Tye was in the den, his mind still dredged in the remnants of sleep. He had been dreaming of rabbits. So many rabbits. Drowning in rabbits. Then everything had turned to rabbits including his sons. Good dream. It occurred to him that he felt no warmth beside him. Not the feeling of a slender muzzle against his or the feeling of his mate’s shoulders and back beneath his fore-leg. He shifted slightly, turning his head to the right expecting to feel his nose rub against the side of her face. But that was nothing there. In his sleep-addled mind he did not realize at first that his mate was in fact, not there so he growled slightly. Then he heard voice, much farther away than it should’ve been and the fog began to clear a little. Tye had spoken very little of what he had been doing when he had not been with his mate or their pups. Part of it was because it was a result of his natural habits and behaviour. He was not talkative, not by any extent and that was one thing that probably would not change. He had told her in as little words as he could muster that he had been attending to his duties, with the bear and had taken a sparring session of sorts with the new Lead. But he had spoken or made any great deal about the bruises or cuts he had gotten. They had always been and were part of his life. The one cut that was still in the process of healing was the gnash on his shoulder, into the solid muscle. And just recently, gone on a hunting trip with Magnus with the pups. Icarus…well there was something that he was angry about. Tye needed to find out what it was before he exploded and took it out on his brothers or anyone else. And Tye needed to have a word with Magnus about his son. He would take no threats towards any members of his family no matter how old or how young the threat was coming from. He knew how these things could spill into fights then into something very serious. He would like to believe he could remain good friends with Magnus for as long as they both lived. But they both had families and things changed. Tye opened his eyes slowly to see his mate appear at the mouth of the den. Confusion touched his features, mind still hazy. Was that blood on her muzzle? And she was walking at a strange angle, not how she would usually move on four legs. Then bits and pieces of her words registered in his ears.

He started to stand, blinking a few times as she pressed into his side. His gaze landed on her shoulder and he murmured,“I did.”He looked back at her as she looked back at him, smiling slightly at her in response. It was not one of happiness as he was starting to pinpoint where she was hurt exactly. He was trying to remember what his mother had said about fixing a dislocated shoulder and focusing on that so much he did not realize what she had said after she had called his name. It was only after she licked his muzzle, shaking him out of his thoughts that he did realize what she had said. His eyes widened. He had heard of the fight between the faes, though he had not known the outcomes. Tye was glad to see his mate had not gotten any serious injuries. Well, none that wouldn’t heal in time or could be fixed. At the news of her being Lead Healer surprise, followed by happiness flooded his eyes. He licked her muzzle affectionately, tail wagging to let her know he was proud of her. He shifted his weight so that she had his support so that she wouldn’t fall, placing part of his muzzle underneath her neck for extra support. Tye asked, his voice lowered so a caring rumble, “What do you want me to do?”

Tye listened to her carefully, eyes running over her wounded form. He moved a few steps to follow her in a subconscious reaction, wondering what she was doing as he was concerned. Getting some leftover comfrey that she had from the mending station that she had placed in the den. The comfrey had slipped his mind. He had seen her use it on their pups, many times over along with other herbs to cure wounds and aid in the healing process when they were younger. Scuffles broke out a lot in the den and even outside of the den between their three sons. As she looked and nudged him in a comforting motion, Tye managed to smile slightly to show he wasn’t worried now that he knew what she was doing. He knew she was strong as well, mentally and emotionally so. And he was glad that she wasn’t making a fuss about her injury. She could have but she didn’t. It could be fixed so she was looking at how to do that even though it would cause her some pain. Though he said nothing to her words he had listened, his ears leaning forwards in the direction of her voice. He turned his paw so that the pad was facing the ceiling and carefully scooped up the banana leaf that the mixture wouldn’t fall off on his pad. Raising it to her shoulder, he pressed the concoction at the spot she gestured to using the bottom of his paw. He did it in slow, circular motions making sure to cover the entire area of her shoulder evenly and no inch of her outer muscle was missed. When he was done, he set his paw back down having used what was needed.

He asked, slightly confused as she stretched her leg out,“Do you want me to put some on your fore-leg as well?”He did not think she did because putting shoulders back into place usually involved the joint that connected the shoulder to the foreleg. The comfrey he guessed would be used to alleviate the pain that would come from the joint from putting the shoulder back in place. Another reason he guessed was to ensure the bones in the shoulder recovered to their full strength and use without any complications like inflammation of the joints. That was what he thought. But he didn’t know. He wasn’t a healer. But it looked like she had stretched it out to make the process easier because she shook her head, not saying anything and started to speak again looking at him with careful eyes. She was nervous. Really? Control and precision was his forte. He smiled at her reassuringly, bending down to nuzzle the crook of her neck for a brief moment and whispered into her fur, “You can trust me.” He sat down to give himself more leverage so that he could pull properly without damaging the joint even more. Nodding, he put his leg at the side of the leg that she said to pull towards him, wrapping his forepaw around it to secure a firm hold but not so tight that he was damaging her leg. He put his other foreleg to her ribs to apply pressure as she said and pulled the leg towards him as she said in one motion. He did it as quickly as he could, without prolonging the pulling unnecessarily so that she would only feel the pain for a few seconds instead of more pain as she would have done if he had done it slowly. The sound the bones popping back into place punctuated the air. Tye let her go, watching her for any signs that she was in more pain than she should be, asking.“Better?”

He was relieved when the bone popped back into place properly and started to nuzzle her. He paused, his mood changing when she spoke of the pups. He was being reminded of the hunt, of what he had seen before and the old memories and even more recent memories. Tye stared at the ground,“They are doing surprisingly well on their own. They are all seeking their own mentors. Renier seems to be drifting away though, isolating himself from the others. Striker is off doing his own thing as well and Icarus has been getting into more fights recently. He almost killed one of Magnus’ pups, Willow the other day. I am worried about Icarus the most. But none of them have come to me to want to train. Or, they are seeking out mentors themselves.”He paused, turning his head away from her and growled,“I do not know why none of them want to train with me and that makes me mad. I will make them stronger and fiercer than anyone, push them harder than anyone else and then, then they won’t be scared of anything and they’ll win.” He was feeling an entire mass of emotions, primarily anger and hurt. Hurt that his own friend’s children seemed to want to train with him while his own children did not. It hurt his pride. And maybe his mate didn’t understand that. How could she? And he had missed her, thought of her and some black hatred had filled his heart that he had never felt before. He did not know what it was but he knew that the thought of another wolf trying to court her made him want to tear their heads from their necks. Yes, even the Alpha. Was it the first time in his life he had felt this way? Yes and he almost wished he could take out his heart and replace it with something that was made of stone because he didn’t like this feeling. It made him doubt things. Doubt so many things. Like any normal wolf, he did not like being manipulated or tricked or used like a fool and he hated that he would think that about her. And he did not know why he thought that way. He did not know and he did not want to feel that way. He did not know why he was feeling so frayed and uncertain about everything and the only thing that did make sense was…nothing. Stone couldn’t feel anything. Stone couldn’t feel anger, hatred and love. It didn’t feel anything. But Tye had enough of feeling. Feeling angry. Feeling sad. When he finally reached happiness, someone else had to destroy it and he was left picking up what happiness he had left. Maybe he should start being cruel and arrogant. Start being less calm and more violent, less self-controlled.

More callous and less caring. Start doing whatever he wanted even if it made others mad or upset or put them in an uncomfortable position. He wanted to punch something and feel it break. And no, he did not care if it was his body that broke. He was so close to breaking point. Like he couldn’t care if the entire world burned around him. Like he did not care one single iota about anything. Couldn’t love exist without hatred and anger? He could not do this on his own. He was a fighter, not a lover. Not a philosopher, a thinker and though he had a father’s love for his children there were things he could not do. Things that took the both of them to do. Like playing with the pups in a way that didn’t frighten them. And he felt like it was suffocating him which made him even angrier because he couldn’t breathe. But he trusted her, he guessed. So he closed his eyes, breathing in deep before exhaling so he did not lose his temper. Anger would solve nothing. But he was not happy. Not even her lick or smile could shift his mood. And he felt like his heart started to turn colder again. He looked at her when she spoke, his expression closed off and emotionless revealing nothing of what he thought. For a long moment, he didn’t say anything. He realized it now. In that maelstrom of emotions of rage, hatred and confusion he was jealous. He felt like she didn’t care about him. Or, that she cared less about him than others. Did she prefer the Alpha then? At the thought, Tye’s eyes grew colder and more brutal. He did not care about ranks. And sometimes, he wondered why he was even here. He did not care about being Alpha or Beta and he had not expected to have even gotten the current rank he was now. He had been content with what he was but he was Elite now and it came with responsibilities that he could not ignore. But Cliché was the wolf he most trusted in this pack, coming close to Magnus. If he could not trust her not to toy with his feelings or not to hurt him then he didn’t know who he could trust.

He said in a quiet voice,“You know you can trust me but now I need to know if I can trust you. I don’t care if you’re in and out of the den because I trust you and I respect you. My father would have said you’re property and he is to decide where you go, when you sleep, when you eat. He said that to my mother but my father thought that way about females. I thought differently and I was hit for it. Property can’t speak. Property doesn’t have feelings. I don’t know what kind of wolf calls his mate property but I would not. You are my equal which is why I chose you. You are free to go and come as you please. But sometimes I feel like I’m alone even when you’re with me.” He took a step away from her, staring at the wall. The minute he had stepped onto this place, he had made mistakes starting with not killing Katyusha. He had gone about his business, not caring. But all these feelings had been hidden in the back of his mind, re-surfacing when he ruminated on the events that had come and gone. How the former Alpha had punished him then taken the cause of his punishment for mateship and then gave her Elite. It had made him see red. Then there was his mateship with Chiara and possibly Cliché when the former Alpha had granted mateship in the first place. And before that, invading his training session with the faes without permission because he feared Tye was trying to usurp him. Only a spineless idiot with a penchant for pain or a brain-dead fool wouldn’t feel the least amount of anger after all of that. And it was a miracle Tye hadn’t snapped completely by now. Strength was so many things. Physical of course. But the strength to endure repeated attempts at sabotage and subterfuge without lashing out? Priceless. But even he had his limits and he was fast approaching them. He had been patient enough. Had ignored or brushed off things that had –insert word- him off enough. And he did not trust Teren in the long run. It was a fool’s game to trust the devil. The devil always had an ulterior motive. Tye lay down on his stomach, head still facing away from her with his forepaws crossed and rested his head on them, closing his eyes and remaining silent his body growing tense and rigid. Without trust, what was there? He had missed her most of all but somehow, he felt that he had missed her more than she had missed him and these other thoughts and feelings were not making things better. It made him doubt her and question her. He may not have been expressive but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel or think things. He just locked his thoughts in a safe and never revealed them to those that he felt couldn’t be trusted. And he wasn’t even sure if he trusted her now.