Last time on Blind Hope

Hector swallowed hard, remembering what William had mind-linked him to say. "William removed the Queen from a hostile situation, Sir." Hector's eyes remained trained on the King's forehead. He couldn't look him in the eye, but if he looked anywhere else, they would think he was lying. Then the scent greeted Dorian's nose, and he felt sick. "Is that blood?" His eyes focused on the little droplets that stained the wooden chair. His stomach rolled in worry. His wolf took over, and he shifted without a second thought, following her scent, tinged with the copper smell of blood.

~~~~~~~~~~

William was angry. He was angry at the King. He was angry at the former King. He was angry for no one noticing Hope struggling in the midst of the argument. Should he have stepped up sooner? Should he have stopped the argument? Now he was running around a forest, trying desperately to keep up with the Queen as she literally ran away her frustrations. Her wolf was surprisingly nimble to be so completely blind. William realized the growing gap between them, and cursed. How was she so fast!? A branch cracked behind him, and he whipped around, prepared to fight. He snarled and growled, lowering into a fighting stance.

"Stand down, William. It's me." Dorian shook out his fur and went to go around William but was blocked. "What are you doing? I need to find Hope!"

"Now you need her?" William growled again and lunged, trapping a very surprised Dorian under his paws. "As her mate, shouldn't you recognize pain?" Dorian bucked William off of his dark brown wolf and snarled.

"Don't tell me how to be a mate!"

"Someone needs to!" They circled each other, preparing to fight. Their heads snapped up, hearing howls of pain. They ran off in the direction of the howls, both thinking and praying the same thing.

Don't be hurt. Don't be hurt.

William began to pant and slow down, Dorian taking the lead. How had she run so far in the short amount of time it took to confront the King!? Dorian burst into a small clearing and the shock of the sight before him caused him to shift unknowingly. His clothes tore from the sudden shift, but held.

Red stood in the middle of the clearing, her muzzle covered in blood. Rogue blood. Their bodies were torn to bits around her, and she just stood there. Her eyes were flashing. Her breath came out in little gasps. "How dare they try to attack us." Red began pacing. A low growl came from her throat. "I'm going to split him half. I'm going to eat his innards. I'm going to-" Red shifted suddenly, and Hope stumbled, falling to the ground. The blood of the rogues soaked her hands, and she jerked back. Her fell against a warm body and yelped, leaping to her feet.

"Red! What did you do!?" Hope stood in the clearing shaking and covered her blood. She shifted again.

"He doesn't have any right to speak of us like that." She shifted into Hope again, and Hope groaned, sinking to her knees.

"Red, stop shifting! You're hurting me. Just give me control." Hope whimpered and bent over, trying to get the pain of shifting so many times to leave her body. But Red wasn't listening. She was angry. And she wanted blood. She wanted Basil's blood. Red shifted, taking control back from Hope who screamed in pain.

"He doesn't even deserve to live." Red began pacing, but suddenly she felt her body lurch, and moaned. "What... Hope? What are you doing?" Hope shifted for the last time, screaming.

"You idiot wolf! STOP SHIFTING!" Hope fell to the ground, sobbing in pain. Dorian ran across the field and knelt beside Hope. He picked her up gently, cuddling her close to his body. He could feel her pain. He could feel Red's pain at hurting Hope.

"It's okay. I'm here." Dorian rocked her back and forth. "I'm here now." Hope curled into his embrace and calmed herself down, the sobs giving way to little whimpers.

"What did I do?" Her silver eyes were filled with tears, and Dorian didn't have the heart to tell her she brutally murdered at least ten rogues. There seemed to be some parts lying around that to others who no longer had a... whole body.

"You protected yourself and that's okay." He kissed her forehead and closed his eyes. William stood back, taking in the scene. He desperately wished he could have seen the Queen fight. Dorian's gently pushed Hope's hair behind her ear, and she whimpered, pulling away. "Your ear hurts?" He looked closer. "It's bleeding..."

"I have really sensitive senses," Hope whispered, feeling her eyes closing despite herself. "Shouting hurts..." She blacked out due to stress and fatigue. A tear rolled down Dorian's face. He'd hurt his mate to the point of her bleeding. He picked her up and carried her bridal style all the way back to the castle. He didn't answer questions. He didn't acknowledge others. And he slammed the doors in William's face when he reached his private wing.

Cora, come to me now. He snapped through the mind-link. He held Hope to him, and stood in the middle of the floor, waiting. A gentle, almost scared knock interrupted his stance, and he called out, "Enter." His voice remained hard, but when Cora walked in, tears started pouring down his face, and his voice broke. "Can you take care of her? Please?" Cora's eyes widened. She hadn't seen a gentle side to her brother since he took the throne. She nodded vigorously and held out her hands to take Hope, but Dorian just stood there, holding her.

"Brother, you have to give her to me." Cora moved closer and gently took her. "What happened?" Dorian collapsed on the couch and listened to Cora move about the bathroom as she took Hope's clothes off, and began bathing her as gently as possible.

"It was me. I was shouting, and it hurt her ears, and she ran and ran straight into rogues." Cora gasped and the sponge slipped out of her hand. She payed extra close attention, confusion knotted her brow.

"But she isn't injured? Not a scratch. Did you fight them off? There's even blood on her ears..."

"No. She fought about ten and won." Cora began to shake. That was... that was undeniable power. The wolf inside her felt honor to be taking care of such a Luna. Such a Queen. Even though she was unconscious, Cora bowed her head to Hope in reverence. She left Hope in the tub and went out to Dorian. He sat with his head in his hands.

"Brother, she needs fresh clothes." Dorian nodded and started to point towards the door, but then he remembered.

"Oh. I... we haven't went... she doesn't have clothes." He looked up at Cora guiltily. "She was wearing my shirt." Cora narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, another thing Father was mad about. You should have let her put her own shirt on to approach the table. You know people care about how the Queen looks. Rumors will start."

"She doesn't care, and I think she looked beautiful." Cora rolled her eyes at her brother's response.

Of course she didn't care about looks. She couldn't see to care. And she will never not be beautiful in Dorian's eyes. Although for him to admit a woman was beautiful was a feat. Up until this point, he would look at a woman and say, "Why are you here?" And she would be like, "Huh?" Because it was pretty obvious what they wanted from the revealing clothing. And then he would glare. And then she would leave. He only ever gave into one woman, and that was during a stressful time. She had approached him differently. No revealing clothing. She offer condolences, and he took it. They'd parted ways. She tried to come back on many occasions, but he never gave in and said it was a mistake.

To her face. She had yet to return.

Cora sighed and went to Dorian's bedroom, pulling out a black shirt. "She's pretty little compared to you, so this will cover her good enough. I'll have her clothes washed, and then you need to take her shopping. I know you secretly have good taste." Cora wagged her finger at him, trying to ignore his vulnerability. She honestly didn't know how to react. She walked back into the bedroom and slipped the shirt on before carrying her back out to Dorian. "She's still out. It must have been exhausting." She laid her gently on the bed, and then turned to give her brother a stern eye. "She doesn't even have underwear right now. No touching." Dorian growled at the implication, and Cora left quickly with a squeak of a goodbye.

Dorian gently placed Hope under the covers and kissed her forehead. "I'll see you in the morning, sweet." A tear ran down his cheek, and he went to the couch, curling uncomfortably. How much longer would he have to sleep on a couch? "I'm too big for this."