<b>Chapter </b><b>282 </b>


    I wast silently as he figures out what he wants to do. It doesn’t take long for him to swallow hard and mid his head, <b>moble </b>ba arrelly sands, 31 tr gently cing <b>my </b>hand on his chin. It’s only when he realizes that I’m pulling him towards looking at me that he polle away again.


    “It’s the fear he sees.”


    I stop a moment as him telling me anything is unexpected.


    *Cole?”


    “He punishes me for the fear he sees in my eyes when I look at him. It’s a weakness. The very thing he’s trying to get rid of in me


    I ce my hand on the side of his face as he’s bing desperate to get away from me. To his frustration I counter his every move, staying gentle <b>but </b>firm with my movements. It’s only as his desperation peaks that I give him two loud clicks with my tongue freezing him in his ce.


    “I’m not your father, Cole, and I’m not like any alpha you have ever worked with. While I don’t expect you to trust it, as trust is extremely fragile<b>, </b>I do need you to understand it. There is more that I wanted to say to you before you broke eye contact with me, I need you back, Cole. I need you to understand me and how I work as much as I’m trying to understand you.”


    To my relief he stops his fight but he’s stiff and shaking hard. He’s facing me but his head is down and his eyes are closed.


    “Cole, I need you to look at me.”


    *Alpha please,” his voice is now desperate and pleading.


    “No alpha has been able to handle seeing the fear within me. I’m <b>sorry </b>I’m so weak. I know I’m not deserving of being here and <b>I </b>understand if <b>you </b><b>send </b><b>me </b>back once I’m well enough to travel but please don’t force this. You will hurt me for the fear you see. You <b>have </b>been so kind and supportive <b>the </bst few days, I can’t handle that from you.”


    There are so many emotionsing through in his voice that I’m struggling to react. <b>I </b>remain silent after he finishes his plea. Slowly, I ce my hand on the back of his head. I can feel him tense up with my contact but he doesn’t fight <b>as </b>I gently run the tips of my fingers against his scalp. I wait for his reaction to my contact to calm before I make my next move.


    “Cole, I’d like to get you to sit back on the bed. I’m going to go next door to my room and get the half milligram sublingual Ativan. I would like you to take it as I feel you are very close to a panic attack and I want to avoid that. I need to understand why you reacted the way you did with Madisyn.”


    “Red Moon.”


    “Something happened at the Red Moon pack?”


    I’m trying to understand his simple response. He steps away slowly before whispering “yes sir.” His head is still down as I gently touch his shoulder stopping his shuffle away from me.


    “Cole, look at me.” I try onest time.


    He lifts his head and opens his eyes<b>. </b>As many times as I’ve done this with other abused wolves and the few times he’s managed to do it himself nothing could have prepared me for the level of fear that I see. <b>He </b>only holds his gaze there for a second before turning away. I reach my hand out towards him. Moving slowly as he’s already told what has happened in his past. Lightly hushing his desire to whimper or yelp, I touch his face before moving to his temple and gently brushing his hair back. With my voice barely above a whisper and my other hand at his side I gently guide him to the bed.


    It doesn’t take long for me to get the medication and head back to the room. I knock lightly again, slowly opening the door as the young man’s anxiety is already higher than I want it to be. I step inside slowly. I can hear Jessa and Damian talking downstairs but I’m too far away to understand their conversation. I know they’re good friends. They have been ever since she saved him and <b>the </b>lives of his two closest friends. They even started dating a month after he turned eighteen.


    I’ve tried inconsistently to get close to Jessa. She lost her parents as a teenager and her alpha didn’t understand her gift. She had been in and out of a dozen or more packs from the time she was fifteen until Ang found her at Purple Mountain three <b>years </b>ago. Ang knew of natural healers and how much I was interested in adding one to my medical team. I just got lucky that at almost neen she already had her nursing degree. It didn’t take much money or time to make her a pediatric nurse practitioner and an invaluable member of my <b>pack</b>.


    <b>The </b><b>Son </b>of Red <b>Fang </b>