uleyx:

It wasn’t so bad - accelerated healing.  Without it, he was certain to be in pain for far longer than he was.  Of course, genetics had stepped in and removed at least a few days of torment off of him.  Not to say it didn’t hurt - wolf claws digging into one’s face and chest would certainly cause some pain, but he did his utmost best not to show it.  Leah wouldn’t stop apologizing, even a week after the incident, still feeling guilty over something that, truthfully, was out of her control.

Sam knew that feeling.  The first time he’d phased, losing complete control over his body.  With no one to talk him down, he had run off for two weeks, unable to phase back into himself.  Though, now, acceptance and understanding led him to know that the wolf, the large black creature his body would instantly turn to, was just an extension of himself.  He could control his shifting now, mostly.  Until the scars fully healed, something that was taking far longer than an ordinary cut would, even with his quickened healing ability, he was keeping himself from doing so.  Sue had recommended it, and he wasn’t willing to risk opening the wound and hurting himself, and Leah, more.

Leah, who was berating herself for the loss of control, for the shifting she wasn’t even aware was possible.  No one was aware that Leah had the genetic trait shared by the rest of them - and Sam was still trying to figure out what everything meant.

Why the world seemed to stop spinning the second he’d looked at her after returning.
Why she suddenly, more so than she already was before, became the center of his world.

These were questions that the tribal leaders didn’t have exact answers to or, if they did, they were keeping them close to the chest.

A visit was in order though, to make sure Leah was okay.  He saw her everyday since the incident, but she seemed —- out of sorts the last time.  Blaming herself for an injury that could have just as easily happened in reverse, though that thought tormented Sam.  He still loved her, no matter what had happened to him.  He refused to blame her - she was not at fault for something out of her control. 

A knock on the door before placing his hands in his pockets, leaning back slightly on his heels as he waited for her to answer.  Scars would be ever present now - angry and red against his cheek, neck, and chest as if they’d been drawn there.  Normal cuts healed without scar, he’d found, but these - his theory was that because they had come from another wolf, they would scar - weren’t fading.  They were settling in, and he refused to let her feel guilty about them a second longer.  Another knock, his patience waning thin waiting for her.  She had to be home.

She had said she would be home today to see him.
He wanted to see her.
He almost needed to see her.

Guilt would eat her alive if she wasn’t careful, and he refused to let that happen.

_{Seth often left her breakfast, lunch and dinner outside of her bedroom. Mostly because of her reluctance of coming out. Even after the numerous talks with her father and mother, Leah didn’t feel any better about the situation. In fact, hearing others talk about it made her feel even worse about what she had done to Sam. What she had done to the one she loved, cared for and kissed. Soft skin laid along his face, chin and chest. Now he was scarred, because of her.}

_{Tears didn’t do her any good, despite how much she cried during the day and night they didn’t cure what she had done to him. They wouldn’t, because if they did he would have already been healed and in full health by now. And he wasn’t, he’d never be; because of her. He was still handsome, in her eyes he would always be handsome, but she had scarred him.}

_{She ruined the body that he had been born with. The same body she remembered kissing and loving. Even the body he had been recently given. Along his black fur she could still see the lines of red, sprawled out even more because of his larger form. As of late, she had been neglecting her newer shape. Mostly because of the result of what had happened when she was in her newer form. Havoc, and to the one she loved the most.}

_{Leah had heard the knocks, but decided to disregard them. The first time around, at least. She had appreciated his visits, truly, she had. But she couldn’t help but have the guilt that was already pumping through her veins affect her even more with his presence reminding her every glance she took to him.}

_{Thankfully none of those who lived with her were home. Leaving her with the decision on whether or not to open the door. Part of her wanted to be with him every second. However being away from him, even if it was with her own will, it ate her up inside. The other part wanted to shield herself from him, away from the damage that she could do to him; again.}

_{Hair was pushed behind her ear as she rose from her bed and walked into the central of the house. The individual that stood behind it had a distinct smell, one that she could remember by a simple sniff.}

_Sam.

_{Raggedly her breath exhaled. The she wolf had forgotten how many times she had apologized. As well as how many times Sam had assured her that it wasn’t under her control and was not her fault.}

_{But it was, all of this was her fault.}

_{There was an itch at the back of her, to shed her skin and push her paws into the earth beneath them. She didn’t relieve it, she wouldn’t.}

 _{Never again.}

_{She opened the door and just as her eyes had done so many times before, they went to his scars. They were redder this time, more irritated. As if they would never scab and heal.}

_{“        Sam.”}