Chapter 29

Ang is looking me straight in the eyes as she finishes thest part of her sentence and as she starts the next.

“ If this is bad enough to demand surgery then it is not possible to keep this from the council. Based on what Demetri and I have seen, it we report your condition to the council, they wouldunch an abuse investigation with or without your consent, which could be very dangerous for you if this injury is indeed because of abuse. Do you understand what I’m exining?”

He nods again slowly.

“I need you to keep your legs down and straight as I do the scan. I don’t know the level of difort this will cause you but I will give you something for the pain afterwards if there’s any lingering. Take Demetri’s hands, I’m going to have him hold your arms and hands on your chest. Doing that should bring you somefort and help keep you from trying to fight this too much.”

She’s gently sliding the nket down to Cole’s waist as she finishes her instructions. I gently take hold of his hands and calmly work through . the little bit of resistance he gives me. He whimpers softly as Ang tucks a towel into his waistband. His eyes are closed as he leans his head into my arm, his grasp on one hand is steady while the other is being squeezed rhythmically. I can tell he’s fighting to stay calm as he startles and stifles a yelp when the cold gelnds on his abdomen and the probe gets ced on his skin.

She starts the exam on his far right side, just under his ribs where his liver is. It’s as she presses the probe against his skin to get his liver toe into view that he yelps painfully, grasping both my hands hard as I tighten my hold around him trying to keep him from leaping off the bed. The tears forming in the corners of his eyes easily portray the pain that he’s in as his yelp turns into a persistent whimper as he tries to bury his head into my arm.

“I’m sorry Cole.”

I try to soothe the young man as I feel his body trembling against me.

“I know we promised we wouldn’t hurt you but this isn’t something we knew about beforehand.”

“You’re doing wonderfully, Cole. I know this is painful for you but you’re still managing to be very still which is helping this to go a lot faster without sacrificing being through.”

Ang chimes in as she moves to another area.

After a brief twenty minute scan she seems satisfied and cleans everything up. As she puts the machine away and gets a little more pain killer for Cole, I start working with him to get him off his back. I get him on his side easily and step away to grab the body pillow.

It’s as I’m returning to the bed that I see the scar that Ang mentioned. To me, it looks to be a one time incident. That this scar that takes up over half of his back, was one huge injury not several small ones that happened over time. Ang was correct about one thing. The lighting in the room created too many shadows to figure out what may have caused such an injury. I reach out towards the middle of the scar. Arge patch directly over his spine that appears simr to burns I’ve seen when silverced water is dumped over an open wound. An old, barbaric way of torturing confessions out of detained wolves that was ouwed by the werewolfmittee over sixty years ago. Unfortunately, theck of reporting and subsequent punishing for such an archaic practice of torture has been slow to fully quell and many packs still use it freely.

I stop short of touching it. Coming to my senses I gently ce the pillow wrapped in a soft nket behind him before leaning over him , speaking softly alerting him to my presence and that I was rolling him onto the pillow. To my relief instead of yelping he simply grabs my hand as I start to move him. Anges over to us as I finish getting himfortable.

“Cole, I’m going to give you a little more hydrocodone. The ultrasound showed some scaring on your liver but it’s difficult to tell if it’s a past or present injury. There was no activé bleeding which is good but it is inmed and erged so it’s something I need to monitor . You’re going to need to stay away from any acetaminophen based painkillers as they will adversely affect your liver.”

It’s as I finish cing the second pillow in the bed and covering him with the nket that I hear his voice.

“ Alpha.”

He’s barely whispering but I can still hear him clearly .

“I’m here Cole . Do you need anything?”

“ Can … you… stay… until… I…. sleep ? ”

Although his voice is clearer than before it’s still quiet and breathless, showing just how challenging getting his asthma attack under confro going to be.

“Yes, I’ll stay until you’re asleep but I won’t be able to nap with you this time. Ang has to get back to Jessa’s patients since the’s out sick and I have some meetings I need to attend to but you won’t be alone the entire time. The monitors will alert us to everything going on and one of us will be checking on you every two hours. Ang will be giving you medication every four to six hours and I’m certain Damian nning to visit sometime today.”

I’m sitting back in the chair at the head of the bed gently running my fingers through his hair.

“You know I’ve never thought to ask if you were okay with this. Most he–wolves in a new territory can’t stand another male touching them but over the hours I’ve been with you this morning I haven’t felt you react as if you want me to stop.”

“No… don’t…. stop…. Only one…. family…. bothers …. to help…. me at…. home.”

I nod my head silently knowing he can’t see it as I continue petting his head gently, rhythmically. Slowly I can hear his light whimpering fade , gradually reced by the high pitched sound of his wheezing. I continue quietly listening to his wheezing and the steady beeping of the monitor for twenty minutes before leaning over him and speaking softly in his ear .

“If you can bring yourself to trust me I can free you from whatever hell you’re living in.”

I ce my hand gently upon his head before reassuring him of my return in a few hours. I use the link to connect with Damian, Dominic , Patrick and Parker.

‘We’re meeting for lunch in the dining hall with the rest of the prospects at noon. I’vee to an important decision that involves all of you . ”