Back again
Elara
I woke up again, this time feeling less like a nearly dead person and more like just a person in pain. Pain in droves and the waves all over my body exploded, causing me to nearly cry. I bit my lip, hoping to distract myself. I squeezed my fingers together and began to pinch myself, but neither worked. Of course, the pain in my hand and biting my lip were only at about 0.5, and the pain exploding in my side on a scale of 1 to 10 was like 100.
"You're awake again. I was wondering if you would wake up."
I heard the same voice from the last time. He filled my field of vision, smiling down at me rather brightly—too brightly, however, for me to understand. All I wanted was for the pain to go away. I released my lip, opening my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a soft whimper.
"It hurts," I wanted to say.
Tears, however, decided they wanted to have free rein and freely chose to escape my eyes.
"Does it hurt?"
I gave him a small nod.
"Yes. Oh shit. I legit didn’t think about this."
He left my field of vision and began scurrying about.
"Usually the way it works is that a typical werewolf would have healed by now. A couple of days would have been more than enough to heal from that kind of wound, but then—snap—I should have seen this coming. You’re so fundamentally different from us. Give me a sec, we’re going to find you something."
I could hardly breathe, holding out for any moment when he would come back and give me something.
"Here, drink this."
He held up my head and placed the cup by my lips before tipping it back. A strong, warm, yet extremely bitter liquid flowed into my mouth. My first instinct was to gag, but he closed my mouth, forcing me.
"Trust me."
I swallowed unintentionally. But down it went.
I began to feel warmth spreading through my body, especially moving towards the wound at my side. Eventually, I hardly felt anything, but it left a strange burning sensation in my throat, and most of all, there was the aftertaste in my mouth. It was sweet.
"What did you give me?"
My voice came out as a hoarse and strangely soft whisper. He entered my field of vision again, threw me a smile, and by this time, his smiles were beginning to piss me off.
"That is, well, some of our stronger alcohols. You see, I don’t think I need to stress this again. We would have healed from this injury by now. This is your second week."
My eyes widened.
"I’ve been in this room for two weeks?"
Oh dear God, I thought to myself. I must stink like a dumpster fire.
"In case you’re wondering about the integrity of our noses, I assure you we can withstand how you humans smell, miraculous versus. Perhaps you could read my mind." At least he smiled again.
"Anyways, aren’t you a bit of an enigma? I spent time around humans but not nearly enough. It seems a couple of years in your medical school, and I gained myself a master’s of your anatomy, although I rarely ever used the knowledge. So please pardon me—no, really. I think I may have done something wrong, but luckily I didn’t leave anything inside your body. I found… Okay, this guy is crazy. Then again, everyone here was crazy."
He left my field of vision.
"Someone wants to see you. Well, the person isn’t really asking for permission. He asked the Alpha and was granted it, so he can come in. But I just wanted to let you know, you know, give you a bit of a heads-up."
The door opened, and then I heard nothing.
"Anyone there?" I whispered.
"My apologies, Highness."
It was a man’s voice. He sounded old. I pegged him around 80-something, maybe 70-something, after early years.
"I merely wished to check on you, out of interest. And now my interest, since you are his interest."
I found myself confused. What on earth was he talking about?
"I don’t know what will be the status of your independent fate, but I must feel the need to tell you that, uh…"
He trailed off.
Okay, I wanted to see him. I propped my body under my elbow and found some hidden energy to push myself off the bed until I was in a near-seated position. Before me was a salt-and-pepper man, well into his seventies. Charred with old, thoughtful eyes that made me feel as though perhaps he was somehow older than I thought. His eyes were not whitish or glazed over. Instead, they seemed to be in rather good condition, sharp as he stared at me.
"My name is Logan," he said. "I’m one of the Alpha’s closest advisers, and I am his confidant in the council."
"Okay." My voice was a little stronger. "What does that have to do with me?"
Logan smiled.
"I will excuse your ignorance. You’re just not one of us, but I will make some things known to you. This is bigger than anything you have ever been involved in. This pack has stood for centuries, and we will continue to do so. There are some that believe your presence will set us back, and there are some that believe your presence will herald change. Frankly, I sit on the fence. I am more concerned with pressing matters."
"My presence where? Aren’t you going to let me go?"
He smiled, this one full of genuine curiosity and amusement.
"Yes," he said. "You want to leave."
His voice was slightly lower.
"But I’m to make you understand your situation."
"I have no situation. I want to leave."
I looked away from him, falling back onto the bed.
"Let me go," I demanded with as much authority and power in my voice as I could muster, but I probably sounded like a baby seal.
The old man called Logan smiled. "There’s no option such as that."
"What option do I have then?"
He smiled again. "Honestly? Nothing. The only option you have—well, it’s to stay. Very dead, and you take your place as you need to." His words were slow, almost as though he was gauging my reaction. Unfortunately, if I had enough energy, I would have lunged at him and probably pulled out the remaining salt and pepper in his head, which was impressively quite a lot. But he was an old one, and he couldn’t become a beast like the rest.
"He also is taking place. You—the Alpha—will not let you go because you are his mate, and your rejection of him is going to leave him alone. That’s all. He cannot let you go. If you go, this pack will fall into ruin. Subsequently, well, we would send hundreds and thousands of refugees into neighboring packs. I’m sure shortly that should weigh on your good conscience."
"I have none," I said, keeping my eyes on the ceiling. "I have no good conscience. The world didn’t have one for me. I don’t have one for the world."
I heard soft footsteps approaching me.
"To be that young, you’re awfully cynical. Interesting. I suppose you don’t believe life is a bed of roses then?"
I chuckled bitterly. It felt—the bed dip next to me, and then the scent of cinnamon.
"You’re a little too young for that, girl, and perhaps you don’t want to listen to my advice. But that is how you young people are nowadays. You don’t want to hear the wisdom of the aged. You just want to do things your own way, even though it would hurt you."
"What do you want to say, old man?" I looked towards him.
" Weigh your options. You either die, and then this pack dies, or you live and you stay. Either way, the decision of the council was quite clear. If you do not become what you need on the inside, they will kill you because you are human, you trespassed into our property, you have eaten our food—"
My mouth dropped open.
"—you have, well, drunk our wine. Do you know that in the Underworld, if you eat anything there, you can never leave?"
"The Underworld isn’t real," I said a little forcefully.
"That’s what you think. But we beg to differ. I’m sure you’ll come to appreciate this difference between you and us. But however long it takes, it will happen, young girl. You will stay, and you will be well-guarded. What happened will not repeat itself. Even though some council members are perturbed by your existence, I can imagine none, currently acting, would wish you harm."
He smiled again, this time it was born of a strange emotion in his eyes that I didn’t recognize but somehow seemed similar to the woman in my dream. That was right—the woman in my dream. Maybe if I slept again, I could ask her.
I scoffed just as he left the room. No one is ever going to believe me if I said I dreamed that. Well, back in the dream again with the same person, right? Yeah, it was stupid. It was uncomfortable. No such thing would ever happen.
I thought to myself before I drifted off into sleep. However, my thoughts were once more with the shame. My conviction threw itself out the window—at least the little convictions I had were now rendered into nothingness as I once again floated in that strange place, and I heard her voice.
"I was beginning to grow bored in your absence. Who would have thought talking to you would take such a heavy toll on your mind?"
My mouth hung open. It really did happen. I was really back here.