11

When I returned home, I wasn't surprised to find Milo exactly where I left him—curled up on the couch and staring at the screen. With a smile on my face, I walked up and ran my hand through his fur before turning my attention to Indiana and Simon who were curled up on the couch.

"Thank you for watching him," I told the both of them.

Indiana rolled her eyes. "You don't have to think us, Slater. That's what friends are for."

Hearing her say that caused a small smile to form on my face. After visiting rescues, this was what I needed. I wanted to be home with my mate and temporarily let go of all the problems and pain.

"He didn't give you any trouble, right?" I asked them.

Simon shook his head. "He was actually pretty nice. I'll admit, when Indie told me about how he reacted to Stellan, I was a little worried, but he was calm with us."

"Maybe it's just a Stellan thing." Indiana snickered before standing up. "We're gonna head out, but don't be afraid to reach out if you need us again."

I smiled at her. "Alright, thank you, Indiana, and you too Simon."

With that, Indiana and Simon left and I turned my attention back to Milo. He sat on the couch, curled up and as I stared down at him, I couldn't help but shake my head.

"You know you're going to have to get a bath, right?" I said and almost instantly, his attention was on me and he began to move away. I rolled my eyes. "Come on, it wasn't that bad. It'll be quick, I promise."

Milo didn't appear to be convinced though. He stared at me and his body was tensed, ready to bolt if needed. I crossed my hands over my chest and stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You know I'm not letting you on the bed until you take a bath right?" His head tilted to the side as if he was confused by my words. I took a step toward him and he instantly moved back. "Milo."

The two of us stared at each other for a moment and I let out a sigh. "Look, I promise it'll be quick okay? In and out, then you can get on the bed."

Milo studied my face for a few minutes before finally standing up. He got off the couch and slowly made his way to me. Though the look on his face said that he'd rather be anywhere else, he didn't pull away and I smiled down at him.

"It'll be quick, okay? I promise."

Milo slowly trailed behind me as I made my way to the bathroom and started running the water. I kept my hand underneath to make sure that the water wasn't too hot or too cold. Once I was sure it was all right, I carefully helped him into the tub and grabbed the shampoo before getting started.

"If you could talk, I'm sure you'd be cussing me out by now," I said amusedly. Milo's eyes stared me down in a way that told me he more than likely agreed with my assessment. "You know, I can't wait for that day though. The day you shift, the day you speak..."

It was true. I was looking forward to actually seeing Milo—his human counterpart, that is, and not just his wolf. It was the same for all the rescues. After being in wolf form for so long, I doubted that some even remembered how to do so. Not to mention the fear. Even if they did remember, I doubted that they wanted to shift just yet anyway. In their eyes, they weren't safe just yet. It would only be after we managed to earn their trust that they did so.

It would take a while, but I was willing to put in the effort.

"Do you remember how to shift?" I asked Milo though I wasn't really expecting an answer. He tilted his head to the side and I smiled as I began to rinse him off. "It isn't really that important right now. You'll shift whenever you're ready and that's what matters—"

My words were abruptly cut off as Milo hopped out of the tub and began to aggressively shake the access water off his fur and flung it around not only the room but me as well. Once he stopped, I stared at him and let out a sigh.

"You're still charming as ever, Milo."

Clearly not at all affected by my words, Milo sauntered out of the room and toward the bed, leaving me to not only clean up the now-wet bathroom but myself as well.

"You know, maybe I spoke too soon," I mumbled mainly to myself in a joking manner. "The sooner you shift, the sooner you can start washing yourself."

If he heard my words, Milo didn't seem to care. I stood up and began to dry and clean the bathroom before taking a shower of my own. Thankfully, while I did so, Milo didn't seem to cause any trouble. No noises of fallen items or broken glass.

When I stepped out I immediately realized why. Curled up in the bed was Milo with his eyes shut. Clearly, the change of pace from today had done its job. I walked toward him and lightly ran my fingers through his fur before pulling the blanket over him. Then I moved to turn on the fan and to turn the light off before finally slipping into bed beside him.

"Good night, Milo," I whispered even though I doubted he could hear me.

I clutched the blanket tightly before shutting my eyes and drifting off to sleep.

...

Milo was gone.

That was the first thing I noticed when I woke up the next morning. Immediately, I pushed my body up into a sitting position before darting out of the bedroom and looking around for him. The first place I checked was the living room. I partly hoped that he'd be there, sitting on the couch as he tried to get the remote to work or even running around crazily, knocking over items, but he wasn't. One look told me that he wasn't in the kitchen, so I moved back to the bedroom and searched just to make sure I hadn't overlooked him. After, I moved to the bathroom and raised my hand to open the door, but momentarily stopped when I heard the faint sound of crying on the other end.

"Milo?" I called out softly and the crying ceased. "Milo, sweetheart, is that you?" There was no sound other than a whimper that made my heart break. "I'm coming in, okay?"

Slowly, I opened the door and tried not to scare him even though my heart was beating at what felt like a million miles per hour. The sound of shallow breathing filled my ears and once the door was completely open, I froze. Sitting there on the floor, huddled in the corner of the room with long black hair hanging loosely was a fair-skinned male.

One who I immediately realized was Milo.

His eyes shot to mine and I saw the tears streaming down his face and my eyes immediately softened. I started to move toward him, but the growl-like noise he let out had me pausing. It wasn't a true growl, but I knew what it meant.

His arms were wrapped tightly around his legs and I could see the subtle shiver that ran over his body. Slowly, I backed out of the doorway and moved to the closet. I grabbed one of the blankets before reproaching, making sure not to cross into the room since I didn't want to scare or overwhelm him even more.

I was sure he was confused. Having gone to sleep in his wolf form and then waking up with two legs after what had more than likely been years would confuse and overwhelm anyone. Honestly, I was surprised I hadn't heard him when it happened. I held out the blanket to him and offered him a reassuring smile.

"Hi, Milo," I said softly, seeing the way he flinched at his name. "Can I give you this? You look cold, sweetheart. If you don't want me to come any closer, I won't but remember, I won't hurt you."

His eyes studied my face for a moment and slowly, I stood up and took a small step forward. I watched his reaction carefully and when nothing happened, I took another. I started to move again, but I saw the way he tensed so I paused and waited. I wasn't in any rush; I'd move at his pace.

This continued for a little while longer until I was close enough to carefully wrap the blanket around him. Afterward, I lowered myself to the ground and took a seat.

"We don't have to leave the bathroom until you're ready," I told him.

Milo didn't say anything, so we sat there in silence. I didn't try to coax him out, but instead, I patiently since I was sure a lot was going on in his mind at that moment. Trying to force him would've only done more harm than good.

His hands were tightly gripping the blanket and his eyes were staring off into space as if he wasn't quite all the way there. It was only around an hour or so that he eventually stood up and tried to take a step; however, after being in his wolf form for so long, his legs seemed to give out on him. Before he could hit the ground, I shot up from my spot and moved to catch him.

"Are you okay—" I started to ask, but the words dried up in my mouth when I saw where he was looking.

Brown eyes stared in the mirror at the reflection of himself. They studied his face, his hair, his whole body and I could feel and hear the way his heartbeat accelerated and a single tear escaped. His eyes followed the tear and once it finally fell to the ground, like a dam that was about to burst, a few more small droplets escaped before the whole thing burst.

His hands tightly clung to me as his loud cries echoed through the room, and surrounded me and my heart began to break once again, knowing that I couldn't calm him down.

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