A Tiny Matchmaker for Two Star-Crossed Mates by Anya Byrne

A Tiny Matchmaker for Two Star-Crossed Mates
    Lone Wolf Pack 6.1
     
    Anya Byrne
    Copyright 2015
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter One
     
    When Myles had heard about what was happening in the small town of Willow Cove, he'd run in the other direction. He would have been truly hard-pressed to find something more distasteful than throwing random people together in such a tense situation and forcing them to make nice. He didn't actually think it was a bad idea. Indeed, people needed somewhere to go when they were alone, lost and in pain, and current circumstances—what with the humans becoming more and more of a danger—made that increasingly obvious.
    Perhaps what he disliked most was that he wished he could be a part of it, but at the same time, he knew that would never happen. So, he had run and he had tried to think no more of it.
    Of course, fate had never been kind to him, because two weeks later, he was limping into Lone Wolf Pack territory, still in wolf form, but unable to find enough energy to shift. His leg injury had stopped bleeding, but he'd lost enough blood that he still felt he was moments away from falling over. He'd forgotten when he'd eaten last, and all he wanted was a safe place to sleep—one night during which he didn't have to worry about sharp teeth and sharper claws, either wielded by members of his former pack, or by animals in the wild.
    It was instinct that guided him to the Lone Wolf Pack, but he never reached whatever settlement Alpha Simmons had been building with his new Sidhe allies. The blood loss got to him before he could make it there. Whimpering, he crawled to the base of a tree, distantly wondering if he was going to die this way, in such a pathetic manner. But then, he'd always been pathetic, hadn't he? Maybe it was just as well that he would be gone. If he continued on, he'd simply burden someone else with his uselessness.
    He didn't know how long he drifted in and out of consciousness when he heard the voices. He couldn't understand what they were saying, or distinguish much of anything really, but something inside him made him call out. He released a low, mournful howl, knowing that if he was making a mistake, if these new arrivals were enemies, he would be done for.
    He needn't have worried. The earlier conversation came to a halt, and rushed footsteps approached, zeroing in on his position. A gasp of dismay sounded above him, and then, soft hands were in his fur, soothing him, even if he didn't deserve it.
    Myles found himself lifted in strong arms, and he drifted in and out of consciousness as the stranger carrying him moved through the forest. He didn't know at which point they reached their destination, but they must have, because when he awoke again, he seemed to be lying on a soft surface he distantly identified as a bed.
    A wave of comforting warmth settled over him, like a familiar blanket wrapped around him on a cold winter day. Myles welcomed it at first, but then the warmth started to enter his body, and that didn't feel so good anymore. It wasn't unpleasant, not really, but it scared him, because he hadn't experienced anything like it in his life. He weakly batted at the person next to him, trying to claw them away. It didn't work.
    "Shh, child," a strange voice said. "Shh. You're okay. You're safe. Nobody is going to hurt you."
    Myles didn't really believe that. He'd heard too many lies in his lifetime to have faith in an empty promise. Nonetheless, he was hurt, and at some level, his instincts guided him to open himself up to the power. In the end, it paid off, because the energy flowed over him, soothing his aches, healing wounds Myles had long ago stopped being consciously aware of.
    Finally, Myles blinked into awareness and managed to get a more detailed feel of what was going on—or rather, where he was. His previous assessment was confirmed in that he lay in a bed in a pleasantly furnished room. The only other man present smiled at him, caressing his fur with a