost harmonizes with them.

Eustacia.

Dread wails over my senses, I want to rush to her side and hold her tightly in my arms. I pray to the moon goddess to let her be okay, to make the noises stop.

They don't.

Instead, they worsen, as a loud whining sound joins in with her screams of pain.

"Tristen, she's fine. I promise," Evelyn reassures.

"Then why does it sound so painful!" I scream, horrified that I can't help her. The whining stops as I reply, only then did I realize it was me.

"She hasn't shifted in days. It's a painful process after so long."

"She'll be okay," Remus says to me, trying to calm me down.

I feel slight ghost pains that must be hers. It feels as if my bones are being broken over and over again, everywhere.

I pull my knees up onto my chair and bury my face in them, covering my ears with my hands. Trying- trying to make the pain stop.

Goddess, I want to run and hold her so bad.

The howls turn into a high pitched female scream, it goes on for what seems like hours, but it slowly begins to quiet down.

"I'm sorry Eustacia, I can't keep your wish," I howl into the room and shoot to my feet. Ready to rush to her side and hold her tight.

My feet can't find the strength to move, as I stare in awe at the sight before me.

A petite young woman stands a few inches away from me, her heart-shaped face has the cutest button nose I've ever seen on a person. Her tan skin is highlighted by her bright blue eyes and long raven black hair. A few scars, almost like claw marks run down the left side of her cheek, causing pain and anger to rush through my body.

My large t-shirt fits her almost like a gown, the sleeves come down to her elbows. It swallows her fragile body, the only outline I can see is her shoulders. I can tell how small and malnourished she is by the size of her arms and legs, there's little to no muscle mass there. I could probably line both her arms up and wrap my hand around them both, my thumb meeting my middle finger.

The exposed skin on her forearms and legs are decorated in scars, they almost appear to be whip marks and other torture methods. My heart aches for her, but the anger flares even more. I'm going to kill that short bastard if it's the last thing I do. He will never- NEVER- hurt her again.

I'll make sure of that.

"Hi," Eustacia squeaks softly, her face turns a bright red as she bows her head.