Word Count: 2115

~Evoni

I immediately stoop down, pulling at my boyfriends limp limbs.

Giving him a harsh shake, I grimace when he doesn't stir. "Rowan."

"He's fine. He's just unconscious," Maric mutters, unimpressed by my franticness.

Leaning down, I hover my ear over his mouth. I can feel the faint gust of his breathing, which is a relief. Maric didn't manage to kill him with his supernatural strength.

I look up at him. "Why would you do that?"

"He knows I'm a werewolf," he says simply.

I tilt Rowan's head, checking to make sure he's not bleeding. By some miracle, his hair is untarnished, but I know the impact of the hit was enough to keep him unconscious for a while.

He's going to be furious when he wakes.

"No, he doesn't. He said you look like one," I mutter, folding up a blanket from my couch, setting it under Rowan's head.

He should be okay, but still...I forgot too easily that Maric is a werewolf. They don't abide by the same laws we do, for better or for worse.

"That is enough to cause concern. If he speaks of this to anyone, it may rouse enough suspicion that they investigate."

Unfortunately, I agree with him. Rowan would have told someone about this the moment he left here.

But Maric really didn't need to knock him unconscious.

I stand again, bracing my hands on my hips. "Now what? I won't let you kill him."

Maric jaw sets irritably. Killing Rowan clearly was his first thought. I suppose I should be thankful then, that he showed some restraint initially.

"He has to come back with us until I can assure his silence," he decides.

I turn to the Alpha, incensed.

"Maric, this guy isn't Archie. He's not going to integrate into your pack," I exclaim, my voice rising. "You can't bring him out there..."

It takes everything in me not to mention Rowan's family, because that would ensure his death. But Maric needs to know that taking him with us will only seek to frustrate him and put his entire pack in danger.

He levels a dark-eyed look at me. "Then you better convince him."

"I am doing enough for you as it is," I hiss.

A frown sweeps across Maric's brow. He studies Rowan uncertainly, not knowing what to do with him. I'm surprised he didn't use my vibrator in his hand as a weapon against my boyfriend.

"I could kill him, if that is easier," he mutters.

"He's my boyfriend, you idiot. You're not killing him," I snap, running a hand through my hair tensely. That isn't an option on the table.

Why did Archie have to leave? He was the perfect buffer between Maric and I, and now there is nothing.

"I didn't like how he was talking to you." I feel his gaze on the side of my face as he speaks to me.

I frown. I thought Rowan was awfully tame considering what he thought he was witnessing. I would have come to the same conclusion as him had I been the one to walk in here as he did.

"In his defence, he thought I was cheating on him," I mutter, looking down at his peaceful face.

I don't think I've ever seen Rowan so still.

"But you weren't," Maric says flatly.

"Yes, well he didn't know that." I sigh, guilt ebbing through me. "All he saw was some naked male in my house. What else would he think?"

I glance at Maric again, wincing at what I see. He's finally starting to dry out, at least, but he still has just a towel slung around his hips. It's borderline pornographic.

"He didn't see us have sex," he says.

"He didn't need to." I gesture at his hand. "What you're holding told him enough."

He lifts the vibrator up, inspecting it with a furrowed brow. It would be amusing if it weren't so mortifying. It is as if I'm cursed to constantly embarrass myself in front of him.

"What is this device?" He asks, running his thumb over the silver buttons.

"It's nothing," I say quickly, feeling my cheeks heating. "Where did you get it from anyway?"

"It was on your bathroom counter, attached to some kind of rope." He turns the vibrator around to inspect the bottom of it.

I shove my face into my hands, shaking my head. I must have left it on its charger that morning, right there for Maric to discover.

Suddenly, he presses the button and it starts vibrating. Startled, Maric immediately drops it. It clatters on the floor, rolling toward my feet. I quickly swoop down to pick it up, turning it back off again.

"I see Archie didn't tell you everything about humans," I mumble under my breath. Now I'm starting to find amusement in Maric's naivety.

"What is it?"

"A vibrator," I tell him, realising he has no concept of what that means.

He frowns at it, like it is a puzzle that needs solving. I doubt that this is the kind of subject matter an Alpha would usually concern himself with.

"What does it do?"

"Well...don't worry about it," I huff out, mortification crawling up my neck.

His eyes lift from the device to my face, narrowing slightly. He isn't going to let me get away with not giving him an explanation. It seems werewolves are as eternally curious as humans.

"You're flushed," he observes, a strange lilt to his voice. "Tell me."

I shift from foot to foot, realising there probably isn't a way out of this situation.

"It's for pleasure. Female pleasure," I explain slowly.

He cants his head. "I don't understand."

Sighing through my nose, I silently curse myself for the situation I've put myself in. That is what I get for not putting my belongings away when I've finished using them.

"Do you know what a clit is, oh wise Alpha?" I ask sweetly.

He frowns. "Of course I do. One must be familiar with what they worship regularly."

Rolling my eyes, I click the vibrator on again. At the unfamiliar buzzing sound, Maric peers, confronted, at the device.

"Hold out your finger," I command.

He does so warily, like I might strike him, or as if the device I'm holding might electrocute him.

Reaching out, I place the end of the vibrator on his finger. He flinches away at first, like he did that time when he was holding my phone, but soon enough, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he reaches out again.

"Take a wild guess what it does," I say with a smile, enjoying his confusion.

Around the pack, almost everything he does is backed by unyielding confidence. To see him so confounded by something so simple to humans garners a lot of enjoyment on my behalf.

"And you enjoy this?" He questions.

I nod. "Oh yeah."

"Why, when you have a lover to take care of such matters?"

"It's...complicated." I switch off the vibrator, tossing it onto the couch. I am not about to explain this matter to a male who has probably never had to worry about whether he can please a female or not.

I pause for a moment, a thought coming to mind.

"You know what, I have a battery powered one I'm going to bring back with me. It might change a few of your unmated's lives." I smile to myself, wondering if Rhenn or Billie could benefit from it.

Maybe it will help Billie relax finally...

Maric turns away, clearly not wanting to engage any further. "Whatever you say."

"I need to finish packing. You place Rowan on couch and ensure he is breathing fine," I demand, only just now remembering poor Rowan, laying prone on the floor at our feet.

If Maric hitting him over the head wasn't enough to kill him, I'm sure the conversation Maric and I just had would be enough to put him over the edge.

The Alpha looks disdainfully down at my boyfriend. "This seems like a great deal of effort for a male you don't think could be released back into human society."

I wince. I probably shouldn't have told him that.

"Just do it, please..." I'm starting to lose my mind.

He stoops down, picking Rowan up with ease. I watch, a little disturbed by how easy it is for Maric to shift my boyfriends limp body from the floor the couch.

"And put some clothes on as well," I mutter, averting my eyes from his naked form.

Leaving Maric is Rowan, I head into the bedroom to finish off my packing. It doesn't take me long to fill a duffle bag and a backpack, only wanting to take things that will have actual use to me in the forest.

Eventually, I grow tired enough to venture back out into the living room. Maric helps me set up the other couch Rowan isn't occupying for him, piling it with blankets and a spare pillow from my bed.

He insists he doesn't need the luxurious items, but I leave them for him anyway.

Soon enough, he's settled onto the couch, shirtless and in the pair pants he brought for our trip. His long legs hang off the end of the couch, and somehow he makes the large piece of furniture look tiny.

"You look utterly ridiculous," I tell him, folding my arms over my chest.

"This thing is abysmal," he grumbles, adjusting uncomfortably.

"You wouldn't fit in my bed either, so this will have to do." I prop my hands on my hips. "Archie should be back soon."

Hopefully the human will help ease the tension in here. I'm still not comfortable being around Maric, especially when he is half-naked and asking about my vibrator.

I don't know what to do with my attraction to him. I have to banish it away.

Maric looks over to the other couch where Rowan lays. "I will stay awake until your lover rises. Once he does, I shall knock him out again."

"No! You'll kill him." Or give him brain damage. I imagine he already has a concussion.

He only shrugs. "So be it."

"No, just...keep him as calm as possible. And don't hurt him," I plead. "Wake me if he becomes trouble."

He looks uncertain. At least, despite his power in this situation, he makes an effort to oblige me.

No wonder his pack members value him so much...

"Very well," he sighs. "Goodnight, Evoni."

"Goodnight."

I slip back into my bedroom, but I leave my door ajar. For a moment, I peek through the gap, watching Maric nestle down into a more comfortable position.

I really can't get used to him being here. It is so strange.

At some point, I manage to fall asleep. When I wake, the sun is just rising, streaming through my home generously.

I find Archie standing in the living room, folding up the blankets Maric was sleeping under. He looks severely under slept, his hair all tousled and his eyes rimmed red.

"Good morning. Where is Maric and Rowan?" I ask, noting their absence. There aren't many other places in my home that a massive Alpha can conceal himself.

"Rowan woke and was causing issues, so Maric took him out to the forest," Archie explains, stifling a yawn. "We need to get our jobs done and fast, so we can head off."

I nod. "To the library, I guess."

We head off to the library together, although Archie doesn't have to worry. Maric has my boyfriend — I'm not going anywhere but back to him.

At the library, it takes some hunting around, but in the history section, I manage to root out books about werewolves. I scan the pages of some, reading about werewolf strength, about rogues, who break off from the pack, and mercifully, about the flower I've been studying.

I loan out as many as possible, including the ones Billie requested, as well as one's on building the fertility powder.

I find Archie reading in a corner when I'm done. He looks up at me with a smile as I approach.

"Can we stop back at mine again before we head off? There is one more thing I forgot to grab."

He looks uncertain, but nods anyway. "As long as we're quick."

🧡••🧡

If you want more, this story is available 10 chapters ahead on Inkit at all times! Just search for Midika Crane (Sophie) and you'll find this work under the stories tab.

I appreciate everyone who supports my work and continues to read my stories. I'm so grateful for you! Enjoy!

~Midika 💜🐈‍⬛