Chapter 64: Stolen From Shadowclaw
[TW: Mild Gore & Violence]
Every bit of my body was paralyzed in fear when the brown wolf turned its attention away from Soren, who was still locked in battle with the first attacker. The second one slowly stalked towards me, and I frantically tried to search for the metal rod I had dropped in my peripheral vision.
Before I could locate it, the wolf had pounced. My knees gave out from under me, and I collapsed to the ground in horror.
I needed something― anything. The inability to shift severely handicapped me in situations like these. It was going to be the same thing all over again, just like what had happened at Willow’s funeral.
Only, I didn’t expect things to really play the same way.
A large black wolf — far bigger than any of the foreign wolves I had seen thus far — jumped in front of me. It tackled the brown wolf easily, its jaws clamping down on its neck before biting down without any hesitation.
A sickening crack echoed through the air.
At the same time, Soren swung his tail, slamming the wolf that had locked him in battle against the concrete wall. It was a gory sight― the wolf slammed into a protruding rod, blood splattering across Soren’s body and the surrounding vicinity as the rod pierced its body from the back. Just like that, the body went limp and stopped moving.
My chest rose and fell in rapid motion as I looked at the black wolf in front of me. For some reason, even though it looked exactly like Rowan, Soren, and Cassian’s wolves, I knew that this wolf wasn’t any of the triplets.
"Lucien?" I called out hesitantly.
To my surprise, the wolf turned around, its ears flicking to attention. Its golden eyes bore straight through my soul, and I felt my chest burn with warmth. An unexplainable attraction drew me towards him, and every inch of my body yearned to be closer to him.
This feeling was so intense that it severely overpowered any sort of pull I had towards the triplets.
Soren’s eyes met mine, and he growled in warning at the black wolf. He crouched low, ready to attack whenever needed, but the black wolf in front of me didn’t seem to care too much about Soren’s threats. Instead, he turned around.
His head moved towards me, and I stayed still, completely frozen. For some reason, I knew that he wasn’t going to hurt me.
True enough, his jaws clamped down on the back of my clothes. In one fell swoop, he threw me onto his back. I yelped in surprise, my fingers digging into the soft fur on his back for support. Once I was on, he turned and sprinted away, not giving Soren a chance to attack.
I couldn’t help but turn back to look. Soren’s gaze remained locked on us even as he shifted back. His figure became smaller and smaller, all the way until he disappeared into a dot.
When I turned to look ahead of us, I felt my body grow lighter. Dots were starting to blur my vision, and I found it harder and harder to breathe. My head grew light, and I felt my body toppling sideways. I was going to fall off.
Before I collided with the ground, I heard a crackle of bones. The last thing I felt was a pair of arms wrapping themselves securely around me. Then, I knew nothing more.
***
"―severe blood loss, on top of a low-running fever. She might need a few more days’ rest before she can wake up."
"Is there no way to speed things up?"
"I’ve analyzed her blood samples. She has a dangerously high amount of wolfsbane in her system. It’s unlikely she will be able to survive any werewolf forms of treatment, as they may interact with the wolfsbane. It’s better to wait, Alpha."
I groaned.
My head felt as though someone had brought an axe down right at its center and cracked it apart like a coconut. Not to mention, the noise that was buzzing around me only further amplified the pain. It was comparable to someone placing two boomboxes by my ears and cranking up the volume to the maximum possible level.
"She’s waking up!"
I heard a smack, followed by a grumble of pain.
Slowly, I cracked my eyes open. The piercingly bright light made me wince, blinking rapidly as I tried to adjust to the glaring light.
Once I was fully adjusted, I realized this was a tent. If I strained my ears hard enough, I could hear birds chirping in the background.
It didn’t take long for me to recall everything that had happened. That room had been blasted clean down, and even if it hadn’t been, it looked different from this room.
There wasn’t much in this tent. There was a bed, which I was resting on, a small table with some portable medical equipment I couldn’t recognize, and a few vials and bottles, some empty, some full.
"Where..." I croaked, my voice hoarse. I coughed a few times, and instantly, a waterskin was placed right by my mouth.
I drank from it without hesitation, sighing when the cool water relieved the scratchy feeling in my throat.
"Where am I?" I asked, looking around. There were three people I had never seen before.
The first one was a young man in a white coat. He had a pair of glasses, black hair, and a pair of bright blue eyes that looked curiously at me. In his hands was a clipboard, and it took me approximately two seconds to deduce he must be a healer.
The next person surprised me.
"Ralph?" I called out, my eyebrows scrunching.
He nodded, a smile blooming across his face. But as soon as it did, it fell. His eyes darted nervously to look at the next man. I could even faintly see his body shaking.
Slowly, I swiveled my head to look in the same direction. My throat went dry almost immediately, and I felt all oxygen rush out of my lungs.
The last man was closest to my bed, the waterskin I had drunk still in his hand. He scowled at Ralph before turning his gaze to me. The moment it did, his expression softened. However, there was a playful sparkle in his eyes.
"I’m a little hurt," he said, "that the first name you call out after waking up is not mine, sweetheart."
