Can you heal old scars?

Chapter 45

Warning- depictions of domestic abuse and emotional trauma.

Quin slowly made his way to Gail's bedroom, pushing open the door quietly. Boulder was curled up on the bed, surrounded by blankets and a very old teddy that had obviously seen many an owner in it's time.

Quin gently sat down on the bed, reaching out to pat Boulder's fluffy fur. He stirred and looked up at Quin, his eyes wide and sad.

"Is Mummy gone now, is Dad going to be ok?" Boulder whispered.

He had such a sad and tired look to him, a look far too old for him. He picked up the teddy in his mouth and slowly crawled over to Quin, resting his head on Quin's knee before dropping the teddy.

"Yes, sweet boy. Your Mummy has gone away for a while, you don't need to be scared of her anymore." Quin said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

"So Mummy won't hurt Dad anymore?" Boulder asked, a wobble to his voice.

"No we won't let her hurt your Dad anymore, sweety. We would have stopped it sooner, had we known..."

Quin hesitated, he didn't want Boulder to have to go through this. Quin knew all to well the pain of seeing your loved ones beaten, and being unable to do anything to stop it. The guilt could be crippling, and the last thing Quin wanted was for this poor kid to blame himself.

"Boulder, I need for you to be brave for me... Can you do that?"

Boulder's ears fell, a look of shame came over him as he blinked up at Quin.

"Mummy said I'm a coward, she said I was pathetic and stupid..." He mumbled, nuzzling his nose under the teddy on Quin's knee.

"That's not true, I know you might not think it right now, but I promise you sweetie, you are not a coward. You are such a brave boy, and you helped your Dad when he was being hurt by asking me for help. I know you love your Dad a lot, and he loves you too, but right now he needs your help again." Quin said carefully.

"Will you come downstairs with me, come and sit with your Dad? You can make him feel better, and you both should be together..."

Boulder whimpered, but with a determined look he nodded taking the teddy in his mouth again and climbing into Quin's arms.

Quin carried Boulder downstairs and into the family room, he immediately started crying when he saw Kyle laying on the sofa with a vacant stare.

Quin gently put Boulder down by Kyle, Boulder placing the teddy next to his Dad's face before jumping up and laying down.

For a while, Kyle stayed motionless just staring in one direction. However as Boulder gently licked his fingers and lay his weight against Kyle's side, he slowly started to stroke Boulder's nose.

Over the next few days, Kyle began to respond to people. It was no more than a few muttered words, and his general listlessness was pervasive... But it was something.

Ryan was in a constant state of worry, he was genuinely concerned that his brother would simply give up on life and fade.

For a werewolf that loses their fated mate via a tear of the bond, their essence can become severely damaged. Some simply can't recover from the loss and go through what is called "fading".

Fading happens when their inner wolf simply breaks down from sorrow, and they simply stop existing. Without their inner wolf, they can't survive and just waste away until they just stop living, becoming a mindless husk.

Another result of a traumatic bond tear is that the individual becomes what is called feral, driven by nothing more than instinct and rage. Those individuals can't function within normal society, they become a danger to others and eventually don't even recognize themselves. If it gets that far, they usually end up shifting into their Wolf form and they never turn back, becoming lethal predatory creatures no longer capable of reason.