Page 34 of Edge of Desperation

“Aurora,” General Parks shouts. I hold him back when he goes to comfort her.

As much as I want to run to her, we also need to seeif Lykos is meant to be Aurora’s. I was going to wait and introduce them after dinner, and I fucking hate that they are meeting like this, but this will really show me if they will do well together.

Lykos darts under the table, belly crawling over to her shaking frame. He pushes his massive body against hers. She startles, and her breath hitches. Aurora slowly drops her guard, and Lykos places his head in her lap. She holds her hands up, unsure if she should touch him or not. I hold my breath and release it when she gently rubs the top of his head, and Lykos starts to whine lightly. Tears stream down her face, but her breaths are evening out.

I take that as my cue and slowly approach them. Holding out my hand, I wait for her to take it before I pull her up off the floor.

“Come on.” I snap my fingers at Lykos and signal for him to follow. “Let’s go outside and talk.” I glance over my shoulder to everyone at the table. “We’ll be back.”

Lykos brushes up against Aurora, lending his strength but careful not to knock her over. Aurora’s hand grasps his fur around his neck as she leads the way to the backyard.

She plops down under a tree with Lykos right beside her. He lays his head in her lap, and she immediately begins petting him again like she did in the dining room.

“You have a beautiful dog,” she mutters without looking up from her task. “What’s his name?”

I don’t want to tower over her or sit too close, so I put five feet of distance between us and sit on the ground, too. Since I’m a tall guy, it’s hard to get comfortable. Pulling my knees up, I wrap myarms around them and answer her question. “Lykos. It means ‘wolf’.”

“Lykos,” she repeats. Lykos’ head pops up, and he stares at her for a moment before resting back on her legs. “It suits him. He’s a beast.”

I chuckle. “He’syourbeast.”

“W-w-what?” she stammers. “Mine… Why?

I shrug. “I’m not gonna lie, your dad’s worried about you. I suggested Lykos.” I nod toward the dog. “He’s a trained therapy dog for people with PTSD and an awesome guard dog.”

Her voice sounds hopeful when she asks, “Guard dog?”

“And therapy dog.” I stand and slowly approach both of them. “Want to see what he can do?”

Her head bobs up and down enthusiastically. I run through the same commands that Yazzie taught us and have her go through them several times as well. Lykos is a machine and listens to his new charge well. There’s no doubt in my mind that these two were meant to be together.

An hour later, after running through hand signals and commands, Hudson opens the back door and sets out a bowl of water and some food for Lykos. Aurora gives him a timid smile and a small wave before telling Lykos to go. The Wolamute bounds over and digs in. Hudson scratches behind his ears before retreating back inside.

I sit back on the ground, waiting for Aurora to join me. We still need to talk. I don’t know if she’s going to hate me or not after this, but it’s time for some tough love. Pussyfooting around isn’t doing her any favors.

Aurora waits for Lykos to finish and do his business before calling him to where we are. She immediately curls back into herself. Her chin is tucked into her chest, and Lykos’ head is on her lap, where she pets him lovingly.

“I know we had to leave abruptly after we returned you to your father,” I begin. “We needed to get back to our posts. I’m sorry we didn’t get to tell you in person.”

“I understand. Dad told me it was urgent. Military brat, remember?” She slowly raises her head. “I never got to thank you and your team for rescuing me.”

“You don’t have to thank us.”

“Yes, I do.”

“How have you been?” I ask casually.

Aurora shrugs. “Fine.”

Fine. I fucking hate that word. Everyone knows that when a woman says ‘fine’, she’s anything but fine. Hell, just one look at her, and anyone can see that she’s not.

“You sure about that?”

“Whaddya mean?”

“You didn’t eat anything more than a bite or two at dinner,” I point out. “You have dark circles under your eyes like you haven’t slept in we?—”

“Is this your polite way of telling me I look like shit?” Aurora growls. “Well, excuse me. I’ve lived through hell. Fucking hell, Jaxson. It's a damn battle to get out of bed every single day!”

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