Authors Note: Boy, aren't you glad you didn't have to wait a day for this next part? (I'm having a little too much fun with these notes, if you couldn't tell). Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
-Saturn
He wanted to kill him. He wanted to tear him limb from limb until he was begging for mercy. That's what his instincts were telling him to do.
Max knew something was wrong in the car. He could feel it. His mate was in trouble. Normally, he wouldn't be able to feel it until they built a stronger connection. But there was something about Charlie that made all his senses enhance about him, especially his supernatural senses.
With a quick word, his father stopped the car on the side of the road. He ran into the forest that was around the asphalt freeway. His wolf was faster than his human form. His clothes ripped and shredded off his body as he changed from two-legged to four-legged. And, just like that, he caught onto the scent he wanted to. The smell of apples and cinnamon was pretty simple to track. What alarmed him was the hint of copper in his scent.
Blood.
Someone was hurting his mate.
A growl ripped through his mouth as he sprinted back to the restaurant. It was there that he saw the beautiful blond bloody and battered by the dumpsters.
"This is what you get for stealing people's things," the man hovering over him said. He recognized the smell: smoke and the strong smell of body odor.
Evon.
He was bending over him, feeling for his pockets. And Charlie looked so hopeless. Those meadows had given up all hope, as they got burned to the ground.
Another growl escaped his throat, catching the man's attention. Evon changed from a ruthless bully, to a school girl all in a second. He dropped everything and ran back inside the second that Max bared his teeth at him.
He wanted to follow him and give him a lesson in how to deal with people stealing your things. He would drag his carcass all the way to the river and watch as he drifted off, never to be seen again.
But then he saw Charlie more closely. He was unconscious at this point, his hands wrapped around his stomach.
His heartbeat was getting weaker.
It only took a second for him to mind link with his father. He showed him the memory of what he had just seen and felt his father get just as angry as he.
"Wait there with him," he ordered, "We'll pick both of you up and drive him to a hospital."
"Why not bring him to ours?" he couldn't imagine letting a hospital take care of him. He wanted to take care of him.
"Human's don't belong in the pack house," his dad replied, "You know that."
"But think about what he did for us, and how nice he was. Don't you think we should help him the best we can?" Max was trying to be reasonable. He was fighting the strong urge to yell that it was his mate they were talking about.
His father seemed to sense the worry he had. It was more than he should have for a stranger, let alone a human. He seemed curious as to why, but didn't press the matter.
"Fine," he sighed. "I had no idea you had such a soft spot for these humans. But, you're right. Our doctor's closer anyway."
"Thank you."
"You owe me big time for this," was all he said before the mind link was broken.
He looked at Charlie again. The poor man was bloodied pretty badly. Evon must have been wearing heavy boots that could cause some cuts with the bruises. Max couldn't really change out of his wolf form unless he wanted to risk someone seeing him naked. So, instead, he tried licking his wounds.
Those green eyes opened up a little at the feeling, and gave Max a weak smile.
"What are you doing here?"
All Max could do was whine an answer. He nudged his arm so it would go around him, and he laid as close as possible. It was a cold night, and he knew that he was going to need as much body heat as possible.
If it wasn't for Max watching him the whole time in the restaurant, his parents probably wouldn't have batted an eye towards him.
But, then again, they loved to people watch. And Charlie somehow impressed his dad. It took a lot for someone to do that. When they talked to the Manager, he seemed to know exactly what was going on. He apologized and gave them free unlimited dessert, which his dad loved the idea of. Max made sure it didn't come out of Charlie's check. He worked too hard to have to deal with a problem that wasn't even his.
"You're a good wolf, strangely enough," Charlie mumbled. His hands weaved into his fur, leaving a blissful warmth every where he pet. "I wish I could be like you. At least I'd have a pack to help me. And I would never go hungry."
Hungry? Then Max noticed just how thin he was pressed up against him. What was going on? He wasn't eating? A whine escaped him at the thought of him being hungry.
Max tried to keep him awake, but Charlie's green eyes wouldn't stay open for long. After a few times of trying, he wouldn't wake him up again. He was going to mind link to ask his dad what was taking so long when their car pulled up right in front of the dumpsters.
"Get in the car and change," his father ordered. Max obliged only when he saw him get out of the car. He didn't want to leave Charlie alone.
"What on Earth happened to him?" his mom asked. Max quickly changed into his human form and got some extra pants on. They always made sure to leave some extra clothes in every car they used.
"That other waiter we had beat him," he all but growled his response. Her blue eyes widened in shock. Humans don't normally do something like this. Not the humans in this city. But Max was guessing that Evon wasn't one of the nice ones he always met here.
His dad opened the door and Max helped him place the man beside him. He wanted to wrap him in his arms and never let go. It took everything he had in him not to.
"I don't think he has any broken ribs," his father said when he got back into the driver's seat. "But his heartbeat is strange and he's losing some blood on his head."
Even though he just met Charlie, Max knew that he had already slipped into his dad's heart as well. There was no way he would let a human into the pack house otherwise.
It was a good thing they were in a Jeep. The road took them a half hour to get home, but four-wheeling through the forest got them there in half the time.
They had already mind linked with the pack doctor before they got there. He seemed surprised, but worked quickly to get things ready.
When they got there, everything was moving so quickly. Max had put Charlie gently in his arms and raced him to the infirmary.
Dr. Button worked quickly and efficiently. Even as an Omega, he was the best doctor they could have asked for. He was, in fact, one of the Omega's that changed their pack for good. He convinced the pack, during Max's grandfather's time, that Omega's should be able to do things other than be servants.
Max was glad he never lived in those times. It sounded too much like a little kingdom, whereas now they were more of a family.
They had to wait outside of the room as the doctor worked. Even his dad looked worried at this point.
"And you said that I had a soft spot for humans," Max smirked. Honestly, he really wanted to talk instead of having to deal with the silence anymore.
"What can I say," he sat down next to him. "He gave me the best damn pie of my life."
"You're doing this for pie?"
"There's something about that boy," he answered truthfully. "I feel like he's another son of mine."
He did seem to have an affect on everyone he talked to. When Max was watching him at the restaurant, he'd see angry tables full of smiles after he was done with them. It must be his scent. Even though humans didn't have as great of noses as they did, there was something in them that could subconsciously pick up smells. They just liked to call them auras.
And there was something about that scent that seemed to calm people down and bring them closer. Yet, the more Max watched, the more closed off the blond seemed to be. It was like smelling a freshly baked apple pie, and seeing it locked up in a glass box.
He wanted to shatter that glass.
"He was the one we found in the forest," he admitted. "I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not in the restaurant."
"I had a feeling," his dad shuffled in his seat. "You don't hide things well when it comes to people you recognize."
He sent a quick prayer to the Moon Goddess that his dad didn't suspect anything other than that.
"Maybe I can get him to make Sam laugh again," he changed the subject.
"With how bad he looked, Charlie might be staying here for a while."
"You're really okay with him staying here?" he looked at his father in shock. This seemed to be a day of many firsts for him.
"I don't see him causing any harm to the pack," he straightened his shirt. "If anything, he handled all of us with respect. I see no harm in letting him stay for a bit."
This was unheard of. Something was off.
"What's the real reason, dad?" he asked. His father sighed and rubbed his face a bit.
"Max, I don't think you saw just how bad that boy is," he looked at him with more of a worried expression.
"What do you mean?" his heart was racing. Was he going to lose his mate? He just found him!
"I don't think there's an ounce of fat on that boy's body."
He remembered back to when Charlie was talking about hunger. Was he starving himself? Was he not eating? There was so much he didn't know about him.
Dr. Button came out of the room before Max could say anything to his father. They both stood up and looked at him expectantly.
"Well, he's an interesting case to say the least," the doctor started. "He's got some strong bones; none of them are broken. His ribs are bruised, and there is some bleeding, but it's already stopping for the most part. When he's better, I want to draw some blood and do some tests."
"So, he's going to be okay?" Max asked. He sounded like a little kid asking that question, but he didn't care at the moment.
"My biggest concern is his weight," the doctor said. "For a 5'8" man, he should be around 139-159 lbs. Right now, Charlie's 100.56 lbs."
"So, he's underweight by forty pounds?" his dad asked. "How severe is that?"
"Not extremely, but I'd say there's no way he should be getting out of here until he's at least 120lbs." Dr. Button looked at him with the authority that only the doctor could have. He wasn't trying to outrank him like most pack members thought. He just always wanted what was best for his patients. Like most doctors did.
Max liked this trait about him more and more.
"Agreed," his dad nodded. "He can stay until you release him, Dr. Button. Take care of him."
Max just sat there staring at the door to the room Charlie was in. It was a creamy white door with nothing exciting about it. The handle was silver. The infirmary was always spotless. Even the ceilings got cleaned by the janitors that worked there. Cleanliness was one thing that Dr. Button thrived on. He told everyone that it was the best way to prevent people from getting in a worse health state than they were already in.
Some of Max's thoughts wandered to old information such as Dr. Button's strange obsession with cleaning. But most of them stayed focused on the situation at hand.
What was going on in his mate's life? Why did he seem so close, yet so distant?
Would he let him in?