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The Healing Souls
Likeness
Likeness1978words
Update Time2024-11-01 09:40:50
 [Rock] It had been a week since we accepted the animals into our home. They had found their places fairly easily. The dog went running with the wolves when they went out for their weekly run while the cat stayed in with me and sat on the counter as I made dinner for everyone.Aside from that, each animal claimed one of us. Pepper followed me around the house and sat at my feet whenever I was sitting down. Butterscotch cuddled close to Carmen when she was reading or when we were watching television. Neither of the animals liked that we didn’t permit them in our room.That was one thing Carmen and I agreed on. If the door was closed, they were on one side and we were on the other. I didn’t need an audience when I was with my mate. Some of our games would be easy for animals to misunderstand.Carmen was feeling a little down because today was the day that Austin and Gemma were moving to the pack lands. Having them around the house all winter made her happy. I think it actually helped with the transition more than the previous months with just me.She would never say that, but going from a large household and community to a much smaller, closer knit one was probably a bigger shock to her than she let on. Carmen almost always took things in stride. It was how she kept control of things around her. If no one knew what was going on in her head, then she had power over it. I would peek in on her as she helped them pack their bags. Carmen sat on their bed and folded things while Gemma put them into the bag. Austin was working on clearing out the closet and the drawers. He was looking under everything to make sure nothing was missing.Yesterday, he had washed every clothing item they owned, so there was no laundry to do when they got back to their home. He would stay on at my company until his classes started in the fall. The pack had helped him get registered at the community college. I was happy for him.Pursuing your dreams was a hard thing to do in life. Getting things to line up didn’t always work out. His pack was helping him a lot. I was glad they were there for him.It felt as if my children were leaving home. Kind of sad, kind of happy, a bit relieved. If we hadn’t found Austin, he would have died out there. If we had sent him off to the collective to heal, he wouldn’t have found Gemma and he wouldn’t have gotten his family back.I enjoyed knowing we made a difference to someone that was so drastic. It may have felt like a little thing at the time, but it was actually a much larger deal. Now our home would be ours again... aside from the animals that lived there now... but they didn’t really count.It took a couple of hours to get everything packed and loaded into their car. I hadn’t realized how much they had really moved into my house. I thought they just had clothes, but then Austin pulled out a few boxes with his photography equipment and a few other things he’d bought since he started working with me.Once they were all packed, I helped them load up Gemma’s car. Carmen leaned against the house on the front porch as we worked. It didn’t take long to handle it.Carmen joined me in the driveway as they finished and closed up the car. Gemma gave Carmen a hug like she wasn’t going to see her again for years, when she only lived a twenty-minute drive away. I shook Austin’s hand and told him I’d see him at work on Monday.“Thank you so much for everything. I owe you so much and I can never tell you how much I appreciate you taking me in,” Austin said, his voice thick with emotion.“You’re always welcome here, and we’ll definitely come visit you guys soon,” I replied with a smile.Gemma grinned. “We’re looking forward to it!”With one final round of hugs, they were off. Carmen and I stood in the driveway, watching as the car disappeared down the street. The silence that descended upon us was a stark contrast to the noise and energy that Austin and Gemma brought into our lives.Carmen and I stood there for a moment. I could sense the sadness in her, and I knew exactly what to do to make her feel better.“Come on,” I said, taking her hand and leading her away from the empty driveway. “I want to show you something.”I took Carmen into my garage workshop and showed her the project I had been working on. With friends and animals distracting her from me, I had a lot of time to work on my project. It was just about finished. I just had to stain it and seal it.She told me a few months ago that she couldn’t shift into her half-wolf form because she didn’t know what she really looked like. It was a big part of the process, imagining yourself merging with your animal. Her birthday was in the middle of April and I planned to give it to her then, but I thought cheering her up would be better. I could figure out another present.Guiding her to the wooden figure that was exactly the same height as her, I took both her hands in mine and kissed the tips of her fingers. Carmen smiled and let out a little laugh.“Did you bring me here for dirty reasons, Alpha?” she asked.It was the first time in months that she didn’t have to whisper it in our home. I couldn’t help but smile as I felt a surge in my body. I loved it when Carmen called me Alpha.With a chuckle, I pulled her closer and kissed her. I knew this present would make her want to change her shape, and I wanted at least one kiss before that happened. I had never seen a werewolf in their half form before. That wasn’t something most people outside of the packs ever saw.“No,” I murmured against her lips. “Maybe later.”“What did you want to show me?”Taking Carmen’s hands, I put them on the face of the statue. She felt around, then pulled back. Her face turned fully to the statue, and she gasped. She was using her magic to see the shape of it.“Is this...?”“It’s you. I’ve been carving it in my spare time over the last couple months. I remembered what you told me when I made the other carving for you. For too much of your life, you’ve been hindered because of your blindness. I wanted to give you something no one else could,” I told her.Tears welled up in Carmen’s eyes as she reached out and traced the statue’s face with her fingers. “It’s beautiful,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you so much.”With a proud smile, I watched as she continued to explore the piece. “I’m glad you like it. I thought it would help you when you shift. You’ll be able to see what you really look like.”Carmen’s eyes widened. “I... I don’t know what to say. This is incredible.”I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close. “You don’t have to say anything. I just want you to be happy.”She turned around in my arms and held me as well. I gently wiped away a tear that had escaped her eye. For a moment, everything else disappeared, and it was just the two of us in the garage. The world didn’t matter anymore.“Rock, this is the most amazing gift anyone has ever given me. I love you so much.”“I love you with all my heart, Carmen,” I replied, kissing the top of her head. “And I’ll always do whatever it takes to make you happy.”Carmen hugged me tighter, burying her head into my chest. I could feel her tears soaking through my shirt as she cried softly.“I know you will,” she whispered. “And I love you so much for it.”We stood there for a while, lost in our own little world, until I finally pulled away and looked into her eyes. “Are you ready to try it?”She nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. “Yeah. Let’s do it.”I stepped back and watched as she started pulling her clothing off. This was an entirely new process to me. I knew she needed to take off her clothes when shifting into her wolf form because it had a different build. How was this one different?Carmen closed her eyes and took a deep breath once her clothes were off and I was holding on to them. Her half-wolf form emerged slowly as her body convulsed. Her fingers grew longer and her nails turned into sharp claws. She grew hair all over her body, and her ears became furry and pointed. Her teeth grew longer and sharper as her face changed shape to be more like a wolf’s. She was even a little taller, gaining at least three more inches in height.I couldn’t help but be in awe of her beauty. She was stunning in her half-wolf form. Her muscles were well-defined and her body was leaner than before. She looked powerful and graceful at the same time.“Wow,” I breathed out, unable to take my eyes off of her.Carmen took a few steps toward me, and I could see her eyes tear up again. Her pupils dilated and I could see her eyes moving all over. They focused on my face in a way they never had, even when she used her magic.She reached out to me. I stayed still while she approached. Carmen’s hands ended up on either side of my face. She did this a lot, especially if she wanted to kiss me.Her eyes were staring directly into mine. I wrapped one of my arms around her waist and she shivered. I leaned in and kissed her, feeling her sharp teeth grazing against my lips. It was an unusual sensation, but one that I found incredibly arousing.Carmen was always beautiful to me, but the way she looked right now was something other trolls might find attractive. Suddenly, I felt possessive of her like I never had before. The idea of other men looking at her hadn’t bothered me that much, but the idea of other trolls looking at her or touching her had always stirred something inside me.Part of me couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to make love to her in this form. Her heightened senses, her strength, her animalistic nature...it was a heady thought.But as quickly as it had come, the moment passed. Carmen pulled away from me, her eyes filled with a mixture of desire and confusion.“I’m sorry. I didn’t... I don’t know what came over me. It’s like it blended my mind with Blanche’s while we’re like this. We really wanted to kiss you,” Carmen said softly.“Never apologize for kissing me. I love everything about you, and I always will.”“It’s just... this is a fighting form. Those with strong enough ranked blood can do it and it’s meant to be one of the ways we protect our pack. People don’t kiss in it.”“We should definitely change that,” I replied, pulling her back into my arms and kissing her again.As we kissed, I couldn’t help but feel my arousal growing. Carmen’s body was so different in this form, and it was an incredible turn-on. I ran my hands up and down her muscular back, feeling the soft fur under my fingertips. She let out a low growl, and I felt her claws dig into my back.“Oh! Well, this is different,” an amused male voice said from behind me.