(This is a trigger warning. This story contains domestic violence. If you think you may suffer from domestic violence please seek help in your retrospective communities. )
Spring was on its way and it had been several months since Layton had died. It was true that Cian had murdered him, but Cian never looked at it that way. He looked at Layton's murder as a pre-emptive action. Philosophy and ethics be damned, better Layton than his Wren. So he harboured no regrets for protecting his beloved.
Cian and Wren had continued working in The Wolves Den together. They both enjoyed it. Cian had convinced Wren to move into the cabin next to his. He couldn't bare to see her living in the trailer where she had formerly lived with Layton. So Wren had moved into the cabin and the two lived together, as neighbors, on the farm.
Still Cian was a gentleman, and not used to living with people or other wolves. He wanted Wren near him. She was happy in the cabin next to his. Wren had updated the cabin, which had been stuck in the 1980s, into a modern one. Cian was proud of her for the frugal way she made it her home. Wren and Cian were the perfect team, always in sync. This was one of the best times in Cian's long life. Still, there was so much he had to tell Wren...how could he even start to explain?
One night a spring thunderstorm arose. The power went off in Wren's cabin. She had been in the middle of Jeopardy. She waited and waited for the power to come back on but it was in vain. She'd have to get Cian to fix it. He was a handyman. Cian did all the repairs around the bar, electric and plumbing too. Wren headed out,into the storm, to Cian's cabin. He'd know what to do to fix the TV or transformer or whatever was wrong.
The TV came back on after Cian had fixed the antena. (It had fallen off due to a high wind and Cian shimmed up to put it back on.) Cian came into Wren's house drenched to the bone. Not that the cold bothered him so much thanks to his warm werewolf blood, still it bothered Wren to see him in such a state.
"Cian, you're drenched to the bone! You must be freezing! Take that shirt off right away and I'll get you a blanket to cover yourself up. I don't want you going back outside tonight. There's tornado sirens going off and thunderstorms scare me...ever since I was a little girl. So stay here with me?" she questioned. Wren went to the linen closet to fetch Cian a blanket. It was moth-worn but it was the best that Wren had for now.
She came back in the living room just as Cian was stripping off his shirt. Gods above, he was so handsome. His chest was muscular and Wren just wanted to do unspeakable things to him. When he stood shirtless before her, Wren regretted that he was her boss, She'd make a move on him otherwise. Cian caught Wren eye-fucking him. He decided to have some fun."Watcha looking at Wren?" he questioned teasingly.
"Oh...nothing." said Wren as she blushed a tempting red at having been caught.
"Uhmm...you still must be cold...how about some peppermint tea to warm you up?" she questioned as she made her way to the stove to put the kettle on.
"Sure." said Cian. Wren made them both peppermint tea and they drank it together. Wren realized that she knew very little about Cian other than he was her boss and owned this land. Now was the perfect time to talk to him.
"This farm is awfully big for you to live here alone. Where is everyone else? Don't you have any family?" questioned Wren. She worried about her boss. He seemed very lonely. Although he did a good job at hiding it. Wren thought Cian suppressed his true feelings.
Cian really didn't want to talk about it. Talking about his pack was hard. The Alpha part of him also felt that it was betraying secrets. "I used to have a really close extended pac...family, several generations lived together here happily for the most part. Then some younger pac..family members wanted to do things their own way. They didn't want to live as we had always lived. They called me difficult and demanding. So they left, everybody else left too, leaving me here. Alone, for now. Well, now I guess you're here too. But, they'll be back soon. I've watched over them for a long time. They'll see I'm right."
Wren took a sip of her peppermint tea and sighed. She liked Cian, alot. He was a good protector. But, he never expected anything to change. Wren knew things changed. Cian's wolf senses knew there was something amiss.
"What?" he questioned.
"Nothing." said Wren, worried that if she insulted her boss, she could be fired. Losing her job and home.
"So, it's something. Tell me." ordered Cian. He was used to getting his own way with everyone. Only Wren and Finn defied him. Cian had dealt with the rebellious Finn, now what did Wren have to say?
"Well...it's just that I think your family might have been right. You can be difficult to get along with sometimes. The Yelp score on The Wolves Den would go up if you made some simple changes. It wouldn't have to be anything drastic at once, just little things. So I think your family might have been right. I'm only saying this to help, us." said Wren. She took another sip of her peppermint tea, expecting Cian's wrath. She subconsciously braced herself for a physical blow. Layton would have hit her over this.
Cian looked at Wren. He could tell she was protecting herself from the blow she thought was coming, eons ago as his mother had done the same. Did she really think that he would hit her? He wasn't like Layton! But, she had called him difficult and demanding. Cian was an Alpha. How could Wren speak to him that way? Only Finn did that! How could his beloved speak to him like this?
Still, unlike Finn, she had used the word "us". Finn had never thought of the pack as a group. He was an individual..a punk..a loner. Wren wanted an "us". That was entirely different than what Finn wanted. Around Cian, no one had ever talked about an "us". Cian wasn't mad at Wren. He was intrigued.
