Tutoring the Alpha

Chapter Twenty-Three: Fade Into You

**A/N: DEFINITELY CHECK OUT THE SONG ON THE RIGHT! ITS BEAUTIFUL AND MAJESTICAL AND I LISTENED TO IT ON REPEAT WHILE WRITING THIS**

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Mickey’s POV

        Finally, after spooning Benny for nearly two hours, she fell into what seemed like a restless sleep, but a sleep nonetheless. I was hesitant to leave her, in case she woke up and started crying again, or worse, freaking out about a voice that only she could hear. But I had things to take care of, so I made sure Shane knew to keep an eye on her before I left. Earlier, I’d gone out to try and calm myself down, assuage my worries, but now...now I was almost certain that I knew what was wrong with Benny. And even worse, I knew that one way or another, I was in for an uphill battle if I was going to save her. 

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        “Thank you for taking me on such short notice,” I said gruffly as I settled onto the couch in Dr. Bernard’s office. I’d driven only a few minutes down the road, to one of my brother’s old friends who’d left our pack years ago to live among humans and renounce all aspects of pack society. He’d gone to college and medical school, and was now a practicing psychiatrist. Still, he was a friend and had agreed to meet with me briefly before he left for the night. 

“Not a problem, Mr. Lafitte. What can I help you with today?” he asked smoothly, leaning forward in his chair to stare into my eyes as if trying to get a read on me. Ugh. Shrinks always bugged me, and this one was no different, but I persevered. For Benny.His light brown hair was short and cropped, the mark of a werewolf, but his skin was smooth and hairless, his clothes business casual and his loafers shiny, without a mark on them. Definitely not werewolf style.

“Um, I’m actually here about my friend. Not myself.”

“A friend? I see.”

“No, like I’m actually here about my friend, Benny. My girlfriend, actually,” I growled, frustration lacing my tone as I shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Dr. Bernard was nodding along, smiling like I hadn’t just been rude and aggressive to his face, which only served to anger me further.

“Girlfriend? Why don’t you tell me about her?”

“What do you need to know?” I shot back, answering his question with a question.

“Well, what’s she like?”

I scratched the back of my head, stalling for time as I struggled to locate the right words to describe Benny to this wackjob. Perfect. Warm. Beautiful. But then our last interaction tore through my mind, unwanted, bringing with it new adjectives. Paranoid. Unstable.

Damaged.

“She’s…” I paused, coughing to clear my throat. But Dr. Bernard was no fool; he saw right through my procrastination techniques.

“Let’s start with her appearance. What does Benny look like? Is she tall, short? Blonde, brunette?”

“Um, she’s a little short, I guess. She has, like, curly brown hair, and, um...brown eyes. Really dark brown eyes, with little flecks of golden brown in them. And when she laughs, they just...light up.” 

“Alright, good. And how did you meet Benny?” 

“At school. We both go to UVA, and she became my tutor a couple months back.”