“Fuckballs, that’s crazy. You should make me drink the whole damn smoothie for doubting you.”
Ben shrugged. “I know working on this isn’t the way you want to spend your time. It was the fastest way I knew to prove to you that what we’re going to do will make a difference.”
“Lesson learned,” Koios said.
“You should probably do that exercise yourself several times throughout the day, especially when you’re working. It’ll help keep your neck strong.”
“Yeah, well, you should give me a neck massage because my neck hurts.”
“Sadly, it doesn’t work that way.” Ben smiled and glanced down at his tablet. Not that he needed the reminder for what he’d planned for the day’s session, but it never hurt to double-check.
Koios huffed. “Question for you.”
Ben looked up at the annoyed tone. “Okay.”
“Are packs always so…involved?”
Ben knelt by Koios’s feet as he considered his answer. “I’m going to check your foot and ankle strength. Tell me if you feel any pain, okay?”
“Sure.”
Ben began moving Koios’s ankle, checking for any limited mobility. Even through his years of practice and medical study, it never ceased to amaze Ben how connected each area of the body was. When you added the complications of being a shifter, the challenges became even more pronounced.
“A healthy pack is generally very well connected,” Ben said. “So yes, to answer your question.Involvedis an important part of pack structure. It’s not unlike our bodies. Everything is connected. An issue in one area of the body can affect other places that wouldn’t seem to be impacted.”
To prove his point, Ben pressed his thumb into the arch of Koios’s foot while gently twisting his ankle to the side. Koios pulled back with a low hiss of pain, and Ben removed his thumb.
“The ankle bone’s connected to the knee bone,” Ben sang.
“Very funny.”
“I thought so. My point, though, is that packs are very interconnected, just like the muscles in your body. We want to straighten your back, so we’re working on your hips.”
“A pack is as strong as its weakest link.”
Ben shrugged. “Some packs might look at it that way. I don’t.”
“So how do you look at it?”
Ben tested Koios’s other foot and ankle while he considered his answer. “When you first found Logan, you knew you needed a guy with training, right? Jack told me that’s what you said, anyway.”
“Yes.”
“But then you put him with Gideon and Aleron. Why? Gideon is a vampire warrior with extensive training. Why not make him your team leader instead of a stranger?”
Koios narrowed his eyes. “Connections. Gideon and Aleron were too close. I needed someone like Logan, an outsider, who wouldn’t make assumptions based on those connections.”
“And when you and your brothers and sisters first hid out in the basement, what’s the first thing you did?”
“That’s a complicated question.”
“Packs are complicated,” Ben said.
Ben worked his way up Koios’s calf muscles, checking for any tight or tender spots, then began testing his knee mobility.
“I’m not sure how this is answering my original question.”
“I’m not sure that it is but tell me anyway.”
