Gone (Book Two of the Dark Lycans Series)

"One, two-" Hailey was cut off by my howl of pain as she shoved my shoulder back into its socket.

The broken part of it shifted, sending a searing pain through my body. Gasping, I clutch at my shoulder that was starting to swell from being dislocated for so long.

"What the hell happened to three?" I growl angrily. Hailey chuckles nervously and backs away a little.

"If you are expecting it, you tense up and it hurts worse than if you aren't expecting it. I figured that out when I was helping in the hospital of my old pack," she shrugs.

"I was just kidding, relax. I have had my fair share of dislocated joints, both my own and other's. I'm just used to putting them back in myself, but paws make it a little awkward," I say lifting up my furry hand.

"That was the first time I have ever put a shoulder back in for a Lycan though, the fur throws me off a little, but it's about the same," she laughs.

I smile in amusement, and watch as my shoulder bone starts to mend itself.

"How old are you again?" I ask her.

"16, but I turn 17 in December," she says. Wow, I definitely didn't remember her age right, I think.

"Well, what do you want to do in the pack? Almost every position is available," I ask. She thinks for a few minutes.

"My dream was to become pack doctor, but I was forced to train as a warrior," she sighs.

"Tell you what, you are the new pack doctor, until we can find someone who actually was a pack doctor at one point. If we do find someone, then you will be their apprentice," I tell her.

She squeals with excitement and wraps her arms around me.

"Thank you so much!" She says and I laugh.

"It will be great to have a pack doctor who can fight as well, you never know what could happen," I reason.

"Yeah, hey look your shoulder is healed!" She laughs in surprise. I look and see that she is right.

"I heal extremely quickly, and there are many more things about me that would surprise you," I say.

"Well you can finally shift back, and then we can clean up your face," Hailey reminds me. I sigh in relief and let myself shift.

The sounds of cracking and popping fill the room as I turn back into my human form. Soon I am standing naked in the room, happy to see my own flesh.

"Here is your bag," Hailey says. I take my bag from her hands and put on my spare sports bra and basketball shorts.

"Holy shit you're hot!" I hear Hailey exclaim. I turn to see her ogling at me.

"Uh, thanks," I say with scrunched eyebrows and a confused smile.

"Well I mean your Lycan is so scary with red eyes and shit, that you would never expect you to look like that," she tries to explain. I smile and wave it away.

"I'm just kidding, now can you help me clean up this mess," I point to my face that is now bleeding profusely.

"Oh, yeah right, better get that fixed up," she says searching the cabinets of the hospital room.

The hospital was one of the few buildings that didn't get destroyed in the attack. The same attack that my mother planned, so my father would believe she was dead.

It was by the neighboring pack, and all of the previous Dark Forest Pack was killed in it. I wasn't sure whether to blame my mother or father for it.

Something wet on my face brought me out of my thoughts. I saw Hailey wiping the blood off of my face.

"You'll make a great pack doctor," I tell her with a smile. She grins and continues cleaning off my face. When the blood is off, she finds some bandages.

"With how fast you heal, these should only be on for today," she says and my right eye is covered. I can't see out of one eye, but I am just glad my fathers claw didn't blind me forever.

"Do you think it will scar?" I ask her.

"It is really deep, so yes it will," she sighs. I nod sadly and breathe out heavily.

"Damn it, I am tired of all these scars," I say. She finishes wrapping the bandages around my head and steps back to look at me.

"What scars?" She asks. I pull down the waistband of my shorts and show her the wolf scar on my hip.

"I was captured weeks ago, and they burned a wolf deep into my skin. It healed a few days later but left a scar," I tell her. Then I pulled down the top of my sports bra until I reached the scar over my heart.

"I made their leader angry and in a fit of rage, he plunged a dagger into my heart, and then they revived me. I'm still not sure if I actually died or not," I tell her.

I turn around and move my hair over my shoulder. I lift up my sports bra to show my back.

"They whipped me, and when I was eleven, I got this tattoo," I say. I feel Hailey's fingers run along the lines on my back.

I turn back around and pull my sports bra back down. Then I show her the scar by my left hip.

"A group specifically created to kill me called the Banishers, shot me with a barbed, silver arrow, I had to push it all the way through my body to get it out," I sigh. The scar was four inches long, and I had a matching one on my back.

"Oh my god, that's horrible," she gasps. I just shrug and wave it off like its no big deal.

"I don't dwell on the past. What happened happened, and there is nothing I or anyone can do about it," I tell her.

"I suppose that's true, well we should check on the others," she shrugs. I nod and grab my bag as we head out of the hospital.

Outside, all of the Lycans are helping to rebuild the houses and other buildings. The pack house was mostly destroyed in the attack, along with the training center, and the Alpha's, Beta's and Third In Command's houses.

They managed to find a small building filled with tools and supplies, and immediately got to work. Luckily, several of the Lycans had built their own houses at their packs, so they knew how.

Luke was overseeing the construction and helping out every now and then. I make my way over to him with Hailey by my side.

"Alpha," he says dipping his head in respect. I nod to him and stand beside him.

"I would like you to be my Beta," I tell him. He turns to me, shock written across his face.

"I would be honored to be your Beta," he says bowing down. I flick my hand and he stands, a smile gracing his face.

"Good, the next full moon is tomorrow so we will hold the initiation ceremony that will make us a full pack," I say.

"Don't you need a Third in Command?" Hailey asks me.

"We'll find one eventually, for now I think we will be okay," I shrug.

She nods and we walk over to help the women and children who were scavenging for clothes and food among the wreckage.

Hailey and I search for clothes and supplies among the wreckage. We find a lot of water canteens, tin cans, weapons, and fighting gear in the rubble of the pack house.

"Hey, do you want to come hunting with me?" I ask Hailey as we take the supplies to an area where they were being sorted.

"Really? I can come with you?" She asks excitedly. I nod and she skips happily.

"I would love to!" I laugh at her enthusiasm. I tell her to let Luke know where we were going and I grabbed my bag of weapons from where I left it by the rubble.

Hailey came running up to me as I headed towards the forest.

"I told him that we were going hunting and I didn't know how long we would be," she says as we walk further into the trees.

"Okay, well I need to do something else as well. You are going to meet my mother and aunt," I tell her.

"Why are we going to them?" She asks in confusion.

"Because my mother was the Luna of the original Dark Forest Pack."

************

We come up to the large mountain, and Hailey stops suddenly.

"What's wrong?" I ask her. She is staring wide eyed at the cave entrance.

"We are going in there?" She asks, fear in her eyes.

"Yes, it is a maze of tunnels leading to different rooms. I grew up in this mountain," I explain.

"How do you plan on getting through the maze?" Hailey asks skeptically.

"My mother made me memorize it. The only people who know how to get through the tunnels are my mother, aunt, me and my cousin." I start to lead Hailey into the cave.

"Who is your cousin?" I hear her ask. I take her hand and start walking through the tunnels.

"Her name is Shadow White, she is the Luna of the Shattered Pack in Asia," I tell her as we turn down another tunnel.

"Is your whole family of high power?" She snorts.

"My brother is a rogue," I shrug.

"You have a brother?"

"Well half brother. My mother had him before he met my father. He is half Lycan, half normal werewolf, so he isn't as strong as I am," I explain.

"Why are you so strong? And powerful?" She asks as we go into the last tunnel before we reach the silver door.

"I am part of a line of pure blood Lycans, and my parents were direct descendants of the first Lycans, William Corvinus and Lucian Greyback. And I am the first cross between the two bloodlines." Hailey's eyes widen and her mouth drops open.

"Woah, do you realize how cool that is?" She laughs.

"Yes, it is really cool. Now, I need you to brace yourself, my mother won't be too happy I lied to her," I sigh. Hailey's face turns serious and she nods.

I breathe out a sigh and unlock the silver door. Pushing it open I hold my breath in anticipation.

I curse under my breath when I see my mother waiting for me with crossed arms.

"Hey mom," I mumble, walking and closing the door behind me.

"Who is this?" She asks gesturing to Hailey.

"This is Hailey, she was one of the Lycans I rescued from the Arena," I explain. Hailey throws a little wave and my mother gives her a quick smile.

"Are you hungry dear? My sister Lily can get you some food," she offers. Hailey looks to me for permission and I nod.

"Lily? Can you get this lovely young lady some food?" My mother calls out. Lily walks in and leads Hailey away into the kitchen.

As soon as they are both out of sight, my mother whirls on me.

"What were you thinking? Why would you go after your father, and lie about it too?" She shrieks.

"Because I didn't think you'd let me do on my own. Besides, I did it didn't I? And I'm okay and I saved dozens of other Lycans," I reason.

"Obviously you're not okay, what happened to your face?" She says reaching for my bandages.

I try to swat her away but she get ahold of them and tears them off my head. I quickly hide my face from her.

"Raven! Quit it, and just show me your face," she growls angrily. I sigh heavily and slowly remove my hands from my face.

She gasps in shock at the scratches.

"Oh god Raven, who did this?" She winces touching the scratches.

"Care to venture a guess?" I deadpan.

"I hate that man. I'm glad you killed him. What do you plan on doing now?" She asks taking me into the medical room.

"I'm rebuilding the Dark Forest Pack, of all Lycans though. And now you two can come out of hiding. The Lycans saw Madox when you sent him to find me, so they don't have to be hidden either," I suggest.

My mother starts to inspect my scratches, that are almost fully healed now.

"Maybe, the mountain is a part of the territory so we can stay here, but we will be able to leave much more often. The Dark Forest Pack actually had the largest territory in the world before it was destroyed, but it was kept a secret."

I hiss when my mother poked at the scratches. She rolls her eyes and we go into the kitchen with Hailey and Lily.

Hailey was eating some of the raw meat that they always seem to have stocked.

"We have to get going, we need to be back before dark and we still have to hunt," I tell Hailey.

"Aww, okay. Can we come back sometime?" She asks hopefully. I chuckle and nod.

"Yes, now come on. We have to get going. Lily, can you update me on any news from Shade?" I ask.

"Yes, I have someone in her pack giving me monthly updates. That is how I found out about her packs situation in the first place. I'll let you know if it gets any worse," she tells me. I thank her and Hailey and I say goodbye to my mother and Lily.

We leave and start to hunt on our way back to the pack. All I can think about is what Lily said.

"I'll let you know if it gets any worse."

Please don't let it get any worse.