“It’s a good point. I don’t rely on my supernatural nature as much as you canines.” Caine said with a laugh as both Seath and Luke rolled their eyes and the amusement of all of them scented the room. “Be honest, how much does it bother you he has no scent?”
Seath bristled a bit, because it did bother him. Maybe it was a warning he relied on his wolf-nature too much. Except . . .it didn’t feel that way. It felt like something unique to Lycan. His wolf was unsettled that he couldn’t rely on scent, but he was equally unsettled that he couldn’t scent this particular wolf.
Caine gave a knowing sort of sound and Luke laughed out loud.
Seath smiled.
It wasn’t often Seath could take off the mantle of responsibility that came with being the Pack Legate. But, somehow Caine relaxed him, despite their contrary natures. Wolves ran hot, and vampires cold and that was not just in matters of body temperature. Caine certainly would not have burst into the forest after the wolf’s lament as recklessly as Seath had.
But, for some reason, Seath could relax with Caine. He liked Caine’s perspective, sharpened by many years and infinite patience.
He also liked how Caine deferred to him as Legate of the pack, but didn’t get strange about it. Some of the pack seemed to think that being Legate and the heir apparent to Alpha Greene made him less shifter and more perfect or infallible in some way. Caine didn’t suffer from those delusions. Luke, as his best friend since they were cubs, certainly didn’t have those delusions, either.
For the first time since the strange shifter arrived, Seath felt his shoulders relax a bit, as if he could sit the weight of all the responsibilities down.
“So, what can you tell us, worthy of all this smugness?” Luke asked.
“Oh no, my smugness is officially reserved. But, as I told Seath, Little Wolf has been hurt. In several ways, but surely even you can pick that up without having tosmellthe poor man.”
“So, can you tell us something we didn’t already know?” Seath asked.
Caine paused, appearing to contemplate the question for a while.
“He’s been held, unable to fully heal himself. There is a mental harm to that, beyond physical pain. On the surface, he’s automatically submissive, ready to please, but we could only guess if he learned most of that or if it is his omega nature. Allowing him to bend and not break.”
“And beneath the surface?” Seath asked.
“He’s strong, your Little Wolf,” Caine said, his smile already affectionate when he thought of the omega in the next room. For someone who could literally live forever and therefore take their time, Caine did tend to make snap judgments about people. “Not just physically. I can see the weaves of the witches’ magic. As Serepta said, some are tightly woven and intricate - those would be the things they want him to remember the least, the most dangerous things for him to know. But, the other things, woven against his scent and his wolf, those were woven for a different purpose, to keep him dependent and hidden, I would guess. I would think those could be fully restored. Whatever is binding his memory will be harder.”
Seath sighed, and Luke placed a hand on the Alpha Legate’s neck.
“It won’t be a quick process to do. But, I will lend my magic to the witches, were they to need it. It can make them stronger, but that’s about it.”
“You will?” Seath asked before he could stop himself. “Truly?”
Caine laughed, then shrugged an elegant shoulder. “You would have asked, Seath. I’m just letting myself believe it was my own idea, if you don’t mind.”
Seath smiled. He would have asked, it was true.
“The Wolfsbane is almost gone, so his physical healing should begin quickly,” Luke said. “Even without access to his wolf, it should be faster than things have been going. I would hope by the full moon he would be ready for whatever needs to be done on the weaves.”
“The touch therapy, it should continue,” Seath said, looking to Luke.
“Yes. Without it, a coven might be unbearable for him.”
“He will need you, Seath, to heal his wolf,” Caine said. “And Greene. But, I am of the mind that he sees you as his Alpha.” Seath nodded, he figured as much having done many Holdings with members of the Pack when they had suffered the more fatal forms of injury or, once, when an older pack member had lost his mate and his wolf suffered severe depression. He knew the feel of one’s inner animal looking to him for that kind of leadership.
His mind snagged on the idea of he and Lycan in a dark room, skin-to-skin. A Holding was a formal way for a wolf to get the intimacy it may need. Holdings weren’t sexual in nature at all, but in Seath’s mind, it was hard to make the scene platonic when his mind wanted to think about large expanses of Lycan’s creamy skin. He sighed at himself for having his thoughts go that direction. But still, perhaps Greene could do the Holding when Lycan was strong enough for it.
“So much to heal. His body, his wolf, his shifter magic, his mind,” Seath felt the weight of it.
“Right now, Alpha touch, Legate or no, might be too much, but if we could restore his wolf, continue with Trav and the omegas he’s been nesting with in the clinic. Allow him the ability to shift again,” Luke looked off musing the idea. “I think he will need you.”
“I would guess that he was never made pack,” Caine said, drawing the attention of both Luke and Seath quickly. “How is the omega nest going?”
Luke smiled. He had been the one to figure out the bouts of healing Lycan experienced were due to the presence of other omegas. “Very well. There is at least one omega nesting with him every night. He can tolerate that sort of Holding quite well now.”
Seath nodded. Omegas were better in groups, in a community, and he was glad their pack was strong enough and blessed with male omegas, although not many in relation to their overall population. The addition of male omegas to the nest had proved the most beneficial for Lycan.
