Sam had a right to be distrustful of Mik, but it still rubbed Mik the wrong way. How long would it take for him to see that Mik was trying? To trust him again?
He knew he couldn't expect changes to take place overnight for either of them but Mik missed Sam's hopefulness, his happy and easy-going personality. When Sam was down, he wanted to be left alone. When he was angry, he silently stewed and made snippy remarks. The rare moments Mik got a glimpse of the old Sam, he got nervous—afraid that he would fuck up and ruin Sam's mood and all the progress they had made.
He fought Mik the first few times when Mik tried to move his arms and legs like he had done while Sam slept—demanding that he not touch him. At first, it was like a punch in the chest, reminding Mik of his own words thrown in Sam's face months ago.
"I have to do this," Mik told him. "You won't get strong if I don't—and you know it."
"I don't like you touching me," Sam grumbled, but could do nothing to stop Mik from moving his limbs.
"You don't have to like me," Mik said, "but I'm taking care of you now, and I'm not going to let you waste away."
Mik tried to repeat these little exercises every hour, but Sam snarled at him to leave him alone. Biting back his hurt and rising anger, Mik ignored him and continued the slow movements as his father laughed and jeered in his head.
After a few days, Sam's anger subsided and he complained more about feeling tired and wanting to be left alone.
Mik repeatedly told him, "You need this," even when Sam cried and begged him to stop. Mik bit back his frustration and urge to yell at him, to remind him again and again that he needed to keep moving. There were times he felt like crying and other times screaming over Sam's pathetic pleas and raging demands.
Sam's moods fluctuated. Sometimes he was so lethargic, he begged Mik not to pick him up from the bed and leave him alone. Sometimes, Mik gave him that break, especially if he was busy doing something else like cooking food, cleaning the cabin, or washing a few dishes. Sometimes, he gave Sam a break simply because looking at him made his heart ache.
As much as he didn't want to admit it, Sam's behavior was torturing him. How much longer before he saw that male smile again? For him to laugh again?
As the days turned into a week, Sam was still fighting with him and refusing to try and get stronger and become more independent. While Mik understood that Sam needed to work out his thoughts and feelings, he couldn't help but wonder how much longer it would take for him to take initiative and try again. To live again. How much longer would it take for him to want to live his life?
'You did that to him,' his father sneered in his ear.
The ghost of his father loved to rub it in, and whenever he did, Mik reacted. Sometimes as little as gritting his teeth or snarling, but other times he'd throw things—pillows, small objects, utensils—and a few times he'd smash his fist on the kitchen counter and once he stabbed the wooden cutting board with the knife he'd been using to chop vegetables. Sam probably thought he was insane, though he never made a peep when Mik lost control.
Laughter filled his head then and faded away after Mik had calmed down, breathing in and out slowly with his back to Sam.
When he got Sam out of the bed, he spent hours staring out the window. His silence unnerved Mik when he wasn't working around the cabin, so he would offer to read to Sam. Sometimes Sam agreed and the times he didn't was when he was silently raging and didn't want to hear Mik's voice.
At those times, Mik didn't know what to do with himself. He didn't want to read ahead in their book. He enjoyed the experience of seeing how the story unfolded with Sam. He found he needed another hobby during those times. Since he didn't know what to do with himself, he would stretch, do push-ups and sit-ups, planks, squats—anything he could do in the open space in the kitchen. He longed to go out for a long run or play in the snow, but regaining Sam's trust was more important. He only went out to hunt, making sure he was back as quickly as he could.
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The Defiant Claim (The Claim: Book 2) LGBT
Werewolf[COMPLETE] Revenge drove him. Bloodlust raged in his veins. All 22-year-old Mik (Mikwam) wanted was to reclaim his birthright and destroy the alpha that took it from him. He never expected to find his mate within the pack of his enemy -- nor was he...
