2
He was here, again. It seemed he spent all of his free time on the road between the Howler’s compound and Lost Lakes. Too many hours on the road, too many miles to think, and too much in his head to focus.
He always ended up here.
He slipped off his bike like a shadow and climbed silently to the roof of the porch. Her window was open a crack and the scent of her reached out to him.
He’d never lifted the window.
He knew he was lost if he ever stepped into that room, but he couldn’t help sitting there while she slept.
She called to him and often he could hear her thrash as a dream tormented her, but she always settled when he sat down, there by the window. He told himself that his nearness helped her. He told himself she needed him, but no one needed him.
He was nothing but trouble.
Clothesline scratched at the scar that ran across his throat, a gift from his old man, a reminder that anyone that loved him would suffer.
His chest rumbled with hatred and he felt his claws slide from under his fingernails.
He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, it hurt like hell, but it was a reminder of what he was.
He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky for so long, didn’t know how he’d gotten away with it, but he had.
He was different, the only one of his kind that he knew of, but no one would admit to being a freak.
Harmony made a sound in her sleep and that small sound caused a vibration in Line’s throat that he hated more than the man that had cut it so many years ago.
He was a wolf, he told himself, and the reminder quieted the hated sound.
Harmony made a sound, it was low, but it was filled with pain.
Fury exploded behind his eyes when he heard her low whimper. He couldn’t stand the thought of her pain, it blinded him in a way he couldn’t control.
He lifted the window and slipped into the room.
Her body was bathed in moonlight and her face was drawn up in pain and fear.
He quietly sat beside her and ran a hand over her hair. Her eyes opened, they were so blue in the darkness and there was no fear in them when she saw Line sitting on her bed.
“Another dream?” He asked and gently ran his fingers down her face.
She nodded. “I was being punished.” Her eyes slipped closed.
“You don’t have to talk about it.” He whispered, but he knew she did have to, she had done this at the hospital several times. She needed to get it out and it always killed him.
“I was lying on the kitchen table in my nightgown. The kitchen was dark, and Don claimed he’d heard me moan in the night. He charged me with having unclean thoughts and he’d called everyone to pronounce judgment. “Harmony. You need to repent for your wickedness. You aren’t fit to reside with good people until your thoughts are again clean.”
Harmony shivered. Line wanted to gather her against him, but he knew she wasn’t finished.
“That was what he said as he delivered my punishment. Twenty licks with the belt to my bare bottom.”
Her eyes were damp when she looked up at him. She’d finished.
Clothesline knew it wasn’t only a dream, but a memory of the horrors she’d faced in her home.
“You’re safe now.” He crooned as he finally pulled her to him. “I’ll never let anyone hurt you again. I swear it.”
Her body shook as she cried in his arms.
He pressed his lips to her golden hair and let himself breathe her in.
“Will you stay with me?” She whispered.
He gritted his teeth. “I’m not a good man Harmony. You deserve something better.”
“I’m not afraid of you, or anything when I’m with you. Please. I’m so tired of feeling out of place. I’m tired of not knowing how to feel, of being afraid to close my eyes.”
He slipped into her bed and pulled her close. He wanted her, and he cursed himself for it. She needed a man who could be there, comfort her without having a hard cock while doing it. She needed a man who didn’t live a life she would never understand.
If she noticed, she didn’t comment. She snuggled into him and sighed contentedly and fell asleep.