Broken Souls

Kay’s POV

Beep, beep, beep, beep….

What is that sound, and why is it so annoying? At first, awareness comes to me slowly, and then it suddenly comes crashing into me like a freight train. “Crap!” I fling myself into a sitting position. The beeping is much faster, and I’m completely shocked. Where in the world am I?

I look around, and I’m in a clean light blue room hooked up to that stupid beeping machine, and it dawns on me: I’m in a hospital. Where is this hospital, and where is the Boss? I know the Boss didn’t bring me here, and none of the rogues would have. Grandma might have, but I don’t smell Grandma. She smells like lavender, and all I smell is antiseptic.

I look at my hands and arms. The bruising is awful, and it still looks fresh in places. The IV in my arm is bugging me. I follow the line in my arm with my eyes and see the bag of liquid hanging well above my bed. Well, I need to get the heck out of here before they decide what to do with me, whoever they might be, and I can’t let the Boss find me. I know he’ll be looking.

I swing my legs off the bed and feel a slight wave of dizziness, but it isn’t bad. The beeping is really annoying. I look at the machine to see if it has an off button. I don’t see one, so I start pulling the thing off my finger and undoing the blood pressure cuff of my arm.

Then it happens: that fucking beeping starts going crazy. It’s making so much noise I hear the door open and turn to see a woman in blue scrubs come running in.

“Honey, don’t do that. You got to sit down and let me hook you back up.” She speaks kindly, but I’m already in-flight mode and slam my back into the nearest corner of the room.

She comes toward me, and I kick at her growling. “I need you to stop that. No one is going to hurt you.” Her words mean nothing to me: I don’t know her. I hear more people come to the door.

“Hey, love.” I hear a slightly familiar voice. I turn and look, and it’s the dark-haired woman I saw before in the terrible room. She’s beautiful, not much older than me. She’s tall with shoulder-length chestnut hair and eyes to match. Her olive skin is glowing, and her strong features make her look even more striking. “Do you remember me, love?” She asks as I stare dumbly at her. Everyone in the room has stopped.

An older man in a long white coat stands next to her, and behind her is the man with the light brown hair I saw in that horrible room. What was her name? I know she said it, but I can’t remember. Slowly I shake my head. “It’s okay, love. I’m Oriel, and this is Doctor Owens, and behind me is Beta Michael. No one here is going to hurt you. I promise you that. Please let the nurse and doc help you.”

I don’t know why, but I want to trust her. Maybe it because she keeps calling me love like my dad used to do; maybe it’s s her kind eyes and the gentle way she’s s speaking to me; perhaps it because I don’t really have much of a choice.

I get back in the bed and let them fix the thing I ripped off. Oriel comes and sits in a chair next to the bed. The other man, Michael, is gone, but the doctor is standing by my bed looking at a clipboard.

“Can you tell me your name, miss?” Doctor Owens has a kind but firm voice. He’s older with gray hair, but his blue eyes are warm and very alert. I can tell he doesn’t miss much.

“Kay.” My voice doesn’t sound at all like me, and it hurts too. I’m suddenly aware that it’s really dry. Oriel passes me a cup of water, and I gulp it down.

“Not too fast, Kay.” The doctor says. I stop and look at him. “You were in pretty rough shape when we found you, and you’re still not anywhere close to okay yet. Can you tell us what happened to you?”

Why did he have to ask me that? “No,” is all I say to him.

Alpha Aaron’s POV

Damn it, two days of looking and nothing! I’m pacing the office, clenching and unclenching my hands. I will not smash it and give Oriel and Michael a reason to keep babysitting me. I take some deep breaths trying to calm myself and Griffin. He’s been even more off since we got back. The Boss’s escape must be affecting him.

The knock at the door breaks my train of thought. “Come in.” I bark and sit down in my office chair. Michael opens the door and walks in.

“Good job. Everything is still upright and unbroken.” He’s grinning like a goof at me, but I’m not in a joking mood, so I just stare at him unamused. “Wow, okay,” he says, mostly dropping the grin but not completely.

He sits in the chair across from my desk. “Have they found anything?” He finally asks me, looking serious. I shake my head and put my head in my hands. I feel defeated. “That could be a good thing. He may be dead. Who could survive a fall like that?”

I look across the desk at him. “I have to know for sure, and I want them looking ’til he’s found one way or another.” I didn’t mean to sound so cold, but I just can’t give up.

Michael sighs and stands up to go. “Oh, that girl is awake. Maybe she knows something. Oriel is with her now.”

“Okay, I’ll talk with her later. I want everyone to attend extra training with no excuses, and let’s see what we can do to recruit more warriors. I want the numbers double by the end of the week.”

“Double by the end of the week? I don’t think that possible, man.” Michael is clearly shocked.

“Fine, end of next week then. No later. Make it happen. You can go.” I didn’t mean to use my Alpha voice on him. It just happened.

“Yes, Alpha.” Michael leaves the room. Crap, I just did that, didn’t I? Oh well, I need to make this pack stronger, and if I hurt Michael’s feelings, then so be it.

Kay’s POV

The doctor and Oriel are looking at me, and I know they both want me to talk, but I can’t. I don’t want to relive it, so I can’t talk about it. I shake my head, and they look a little disappointed, but the look is gone quickly. “That’s okay love. You talk when you’re ready.” Oriel has a sweet smile on her face making her even more beautiful. I do like her. I can just tell she’s a good person. I wonder what her wolf is like. Then I remember: three weeks until my birthday.

“Umm, excuse me, but what’s the date?” I ask. My voice still sounds strange and awful.

The doctor looks at me and answers, “March 9th.”

I sigh, a little more relaxed, knowing I didn’t miss my birthday. Suddenly, I feel very sleepy, and the doctor says everyone should go and let me rest.

“Daddy, can I go to town with you?” I ask, pulling on my father’s hand, begging him to let me go. “No, my love, you stay here where I know you’re safe.” His voice is strong and gentle. Suddenly, the trees shift, and I’m standing alone in the darkening woods. Something is growling, and I take off running. A large black wolf with black burning eyes is chasing me, snapping at my heels. I run faster, and then I trip and fall. The trees shift again, and I’m in that room. The Boss looms over me with a syringe of wolf bane. His black eyes are burning and his cold voice is laughing.

I sit straight up in bed, the stupid monitor beeping like crazy as I struggle to slow my breathing. A layer of sweat covers my body. A nurse rushes in, probably thinking I’m trying to escape again. I noticed the same nurse I saw earlier. “You okay, Hun?” she asks me as she looks me and the monitor over. I nod my head yes and ask for some water. She hands me a cup, and I drink it all down. “You call me if you need something, hun.” I just nod my head, and she walks out the door. I know I won’t be sleeping anymore tonight.

Alpha Aaron’s POV

I still don’t sleep much, so I spend my time running patrol, which used to cause Oriel to completely lose her mind. She tried yelling at me, but eventually, she gave up, knowing I wasn’t going to stop. After my parole shift is over, it’s about five A.M. I decide to skip the shower and go right to training. I know Oriel and Michael will be there. I go through the kitchen and grab a muffin while I head to the training grounds.

I find Michael quickly putting some new recruits through warm-ups.

“Good morning, Alpha. Skipping the shower this morning?” He looks at me from the corner of his eye, smirking.

“I thought I would join training this morning.” I shrug at him.

“Well, I think we can definitely use you this morning. We have some newbies that could use a good fight.” Michael is grinning mischievously now, and I can’t help but grin back. After two hours of taking on recruits two and three at a time, Michael calls an end for the day and sends them off for showers and breakfast.

I’m feeling almost good after using up so much energy. Griffin is almost quite other than the small whimpers I hear in the back of my mind, but it’s nothing compared to the constant howls and growling he generally bombards me with.

I see Oriel heading toward us, smiling at Michael, and his face lights up to see her. Griffin howls at the sight. “Hey there, did you really need to show up all the recruits this morning? Some of those guys may never recover from their wounded pride.” Oriel laughs.

“I figured it would give them something to work for; wanting to kick my ass is pretty good motivation, I think.” I shrug and give her an innocent look.

“Well, I guess, but I kinda think you just wanted to show off. Next time why don’t you teach them something instead of just kicking their asses?” She replies, less amused.

“I’ll take that under consideration.” I start to leave when Oriel grabs my arm,

“Hold up, Aaron, I need to talk to you.” I stop and raise an eyebrow at her waiting for her to continue.

Then she wrinkles her nose at me. “Maybe you should shower first. Then we’ll talk, okay? Meet me in your office in an hour.” I give her a nod and hear her giggle as I walk off the training grounds.

I shower, change, and head to my office. Sure enough, Oriel is sitting on my desk waiting for me. I hate when people sit on my desk, and she does it because I hate it. “What’s up, sis, and get off my desk,” I say flatly as I sit in my office chair.

“Well, hello to you too.” She tries to sound mad, but I can tell she’s amused.

“I wanted to ask how you are doing. We haven’t talked much, and I’m worried about you.”

“How do you think I am, Oriel?” I didn’t mean that as hard as it came out, but everything still hurts most of the time. I don’t even feel like I’m really here, just going through the motions. The only time I feel anything is hunting for that damn monster.

“I know I’m sorry.” Oriel sits in the chair across from my desk, looking straight at me.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to snap at everyone. It’s just,” I trail off. I can’t finish what I want to say, and she knows that.

“I really do know that Aaron. We all do. I just want you to know we are here: Michael, mom, and I are here.”

“Thanks.” I really don’t know what to say to her other than that.

Oriel is my step-sister. My father found his second chance after my mom and brother died in childbirth. It took a long time for my father to be okay, but Oriel and her mom came into our lives, and it saved us. Oriel has been my little sis since I was nine, and I love her and my stepmom, but even they can’t help me right now. They just don’t get it.

Dad would have understood, but he’s gone now too; he was killed five years ago helping some of our allies in a fight with a pack that was giving them problems. My dad’s death made me Alpha sooner than planned. My stepmom held the position until I turned nineteen and could officially take over.

After a long and uncomfortable silence, I clear my throat. “Is there something else?” I ask her.

“Oh yeah, actually, there is. That girl. Her name is Kay, and that’s about all we know about her, other than for being so small and not having her wolf yet, she’s pretty tough. She tried to escape the hospital yesterday. Luckily, Michael and I were there visiting some of the injured warriors, and I was able to calm her down. I want to bring her to the pack house.”

“You want to bring a girl we don’t know anything about to the pack house?” I ask her raising my eyebrow at her.

“Yep, she can stay in the Beta wing with me and Michael. I’ll keep an eye on her, or we can assign a guard until we know more about her. Please, I think she needs our help, and I think we can help, and Michael thinks it’s a good idea….”

“Okay. Woah, slow down, sis.” I finally cut her off because I was sure she was going to stop talking. “You already talked to Michael?” I ask, and she nods quickly. “Fine, but I want you to watch her. I don’t think we’ll need a guard for now, but I’m not babysitting her, and I want her kept out of my way.”

Oriel squeals, “Thank you!”

“Don’t thank me. I mean it: you watch her and don’t let her out of your sight. You’re responsible for any trouble she causes, and you need to find out more about her. When will she be moving in?”

“I will watch her, and she won’t cause trouble,” Oriel says, giddy and heading to the door.

“You didn’t tell me when she’ll be here.” I glare at Oriel.

“Oh, Michael and I are going to get her now.” With that, she ran from the office, closing my door, but I know she heard me yell her name because I could hear her giggling. That girl won’t be here long, I tell myself.