Keeping Her Safe

“Katia, let’s go get something to eat,” Eric yells across the garden. “I am so weak from hunger that I cannot harvest another vegetable or fruit from this goddess-forsaken patch of weeds.”

Smiling, our little Luna straightens, “Oh, you look like you may wither away to nothing.” She links and pokes his ribs as if he is fat instead of the muscular wolf he is. She smiles so rarely; we find ourselves looking for ways to make her smile.

In the few months we have been hiding in this little cabin on the outskirts of the Blood Meadow pack territory, Katia's healing has been slow and painful. Her wolf has recently been waking more often and for more extended periods. The wolfsbane took a toll on her body, and she has not grown any taller. Her injuries healed; however, many scars have been left behind. Most of her body is covered, and a pale line runs down the left side of her face.

Her nightmares are the worst. The first one terrified all of us. We thought someone had broken in during the night and was trying to kill her. She is petrified that Thomas is going to find her and recapture her. She hides in the cabin unless one of us is with her. We try not to leave her here alone at any time. There have been times when we have not had a choice, though.

We kept her inside for six months when we first brought her here. However, as far as we know, no one knows about this place. It belonged to Cora’s deceased mother; not even her father knew of its existence. She kept it up and spent time there when she needed time alone.

We had it set up like a hospital room at first. Doc had everything needed to take care of our Alpha Luna. He kept her sedated much of the time back then. She was a mess. Her skin hung in shreds from her back and stomach. I would love to whip Alpha Thomas with his “ghost whip” and let him feel the pain he has caused another wolf. The wolfsbane made it so that Aza could barely do anything to help her human side physically heal.

For hours, Kelp would talk with Aza, keeping her calm and helping her to keep Katia’s mind at peace while we healed her body. I remember Kelp crying for hours as he endured the pain Wolfie and her girly felt. He just stared blankly and asked, “Why? What did she ever do to deserve this?”

“It is her light, Kelp. She draws those with good hearts to her, and those with evil hearts are jealous and want her light.” I would tell my fellow packmate. “I believe Alpha Thomas thought if he could control her, make her his Luna, then her light would make up for his darkness.”

“I would like to believe that Mark, but I think he already had evil in him, and then when he lost his temper and killed his fated mate, it got worse. I don’t think he cared about killing the light she carries within.” Kelp would stroke her hair or keep some contact with her in any way he could. None of us wanted her to think she was alone.

Doc sometimes said: “Thomas was not always like he is now. His father was a hard man and would not let his mother baby him. His father would punish him for every kindness his mother gave him in return. It started to take a toll on him, especially when he was so young, and he could not protect himself or his mother from his father.”

“I remember a little of the old Alpha and his temper, especially with his wife and son.” Coral would tell us. “He did not like weakness; if he saw it in his mate and offspring, he would beat it out of them. Sometimes, I helped my mother treat the old Luna when the beating was severe, and her wolf could not heal her quickly enough.”

“After witnessing your father do those things to his mate, why would you repeat it in your behavior?” Kelp could not understand that abuse was learned and that a person would choose not to stop the behavior. “Our Alpha Luna is safe now, and we must keep it that way.”

“She is on the road to recovery, and with hope, her mental wounds will heal also. We must keep her hidden and the Alpha from discovering she is moon-touched.” Doc says while checking on her IV lines.

“Kelp, how is Aza holding up? She is still such a young wolf and has been awake so much. Is she growing normally?”

“She is doing fine, all things considered, Mark. I think it has to do with them being moon-touched. Our little Luna mentioned the lady to me several times before, and I think she is talking about the goddess Selene. I think the goddess saved her in the past.”

“What’s this? Selene has already visited Katia.” Eric perked up with this observation.

“I think she saved Katia from when she was a baby. Katia said something about the lady, showing her that the people she knew as her parents were not her parents.” Kelp informed us, “It was just before the final punishment that ended with us getting her away and to this cabin.”

“Well, we won’t know anything until she wakes up, which won’t be for a while. She is healing slowly without her wolf being old or strong enough to help with the physical healing. I will have to keep her sedated until these stitches are ready to come out. Any movement will rip the gashes open right now.” Doc finishes fiddling with all of the tubes and chords hooked to her little chest. “How is her pain, Kelp?”

Taking a deep breath, Kelp goes quiet for a few minutes, “Wolfie says she is okay right now. Katia is resting peacefully.”

“Good, good; time will tell how well she heals. She will always have scars. I cannot change that, but she will be alive, and the goddess, willing her mate, will find her and give her the love she deserves.” Doc goes to leave but says, “I will be back before nightfall to check on her again. I have to check on Alpha Thomas; he is still in charge of the pack. I must ensure he continues to believe he killed his chosen mate and does not start looking into anything.”

Coral got up and kissed him on the cheek, “We will have dinner waiting for you when you return this evening. We eat as a pack in our little pack house.”

Suddenly, I heard a little voice in my head, “Hmm, interesting. What was that all about? Doc, gotta girlfriend?”

Swinging around, I headed to the bed we had set up in the sunroom. The monitors were making their usual beeps and whirls. I looked towards the head of the bed and saw a pair of dark purple eyes staring at me. She attempted to smile. “I see I have died finally.”

Kelp whispered, “Yes, Luna, you did.”

Coral and Eric seemed to appear instantly. “Luna, you are awake. Let me check your vitals and see if we can remove this breathing tube for you.”

“Wow, look at you beautiful! Eyes wide open and sparkling like always. Never seen a woman or wolf with eyes so gorgeous.”

“Eric, you better be careful. My wolf is falling in love with you and your compliments. She is sitting all pretty and batting her big eyes at you.” Our Luna giggles as she links us.

“Aza would never do something like that. She is the one that believes with all her heart that your fated mate is coming, remember?”

“Yeah, I only hope she doesn’t get hurt again. After what I have lived, I learned not to trust in fairytales so much anymore.”

Coral sadly looks at our little Luna: “Oh, sweet girl, I swear it is not a fairytale. The fated mate bond is something beyond wonderful, and nothing compares to the feelings you experience with it. You will see, and when you experience love, protection, and passion, it will ease everything bad that has happened to you.”

From that night forward, we did everything we could to help our Alpha-Luna heal mentally and physically. We kept her hidden and out of sight as much as possible. She never went outside alone or wandered anywhere away from the cabin.

We didn’t keep her locked up. We took her and Aza on runs late at night when we knew the security patrols would be on the other side of the pack’s land. Doc gave her an herb that covered her scent. We took no chances of anyone discovering she was still alive.

Our little ghost, Luna, did her best to follow our rules and keep herself safe when we were all away from her. Little did we know that very shortly, she was about to live up to her nickname of little ghost Luna, literally.