Mason’s POV

I looked the pictures over, again. There were five victims now. Millender was getting more confident, he was striking on the pack lands. He knew this would make us come after him. We didn’t need the humans to get involved in werewolf business.

That would only create problems.

Grayson sighed, tired. We’d been up all night looking over the paperwork. We had to ‘make a case’ against Millender that Finn could approve of.

It was my job to try to anticipate future targets for Millender. We’d have to keep the newer recruits safe. They were all our responsibility. Our pack was responsible for everyone who came in and out of our program. We were responsible for the packs that our men looked after.

“You know Alexia can’t protect herself against someone like Millender.” I commented while still looking over the rosters.

“You think so?” Grayson wasn’t interested. He had bigger worries to tackle.

“We should move her into the house.” I put the files down on my lap and looked at my brother.

He met my eyes. “We can’t bring everyone who needs protection into this house.”

“She’s been exhibiting control worthy of living here.”

“You’d bet your nephew on her control?”

I tore my eyes away from him, looking back down at the files. “You know I wouldn’t bet my nephew on my control.”

“If she loses it, that’ll be on you. She’ll be your responsibility to contain if she lives here.”

I nodded, “Fair enough.”

“I’ll test her after I get some sleep.” He stood from his desk and didn’t even bother to straighten out the papers. Casey would probably be in here soon to clean up her husband’s mess.

I leaned back against the sofa’s armrest. I didn’t want to move the papers around me, so I just took my nap there.

One thing was for sure, I had every intention of watching Grayson while he tested Lexi's control.

Lexi’s POV

I couldn’t get the thoughts of finding the murderer out of my head. I had talked to the group the victim had been training with. There was nothing unusual there…well except for the fact that they were all werewolves.

There was no weird rivalry, no intense competition. No one he even talked too really. All anyone had to say about him was that he was new. No one really knew anything other than that he had gotten there maybe a week ago, and that wasn’t even for sure.

His murder looked like it was just a crime of opportunity. Maybe the killer was waiting for the opportunity for someone to break away from the group and give him an opening.

My thoughts were ripped away from the murder when my group ended the morning jog around the woods. We were waiting for Chris to show up to tell us what we would be doing that day. Chris liked to keep the group on our toes so we couldn’t prepare ourselves.

 It felt like my leg was being electrocuted. The spasm shot down to my toes, while the other spasm shot up past my hip.

I felt my wolf rouse by the suddenness of the pain. She was instantly aware. I didn’t feel as alone in the pain as I had the second before my wolf ascended.

There had been no warning. I hadn’t gotten hit by anything. I wasn’t even running anymore, I had been stretching my good leg.

The severity had me drop to the ground. The intensity made me stop breathing. I could only exhale in gasps of pain and wait for it to stop.

All the pain started at my scars. When the edge of the pain lessened I could breathe in pants.

“Back away.” The order shot through the group like fire. I hadn’t notice the group surround me until they were all backing away from me. “What’s going on here?” Chris kept his distance. I couldn’t think about his reasons or intentions as he stared at me. I could only think about the pain.

“Is she losing it?” Tommy asked, and received yet another hit to the back of his head.

Oddly, that made me smile. Tommy really didn’t have any social skills. It would amaze me if he could ever even get a real girlfriend.

“If she were losing it she’d already be shifting.” Chris muttered.

The pain curbed off a bit. The relief from the pain allowed me to take a deep breath. My breathing slowly returned to normal. I hadn’t had any real sensation in the damaged area and the area surrounding it since the attack. I didn’t ever think that I’d have to worry about that pain coming back with a vengeance.

Chris kicked my shoe on my good leg. “What’s wrong with you?”

The jostle made me hiss as pain shot through my entire leg again.

“My leg.” I said between clenched teeth.

“What’s wrong with it?” Chris crouched down and looked over my straightened leg.

“I don’t know.” I whined.

When he touched the damaged section of my leg I saw stars. Literally. My vision speckled with dark stars. All I could do was freeze.

When he ran his fingers over the scars, I’d had enough…or at least my wolf had enough.

I smacked his forearm as hard as I could manage. “Don’t, fucking, touch it.” I growled.

Chris’ eyes narrowed on me. “Don’t start thinking you can give out orders just because you’re in pain.”

“Well don’t think you’re a doctor because you can give orders.” I shot back.

“There’s nothing wrong with your leg.” He muttered as he stood up. “Nothing.”

“Well then I guess that takes away the pain then doesn’t it?” I said sarcastically.

I moved my foot around, forcing the muscles to unclench and relax. I could see my thigh pulsing around the injury site.

“What happened?” Robbie asked taking a step forward.

His forward progress was hindered by Chris who shot him a look over his shoulder.

“I don’t know.” I muttered trying to sit up. I couldn’t bend my hip enough to sit up correctly, so my good side had to compensate for it.

Chris looked back at the group, “Go spar in the gym.” Chris ordered to the group, most of which immediately started going towards the compound.

“Can I stay?” Robbie asked quietly. “I can help.”

Chris shook his head, “I’ve got help coming. Go with your group.”

Robbie nodded once to his superior, turned around and followed the group.

“So what was that?” Chris asked once they were all gone.

“How many times do I have to say I don’t know before you’ll listen?” I growled out. I didn’t need to be asked the same question 20 times. The answer would always be the same.

“You shouldn’t be so snippy; I’m just trying to help.” He muttered as he looked off in the distance.

I brought my good leg under me and forced myself up. I wobbled a bit. I took Chris’ outstretched arm just because I knew if I landed on my bad side the sharp stabbing pain would come back again.

I tried to put pressure on my leg, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t be able to walk anywhere without assistance until whatever was causing this pain stopped.

“What’s going on here?” A deep voice asked. I had to look over to recognize that Grayson was coming towards us.

“No idea.” Chris muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Grayson asked while he looked at me. I immediately lowered my eyes and looked at the ground.

“My leg hurts.” I muttered.

I could feel Chris shoulder’s shaking. He was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” I muttered.

“You spit fire at everyone until Grayson comes around, then you’re a scared little pup.”

The only reason I didn’t smack or shove him was because he was my crutch.

“Alright, enough. She’s coming with me.” Grayson's voice was steadily getting closer.

“Why?” Chris asked.

“Because she is.” Grayson said simply while he scooped me up into his arms.

I squirmed. “I can walk!”

Chris started walking towards the compound and left me alone with Grayson.

“I’m taking you to Brian so he can check out your leg. After that, I’m going to decide whether or not your control is up to par.” He said as he started walking towards an SUV.

He put me into the passenger side of the car. Once I was in, he let me adjust myself comfortably.

I didn’t say a word as he drove us to the pack house. Once there, I immediately started trying to get out all by myself. I didn’t want him to carry me again. It was weird and I didn’t like it.

I counted my lucky stars when I saw Mason headed towards the car.

“Get the girl.” Grayson shot to Mason as he hopped out of the car.

“She’s got two legs.”

“Get the girl.” This time Grayson left no room for negotiation. It was an order, so Mason had to follow it. “Take her to Brian.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Mason kept his slow, lazy pace as he got closer to the car.

“No idea. I’m not the doctor.” Grayson disappeared into the house.

Mason stared at me when he got to the side of the car. I had managed to swing my leg over the side of the seat, but I knew I couldn’t support the weight of my body on it yet.

“Hop out.”

“I can’t walk.”

Mason rolled his eyes, “And why can’t you walk? You have your legs.”

“It’s my leg-“

“This one?” He flicked my bad thigh like I had a bug on my leg.

My immediate reaction was kick him away. It didn’t get that far because he grabbed my ankle of my good leg before it could connect with him.

“That’s not nice.” He chastised.

“Oh please, like you’re Mr. Nice.”

I gave up waiting for him. I’d hobble my way to wherever Mason led me to. Grayson told him to take me to Brain, so he would. I slid out of the SUV and put all my weight on my good leg.

I held onto the door of the car as I tested out my leg. My knee gave before I could even take a step.

Mason sighed, “Fine.”

He scooped me up like Grayson did, but I didn’t feel anxious or uncomfortable. He kicked the door of the car shut and carried me into the house.

-----

“This isn’t an uncommon response to the nerves returning sensation to your leg.” Brian said as he held a file that had my name on it. “Your previous physician’s report suggests that you lost all feeling in the area the wolf bit off. They assumed that because of your rapid recovery that’s why your nerves didn’t heal normally.”

“So what does that mean?"

“It means that the pain you felt was the nerves firing back up. The wolf who attacked you had ripped the previous nerves out.” That was disturbing and gruesome. “For humans, once it’s gone, you can’t get it back. But, since you’re a werewolf, that scar you have will eventually heal over.”

“So I’ll be normal again?”

He nodded, “Once you get past the nerves growing back, it shouldn’t be painful at all.”

“What can I do about the pain?”

Brian frowned a little. “Nothing really. Drugs will take the edge off for a few minutes, but they metabolize so quick that the relief isn’t usually worth the pain that comes back.”

“So I just have to take it?”

He nodded, “Yep, but it shouldn’t be more than a day or two until the painful part is over.”

“Great.” I muttered and looked at the pulsing dent in my leg. “Is that normal?”

He let out a small huff, “Yes. It’s fine.”

I couldn’t stop staring at it. I usually didn’t look at it when I took a shower; I covered it up quickly when I got dressed. It was weird to see the pitting deformation of the scaring.

It made me sad.

“Just give it some time. In a few months you won’t even see it anymore.” Brian suggested, before he walked out of the room.

My pants were held out over my shoulder. I grabbed them and rested them on my lap. I couldn’t believe the massive turn my life had taken.

Where would I be if I hadn’t been attacked? I’d be home, not worrying about werewolves and the headaches that came with the territory.

“What’s wrong?” Mason asked behind me.

I shrugged, “Sometimes it feels like nothing’s wrong. Sometimes it feels like everything’s wrong.”

“You’ll adjust. It just takes time.”

I looked at Mason over my shoulder. “The guys in my group are all well-adjusted.”

“And they all went through the phase you’re at now. Those guys have quite a few years of adjustment than you do.”

“It still sucks.” I muttered and unfolded my pants.

“If it’s any consolation, you’re doing much better than some of the guys in your group.”

I huffed. “What choice did I have? As soon as I was attacked, Grayson came and stole me away.”

“He’s not the only one who was there. You shouldn’t blame him. He was just doing what was required of him.”

I tugged on my pants. “It doesn’t matter anymore. What’s done is done.” Once I was properly covered I faced Mason. “So are you taking me back or what?”

“Grayson’s going to test your control. If you pass, we’ll go up to your apartment and close everything out.”

“My apartment?” I asked confused. I hadn’t even thought about it since I’ve been here.

“Yes.” He held out his hand for me to take. He was going to act as my crutch until I could walk around unassisted. “I called and told them you were moving. There was something about your lease, but I wasn’t paying attention.” I rolled my eyes. Of course not. “We’ll head up there tomorrow morning, if you pass.”

“So what? This is my final?” I joked as I reached for his hand.

He nodded with a smile. “Kind of.”

He walked me up to Grayson’s office, where my control would be tested.