Chapter 29

Sam

There was a muffled noise of the robe moving on the floor and after a minute, I eased the door open. Megan was draped in the robe and staring at her hands, her fingers covered in drying mud.

"Hey," I said softly, not sure how to proceed. A lone tear tracked down her cheek, leaving a muddy trail. It was followed by another, and then it was like her face cracked open and sobs jerked her whole body as she crumpled to the floor.

My gut clenched, and my heart constricted. I didn't know what else to do, so I sat down on the floor next to her and pulled her onto my lap. She didn't protest. Her head found its way to my shoulder and she cried and cried. Helplessness engulfed me. The only thing I could do was sit with my arms wrapped around her as she cried herself out. Eventually, her tears ended, and her body sagged against me. I could practically feel the exhaustion bleeding off her.

She took a shuddering breath and spoke into my neck.

"Sorry." She sniffed.

"For what?" I was genuinely confused. She had just had her whole world upended, turned into a wolf, gotten married, and then been forced into a Gathering and pack run without time to think anything through.

"I'm a hot mess."

"Well, you're definitely hot." I teased her gently, but truthfully. "But the dirt and sticks could go."

I felt her smile soggily against my shoulder.

"Does this happen every time you run as a wolf? My legs look like they have plums splattered all over them." She stuck one out. It was definitely streaked with dirt and I'd seen them smoother, but her bruises were already faded away to greens and yellows. She sucked in a breath. "Incredible," she breathed.

"We heal very quickly. Although I'm sorry you got so mangled in the underbrush."

"Did you get all bruised up?" She raised herself up, so we were eye level.

I shook my head. "Nope. Once you and your wolf are more on the same page, you won't either. You'll avoid the branches and the thickets and the roots without a second thought." She squinted critically at my hair.

"Seriously. You have like, one leaf stuck in your hair." She scowled. My face cracked into a grin.

"Turn around. I'll help you get the debris out."

She pulled the robe tighter around her chest and stiffly turned so that she was sitting on the floor, my legs on either side of her. It was a little hard not to be turned on, but I gathered my resolve and set to picking out the many, many leaves and sticks and twigs from Megan's hair.