“She told me about you and what happened. It was bad…wasn’t it?”
“It was, but it was worth it in the end because I found Zane. He’s the one who’ll teach you how to use the computer I brought.”
“Sofia said he’s a wolf shifter.”
“Yes, does that worry you?”
Shrugging a shoulder, Cain said, “I don’t know. Sofia told me he won’t hurt me and …”
“He won’t!” David exclaimed. “My mate is the kindest, sweetest, nicest, smartest person I ever met.”
A small smile graced Cain’s face. “Sofia told me that, too.” Then, glancing over at the computer David had set down on the coffee table, he pointed to it and said, “Steel already gave me one…why do I need another?”
“You don’t. The new one has software on it that will help you learn how to use it. My mate wrote it for his nephew but when he found out I’d never used a computer before, he had me use it so I could learn the basics. Once I did that, he wrote another program that’s more advanced…and that’s what I’m using now. Do you want me to show you?”
Cain paused for a moment. Then, deciding it was okay since it was Sofia’s son, he nodded.
“Great!” David exclaimed. Picking up the laptop, he headed over to the small table in the sitting room. “We can sit here. It’ll be better. That way you can be next to me to see what I do. When I first started, it was so frustrating, but once Zane installed his program, everything became simple.”
Pulling his chair close to David’s, Cain sat down and waited, wondering if it was really going to be as easy as David made it sound. Somehow, he doubted it.
“Okay, here’s the button you press to turn it on,” David said, pointing to it. “Go ahead and press it.” He watched as Cain’s finger hovered over the button for a moment before he lowered it and pushed the button. Within a few moments, the screen lit up with a picture of a beach and small waves lapping at its edge.
“Oh wow! That reminds me of…” Cain began, then snapped his mouth shut. He had learned it didn’t pay to remember any good times when survival was more important.
David glanced quickly at Cain and saw the brief look of pain in his eyes before it disappeared. Deciding to ignore it for now, he opened Zane’s program and handed the mouse to Cain. “Here, all you have to do is what the wolf says.”
“A wolf?” Cain asked weakly, placing his hand on the mouse. “Why not a…I don’t know…maybe a…a…bird.”
Laughing, David replied, “If you want, I’m sure Zane can change it. I think he used a wolf because Danny’s a wolf…that’s his nephew.”
“No…that’s okay,” Cain muttered, focusing on the wolf on the screen. Then, reading the first instruction, he clicked on the wolfand a new instruction appeared. “Oh, this is gonna be easy,” he murmured. “I like this.”
Smiling, David sat back and watched Cain proceed through the different levels, remembering how elated he’d felt about his success. He was sure it would help give Cain the same self-confidence as it had done for him.
~/~/~/~/~
Sofia sat quietly while Jackson read over the proposed schedule for Cain she’d given him. After her breakfast with him and their subsequent discussion about computer lessons from Zane, she’d decided Cain needed a lot more support than she and Jackson had initially thought.
After he’d finished reading the last page, Jackson set the paper down on his desk and looked at Sofia. “I thought you were going to include rules for him…what changed?”
“During my discussion with him this morning, I wasn’t sure rules would give him the security he desperately needs. And after thinking more about it, I realized it’s because his scars go too deep.”
Frowning, Jackson said, “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.”
“Cain lives with the fear that no one wants him, so everything is filtered through that lens. And because of that, he always expects to be kicked out, especially from a world he knows nothing about.”
“That’s not exactly correct,” Jackson replied. “Remember, the reason he was in the High Council prison was for shifter trafficking. So at least he knows our world exists.”
“I haven’t forgotten that,” Sofia said. “But you also have to consider he was told everything he knows by other humans whose knowledge is questionable at best.”
“Made up of hearsay, hmm?”
“Exactly. I knew nothing about your world even though my son is a wolf shifter, but luckily for me, my neighbor was a wolf shifter and he taught me all about your world. So when David and Zane brought me here, I didn’t have a problem interacting with everyone…nor did I fear them. Now, put yourself in Cain’s shoes…”
Jackson leaned back in his chair and thought for a few seconds, before nodding his head and saying, “I see what you mean.”
Sophia continued, “His fear of what exists outside his door has made his bedroom into another cell. He’s afraid to leave it.”