The Lone Wolf

4, An Offer

Evander left them alone while the recruits ran the obstacle course. Fox stayed on the ground, keeping off his bitten shoulder and watching rain clouds pile up in the sky above him. It started to sprinkle a little bit at one point, but Evander didn't seem concerned about getting caught in a downpour.

The recruits finished up their laps around the obstacle course, and Evander told them to take a break.

"Seb, drag your sorry ass back inside the snack shack and start taking orders. And if you make a mess of Fox's cleanup job, you're getting another ass-whooping," Evander ordered the lone wolf. "Fox, you're coming with me to the med station."

At the sound of the word "med" Fox felt his heart rate quicken. Seb groaned and winced his way up to his feet, and began trudging away to the concessions building, his arms wrapped around his stomach. He sent Fox a dirty look over his shoulder, but Evander caught it and released a loud warning growl. Seb turned away.

Seb had taken worse of a beating than Fox had, but maybe making him work instead of letting him rest was still part of Evander's punishment for him. Fox thought that fighting the winners of the wrestling matches had been enough of a punishment for simple laziness and lying, but maybe Evander didn't.

Fox heard Evander approach him where he still laid in the grass. The Alpha met Fox's wide-eyed gaze and sighed. "I've been informed that you have specific medical triggers," he stated. Fox just stared at him, feeling ice in his veins. Evander nudged his leg with his boot. "Up," he said.

Fox didn't want to, but he rolled over onto his knees and achingly rose to his feet. Evander began to walk over to a smaller building at the edge of the field, which had a red cross painted on its side. Fox shut his eyes as a memory flashed in his mind, begging for it not to grow vivid and intense.

Fox focused on putting one foot in front of the other, his gaze on the ground. He didn't look up when he reached the building with Evander. The Alpha opened the door, and Fox held his breath.

Evander turned on a light, illuminating a small medical room meant to hold at least two injured people and allow enough space for a caretaker to move around. There were two hospital beds and lots of shelves stocked with medical equipment.

The sight of it all caused a wave of nausea to roll through Fox's stomach. He shut his eyes again, his body already starting to tremble. He thought about rivers and skies instead of the memories from dark times, but he couldn't stop trembling.

Evander made some noise as he gathered some supplies. He paused at the door. "Are you not able to come in at all?" he asked. Fox vigorously shook his head.

"Fine. Sit down," the Alpha replied. Fox eased himself down onto the grass.

Evander closed the door behind him, and Fox let out his breath. The Alpha tossed a small hand towel at him. "Cover your nose with this," he said as a way of explanation.

Fox gratefully took it and covered the lower half of his face with it. Then Evander knelt down beside him and laid out his equipment. Fox stared hard at the trees in front of him. "Take your shirt off," Evander said. Fox complied, wincing as the fabric peeled away from his blood-crusted injuries. He covered his face with the towel again.

He heard the sloshing of liquid, then a burning sensation along his bite wound. Fox tensed and gritted his teeth, stifling a whine by tightly gripping his thigh instead. He could vaguely smell the antiseptic, and he balled up the towel around his nose as another wave of nausea rolled through his stomach.

Evander dabbed at the wound with a rag, cleaning up the blood. Each bit of pressure stung, but this wasn't anything new to Fox. In the grand view of all the injuries he'd ever gotten in his life, this wasn't the worst, and he was practiced with toughing it out.