Taming a Wolf

23. Euphoria

What she'd witnessed last night hung heavy on Fay's mind. She hadn't got much sleep unable to forget Elise Cage holding her burned hand up with a smile. Instead of going downstairs for breakfast and facing her, Fay took out a laptop she had borrowed from Seth. She opened Google but didn't know what to type. She knew what she wanted to figure out, but how could she put it into words.

What to do when your werewolf mother-in-law or whatever you call her, burns herself?

Sounded crazy, but that's what it was. Fay tapped the space key with her index finger as she tried to come up with decent search words.

"Why do people hurt themselves?" she said out loud and typed it. After a quick glance at the results, she changed the search into self-injury. Out of all the options, she ended up on clicking the MentalHelp.net article 6 Reasons Why People Self-Injure.

"...What are they trying to accomplish when they harm themselves? "The 6 Reasons." Fay reads out loud after scanning through the first two paragraphs.

"One... Distract themselves, alter the focus of their attention, or regain control over their minds when experiencing pressing, unavoidable and overwhelming feelings or thoughts. Two...Release tension associated with strong emotions or overwhelming thoughts. Three... Feel something physical when they are otherwise dissociated and numb. Four... Express themselves or communicate and/or document strong emotions they are feeling and cannot otherwise articulate. Five... Punish themselves. And six... Experience a temporary but intense feeling of euphoria that occurs in the immediate aftermath of self-harm."

Fay didn't know what to do with all that information. Elise had seemed to enjoy the pain so the number six fit but what was the reason for that euphoria. Fay realized, she didn't really know Elise at all. Fay had constructed her view on Elise in her teenage years. Elise had been a strict figure with judgemental ice blue eyes. Her devotion to her mate and her seemingly trivial and empty life had always annoyed Fay. Elise had always been what she didn't want to become. But then there had been moments Elise had been good to her - some sort of a mother figure. But she had never shown warmth or her emotions to her. That's why Fay still called her Ice Queen. But according to this online article, there was more than the icy shell about her.

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"A date?" Fay asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"You're asking me on a date?" she continued in disbelief.

Seth was leaning against the door frame with an amused smile. He had to admit, even without the mate pull and bond, she looked good in her oversized t-shirt. Too concentrated on his proposition, she was oblivious of him checking her out. He didn't want to be disrespectful but gave one more glance at her bare legs.

"I am asking you a date," Seth cleared his throat. "Are you too busy?" he asked and nodded towards the laptop laying on the bed next to her. She quickly closed the lid and shook her head.

"No, I'm not busy," she laughed. "It's just a bit random. A date, Seth?"

"What's random about it? Human love, Fay, requires dates," Seth said.

"Human love, huh?"

"Yep," Seth replied emphasizing the p.

"But you're not a human," Fay smiled.

"But you are. My human," he shot back.

"Your human? Alright, wolf boy. What do you have in mind, then?"

"Since you're feeling better, we could go for a walk and then... lunch."

"Oh, a lunch date," she teased.

"The best lunch date you've ever been on."

They laughed. It felt good to flirt. Something innocent and fun amidst all the problems and looming danger.

"Ok, then. It's a date."

Seth walked away with a smile. For a moment he could forget Harriet Trinh and the alarming messages Fay's father had sent Shawn about the Western packs.

Fay's smile, on the other hand, faltered as she wondered should she tell Seth what she had seen his mother do.

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Hey you!

Thank you for reading. The article I used in this chapter is: https://www.mentalhelp.net/suicide/6-reasons-why-people-self-injure/

Any guesses why Elise hurt herself? What do you think, should Fay tell Seth?

Votes and comments mean the world to me :)

M