Saving Maximus

That’s the thing about pain. It demands to be felt. —John Green

LEILA

I walked upstairs to my bedroom after having brunch with my mom and Albert. My room was on the first floor of the pack house.

When I opened it, the familiar setting made me remember my life living here.

My room was small—a twin bed against the farthest corner of the room, with a white end table and a desk on the opposite wall where I used to do my homework.

There were posters on the walls and my artwork; I used to doodle back in high school. My familiar scent still lingered in the air even though it was stale.

Throwing my duffle bag on the floor, I walked over to the edge of the bed, where I sat looking around.

My heart twisted nostalgically. It was bittersweet to be back here. I had enjoyed my teenage years. They were more carefree.

Carefully, I slid off my leather jacket and boots before heading to the bathroom, where I looked in the mirror. My black hair fell in loose waves around my face.

I rarely put on makeup. I didn’t like the feeling of heaviness on my face when it was on.

I wouldn’t say my body was a perfect ten. I stood at five foot four and I was told my breasts were too big. I had wide hips that always seemed to distort my body in a weird way.

I turned on the faucet in my bathroom sink and splashed some cold water on my face to wake myself up before looking back up again.

I wondered when Dad would come home tomorrow.

I also wondered how our young alpha was doing. I had talked to my parents often when I was away at college, and they had told me that the alpha had found his mate.

He had marked her and already introduced her to the pack as their Luna, but a tragedy happened. All of this occurred while I was still in school.

The alpha was not on pack territory when our Luna died. He was away for a meeting when the Luna went out for a run in the woods.

She was resting beside a river when rogues attacked her. Her body was viciously torn apart.

I remembered feeling a distant pain in my chest one day while in class. It made me clutch my chest and fall to the ground.

I knew it was our Luna because her connection to us broke.

My classmates were worried, but everyone knew what had happened because I was not mated. They knew a leader in my pack had died.

Alpha Maximus found his Luna at the age of eighteen, and within a few weeks of announcing her as our Luna, she was attacked.

Alpha Maximus took it hard. My mom told me he had changed ever since then. He became more distant.

He stayed in his bedroom, refusing to come out to meet the pack.

After a month of refusing to eat and mourning, he finally emerged, but he was not the same happy person he was before everything happened.

I couldn’t blame him. A mate was everything to a werewolf. They were our destined other half.

They were the one person that made us stronger and understood us. The bond tied our souls together, making us one.

If that bond was to break or your mate died, it meant eternal suffering.

Some werewolves were not able to take the suffering, and they died along with their mate, whether it was suicide or refusing to go on with life.

I could not imagine the pain that our alpha was going through. I was amazed at how he had handled it over the five years since her death.

I was never really close to the alpha. We were two years apart, and I was always a wallflower. Nobody noticed me, and that was how I liked it.

After exploring and putting my things away in my old room, I went back downstairs to meet everyone.

I was sure everyone was curious as to who I was because, again, I was a total wallflower back then; no one noticed who I was until now.

When I arrived downstairs, a few older pack members were standing around the pack house talking to my mom.

There were some individuals my age who were sitting in the common area talking. When they saw me, they all stopped talking.

My mom walked up to me and turned me toward everyone. I awkwardly forced a smile at everyone, even though their eyes on me were uncomfortable.

“Everyone, this is my daughter, Leila. Some of you might remember her from back in high school. She went away to college to learn to become our pack doctor. She came back to visit before heading back to finish her degree. She will be done by the end of this month and will be coming back home to us,” my mom said proudly, hugging me from behind.

A couple of the older members nodded their heads as they looked at me appraisingly. One male walked up to me—he was about my age and he looked familiar—but I wasn’t able to pin a name to the face.

“Welcome back, Leila. I’m Will.” He put his hand out in front of me to shake.

“Thank you. It is very good to be back here again—brings back many memories.” I smiled at him.

Will was tall—standing next to him, I would say I reached his chin. He was a pretty boy. His facial structure made him look younger than he really was.

His blue eyes glinted with mischief as he looked at me appreciatively, which I found a little weird because what about me was that interesting? I faintly remembered having him in one of my classes.

“Well, if you need any tours or help around here, don’t hesitate to ask me. I would love to show you around.” He winked.

“Thank you,” I responded wryly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

I turned to my mother, who was smiling gleefully at our exchange, and I quirked an eyebrow, questioning what had gotten her so happy.

She only shrugged and squeezed my arm with the arm she had wrapped around me.

“Since I will be coming back here to be the pack doctor, I am wondering if I can take a look at the hospital wing. I just want to look at the inventory and familiarize myself with it,” I replied.

“I can take you,” Will offered, too quickly. I narrowed my eyes at him, feeling a little weirded out by his urgency.

“That would be great,” I replied, and gestured for him to lead me. He headed down the right hallway in the pack house.

Soon our bodies were walking side by side. He was a talker.

He talked about his life, and then he asked me a few personal questions that I was hesitant to answer, but what the heck, it was good to start making friends.

Every now and then, his body would brush up against mine faintly, but it did not generate any spark.

“So, here is the medical wing. We have about five rooms for our members to sleep in.” He pointed down further and I noticed five doors along the wall.

“This way is the way to our pack doctor’s office, and right next to the pack doctor’s office is the storage room,” he pointed to his left as he spoke.

The medical wing was small—very small—but that’s because werewolves did not get injured very often, and if they did get injured, they healed very quickly.

The wing had wood flooring and cream-colored, dry walls all around. There was a small opening dividing the patient rooms from the area that led to my soon-to-be office.

In the small opening that divided the room were brown velvet sofas and couches for family members to wait.

“I like it,” I replied quietly. “It’s small, but it also gives off a comforting vibe to family members who feel anxious.”

Will took a glance around as I told him my response, and he nodded his head, also feeling that same vibe.

He then turned to me and gave me a bright smile.

“You will be a good pack doctor—a gorgeous one too,” he winked at me and smirked.

“Thank you,” I answered awkwardly. “Thank you for showing me around. I am going to check out the storage room. I’ll see you later.”

He nodded, and as I walked to the storage room, I could still feel his gaze on my back.

Will didn’t give me a bad vibe, but I could tell that he was attracted to me, which boggled my mind, because I was not attractive.

But hey, if he liked me, he liked me, I thought as I entered the storage room.