Chapter Twenty Five - Teaching Old Wolves New Tricks

Jake surged up up out of his armchair and lunged at Mark, deciding at the last minute to drop to the floor beside Lia. Or maybe he hadn’t had a choice. He had woken up, got dressed, walked the short distance to the sitting room and dropped into his favourite armchair. Since then he hadn’t had the energy to move. Even the knowledge that he needed to find the Highlander Beta or risk offending the pack hadn’t been enough motivation to get him to his feet! But the anger that surged through time at the sight of his mate in agony on the floor had given him more strength than he’d had all week. He’d intended to pummel his Beta and was somewhat surprised to find himself on his knees less than a foot from Lia. He wasn’t sure if it had been a subconscious decision, something his wolf had chosen, or his energy starved muscles had simply given out beneath him. “What the devil did you do to her!”

“No idea.” Mark said. Jake scowled up at him. “I don’t know Jake! She was fine a moment ago. Elsie pointed out that Lia knows nothing about werewolf bonds so I brought her up here to straighten this up and - ” Lia grasped her stomach and wretched as though she were about to vomit. Mark winced. “Well okay, maybe I shouldn’t have flung her over my shoulder and run up the stairs. It might have been a bit hard on her stomach.”

“Liana,” Jake said softly reaching towards her, “Let me-” Lia screamed and rolled away from him, both hands on her ears now.”

“Make it stop! Oh God, make it stop!” Jake reached for her again, hoping his touch could heal whatever it was, but she squirmed away from him yelling “No! You’re making it worse! Go away! Please, get away from me! Make it stop! I can’t stand it! Make it stop!”

Jake called through the link --Mother! My rooms. Hurry! –

Mother Luna was there within moments with David, Ellie, and Elsie at her heels. Liana was still on the floor with her hands over her ears. She had curled up into the fetal position and was whimpering softly, tears rolling down her cheeks. Jake and Mark explained all they knew.

Ellie and Elsie knelt by their friend, trying to console her. Elsie reached out to touch her and jumped back with a squeal as a bright spark flew off Lia and snapped against her hand.

“What was that!” most of the people in the room said in unison.

Mother Luna stretched out a tentative hand towards Lia and received a similar shock. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like this.” She said in wonderment. “Using the mate bond would be my go-to for something new like this, but I’m not sure you’d be strong enough to heal her Jake.”

“As if that matters,” he muttered, reaching out toward Lia. Another shock sparked out towards him, but not as strong as the previous two, it fizzled in the air around his hand as he reached for her. It began to singe his palm and tingled up his arm as he got closer but he gritted his teeth and continued moving towards her until she cried out and squirmed away again as though she were afraid of him.

“Zinnia,” Lia was obviously trying to yell but the sound was barely audible. She tried again, louder this time. “Zinnia! Help me! Please help me!” The other werewolves looked at each other in shock, wondering how she expected a child to help her. Before they could even ask a small grey wolf pup dashed into the room and skidded to a halt, her too big paws sliding a bit along the hardwood floor. She danced nervously back and forth a little, glancing sheepishly at all the older werewolves in the room. When her eyes found those of her Alpha, Jake nodded to her, so she approached Lia and bent her head down to touch her wolf nose to Lia’s human one. A spark leaped from Lia and snapped loudly on the tip of the pup's sensitive snout. Zinnia yelped and her head snapped back. She sneezed, shifting instantly to her human form, her head still shaking the way a wet dog does. She got a puzzled look on her face and looked down at herself, surprised to find her human body on hands and knees by Lia’s head.

“Woah. I’ve never accidentally shifted to human before. Damn that hurt. What the hell was that?”

“We aren’t sure,” Jake said, “She begged us to make it stop, but we don’t know what ‘it’ is, let alone how to stop it. Then she called you.”

“Make it stop?” Zinnia said, looking curiously at her new friend. “Has she been holding her ears like that the whole time?”

“Well she grasped her stomach and almost threw up first,” Mark admitted, “but that might have been from...uhm”

“From him carrying her up the stairs caveman style,” Ellie snapped accusingly.

“Or maybe…” Zinnia tipped her head to one side, as though trying to remember something. “Miss Liana? Can you open your eyes and look at me?” Zinnia leaned a little closer, careful not to come as close as she’d been when she got her nose shocked. Lia’s eyes opened slightly, more tears spilling from them as she did. “Can you see me normally?” Zinnia asked softly.

“Fuzzy n bright,” Lia mumbled.

“What about everyone else?”

“Same.”

“And the furniture?

“Just fuzzy.”

“Is there a noise in your head, Miss Liana? Like something buzzing or humming the same note for a long time?”

“Not anymore,” Lia whispered, her eyes drifting shut. “It’s a whistle now. Sort of squealing.” Zinnia’s eyes grew huge, “When did the humming start?”

“When I woke up on the cot in the main hall.”

“That long ago?” Zinnia turned angry eyes on her Alpha. “This is your fault! Why didn’t you fix her properly? How could you do this to her? Heal her right now!”

“I’ve tried, Zinnia,” he answered as patiently as possible, annoyed at being scolded by a pup but willing to overlook it to help Lia. “I can’t touch her. She won’t even let me near her. She gave me a shock, just like she did your wolf. She shocked Elsie and my mother as well. Every time anyone tries to touch her they get zapped, including me.”

“Little wolf,” said Mother Luna gently, “do you know what his happening to her?”

“Well I never did that massive static electricity thing she’s got going on, but the humming and whistling I know. I used to get that in my head all the time when I was little. Back in my cave I would get little scrapes from scampering around the rocks or my fingers and toes would get really cold and turn colours and ache...” she shook herself at the memory. “My father would heal me a bit, the way parents can heal their pups before the mating bond forms with someone else, but he wasn’t very good at it. He couldn’t ever seem to stay in contact with me for more than a few moments. Once my skin looked right he usually lost interest and left the cave for a while. If he hadn’t healed me properly the humming would start. It would be louder when he was around me and just a dull, constant irritation when he was away. One night he was asleep and my head had been ringing for days. I couldn't really count back then, so I don’t know how many, it felt like a long time though. I wanted to wake him up and see if he’d fix it, but as I got close to him it started to whistle. The pain made me so dizzy that I threw up! Everything alive glowed around the edges like the moon during a solar eclipse. I started to stumble even on the flat ground. I tripped over his hind legs and my face landed on his side. It was instant relief. I fell asleep there and by morning I felt the best I ever remembered feeling. After that, whenever I heard the humming, I’d make sure to snuggle with him while he was sleeping. I decided the hum must be my wolf saying the healing wasn’t done yet and demanding more. I think it’s like an itch that gets worse and worse and doesn’t go away until you scratch it properly, you know? Except it’s a noise, and after a while, it is more than just irritating. Dylan gets it too,” she admitted, blushing slightly. “Or he did before I learned I could heal his wolf’s longing just by holding his hand or snuggling while we watch a movie. You need to heal her right now though Jake. I don’t know what comes after the whistle, but it can’t be good. That was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“I offered to help her with a head ache a few days ago and she outright refused to touch me,” Jake moaned in frustration, “she wouldn’t even hold my hand. Now she screams and zaps me when I get near her. I’d heal her if I could touch her.”

Zinnia looked down at Lia. “Miss Liana, can you let Alpha Jake touch you? I’m sure it will help.” Lia could only whimper in response.

“Please, Lia” Jake asked her, “Let me touch your face with my hand. If it doesn’t help, I’ll stop and we’ll look for another solution.”

“You should be able to tell right away, Miss Liana. I think the loud noise will stop right away and even the softer humming will go away after a few minutes. For me, it was instant relief. It stopped as soon as I landed on my dad. He was naked though, so I guess I should say as soon as my skin touched his.”

Lia didn’t answer, but her hand shot out and grabbed Jake’s wrist. He gasped, and everyone in the room tensed, watching the sparks dance around her fingers and up his arm. They got weaker and weaker as Lia’s tense body relaxed. She brought his hand to her cheek and sighed, her entire body melting down against the floor in relief.

“The static thing must be what comes after the whistle,” Zinnia said quietly shaking her head, her eyes glistening with tears of sympathy. “That had to seriously suck.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that before,” Mother Luna admitted, a bit awed by what she was seeing.

“Well,” Zinnia said nibbling her lip, “here most parents spend a lot more time with their pups than my father spent with me. Likely when they get injured, their parents heal them properly. Then once they mate, they heal each other properly because they’ve been shown how pretty much since birth so they know what it feels like and just do it naturally. I didn’t have that experience, so I just didn’t know.” She shrugged and looked at Jake, “I don’t know why he didn’t heal her right the first time though. Mother Luna definitely showed him how to do it.”

“That's probably my wife’s fault,” David admitted. “I’m sure she didn’t mean for him to not finish the healing, but she said to be sure he left before Lia woke up. We were worried it would scare Lia since she hadn’t even met Jake yet. It must have been just a bit too soon.”

Lia reached out and touched Zinnia’s hand, “your childhood had to seriously suck, Zin,” Lia mumbled. Zinnia blushed and ducked her head. “Thank you for helping me.”

“My pleasure Miss.”

“Just call me Lia.” Liana insisted. Zinnia nibbled her lip, looking first at Mother Luna and then at Jake. She knew it wouldn’t be polite for an omega to be that familiar with the future Luna, but at the same time, it was wrong not to do what her Luna wanted.

They all watched the pair in silence for a while, growing more and more concerned as they saw the strength draining from Jake. Mother Luna looked at Mark and he quickly ushered David and his girls out of the room. “We should let them rest,” was all he said as an excuse. They didn’t question him though. Zinnia leaned in close to Lia.

“I’m going downstairs now, Miss Lia. You can call me again if you need me. Just whisper. I’ll be my wolf and listen carefully.” Lia nodded, her eyes still closed. Mother Luna stayed, watching worriedly as her son held onto his mate, lending her his strength at the cost of his own wolf.

“Jake honey,” she whispered at last, “there is one problem nobody has mentioned.” Jake opened his eyes to look wearily up into his mother’s. “The mate bond is supposed to be symbiotic. That means energy has to flow in both ways. Unless her wolf shares with yours, you will only get weaker. There will be consequences. With the mate bond forming, I won't be able to help at all unless it's a matter of life and death and by then it is usually too late for the wolf.”

“As if I care,” he growled, closing his eyes and letting Lia’s wolf take whatever it needed. “I’ll give her anything she needs.”

“You’re wolf’s life?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“How,” Lia whispered after a few moments. “how do I...I don’t know...I’ve never...”

“Selene must have healed you when you were growing up. Haven’t you felt that before?” Mother Luna asked, “The bond a pup forms happens at birth with the first two wolves to clean the baby.”

“She must have done it when I was sleeping,” Lia admitted after thinking about it for a while, “I’d wake up with scabs healed over, blisters gone, an illness over in a day when others were sick for a week. I thought I just healed faster than my friends.” Mother Luna sighed, “I don’t know what to tell you. I’ve always believed the healing bond was nature, not nurture.”

“Sleep Lia,” Jake said dazedly, “Zinnia healed when she and her father were asleep. Let’s both sleep and let our wolves do their thing. If a pup can do it without knowing how maybe mom is right and it’s instinctive. If so, our wolves can make it happen when we stop thinking so much.”

They were both so tired and weak by this point that the deep, slow breaths of deep slumber filled the room within moments. Just before leaving the room to let them rest in peace, a shimmering in the curtains caught Mother Luna’s attention. She opened the them and the silver glow from the moon rushed across the floor to envelope the sleeping couple. She smiled as she left, certain that the moon goddess would keep them both safe until morning.