Chapter 28 Late Bloomer
ADRIANA
I’d stopped shaking by the time I woke up.
I was lying naked in the field, and the sun was just coming up so it wasn’t very hot yet. I could feel every ray directly on my skin.
There was no longer fur coming out of my body, which I was grateful for because that would have been terrible to experience now that I was thinking clearly.
I needed a recap of everything that had happened last night because I didn’t fully remember it. The pain and discomfort I’d felt was something I couldn’t forget, but after I spoke to Yara, I didn’t know what happened after that.
Yara… would she finally answer me when I called for her now?
“Yara?”
Just as I’d expected, there was no response. But I felt different in some way. Everything about my senses seemed much sharper.
I could see clearer, I could smell things more, and I could hear things around me that I couldn’t before. Like the way I could smell Elijah and the way I knew he was walking toward the door with heavy footsteps.
I tried to get up but my legs were weak. Obviously from last night’s events that I couldn’t remember, so I slowly lifted myself and hid behind the tree in front of me.
He opened the door and his eyes started searching for me.
“Adriana?”
I didn’t respond at first. The fact that I was nude made me too shy to do so.
He sniffed the air and I forgot for a moment that he was a wolf. His eyes locked with mine and it took him just a millisecond to understand the situation.
With one hand shielding his eyes and the other stretching out his jacket that he took off, he made his way toward me one step at a time.
I took the jacket from him once he was within arm’s reach and I slapped it on, coming out in embarrassment to come face to face with his back.
He didn’t turn at first so I tapped on his back to get his attention.
His mouth was open but he didn’t say anything. I was beginning to wonder if there was something on my face or if all the hair had gone there.
“Is everything okay?”
“Huh?” He finally snapped out of it. “Oh yes, I mean. You’re just different. It’s like you’re glowing.”
If he was trying to make me feel better, then he was failing at it. I knew how terrible last night had been for me and I also knew I looked a mess, but it would be impossible for me to ‘glow’.
All I wanted was to go to my room and get into the bathtub.
“Thank you. Can we go now?”
My legs were getting wobbly and I felt faint. I needed to sleep for hours, then when I woke up, I’d think about what happened to me.
But right now, I was standing outside in nothing but a jacket that was too short and barely covering anything below my waist.
“Let’s go. You’re shivering.”
When we got to the door, I hesitated because a thought crossed my mind.
“What is it?” Elijah asked.
“What if people see me? What would they think? I’m wearing your jacket.”
He thought about it for a moment.
“Wait here.”
He walked away and closed the door behind him. It only took a couple of minutes for him to walk back and hold the door open for me.
“Come in, the coast is clear.”
He was talking like we had been doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing.
I rushed in behind him because I didn’t want to risk being seen like this. The last thing I wanted was for a silly rumor to spread and then someone deciding to make my life miserable for no reason.
We hurried upstairs to my room and ran in.
“Are you okay? Do you need anything?”
Yes, a lot of things. A hug, a bath, painkillers, two days of sleep and some food.
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
My stomach betrayed me and let out a growling sound.
“I’ll be back with food.” He said while trying to hide his laughter.
As soon as the door closed, I ran to my closet and brought out the clothes I wanted to wear and went into the bathroom.
As I passed the mirror, I wanted to look at myself but was scared.
I didn’t know what happened to me last night. All I knew was that Yara had been going on and on about how we needed to do this and how I had to suck it up.
The hot water felt amazing against my skin, attacking all the knots in my joints and I almost fell asleep at the feeling.
As my eyes closed, I heard a sound and I sat up, my ears alert and waiting to hear another sound. When I didn’t hear anything else, I relaxed back in the tub and closed my eyes, trying to blot out the recurring thought that kept hitting me.
What now? Now that I had my wolf, does it mean I’m like other people now?
Am I stronger?
Why can’t I still reach Yara?
When I could finally feel my fingers and toes starting to get wrinkled, I stepped out of the bath and put on my clothes.
Maybe I’ll just skip the food and sleep. As I passed the mirror again, I couldn’t help the temptation and I looked at myself.
Now I could see why Elijah had been looking at me.
There was something wrong with my face. Not in a bad way though.
I looked different.
My eyes were a different color, a gold circle surrounded my irises. There were streaks of white in my hair and they were very visible. And for some reason, I couldn’t remember putting on red lipstick last night, but no matter how much I rubbed, my lips weren’t getting any cleaner.
Why did she choose now of all times to come? When I needed her back home, why didn’t she show up for me?
All she did was talk and disappear, like that was supposed to protect me. And now that I was finally happy, she showed up again and embarrassed me like this.
I cried and I didn’t even know why. I just wanted to be like everyone else but why was it so hard?
Every time I raised my head up to look at myself, I cried until I couldn’t take it anymore so I washed my face.
If she didn’t want to help me, then screw her.
If she didn’t want to be my wolf, then screw her again.
If she felt like she could just pop in and out when she felt like it, screw her.
I was doing fine on my own before she came and I’m going to keep doing so.
As I walked out of the bathroom, Elijah was standing there with a cup of coffee in his hands and from the look on his face, I knew that he heard me crying.
So I didn’t even bother with what he was going to think. I just ran to him and pulled him in for a tight hug.