Chapter 129

A new beginning 2.

Scarlett's POV.

Eat something? As soon as the words popped into my head, hunger gnawed at my stomach and it was loud enough that the woman heard the grumble. My cheeks flamed, but thankfully she didn't comment on it, instead she reached out to the tray she brought and lifted a plate into her hands.

"This is just something really light to keep you filled for the time being," she said, before revealing a small bowl of chicken soup. My brows rose, and she must have seen the question on my face because she replied before I asked anything.

"And don't think about it, this is more than enough for you, trust me." I had known this woman for a few minutes, her there was something in her eyes that told me I could trust her.

"Okay," I found myself saying.

My arms flopped to my sides, still weak from lack of use, so it was up to the woman to feed me. My mind stilled reeled from all the information that has been thrust at me as soon as I woke up, and more than half of it still remained unknown.

The woman really was right because after a couple handfuls of the soup, my stomach started protesting about being overfilled.

"Is that enough for you?" She asked, and I nodded. She handed me another glass of water, and I gulped down it's contents like I had been starving for it.

"Thank you, Miss..." I didn't have another name for her other than "the woman" and I knew that had to change.

She waved her hands around again, dismissing me with a soft smile. "No more of that Miss please, we friends now so you can call me Tala." I stared at the woman- Tala, who was old enough to be my Mother, and I smiled back at her. The way she was so free with me- a complete stranger- was refreshing to see.

"Alright Tala, thank you." She hummed in response as she cleared the dishes, placing them out of sight. My gaze locked on the window, it was bright outside, and from what I could see, the season has changed and we were in spring, maybe early summer.

"Tala, where are we?" I asked without thinking and she paused, fixing a crooked flower in the vase.

"In the woods." Woods? So did that mean I wasn't taken away by either Rush or Derek? My mood sank and I sighed. Well, at least I wasn't dead yet.

"Don't look so down, I guess I didn't explain properly. We aren't all out in the woods, but a few kilometers from the Rogue pack. We aren't all alone out here," she reassured, and new fire rushed through my veins. The Rogue pack meant Derek, so that meant he was the one who took me away from the battle. Did that mean they conquered the Hidden Moon Pack? If that were so, then what did he do with Rush and his forces? Alpha Richard too, because he had barely done anything through the course of the war.

A sharp pain stung my temple and a hiss left my lips.

"Don't over do it now, you only just wake up so this isn't the time to be thinking up a storm," Tala cautioned.

"If you have any questions I'm happy to answer them for you. But once I see you are mentally or physically exhausted, you're going back to bed no questions asked. You were brought here for a reason and that is to recover," she explained and I nodded.

"First question?"

I went with the obvious choice, even though I knew more than an inkling of what the answer would be. The question still are me up none the less.

"Who brought me here to be treated?" I asked.

"That would be Derek, the Alpha of the Rogue pack," she said, confirming my suspicions. Something like warmth grew in my chest and I sighed.

"He's such a sweet boy, and that day he looked extra worried about you so I'm glad you're awake now to see him," she said, mumbling to herself. Her soft smile gradually turned into a frown and she sighed as well, looking nothing like the sweet woman I had woken up to.

"Tala, are you okay? Did something happen?"

"I'm fine, honey. It's not me I'm worried about," she said, leaving her sentence there. She didn't offer to give up any more information so I felt too awkward to pry for more.

"So, Derek and his warriors were able to conquer the Hidden Moon Pack?" I started, trying to change the subject to get a smile back on her face. She didn't smile, but she didn't look as down as she did before.

"Oh no, honey. If I were to put it, I would say it was a draw."

"A draw?"

"Well, the thing is, another pack swooped in at the last minute to join the war. It turns out they they had the same plan as Derek, but they executed theirs very late. With everything going on, and with that new pack in the mix, Derek felt it was a wise decision to fall back and fight another day."

That was just dumb luck, but for who, I didn't know.

"Really?"

"Really. I'm just glad there weren't any casualties or grace injuries to deal with. In fact, the only one who was badly hurt was you," she said, eyeing me with a hint of sadness in her eyes. I swallowed the ball in my throat, not knowing what to say to her. I had long remembered how I had gotten on this bed, critically injured and I was still left wondering what had gotten into my head that day because what sane she wolf would jump between two wolves fighting to the death?

"Oh, is that so?" I cringed at own voice and words. There was no way she would buy into that. However, surprise took over me when she just shrugged.

"You don't have to tell me anything if you don't really want to. Derek didn't say anything either."

"Oh." I looked down at my interlocked fingers and breathed in.

"But just so you know, I'm still wondering what could have left two grave wounds on both your front and back."

Her eyes pinned me to a spot and I felt trapped under her gaze. Would she think I'm crazy if I told her the truth?