MARS
Aurora had left earlier this morning to talk to her father, and then shop for dresses with Charolette while I had the honor of preparing for the pups to come over tonight. Between Ares, my family, and my therapist, Denise, I had other people helping me with my life. It felt refreshing to be able to aid these pups in their recovery process now.
“Don’t stress about it, Mars. I’m sure you already have everything set out,” Denise said over the phone, her motherly voice reminding me of Mom.
It had been months since I’d last seen her; usually, when she checked up on me, Ares had control. And Ares hated her.
I sighed through the phone. “You know me too well.”
She paused. “What’s wrong? You sound off.”
“I have a lot on my mind.” I pulled the broom out of the closet to clean up some of Ruffles’s balls of gray fur. She shed like crazy all over our carpets. “I want Charolette to have the stone, but Aurora needs it to become stronger. I can’t let her walk around, helpless.”
“She’s not helpless, Mars. She’s capable.”
“But she could be stronger, so much stronger. She could shift with ease and run through the forest, not be held back by her disability.”
Ruffles jumped right back onto the carpet and rolled under the coffee table, shedding her fur everywhere again. I rolled my eyes and swatted at her butt to move her, but she just rubbed against my hand. Deciding that she’d do it again if I swept, I put it back into the closet and lay on the ground with her.
“I know how difficult it is to live with a disability,” I said, staring up at the high ceiling. “If this stone could change her life, then I want her to have it.”
My lips curled into a smile. Though Ares wanted her to have the Malavite Stone for safety reasons, I wanted her to have it because living with a disability was so damn hard sometimes. And I wanted to make my mate’s life as comfortable as it could be.