Therapy for the Supernatural

13

"I need to talk to Matt about the celebration. Shelly be nice to Eric and don't turn him into a frog or anything.

"Eric, Shelly has had some really bad experiences with weres, that's how we met. I helped her with her issues, once she trusted me enough to do so. It was only after that we found out we are neighbors. Just keep your distance until she tells you otherwise." With that Cheryl leaves furious to deal with Matt and his order.

"She's really ticked at Matt. I don't think I've ever seen her this angry before." Shelly decides to break the awkward silence.

"You should have seen her at her parents funeral. That was the night she rejected me," Eric says then looks down. "I don't blame her. I honestly don't understand why she's giving me this chance."

"She didn't think she'd ever see you again. How'd you find her?" Shelly isn't normally all that curious. Other people's business is just that, theirs. But this time she wants to know.

"I just felt the need to leave the pack territory. I followed the pull, but had no idea where I was going or why. When I stopped in front of her office, I had no idea I'd find her inside. When I saw her I thought she'd throw me out before I would have a chance to apologize to her. Believe me, I never expected or even asked her to give me another chance. I know I messed up. When my wolf told me that what we did caused her pain I felt that death was reasonable."

"Death?" Shelly looks at him puzzled.

"My wolf was or is I'm not sure if he still is or not, dying. Matt let me free in hopes of finding a way to help my wolf. I don't think he was very happy to learn that I was here or that I ran into Cheryl."

"Yes, he's rather protective of her." Shelly says and watches him closely. Eric closes his hands in anger. The protective instinct of a mate towards his female when talking about other males.

"She rejected you, you have no reason to be like that." Shelly tells him shortly.

"I know. It doesn't stop me from feeling it though." 

Eric looks at his luna with narrowed eyes, "Matt has been pursuing Cheryl for the last three years."

"Yes, I know. Cheryl has told me repeatedly that her alpha wants to date her but she turned him down consistently. So when I met him, I knew that he had been wanting my friend. Yet once I could see him with her, all I saw was her smug expression. Matt wasn't paying the slightest attention to her. 

"She always said that when he met his mate that he would drop her like a hot potato and she was right." Shelly says more than a little sadly. She knows that Cheryl likes Matt, she also knows that Cheryl didn't like Matt the same way Matt liked Cheryl.

Shelly looks up and raises her brows in query once Cheryl comes back in, "Either I show up to the celebration or he'll cut me from the pack." Cheryl says with anger and no little pain. She feels betrayal like she only ever felt when Eric was still her mate and cheating on her.

Shelly turns pale, "That's my fault. I'll talk to him."

Shelly rushes out of the apartment and back to her own.

"Why do I feel like I've walked into the middle of a play and have no clue what's going on?" Eric says standing up and getting ready to leave. It's obvious his presence is no longer wanted.

"I haven't been back to the pack since I left three years ago. Matt knows this and he knows why. Now because Shelly has panic attacks and hates werewolves he's demanding I come to the celebration so that Shelly will feel more comfortable."

Eric stops and turns around to face Cheryl. "Our luna hates werewolves?" Wolves and witches aren't on the best of terms but they are at peace currently. Never before has a witch become luna of a pack. Witches have a tendency to use wolves as their familiars and the wolves resent it more than a little. So having a witch as luna was going to be interesting enough. It will make it a hard sell for the rest of the pack. But to have a luna that hates were's that's going to make things impossible.

"Shelly's sister went black, as did her best friend. A few years ago they found and trapped a whole fucking pack and damn near starved them. Shelly's sister forced her to drink a potion that made it seem she was a wolf in heat and then with her best friend threw her into the pit or room or whatever it was they had the wolves.

"By the time her parents got there to save her she was nearly dead from being continually raped. She also had claw marks and bite marks all over her body.

"She went to a human counselor, but due to our nature she couldn't tell her everything so the counselor was unable to fully help her. She came to me on the first day I opened my doors. When she told me her full story I didn't know what to do or say. To have the betrayal she did was far worse than even what happened to me.

"When she found out I, too, was a were, well she wouldn't schedule another appointment. I thought I had lost her.

"Then I was running late to open the clinic and ran into her at the elevator, she was coming out and I was going in. It's a good thing I didn't have a client waiting for me, we ended up talking for an hour. After that we became best friends.

"Why she so easily accepted me, I'm still not sure about." Cheryl says trying and failing to smile.

"You don't?" Eric tells her. "Cheryl, I don't think anyone that actually knows you could ever hate you. The pups that wouldn't play with you when you were younger missed out. I bet you would have made up the best games to play. You're funny and kind. Your compassion can't be beat. People can't help but respond to that. 

"You mentioned that you help vampires. Most people can't be in the same room with them without one of two things happening: either they become food or they become terrified. Vampires have to work hard to control themselves enough to not terrify or feed from those around them. Yet they go to you and haven't killed you yet." Eric is less than thrilled at the idea of vampires going to her for help, but he knows that she won't tolerate him trying to tell her who she can and can't help. After all she shouldn't be helping him either.