Family and Business

When I woke, I was again under a large, hefty wolf, his fur half suffocating me as I struggled to sit up. I looked at my knee- at some point while I was asleep, Tak had wrapped it with bandages. I could tell that it was less swollen, however, and the pain was still less than it was yesterday morning.

I felt a cool sweat on my forehead, but I didn't feel feverish any more. As I stirred, the large wolf yawned and yipped, making whining, groaning sounds as if it were talking, scolding me for disturbing it.

"Come on, boy, let me stand," I struggled to shift the huge pile of fur, who took no notice of my effort. I looked at the clock Tak had me search for yesterday- it was late, about 9am.

Oh crap! Work!

"Oh no, no no no no," I whispered, pushing more frantically against the animal. "Come on, move please, move, I have to-" I moved a little too much, bending my knee and I cried out, much more loudly than I intended- but the pain shocked me. I tried to scramble out, and couldn't make any progress, reaching desperately for my phone; I ended up knocking it to the floor with a clatter.

The sunlight streamed through the window, showing the room in a warm light despite the colder weather outside. I heard footsteps racing to the door, and Tak burst in.

"What happened, are you all right?" he asked urgently.

"I overslept!" I cried. "I'm so late for work, again, this is the third day in a row! I can't-"

"Oh," he said, visibly relaxing. "Laine- it's all right. You need to heal, don't worry about that place."

"I can't just not show up, Tak," I said, finally managing to convince the wolf to get off the bed. I struggled to stand, Tak steadying me, his hands on my waist and shoulder, as I balanced on my working foot.

"Hey," he said, soothingly. "Listen- why don't you call them and say that you can't make it for a week?"

"Like I can do that," I scoffed.

"I think you can," he said gently. "I can tell you already take your job very seriously, especially walking miles to work while you're injured. They'd be foolish to let you go over an injury. Their loss if they do."

"I-" I began to object, to tell him how crazy he was, but he turned my face up to his. He had morning breath, his hair was wild, he looked exhausted-

And perfect. Absolutely perfect. I lost my train of thought completely, instead I began focusing on not making a fool of myself by brushing the hair out of his eyes, or putting my hand on his cheek, or-

I shook my head as hard as I could. "All right," I said, swallowing hard. "Can you grab my phone for me?"

Tak set me down gently on the bed again, and I got more comfortable sitting on it. He looked around until he found the phone and the battery- but in my mad panic, I had shattered my screen by accidentally sending it flying.

"What's the name of the business? I'll look up their phone number," he said, calmly.

He searched it, dialed, and handed me his phone. I waited to be connected and explained my situation partially. I was told I could go on unpaid leave for two weeks, but I needed a doctor's note, and my boss and HR could take it as a fax or email.

"That's not a problem," Tak said when I told him after saying goodbye. "In fact, more than likely the doctor would write you a note for much longer than that. Stuff like this can take six weeks to heal, Grandad says."

"I don't have one," I repeated.

"Doesn't matter, I'm sure there is one that does cash and go," he replied, rubbing his neck. "It's clear you're injured enough for a note, at least."

"I can't afford that-" Tak leaned forward, and I became self-conscious instantly. "It'll be okay," he said, catching my eyes and holding his hand to my cheek. "We will figure it out, and it's going to work out. You already got further than you thought you would, right?" He smiled, and kissed my forehead lightly, standing up.

"Not going to lie, I'm glad your phone is broken, though," he said, looking at the shatter pattern on the screen. "I imagine you have some very nasty voicemails and texts."

"I imagine I do," I agreed, and shivered. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"I am very, very glad you're doing this," he said softly. "I'm going to get the bathroom warmed for you, so you can shower and get dressed. Stay put," he grinned, and left the room.

Get the bathroom warmed for me? I touched my cheek, feeling the warmth there. I felt guilty, somehow, for how much he was considering my comfort. I patted the wolf absent-mindedly, receiving tiny licks on my hand in return. Or on the bandages, rather.

Tak came back, and knelt in front of the bed- he gently took my hands and began to unwrap them.

"Ah, fat boy saw you were hurt," he said, as his fingers came away wet, and he wiped away the slobber on his basketball shorts. "He'll probably howl while you're in there, just as a warning."

"Why?" I asked, surprised.

"Because I imagine you don't want him in there with you, and he's going to complain," he responded with a smile. "It'll offend his sensibilities that you wouldn't go into the water with him."

"Oh," I said. What was the purpose of a bath if you're going to be covered in wet dog smell? Or wolf, rather.

"It'll be fine. He'll give up eventually," he said, taking the last of the bandages off. "Still inflamed, looks like. Keep the water on the edge of warm, or it'll hurt," he instructed. "I've already put some other clothes on the counter for you. We both missed breakfast, but I'll make us something while you're cleaning up."

"What about you?" I asked.

"Oh, do I stink?" He responded with a wicked grin, grabbing his hair and holding it to his face. "A little bit like wolf, I suppose," his green eyes flashed at me with amusement.

"No, no!" I cried. "I didn't mean it like that I just meant- I-" I couldn't find anything to say.

"Did you want me to join you, then?" he asked, peering at me closely. He was so close I could practically feel the heat from him.

I shook my head, embarrassed, and covered my face.

"Ahhh, you're just too fun to tease, Lain," he said, standing and pulling me to him. "I'm sorry. You're so beautiful, but when you blush I just want to see it more."

I held my hands in front of my face still, but leaned into his embrace. I couldn't help it, so sue me, I thought.

He picked me up easily, and I didn't struggle this time. We went down a narrow-ish hallway, past quite a few doors, and into another bedroom. The bed was unmade, and still had two wolves on it, wrestling. I could tell instantly somehow it was his bedroom. He set me down just inside the bathroom, which was already toasty.

"Towels there," he said, pointing. "And yeah, I put the other clothes on the counter. Umm. My younger sister had some- she had some clean bras and that, so I put them in there too." I flushed again. "You two seem like around the same size, anyway. I'll wash your other clothes, just throw them out of the door." He paused. "And it locks, too, so, just so you're comfortable."

"Thank you," I said, stepping in. The wolf that had slept on my bed trotted in as well, pushing his way past Tak and sat near the door to the shower. It was absolutely enormous, with a bench on one wall, frosted glass, and a huge shower head that made the water fall like rain. I undressed quickly, and remembering what Tak had said, made sure I only partially opened the shower and slipped inside. The wolf stood on its hind legs, almost reaching the top of the wall, but dropped and started whining, pawing at the door.

"No, let me wash off," I said as firmly as I could. I got an ear-piercing howl in return. I heard a knock on the door.

"If that's Tak, I didn't lock it," I called. The glass was frosted anyway, right?

Tak popped his head in. "I'm already getting further than I thought I would," he joked, grabbing my clothes. "What do you want for breakfast?"

"Whatever you like," I replied, beginning to use a loofah. It wasn't like he was standing right next to me, the bathroom was large, but being in proximity to him like that was making me feel-

I shook my head under the soft water, stopping my thoughts cold.

"There won't be anyone else coming in here," he added, clearly keeping his back to the shower and talking to the wall.. "This is my bathroom and it's attached to my room, so don't worry." I could just barely make out his shape.

"Thank you," I said over the sound of the shower. "I won't be long."

He left, closing the door behind him. I finished cleaning off to the howls of the offended wolf outside the glass, and stepped out. Shuffling around him, I saw tags still hanging off the underwear set.

"Sister's clothes, not," I murmured, ripping them off. They were a little big, but I was able to make it work, and slipped into a clean uniform. Hobbling to the door, I opened it, and found Tak sitting on his made bed, with plates laid across the length of it.

"It's toast, egg, sausage, bacon, grits, biscuits-" he began listing off a ridiculous amount of food. I stood a moment, and he stopped to look at me, and patted the bed next to him. I sat. Again, so close that my thinking began to haze over; what was wrong with me? I never felt this way. I'd been attracted to people before, but this was so much more powerful. I watched as he loaded my plate down with a little of everything, and I balanced it on my lap as we ate.

God, he ate a lot. I'd just gotten through about half of my plate when he completely refilled his and ate it, too. It wasn't too surprising, considering his size, but it was interesting.

"Do you want to head down to the kitchen today?" he asked, once I had watched him eat the second plate. He loaded down a third.

"You don't have to," he said, his mouth half full. "Of course, I'll be in there too, in and out. Grandad would let you do whatever was easy for you to stay seated and work on."

"I would like that," I said, quietly. "Maybe I could work off some payment for-"

He leaned forward, stopping my words, pressing his lips hungrily over mine. The same sense of belonging crashed over me like a wave, and I realized I didn't want to be the first to pull away. So I didn't.

He gently touched the back of my neck, his other hand finding mine and twining our fingers together, and I shifted forward until I was in his lap- he impatiently pushed the plate out of his. He let go of my hand to put his on the small of my back, and I held onto him tightly.

My smile ended up breaking the kiss off, but he put his forehead on mine, lightly rubbing his hand on my back, his happiness mirroring mine.

"So, scratch that," he said. "You're not paying back anything. What's going to happen, is, I'm going to find a doctor that'll take you right away, while you help out with silverware and dishing. When I find one, I'll drive you there, you get a note, get it sent off. We go and get you some clothes that'll be better than wearing a uniform all the time, then we come home." His eyes were so beautiful I could half listen to him.

"All right," I said. If it was a trap, so be it.

"Awesome," he said, giving me a tiny kiss and turning his attention to my hands. "Let's wrap these back up before you start."

"These weren't your sister's, were they?" I asked as he came back with the bandages.

"What wasn't my sister's?" he asked, grinning.

"Oh never mind," I said, getting warm.

He didn't tease me any more, but again wrapped my hands up tightly, and helped me to walk down, across the yard, and into the back of the restaurant. I was introduced to the two cooks on duty, Tak's brothers, Kangee and Dowan. They seemed friendly enough, Kangee was a bit smaller than Dowan, but they both resembled Tak greatly; same long hair, same glittering green eyes.

Dowan immediately dragged a chair from the customer area into the kitchen and had me sit next to him, learning how each dish was supposed to be plated. Kangee brought a tub of silverware and waited until Dowan was done, and showed me how to roll. It was tough with my hands being bandaged, and he noticed I was struggling.

"Don't worry, mitaka-ki," Kangee said to me, patting my shoulder. "Just think how fast you will be when you heal!" He smiled broadly, and went back to preparing an order, kicking Dowan in the back of the knee as he passed, much to Dowan's irritation.

I worked as quickly and cleanly as I could, but I wasn't more than half done before Takoda came back. He helped me roll the rest.

"I've found someone to look at you," he said when we'd finished the last set. He had pulled up a chair, too, and we sat on the opposite end of the kitchen from the cooks, to give them space, and the waiters and waitresses as they dashed back and forth with orders. "Let's go ahead and get over there."

"Is it someone you know?" I asked nervously.

"No, but she's gotten good reviews on the internet," he replied. "It's not going to be anything bad, I'm sure she's just going to examine your knee and tell you to rest and not put any weight on it."

"I hope that-" I was interrupted by a low growl. I turned, expecting to see one of the wolves begging for a scrap or something, but instead Dowan and Kangee were staring at each other. My mind went back to yesterday, the low, menacing growl I had heard from the door- when Han was examining my bruises-

Fast, faster than thought, Dowan lunged and Kangee went down with his brother atop him, fighting. It looked as if he was trying to bite, and when his hand raised again, I saw long nails like claws flash in the light from the fluorescent bulbs overhead. It was like something from a horror movie, and remembering the feeling of being my father's punching bag filled my mind.

Terror froze me to my seat, an unwilling spectator as the fight continued.

Tak shook his head and, leaping forward, pulled Dowan off by the hair at the nape of his neck, then bent and grabbed Kangee the same way.

"Calm down!" he commanded loudly, and it was the final straw for me when that same voice made my heart shiver in my chest. Never minding my injured leg, I left quickly through the door I'd come in and sat down on the ground by Tak's car, still parked crookedly outside the main house. After just a few minutes, Tak came out and straight to me.

"I'm so sorry, Lain," he said. "They still struggle talking to each other like human beings, so stuff gets lost in translation."

"Is that normal, then?" I asked, looking up at him. He guessed the question behind my question, judging by the flash of concern I saw cross his eyes.

"In a way, yes, they're both short tempered with each other," he said, squatting down to talk to me. "They're close in age, and they've always butted heads. I don't want to use my alpha voice on them, but sometimes it's the only way I can get them to separate long enough. They aren't violent with anyone but each other though; and please don't think that we condone violence here, either. Grandad will be punishing them later."

"That's what you call yelling? Alpha voice?" I asked, then bit my tongue. That sounded sarcastic.

"It's...a little different than yelling," he replied, after a moment's pause. "I know that's the last thing you want to see right now. Of course, I didn't mention anything about your home, so they weren't on their best behavior, or avoiding a fight. That's my fault. I'm sorry, Laina."

"It's your family," I replied, looking at the ground. "It's not my business."

"I want it to be your business," he replied softly, helping me stand. "And I want you to know that it's not something that happens with anything else. I swear."

I looked up at him then, and I saw the distress on his face.

"Don't worry," I said, half laughing. "I was halfway hallucinating in there, anyway, as it was. I guess I'm running low on sleep and have a weird reaction to natural remedies." I paused. "I don't know, Tak. I never had any siblings, or watched any. I guess from the little bit I've heard at work and that, it's pretty normal to have a fight."

"It is from what I've seen, too," he replied seriously. "It's just a little bit scarier since we're physically strong. And of course, being on the receiving end of-" he cleared his throat.

"What did you hallucinate-" Tak started, then his phone started to ring. "Hold on," he said, opening the car door and bending to help me get inside, shutting it as I began to fasten my seat belt. "This is he," I heard him say as the door clicked into place.