we all three went to Fiona's room. "It wont be easy at first, or pretty, but we need to push through that if we hope to get to a place where she is a functioning member of this pack."
It all sounded a little like an intervention, but Marcus knew what he was doing, and in something like this I trusted him to know what was best.
We got to Fiona's door and Marcus knocked, but didn't wait for a reply. He pushed the door open and stepped in. Fiona was on the bed, curled up, but she sat up immediately when the three of us came in.
"We want to talk to you for a bit," Marcus said, in a gentle but firm voice.
I went around to the side of the bed and sat down nearby Fiona, still giving her some space but I hoped also providing some female support. I knew Marcus and Connor, who was hanging back by the door, had the best intentions, but neither of them could ever really understand what it was like for a female werewolf to be alone out in the world. I wanted Fiona to know that I was with her, and that I understood, even if all I could do to express that was sit on the bed beside her.
"From everything that Sara has told me," Marcus said, glancing in my direction for a moment, "it is very... difficult to be a female werewolf without a pack."
Fiona didn't say anything, just sat on the bed hugging her legs. I wanted badly to reach over to her and hold her hand, do something to help reassure her that she was in a safe place, but I didn't want to freak her out either.
"But we want you to know that this is a safe place for you," Marcus continued, "and we think that the sooner you open up to us, and begin to tell us a bit about yourself, the sooner you will begin to heal. At first it's going to be painful and uncomfortable, I know, but we want you to try."
But Fiona still didn't say anything, gave no outward sign of a reaction at all.
Marcus came more in to the room then, coming around to the other side of the bed from me and sitting down on it. "You need to do this Fiona. Why don't you tell us about where you were going when Connor found you. Or where you were coming from."
I reached out to Fiona then, to reassure her, and laid a hand on her knee, but as soon as I put my hand there she came alive, snarling, actually snarling, at me, and lunging across the bed like a rabid dog even as I lurched back, off of the bed and away from her to the other side of the room.
Connor was there in an instant by my side, shielding me with his body from Fiona and her sudden attack, and her anger seemed to wilt under the look that Connor was giving her, that I couldn't see but could imagine wasn't too friendly.
I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say, but before I could get a word out to Fiona, to tell her it was okay or to berate her or something, Connor pulled me from the room out to the hallway, and Marcus followed close behind. He shut the door firmly and was immediately at my side as well.
"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding worried.
"I'm fine," I said, a little exasperated by the way the two of them were hovering over me, like I was some delicate flower that needed constant protection and monitoring. If that was what being mated in a triad was going to be like then I was going to have to lay down some new rules. I could take care of myself, and I resented the implication that I couldn't.
Still, it had been frightening the way Fiona had reacted, I couldn't deny that. At least I had an answer as to how she had survived so long on the streets by herself. She was feral, as much animal as she was human. She had hid it well up until then, but the way I'd touched her must have set something off, and she had lost it. Or at least that was my working theory of what happened.
"Her werewolf instincts are all right at the surface," Marcus said, "she's not so different from the way Connor was when I first found him. Much less dangerous though, thankfully."
Marcus put a protective hand on my shoulder, and I let him this time, because I hadn't thought
It all sounded a little like an intervention, but Marcus knew what he was doing, and in something like this I trusted him to know what was best.
We got to Fiona's door and Marcus knocked, but didn't wait for a reply. He pushed the door open and stepped in. Fiona was on the bed, curled up, but she sat up immediately when the three of us came in.
"We want to talk to you for a bit," Marcus said, in a gentle but firm voice.
I went around to the side of the bed and sat down nearby Fiona, still giving her some space but I hoped also providing some female support. I knew Marcus and Connor, who was hanging back by the door, had the best intentions, but neither of them could ever really understand what it was like for a female werewolf to be alone out in the world. I wanted Fiona to know that I was with her, and that I understood, even if all I could do to express that was sit on the bed beside her.
"From everything that Sara has told me," Marcus said, glancing in my direction for a moment, "it is very... difficult to be a female werewolf without a pack."
Fiona didn't say anything, just sat on the bed hugging her legs. I wanted badly to reach over to her and hold her hand, do something to help reassure her that she was in a safe place, but I didn't want to freak her out either.
"But we want you to know that this is a safe place for you," Marcus continued, "and we think that the sooner you open up to us, and begin to tell us a bit about yourself, the sooner you will begin to heal. At first it's going to be painful and uncomfortable, I know, but we want you to try."
But Fiona still didn't say anything, gave no outward sign of a reaction at all.
Marcus came more in to the room then, coming around to the other side of the bed from me and sitting down on it. "You need to do this Fiona. Why don't you tell us about where you were going when Connor found you. Or where you were coming from."
I reached out to Fiona then, to reassure her, and laid a hand on her knee, but as soon as I put my hand there she came alive, snarling, actually snarling, at me, and lunging across the bed like a rabid dog even as I lurched back, off of the bed and away from her to the other side of the room.
Connor was there in an instant by my side, shielding me with his body from Fiona and her sudden attack, and her anger seemed to wilt under the look that Connor was giving her, that I couldn't see but could imagine wasn't too friendly.
I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say, but before I could get a word out to Fiona, to tell her it was okay or to berate her or something, Connor pulled me from the room out to the hallway, and Marcus followed close behind. He shut the door firmly and was immediately at my side as well.
"Are you okay?" he asked, sounding worried.
"I'm fine," I said, a little exasperated by the way the two of them were hovering over me, like I was some delicate flower that needed constant protection and monitoring. If that was what being mated in a triad was going to be like then I was going to have to lay down some new rules. I could take care of myself, and I resented the implication that I couldn't.
Still, it had been frightening the way Fiona had reacted, I couldn't deny that. At least I had an answer as to how she had survived so long on the streets by herself. She was feral, as much animal as she was human. She had hid it well up until then, but the way I'd touched her must have set something off, and she had lost it. Or at least that was my working theory of what happened.
"Her werewolf instincts are all right at the surface," Marcus said, "she's not so different from the way Connor was when I first found him. Much less dangerous though, thankfully."
Marcus put a protective hand on my shoulder, and I let him this time, because I hadn't thought
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