Novacaine

Mariah felt his body begin to relax, his trembling slowly ebbing away under her comforting presence. But as the minutes passed, she could feel a new tension creep into him. He was shaking again, but it was different this time. His body trembled with a new intensity that sent shivers of concern through her own frame. His grief and shame were palpable now, wrapping around him like a heavy blanket and threatening to pull him under.

Her heart ached at the raw emotion that flowed from him, struck by the depth of his despair. She wanted to ease his pain, to hold him until the tremors stopped and his breaths became steady once again. But how could she, when his pain seemed to run so deep? Instead, she did what she could. She pressed herself closer to him, wrapping her slender arms around him in a protective embrace.

"It's okay …" she whispered into his fur, her voice barely audible. But the moment the words left his lips, I don’t deserve safety, Mariah's heart stuttered. The raw pain in his voice was resounding,, a haunting echo of the guilt and self-loathing that darkened his soul. She felt her breath hitch as he buried his face in her fur, his body trembling with unrestrained grief. His confession hung in the air between them. And then, the levee broke, unleashing a torrent of pent-up agony. She held him tighter as the first sobs started to wrack his body. His grief was a tangible thing in the air and it tore at her heart, each sob sending jolts of empathy through her.

"Let it go" her voice a soothing balm in the suffocating silence of the den. She wasn’t going to engage in an argument with him- to try and convince him he could do no wrong. His pain was a reckoning force between them, a maelstrom of self-loathing and regret that threatened to consume him whole. She couldn’t win that fight for him. But she could see him through it. She tightened her grip, offering what little comfort she could amid his inner turmoil refusing to let go, keeping him anchored as he rode the waves of his grief

"Mariah Mendacium"