Wrapped in towels,

The pair made their way back to the spare room to dress. They’d spent a long time in the bathroom drying off together and John felt almost dizzy with hunger. It was worth every moment, though. They had dried each other just as they had washed each other, placing gentle kisses on exposed skin.

The tremble he’d caused in Tala when he kissed her scar distracted them for a long while. Being so close when he heard her soft gasp, her hands tightening in his hair, he couldn’t resist the opportunity. Still on his knees, his hands on her hips, he kissed the crescent moon of trimmed hair on his way to lick her shaved pussy.

John licked his lips, still savoring the taste of her orgasm as he pulled his shirt back on. His stomach growled loudly, making them both laugh. Tala was just tying off her braid, the gamer’s daydreaming made him dress a lot slower than her, and she kissed his neck as she passed him.

Just that kiss sent a surge of need through his body and he very nearly pinned her against the wall to get distracted all over again. Her impish grin told him she knew it, too.

“Let’s get lunch before you decide to just eat me again, shall we?” She winked, sticking out her tongue at him.

Giggling, Tala danced out of his reach and John half chased her down the hall. He was laughing by the time his arms encircled her waist from behind.

“Now, why would you run from me when you know it’ll just make me chase you, hmm?” John murmured and kissed the back of her neck, making her shudder.

Her musical voice was breathy. “I, haaa...” She shuddered again in his arms, making John chuckle.

His confidence grew. “Use your words, love.”

Tala whimpered, pressing her jean-clad ass back to his groin. She had just started to speak when they were, of course, interrupted again. This time, however, John didn’t jump away in embarrassment. Kiana walked through the door with a gentle smile on her lips and he could tell she’d come alone.

“I thought I’d find you two here.” Her voice was soft, but she tried to feign disapproval on her fair brow. “Did you two manage to get any training done before you got distracted or did you run straight home once you were alone?”

“We trained for a little,” Tala said. “He shifted fully and shifted back. I’d say that’s a good amount of progress.”

One of Kiana’s pale eyebrows arched in curiosity as she looked the young man over. “I’m inclined to agree. And that explains why you two got so distracted.” The blonde sighed. “John, the pack, most of us at least, eat our meals together in the big house. When we can, of course. I understand if you don’t want to join us this time, but you are invited to come.”

Again, the gamer’s stomach growled like it was trying to escape and he laughed. “As hungry as I am, I’m not really sure I’m up for that many people just yet. That’s a lot of introductions.”

The matron nodded sagely. “You’ve had to adjust to a lot of changes lately, I know. I don’t want to rush you.” Her smile warmed her face again. “There will be other times, I’m sure.”

“Definitely,” he said confidently. “I hope to be here a lot more often from now on. I want to learn as much as I can and help you guys if I’m able.”

“Also!” Tala interjected, bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. “John wants his mom to meet us!”

Kiana tried to hide her obvious surprise. “W-well,” she stuttered, “we would love to meet her. But she’s not part of the Abyss, am I right?” John shook his head and she hummed thoughtfully. “Would she come to the forest without an explanation?”

“Not likely.” The gamer stretched out each syllable in his pondering. “She’s been wanting me to get out more, but she thinks I’m still sick. I doubt she’ll think I’m up for hiking over the next few days.”

Stepping forward, Kiana put her hand on his forehead and the new lycan was relieved that their temperatures were close to the same. “You were sick?” Her brow and voice were tense with worry.

“Not really.”

“He had the headaches and his human mom thought he had a fever,” Tala said with a chuckle in her musical voice.

“Aah.” Her anxiety soothed, Kiana kissed both teens on the cheek. “That’s a common issue with human parents. Lycans are a lot warmer than humans tend to be. We don’t tend to go to human doctors because of it.”

“That’s why it’s such a good thing we heal so fast.” Tala leaned into his view to smile at him cheekily. “Like you do. Handy, right?”

John’s hand automatically drifted towards the covered scar on her hip. “Very. This, and the tree shard in my back, would have been much worse without that.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Kiana said, turning to a tall cabinet by the door. She reached to fish something from the top shelf and John tried to keep his eyes from running down the length of her body. He failed. His eyes snapped back up to her face when she turned to him, holding a cloth wrapped bundle. “I wasn’t sure if you’d want to keep the piece we’d pulled from you, so I held onto it. Some of us like trinkets of the fights we’ve survived…” Her voice trailed off at the end.

Carefully taking the bundle from her, John lifted the cloth to see the hunk of wood. It was still stained with his blood and his fingers shook a little as he cast Observe on it.

’It’s almost as if I dropped loot like that stupid boar.’ Another shudder ran down his spine at the thought and he dismissed the window along with the subsequent party warning. “Yeah.” His voice was thick and he cleared his throat to try again. “Yes, thank you. I would like to keep it. I’m glad you held onto it for me.”

The kindly woman smiled and gently hugged the young man. “I know it’s shocking and you’re going through a lot, but we want to be here for you.” She stepped back and, while giving a warning look to her daughter, pulled a thin leather cord from her pocket. Kiana took John’s hand and wrapped the loop around his wrist a few times so it was loosely secured but not uncomfortable. “You can come to the forest any time, that will let you find your way home.”