[Rock]When I got home from work on Monday, I could hear Carmen talking in the back room. I took off my shoes and headed to the bedroom for a shower. As I walked past the guest room, I saw Carmen in a chair with a book in her lap and Austin sleeping. He seemed a lot more peaceful than the last time I looked in on him while he was sleeping. “What are you doing, love?” I asked softly. “Austin said he likes my voice and asked me to read to him. He was having nightmares and a friendly presence has helped to keep them away for a while.” “How long have you been reading?” “A few hours. I went and got a glass of water to help with the dryness while I talk. I think this is the longest I’ve ever talked,” she giggled. “I’m going to go shower, then we can make an early dinner. Orella will be by soon and I want you to rest before your lesson.” “I’ll keep reading until dinner’s ready, if that’s okay. I think this is the most restful sleep he’s gotten since we brought him home,” Carmen told me. “You do that, love. I’ll be back as soon as I can to relieve you.” After giving her a quick kiss, I went to the bathroom in our room and showered. Seeing Carmen like that made me think of how she would be when we had a child. I would have to get braille story books, so she could read to them and it would be more appropriate than a romance novel.The thought of it made me smile. It wasn’t time yet, but I would relish the process when it was time. I’d seen how softies rounded out when they were pregnant. Troll women got thicker, but didn’t bulge. I loved the idea of it but I was still worried about how dangerous it could be for her. Luckily, we had healers who would take on her care as if she were their own daughter. I knew once they met Carmen they would love her. She was supposed to be theirs, after all. And Carmen would be kind to them while she was staying with them. She really wanted to be more involved in the fae community. Once my shower was over, I dried off and got into some comfortable clothes for around the house. I went to the kitchen and started working on dinner. Carmen ate relatively little for a werewolf, I was learning. This man needed a lot more food. Perhaps it was because he was healing and half starved. I didn’t know, but I was making him troll sized portions and he was eating it all with relative ease. I diced a whole roast and started searing it while I prepared dinner for Carmen and myself. I made sure I also got vegetables made for him and mixed in with the meat as I poured it into a large mixing bowl. It looked like dog food and I chuckled at the connection my mind made. I put the larger roast into the pan and seared the sides before I slid it into the oven to cook the rest of the way. The veggies were seasoned and put on a baking sheet that I put into a second oven. It would all be done at the same time, since I didn’t cook our meat all the way through. Neither one of us liked the dryness and texture of overcooked meat. I grabbed a fork and some water, then loaded them onto the tray. Carrying it into the room, I could already hear Carmen and Austin talking. They seemed friendly and I was glad she made a new friend. That didn’t mean I didn’t miss her at work, though. Austin didn’t shy away from me when I took the tray to him and set it down on his lap. His eyes widened at the large bowl of meat, but he said nothing before he started eating. I went to the chair and picked up Carmen, sitting there and holding her in my lap. She leaned her head on my shoulder and I knew she missed me today as well. We stayed with Austin until he finished eating and I helped him to the bathroom and back to his bed. Carmen could have picked him up, but she told me she didn’t trust herself to not hit his leg against a wall, so she just helped him along. I was about a foot taller than him, so I couldn’t do the same. It was easier to pick him up. “Thank you for helping me,” Austin said after I got him back into bed and covered him up. “Don’t thank fae, Austin. Some will see it as an insult or admission of a debt owed. Trolls don’t but you’re in the fae lands and you don’t want to insult something powerful. Most of all, you don’t want to end up owing them a debt,” I warned. “A debt? Do I owe you a debt for this? How can I pay you back?”“You owe us nothing. I told you. The goddess led me to you and we’re doing her work by caring for you,” Carmen replied. “She’s right. You owe us nothing for caring for you.” “I told Carmen I’ll help around the house once I can walk again. At least let me do that to repay you in some way.” “That’s fine. There’s not a lot to do around here, though. And I want to teach you how to fight a little before you leave. It would be best if you stayed with us through the winter.” “The whole winter? I thought you would want me out of your house as soon as I was well enough….” “I’m a little surprised, too,” Carmen murmured. “When I was thinking about it, I kept imagining him leaving in the spring. I can’t imagine the goddess wants us to turn him out into the dead of winter after she worked to save his life,” I reasoned. “Will you stay with us until spring, Austin? You can do any chores you want, Rock will teach you how to protect yourself, and we can talk to Queen Bellamy about helping you learn whatever you need for whatever profession you want to do. What do you want to do with your life? For the first time ever, you have the chance to decide for yourself,” Carmen asked. Austin blushed a little and looked away from her. I could see that he was thinking about it. Deciding what you wanted to do with your life was an important step. Some people took a long time to find their calling, but making this decision was a first step. “I… I don’t know. I like beautiful things and I really want to make them. But being an artist doesn’t pay well. I used to take pictures for the Alpha’s son. I like photography…. But I should probably learn to work with my hands on something.” “Well, I’m in construction. Once you’re healthy, you can come to work with me to earn some money for cameras and equipment. Start a photography business. You can do portraits for work and art shots for a hobby. I like woodworking. I build things for a living and I carve things for fun,” I suggested. He looked up at me with astonishment in his eyes. I didn’t think he realized that making decisions could be so easy. Most people didn’t. Trolls were very decisive creatures. There was none of that unnecessary waffling about what to do. We did whatever felt right in the moment. I smiled at him and he shivered a little. I forgot how unnerving a troll’s smile could be to non-trolls. He smiled back, though. “That helps a lot. I’ll stay with you for the winter and work with you so I can do that. I think I’m going to sleep now….” “We’ll be back later with a fae healer. I want to see if there’s anything she can do for you. Alright?” I asked. “That sounds good. I’ll sleep until she gets here. Can I thank you for this?” Carmen giggled. “Just say ‘I appreciate it’. That is the closest to thanking a fae you can safely get.”“I really do appreciate it. This is the kindest anyone has ever been to me. I promise I won’t be a bad guest and I’ll do as much around the house as I can.” “We appreciate that. And it sounds like your life pretty well sucked before. So, in a way, it seems like all the bullshit you went through since you left the pack has been worth it,” I said. He chuckled and nodded. “It seems like it.” We left him to get some more rest and went to have our dinner. Orella was going to be a little late tonight because she had a later appointment at her office. It was best to have dinner first. Carmen told me about her day while we ate. I told her about the progress on our projects. Early fall often held more short term jobs. We had a few that were only four weeks long. I was working on the finishing touches for a six week project. We were still working on permits for the Master of the territory, who had decided to go with my tiny houses in the corner of his property. We were preparing for the work on Dennis’ properties. He had been available for phone consultations and I emailed him all of our plans for his new club. He loved it. Viola had been the one to do sketches. She had a designer’s eye and I was finding her to be more useful than only being an assistant to Carmen. I was starting to tout her as our in-house designer. It was something we had farmed out to other companies before, but having someone who could do that would earn us more business. I was planning to offer to pay for classes in design for her. It would add value to her employment and I would raise her pay to be in line with what she could earn as a designer. I might have to get another assistant, but that wouldn’t be as much as an issue since we had so much protection for the office. It seemed like my business was growing by leaps and bounds now that I found Carmen. The goddess had surely blessed us for accepting each other. With the growth and new work, I could probably hire on more people for the seasonal work. When dinner was over, I washed the dishes from the day and loaded the dishwasher. I heard a knock at the door while I was working and Carmen answered it. This was the perfect time to prepare Austin’s lunch for the next day. I got to work. Half an hour later, Carmen came into the kitchen. I was just wrapping up the food so it could cool before I put it in the fridge. She was grinning and had a new necklace on. “What’s that?” I asked. “It’s the charm. Orella tested it out on another wolf and it worked! She said to let her know how my heat went. Queen Maeve wants to make these available to her allies. She said it would be a gesture of goodwill to the packs. Can you imagine it, Rock? No more having to skip school once a month for teens. No more missing work for it. They’re going to change what it means to be a female werewolf. Actual family planning can happen!” She was elated and I couldn’t help but smile at it. Carmen never thought about the implications of the charm when we asked Orella for one, but I thought this could happen. In fact, I was the one who told Queen Maeve about what the seer was working on. The fae were getting a lot more from their alliances than they were offering. She didn’t like feeling as if her people were indebted. We went back out to the living room together. Orella was sitting in one of the chairs with a smile on her face. I went to her and knelt by the chair, taking her hand. “I am grateful to you for getting this done with such haste. Carmen and I didn’t know how we’d handle her heat this month with our guest. As you know, our mating is different enough that certain things aren’t guaranteed,” I said. “You were worried that her heat would attract other males. I understand. As your bond grows, you will start to feel each other’s feelings and even talk mentally, like werewolves do. It may take a year or more, but I am certain it will happen. Her heats are only for you, now, though.” It was a relief that her heats wouldn’t attract unwanted males. That was one of my biggest concerns about it. Now I could rest easy knowing it wouldn’t attract them and the charm would stop her from feeling the effects of the heat as well. “Now, I received a vision that you needed my help with an unexpected guest. The goddess guided you to someone?” “An omega werewolf named Austin who went rogue,” Carmen told her. “He was caught in a hunter’s trap. I freed him and we brought him home to nurse him back to health. The damage in his leg seems really bad. I know omegas don’t heal as quickly as other wolves. I’m worried about him. We’ve been keeping it clean, but they can get infections easier than we can.”Orella nodded. “I’m here to help him along. You are on track with what the goddess wants from you in regards to him. I will help the healing process to take some of the strain off of his wolf. He wasn’t starting from a great place. The starvation he suffered for so long made him even weaker than he should be. I do have to warn you, though, this will exhaust him.” “What does that mean?” I asked. “He may not wake tomorrow. If he does, he will need a lot of food right away. The way we heal doesn’t translate well to the body of non-fae. In one of us, it would cause a mild euphoria. In him, it will be a great strain on his body and soul. Do you still want me to do this?” “Yes,” Carmen said. “He was a servant from a very young age. He feels like a burden when he can’t work or do anything. That sort of mentality might make his healing slower.” “I agree. I can tell there’s some strength in him, but he feels very weak right now and I think it’s translating into a depression with him. If we’re going to get him on the right track for his life, we need to pull him out of it,” I told her. “Let’s go, then.”