Jackson was still in that position when his bedroom door opened. Without looking, he reached over and flipped the switch on the small box sitting on his bedside table.
“It working?”
“Yep,” Kia said. There was a tinkling of metal and glass. “So, how’d it go?”
Jackson sat up and stared at Kia. She had her back turned to him and was slowly setting out dishes on his table. Her long hair was braided and twisted up into a bun. “Kia, I messed up.”
She froze with a covered bowl halfway to the table. “What do you mean you messed up?”
“Hurry up and finish.”
She did then hopped on the bed with him. “What happened?” Her wide eyes were worried. Her lips tugged into a soft frown as he told her everything that had happened. “Jackson, you absolute dumbass. He’s been fighting since he was 8! Of course he’s not going to have the first clue on what he’s supposed to be doing!”
“Ok, yeah sure… But Kia, that’s not the bad part. He can learn whatever he needs to learn. I’m not worried about that.”
Kia narrowed her eyes. “What did you do, Jackson?”
“He’s big,” Jackson hissed to Kia.
Kia stared at him. Her eyes, a muddy green, were wide and a blush bloomed across her cheeks. “Like… His dick?”
“No! Or, well maybe? I don’t know! I didn’t try to look!”
Kia shoved him. He fell back on the bed. “Kia,” he whined. “He’s hot. I didn’t pay attention before because I got stuck in that stupid power play. Now I’ll be spending the next year with someone who looks like that right by my side. His muscles, Kia.” He sighed.
“I don’t even know what to say to you right now.”
“Feel bad for me.”
“Absolutely not. You did this to yourself.” Kia laughed and lay back next to him. Their arms were pressed together from shoulder to elbow. “Besides, it’s just this first year. Play by the rules and I’ll be with you next year.” They lay in silence for a beat. “Should you maybe check on him, since he wasn’t even sure what to expect with a bath?”
“Yeah. Stay here.”
He groaned as he sat up. He knocked twice on the door and after a moment of no response, he opened it, slipped in, and turned so he was facing away from the tub.. “How’s it going?” Silence. “I’m going to turn around now.” Silence.
He turned around. Wren was sitting on the edge of the empty tub. He had the towel draped across his groin and thighs. Jackson carefully kept his eyes on Wren’s face… Which, looking closer, looked a little off. His hair still looked matted, just wet and matted. The blindfold was attached to the back of his head, apparently too tangled for him to get it out by himself.
“Food’s here.” He stepped closer, squinting at Wren’s face. It was smudged… Make-up. “Oh. I hadn’t even realized… Hold on.” He found his make-up remover wipes in the bottom drawer. “Here.”
No reaction. Wren stared straight ahead. Jackson hesitated.
“All right. I’m going to wipe your face with this. Stay still.” Wren tensed as Jackson reached for him. He kept his touch as light as he could. The make up was tough to get off though. “What the heck is this stuff made of? Hold on.” He stepped to the door. “Oh, put the clothes on.” He gestured at the ones left for him before and stepped back in the bedroom.
“How’s it going?” Kia asked.
“Do you have any makeup remover? Like that, cream stuff?”
“Yeah, need it?”
“Yep.”
Kia left and came back with a small container. “Just smear it on and wipe it off with a damp cloth.”
He returned to the bathroom. Wren was thankfully clothed. “All right. Do you want to do this or do you want me to?”
Silence.
Jackson closed his eyes and called upon his patience. “I’m going to rub this all over your face, then wipe it off with a cloth unless you tell me now that you don’t want me to.”
Silence.
Jackson scooped some of the white cream on his fingers. He stepped forward, between Wren’s knees and tilted his head back. Wren growled, low in his chest and Jackson froze. Several long seconds passed and the growl stopped. Jackson touched the cream to Wren’s cheek. Again, the growl filled the bathroom, quieter this time, and Jackson froze. The barest of cream was on his cheek. His finger wasn’t even touching Wren’s skin.
“You can do it yourself.”
No reaction except the growling stopping. Jackson hesitated, then streaked the cream across Wren’s cheek. There was a rough tickle of stubble under his fingers that the make up was hiding completely. Each and every swipe of the make up over his cheeks revealed more. More facial hair, more scars, more bruises.
Jackson dampened a washcloth and wiped off the cream. He took extra care around the ugly yellow and green bruising. Jackson swallowed and stepped back once Wren’s face was cleaned. Scars littered his face. The thick layer of makeup had done a stupid good job of hiding everything. He stepped out of Wren’s personal space.
Jackson cleared his throat. “All right. Let’s eat.” He opened the bathroom door and looked back. Wren hadn’t moved. Jackson sighed. “Follow me.”
Wren stood and followed.
Kia was laying on the bed with his laptop open. She looked up as they walked in. Jackson watched her eyes close as she took a deep breath. Wolves, he shook his head with a fond smile.“You’ve landed yourself with a real dumbass,” she told Wren. Jackson wanted to hug her when she didn’t so much as glance at the bruising on his cheek.
Wren didn’t respond to her either. “Wren, this is Kia. Kia, Wren.” Jackson took a seat at the table, Kia sat next to him. Wren stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. “Sit there and eat.”
Wren obeyed. Jackson ignored Kia staring at him. “Jackson, try not acting like an ass maybe.” Jackson saw Wren tense across from him.
“He doesn’t really answer questions. So far he’s responded best to direct commands.”
Kia stared at Wren, tense and eating his soup. She dropped her gaze to her own bowl. “I was born here, and I know I lucked out.” She pushed the bowl of rolls closer to Wren. “Take as much as you want. Jackson soundproofs the room when I’m in here so you don’t need to hold back.”
The silence was even heavier after that. “If dad tries to ask him questions, I’m just going to tell him I forbade Wren from answering. My wolf, my rules, right?”
She snorted and started tearing a roll into pieces. Wren still hadn’t grabbed for one, Kia reached forward and moved to set one next to his bowl. He growled as her hand approached. Kia’s hand froze and her head tilted back, the growl immediately shut off.
There was silence as Kia stared at the ceiling, Jackson stared at Wren, and Wren stared at the table. “All right. We’ve got a lot to deal with. It’ll have to wait until after dinner though. Wren, do not growl again, at least not tonight. I don’t see it happening, but, just in case, don’t speak to my dad when we meet him. Kia, stop.”
Kia relaxed and set the roll down halfway to Wren. “Growling isn’t allowed here,” Kia told Wren and went back to her soup like nothing had happened.
I love Kia <3 Next chapter is Wren’s POV!
Jackson Carmillan of Carmillan Collars. The metal collar around his throat hadn’t felt so tight, so restrictive in a long time. I think I know how the collars work better than you do, the words echoed in Wren’s mind. Wren stayed on edge. He wasn’t going to trigger any anger in Jackson for as long as he could help it. Silence had always been his best friend. He couldn’t say the wrong thing if he didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to guess the right choice if he just waited until the choice was made for him. He knew he stunk. He knew his hair had grown out to a better length but had become unmanageable in the process. The makeup caked on his face itched. He wanted to be clean, but he didn’t want the bath. His old owner was bad enough, a bucket of cold water tossed over him to clean off the blood after a fight and it was called a day, he didn’t want to know how the Carmillan heir treated his wolf. What his idea of a bath would be. Wren’s hair had been
Kia stacked their empty bowls back on the cart then migrated to the bed and the open laptop. Jackson dug through his bathroom drawers for a comb. It’d been awhile since his hair had been long enough to require a comb to tame it, but he knew he had one hidden somewhere.Wren sat in the wooden chair and didn’t move. Jackson wondered how his hair was taken care of before, though judging from the scars covering his face and the visible area of his arms, he’d take a guess that it wasn’t taken care of at all.Finding the comb, Jackson paused with a good bit of space between him and Wren. “Someone needs to comb the mats out of your hair. It’s your choice who does it; you, me, or Kia.”Wren didn’t say anything, but his shoulders tensed and his hands clenched into fists.“Choices might be difficult,” Kia spoke from where she was laying on the bed with his laptop open on her stomach. “I mean 24
Jackson flipped the switch on the bedside box as they left the room. “Come back in an hour with some lavender tea,” Jackson spoke clearly as soon as they stepped out into the hallway.“Yes, sir.” Kia blew him a kiss and laughed as she left.“Follow me.”Barely in his peripheral, Wren kept pace with him. Down the hallway, up another staircase. They stopped in front of a set of intricately carved double oak doors. Jackson ran a finger over the nose of a carving of a wolf and steeled himself before knocking.“Come in.”Jackson straightened up and opened the door. “Dad.”His dad was sitting behind his desk, bent over some paperwork. His glasses rested on the end of his nose. His dark hair was starting to gray around the edges. A shadow of stubble told Jackson enough about what kind of day he’d had, and he straightened his spine further.With a heavy sigh, his dad took
Wren almost cowered. The garden was so big. Flowers as far as he could see with small trails through them, some brick, some dirt. Every breath brought more information to him. Lavender, honeysuckle, lilies… Fresh, overturned soil. The pine trees in the distance. The sky was so high above. There were no walls to hide in. Nothing. Just space, and room… He focused on Jackson. Followed Jackson in the right position. Let his entire world shrink down to just Jackson.His panic diminished once they stepped into the gazebo. It was a small space. Enclosed. Safe.He loved being outside. He just needed a smaller amount of outside. But… Feeling that breeze. Listening to the leaves of the vines rustling. Slowly, his heart rate returned to normal and he risked looking up at Jackson.Jackson was completely turned away from him. Wren followed his line sight to see a little pond in the not too far distance. It’s surface was highlighted orange fro
Jackson opened the door across the hall from his room, then stepped aside and gestured for Wren to step in ahead of him. Wren hesitated, then stepped forward. The room was dark and smelled faintly of disuse. Jackson stepped in behind him and Wren forced himself not to whip around. He didn’t like people at his back.“Light is here,” Jackson said and the lights came on. Wren turned around at a normal, sedate pace, in direct odds to the pounding of his heart. Jackson had his hand on a panel at the door. “Bed, couch, bathroom.” Jackson pointed at each thing in turn. “Just come to my room when you wake up in the morning. Kia’s bringing breakfast up.”Wren stared over Jackson’s shoulder. The words Jackson said were all normal, easy words… They just didn’t make any sense. Why was he leaving Wren in this room? Where was his cage? The bars with the slot so food could be pushed in to him. The flat pillow and thin
Kia shoved his laptop towards him as he fell face first onto his bed. “What am I doing, Kia?” He turned his head to her.Her gaze was sympathetic. “A good thing. You know as well as I do that the chances of him being alive this time next year was next to none. Besides, it could always be worse. According to this some former fighters are near uncontrollable without constantly manipulating the collar.”Jackson pulled the laptop on top of him. ‘Severity of Aggression in Rescued Fighter Wolves.’ He scanned through the article. A lot of it wasn’t very optimistic. The best results seemed to come from wolves who were saved at a young age. They were successfully switched to other positions with fairly minor leftover effects.“Did you notice the ages?”“Yeah.” The oldest wolf they had ever rescued was 22 and he was damn near feral according to the article. “I think once they found out
Jackson showered before going to get Wren. He assumed Wren would be enjoying his time alone to relax, or maybe Wren was sleeping in. He hoped Wren was sleeping in. Which is why it took him a moment to comprehend what he was seeing when he opened the door.Wren stood leaning back against the fireplace. His arms were crossed when Jackson opened the door, but fell to his sides as he stepped into the room. Dark circles were under his eyes, clear even from across the room. His hair hung in loose waves around his shoulders. Jackson glanced over. The bed was either perfectly remade or Wren had never touched it. “Good morning,” Jackson said, looking back at Wren.Wren didn’t answer. Jackson hadn’t expected him to.“All right, follow me.”Wren followed. Jackson had him sit at the table again. All at once, Jackson was overwhelmed. Wren wouldn’t talk. Wren wouldn’t sleep. Wren wouldn’t… No. He stopped. He
Wren floated in the river near his home. The water in his ears muffled the cries of his baby sister and the laughter of his mom. The sun warmed his face. He couldn’t figure out why his chest ached when it was such a pleasant day. The scent of his mother’s lavender water was surprisingly strong in his nose. It brought a smile to his face. That scent had never come with anything negative. That scent had never hurt him.The river pulled him down stream and he heard his little brother banging a stick against a tree. He frowned. The day was peaceful and calm and his brother always had to be so loud. He opened his mouth to respond, but remembered his mother’s unhappy frown when they fought and closed it.He kept it shut and the banging kept going on. It would pause. Then three rapid bangs would happen. Then a pause. Frustrated he opened his eyes and froze.There was no river. There was no forest. There was no mother, or brother, or baby sister. The s