He had to find her, passing a look to Knox to take over the meeting he shifted and lunged across the room, he had to get to her.

'Venus, baby where are you' he tried mind linking her but he got no response at all

'don't go anywhere and stay where you are'

Pushing his legs faster he ran like his life depended on it, and it did, his life did depend on it,

reaching the middle of the dense forest he tried finding paw-prints but found none, angling his head up he breathed in deeply, he found what he was looking for, her scent.

Running in the direction the scent led him, after two minutes of constant running he came across a ledge, his heart sunk, this is where her scent ended and she wasn't here she coul- no no she couldn't,

trying to calm his Lycan and himself, so lost in his inner battle of where his mate could be and if she was okay or not he wasn't aware of his surroundings and heart a twig snap to his right,

jerking his head towards the side he stepped closer to the bushy area, careful and on high alert, he raised his head up over the bush and what he saw made his heart sink,

there she lay in her wolf form, her fur covered in mud and a little bit of blood, her eyes were open,

she knew he was there but she refused to even look at him, her eyes, oh goddess her eyes looking like swirling dark pits of nothing, completely lifeless.

Gently coming towards her side he touched his snout against hers yet she still didn't respond, sighing he took her scruff into his mouth and lifted her up like a she-wolf picking up her pup, and compared to the size of his huge Lycan form, she was small.

laying her back down he nudged and nuzzled his face into hers, licking her and what not to get her attention but she paid no heed,

frustrated and hurt he growled, knowing she wouldn't respond, he got on top of her and settled on her in a way that his weight wouldn't hurt her but he was close to her.

Venus hadn't felt this numb in a long time, the terrors of her past had awakened, she feared she would lose everyone in her life including her mate, so she numbed herself,

that if he did leave her maybe, just maybe she wouldn't be so hurt by it, but the sparks that teased her and the way he was giving her all of his attention even though she didn't even acknowledge his presence,

she wanted to turn in his embrace and cry her heart out to him, she was so so in love with this proud handsome Lycan beside her that the thought of just being away from him even for a second hurt her,

whimpering because her willpower gave out she turned and buried her head into his chest, his fur was warm and comforting, and the way he was nuzzling his head against hers was enough to make her walls break and crumble into nothing.

Dante understood the silent comfort she wanted and that's exactly what he gave her, showing her love and giving her all of his attention, but he was bothered by the little bit of blood on her fur, what happened? he thought.

they spend the night under the full moon, she slept in his embrace, their wolves content with each other, as he held her close.

It wasn't until dawn that Venus woke up and Dante indicated that they should go back home now, nodding her wolf head they silently made their way back,

their fur brushing against each other with every step they took till they reached home, venus needed him close by, she needed his constant touch and his presence he realized,

she was too anxious, and he realized that her anxiety has doubled by the time they had reached the house as she kept looking back at him to make sure he was there, she has separation anxiety.

'love, go change I'll shower too I'll be right here okay,' Dante assured her after they shifted back, she still hadn't spoken a word but she clutched onto his arm and shook her head in fright,

'baby I'm not going anywhere hey look at me,' he tilted her chin up and placed a soft kiss on her trembling lips as her eyes watered.

'no please, don't leave me,' she whimpered out softly, had it not been for his sharp hearing he would have barely heard her,

sighing and hugging her to himself he thought of ways to get them both cleaned up without triggering her.

Gently pulling her with himself he took her to the bathroom, locking the door behind him he began undressing,

venus looked at him with wide eyes, it wasn't new to her, she had seen and touched every part of him but the shyness was always there and he loved that about her,

Venus squeaked and hid her face in her hands as he chuckled at her response, so cute, he thought.

After a minute Venus felt him pull her hands from her face, and his hands slid to the hem of her shirt, he kept eye contact with her, she could pull away if she wanted but she didn't,

that's where he found his consent and he gently slid her shirt off her torso, not letting his eyes wander down her body he didn't look away or break eye contact,

he then unclipped her bra, then her shorts were next, then finally the last piece of clothing, her panties.

They both stood completely bare in front of each other, but this wasn't sexual, it was just the raw moment where they stood in front of each other with nothing to hide,

Dante held her hand and took her towards the shower, turning the knob he stood to the side letting the water warm up, gently rubbing her arm as she stood by him.

He got under the water first and she followed, the shower overhead was enough to have them both drenched in no time, grabbing the shampoo off the stand dante put some into his hand and started gently massaging it onto venuses head,

she moved closer to him and hummed, loving the feel of his rough fingers stroking her scalp, once she helped him rinse she did the same to him, shampooing his hair and letting her soft fingers gently tug at his locks and teasing him once in a while by putting a bit of shampoo across his face.

'your hair is so soft,' venus whispered

'you should shampoo my hair more often then,' Dante teased, gently squeezing her waist, and that's when he noticed the irritated two gashes across her hip, they weren't deep or long but there was a bit of dried blood and it was red.

'venus, your hip,' Dante growled

frowning venus looked down and had almost forgotten her cuts

'i ran into a thorny bush and cut myself, I'm okay dante,' she said, rinsing his hair

grabbing some body wash, she put some into her hand and some into his, and they both started gently running it over the other,

his touch was so featherlike it was as if he thought she was made of porcelain and she would break, rubbing it on her body as she did him, and once they were done Dante gently pulled her into his embrace,

as he held her close to him, the water running down both their bodies, as her tears mixed up with the water and she sobbed into his chest quietly, and he didn't ask, he didn't have to, he just held her and let her cry it out, as he rubbed her back soothingly.

his touch, his embrace, his warmth, and his comfort was all she needed, this dark Lycan of hers had become her world, and through-thickness or thin, she would never leave his side.

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