The Wolf's Marine

Alice

We drive in silence for most of the way to Memory Lane, that is until Eva starts telling Cowboy all about her Mommy.

"My Mommy's the town do'ter." Cowboy just pants, clearly not listening. "She's gonna lub you." She buries her hands in his fur.

"What's your Mommy's name?" "Awice." Alice. Ah, good ole Alice. I honestly had no idea she'd gotten married and had a child. I guess that's what happens when you're gone for six years.

I wonder what else has changed in six years.

It doesn't take long for us to pull up into Alice's driveway. I park, kill the engine, and unbuckle Eva.

I scoop her into my arms and gently set her onto the ground before following her out. "Stay here Cowboy, this won't take long." I tell him through the open passenger window.

In the twenty seconds I was talking to Cowboy Eva was banging on the door with little fists. After a few seconds of banging the door swings open and in runs the child.

"Eva, where have you been?" The door opener asks with a scolding tone. "Pwaying with Cowboy." She says proudly.

"And who brought you home?" The voice asks and the door opens further. "I did." I reply. "Storm?"

"Long time no see Alice." I grin at the redhead. "You're back!" Alice cheers before side stepping around Eva and hugging me.

"You couldn't get rid of me forever!" I laugh when she pulls away. "Honey, who's there?" A male voice asks from inside the house.

Alice turns and yells back, "A friend from high school! Come out and meet her!" A few seconds later a man appears and my stomach fills with dread.

Standing in the doorway is the man who sided with the enemy. He rescued the few of us who survived the shoot out and then brought us to an IED strip. He killed my men and took my leg.

I can smell the burning flesh and hear the IEDS going off. I blink rapidly a few times to pull myself away from another episode. I can't have one here, not in front of him. I can't give myself away like that.

"Storm, this is my boyfriend." Alice gestures to him as she picks up Eva. "Alexander." He offers me his hand and I take it in mine. Tingles of dread run down my spine when our skin touches.

"Nice to meet you." I lie as I shake his hand and then let go. He doesn't seem to recognize me, that's good. "Are you Eva's..." I trail off. "Oh no." He says. "Her f-a-t-h-e-r d-i-e-d when she was a year old." Alice explains. She probably spelled out the words so Eva wouldn't understand. "I'm so sorry Alice."

She hugs Eva tighter and places a kiss on her forehead. "Mommy, I hungy." "Let's go have something to eat then." She smiles at her daughter.

"I'll see ya later. Bye guys!" I turn and walk at a normal pace to the truck. I start the truck and drive to the bait shop.

I shift my truck into park, take Cowboy to the shop door and shove him in. Then I get back in my truck and speed towards home.

The smell of burning flesh gets stronger the closer I get to home. The sound of IEDs going off starts and I start to cry.

Once in my driveway, I park and kill the engine. I lean against the steering wheel and just cry. Slowly the episode ends and I'm back in my right mind.

The man who killed my men is here in my hometown and dating one of my friends.

I don't know what to do. I can't confront him without him potentially hurting Alice or Eva. And I also can't confront him because it sends me into an episode.

I wipe the tears from my eyes I step out of the truck. As soon as my feet touch the ground I'm transported back to Afghanistan.

Wilder's Pov.

The sound of pained cried fills my ears. Storm's back and she's hurting. I have to help my mate.

I crawl out of my den and run at break neck speed towards her cabin. My eyes widen when I find her in a similar position to how I found her at the lake.

I have to help her.

I slowly approach her so I don't scare her. She's full on sobbing when I finally am at her side.

"I can't stop the bleeding. Jake I'm so sorry." I feel a growl in the back of my throat but I don't let it out. Jake is obviously dead and her friend, there's no need be growly about him.

It hurts me to see her in so much pain. I lay down and halfway curl around her. Her hand grabs my fur and pulls on it.

Her eyes open but she doesn't seem to realize I'm there even though she's touching me.

"I can't stop the bleeding. What do I do?" She whimpers as her hand goes from pulling my fur to applying pressure.

"Jake, I can't stop the bleeding. I'm sorry." Sobs wrack her body as she stops applying pressure. My poor mate, the war has scarred her for life.

Her eyes meet mine and the sobs start to stop. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She grabs my head with her hands and pleasant tingles run through me.

She puts her forehead against mine and gently rubs my fur. "I didn't mean for you to have to see that again."

I pull out of her grasp and then lick the tears off of her face. She lets out a giggle and smiles at me.

She moves so that her back is leaning against my stomach and my head is on her lap. She runs her fingers through my fur and it feels amazing.

"I don't understand why whenever I have an episode being around you pulls me out of it. It doesn't make sense." I'm supposed to do that, I'm supposed to be a comforting presence to her.

"I think I'm going to keep you around for awhile. The man who killed my men and took my leg is living in town." My hackles raise and I let out an involuntary growl.

"I'm glad you hate him too." She rubs my ears affectionately. "The worst part is just seeing him sent me into an episode. He's dating Alice and I'm probably going to be seeing her often. So then I'll probably see him too. And that means more episodes."

Delaney?

Yeah?

Find out who's dating this Alice lady.

Oh, you mean Alexander?

Even his name sounds terrible.

I'm gonna kill him.

What? Why?

He hurt Storm.

I'm in on the killing too.

No, Alpha Conan is going to be pissed when I kill a human. I don't want you getting in trouble too.

I don't listen to her reply and go back to comforting my mate.

"Thank you for being with me." She says will standing up and walking towards the cabin.

"No, wait!" I say before realizing what I'd done. She turns around and stares at me. "I could've sworn you just talked."

I look at her and give her a wolfy grin. I made a big mistake. I hope this grin will cover it.

"I must be losing it." She smiles as she shakes her head back and forth. I watch as she goes into her cabin and leaves me alone with her truck.

I want to shift and go after her. Have her in my arms and safe from the pain the world causes. But I can't, no matter how much I want to. I have a bastard to hunt down and I'm going to rip his guts out with my teeth.