Welcome back to Tuesday Tales!  This weeks prompt is Stiff.

Back again with The Raven, the 4th book in my Tribe series.

In this weeks installment, Velli gets an idea in the middle of the night. Before they came to the sanctuary to work on her friend John’s little problem, she made Kane promise to not let her get lost in the lab.

Also, her past is not pretty by a long shot and she has a tendency to run (she ran away from Kane for 6 whole years before he found her again). She has spent years believing, and experiencing, that the worst can, and usually will happen, to her.

Being with her mate has helped her move past such thoughts most of the time, but sometimes they creep back in.

Oh, and translations…Shëntse Táno means “Fucking Wolf”. And Möchésé táno means what it’s followed by “Ravenwolf”.

Hope you enjoy:

“Spirits, that’s it.”

Kane startled awake when the woman wrapped in his arms shouted in his ear and bolted from the bed. He rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the dark. “Vels? What the actual fuck?”

“Sorry. I got an idea.” She kissed his temple. “Go back to sleep. If Aidan wakes, I pumped earlier and there’s plenty of milk in the fridge.”

“No no no.” He grabbed her hand. “You promised.”

“I know, but I thought I’d be done long before the next moon when we came. If I put this off it might be another moon before we can go home.”

“Bribery is not the way to go.”

“Kane.” She yelped when he yanked her back in bed. “Stop. I have to go now before I forget what I was thinking.”

“You never forget anything.”

“Not entirely true,” her tone wobbled.

He cursed inwardly for the accidental reminder of the organization. They’d been doing well pretending that huge massive problem wasn’t looming over their heads. “Vels.”

“Give me five minutes to write this down. Please.”

“I thought you had to go.” He was glad she wasn’t, but he really didn’t want to draw out their stay any longer than they had to.

“I do, I should…but…fuck.”

“Easy.”

“There’s just too much.” She sat, her whole body now tense. “I should start this test now so it’s done soon. But I need to talk to you. Then there’s the bird. And the kids. And I promised I wouldn’t get lost down there. I made you swear not to let me, but if I don’t—”

“Easy.” He clasped her hand and used it to tug her back down to the bed. “What’s going on? You were fine a few minutes ago.”

“You reminded me of something. Something we need to discuss.”

“Can it wait?”

“No. Yes. No. It’s waited a long time already.” She curled close against him. “Part of me thinks we should deal with the latest crisis. The rest knows I have to tell you, but I’m scared you’ll think I’m all batshit crazy again.”

“How about we compromise?”

“How’s that?”

He rested his chin on her head, trailing his finger along her shoulder. “We’ll leave a note for Kimi, and take Aidan with us. While you run your tests, I’ll wait in the office with Aidan and once you’re able to, we’ll talk about this other thing.”

“I don’t like it when you’re calm and logical. It’s annoying as hell.”

“Poor baby.”

“The horrors I live through being your mate.” She chuckled against his chest. “Fine. We’ll do things your way. Live less stressfully and all that crap.”

“You’re just mad you’re getting used to it.”

“I am. It’ll hurt more when it’s all taken away.”

He reached for her as the last statement faded into the dark, but she was already in the closet getting dressed. Damn that woman for her sometimes inhuman speed. Rather than confront her outright, he gave her a minute to calm down. He grabbed his buckskins and slipped them on before padding over to the closet door. “You still think that?”

Her whole body grew stiff at the question, he could tell even in the dark of night. The Wolf in him sensed it as much as the scent of fear that edged into what had become the sweet scent of the calm air she’d acquired in the months at the reservation. A faint whisper caught the air, “Shëntse Táno.”

He crept up behind her and set his hands on her shoulders. There wasn’t a ripple of surprise in her at his touch, not that he expected one. What he expected more was some sort of attack, but she stayed still. “Don’t blame my Wolf .”

“I was not blaming your fucking Wolf, I was blaming you. Or is your Native name not Möchésé táno? Hm, Ravenwolf?” She leaned back against him. “You know I never let that go. I may never let that go. The instinct to run is not as great with you, and Kimi and Aidan, but I always fear the world tumbling down around me. I likely always will.”

“Even with the Spirits reassurances, and that of the Sage?”

“Even with all of that.”

He rubbed his hands along her arms gently. Even though he knew years of self-doubt, self-loathing, and pure torture couldn’t be erased in the short time they’d had together, he hated that part of her still succumbed to what her past had bred in her. “What can I do?”

“You’re doing everything right.”

“Should I do more wrong, then?”

 

*~*

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