Luna

Chapter 9: His Face

Chapter nine: His Face

Elena

I was in the forest just behind my Pack land and I could smell the smoke coming from the compound, I could still hear the distant screams of some Pack members. My heart broke with each step I took further and further away from my home but I had to keep going. My mother’s words continued echoing in my head.

Run, Elena! Run!”

I picked up my pace and started surging through the woods. I could feel my heart breaking slowly, the realization that my parents were actually dead hit me. How had it all gone so horribly wrong in a matter of seconds? One moment we were sitting in the living room like a normal family and the next we were being attacked.

Why had those wolves turned on us like that? They never acted unless they were commanded to do so. Which meant that Alpha Richard gave the order to murder my parents. This was all his fault but I just didn’t understand why he would do such a thing. I just crossed over the stream when I heard the snapping of twigs behind me, followed by a loud howl. My blood ran cold when I heard that sound. I knew it too well, it was a tracking howl. A signal to alert the other trackers that their target had been found. They were after me and they were coming.

I pushed my legs even faster under branches and over roots. From the sound of the stampede behind me, there had to be at least eight wolves that I couldn’t even fight off on my own. My father taught me to fight but my wolf was much smaller compared to a fully grown wolf. I could hear them drawing closer but I didn’t dare to look back. I just kept pushing my legs as fast as they could carry me.

Eventually, the sound of their paws hitting the forest ground faded and I pressed onwards nowhere in particular. This is it, I am on my own now. I surged forward in a cold sweat and looked around the room frantically as I tried to take in my surroundings. I was no longer in the forest, I was in a foreign place that I didn’t recognize.

I saw the familiar monitor off to the side of the new bed I was in, I sprawled my hand down on the soft mattress. I was on a bed, a real bed not a hospital bed. I had been moved to a new room, there was still hospital equipment in the room but it felt less like a hospital room and more like a bedroom. The sun was peeking through the curtain but I am sure that the day was coming to an end. I don’t know how long I had slept but it felt like I had been asleep for hours. The dream and all the emotions that I felt came rushing back to me. The pain of losing my parents and having to be on the run for ten years, everything came back to me.

“Elena.” Liam walked through the door. He changed into scrubs and his lab coat was gone. His brown eyes held concern as he did once over to check if everything was okay.

“I am okay, just a bad dream. Where am I?” I asked him.

He walked over to me and pushed me backwards to lay down on the bed. He didn’t answer me at first, instead he got to work checking all my vital signs and looking over my side once more. It wasn’t as painful as it had been before which was a good sign.

“I moved you to a more private wing of the hospital. This is where the Alpha and his family usually get treated.” He responded,

“Why?” I asked, he started pressing down on my abdomen.

“Bernard believed it would be best if you were in an area that no one had easy access to. The only people who are authorized to be here are a few trusted staff, myself and Bernard. No one will hurt you here.” He replied.

By no one, I knew he meant Nicholas. He was someone I needed to be extra cautious of, there is something about Nicholas that didn’t sit right with me. I knew he was Bernard’s Beta and it was clear that he trusted him, otherwise he would have never gotten the position but I sensed there was something more to Nicholas that met his eyes. It was ironic coming from me, the woman who was hiding her real identity and feigning amnesia.

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Chapter 9: His Face

I did some blood tests and it came out clean. As you know, the first time Nicholas came in and cracked your ribs, your x-ray didn’t look all that great but your second one came back a lot more promising. The cracks seem to be healing a little faster now. I wonder why your wolf took so long to kick in.” He said to me.

“Yes, I wonder why too.” I muttered under my breath.

I knew the reason behind that, she sensed Bernard close and she surfaced. She is only interested in Bernard and him alone, anything came second in her mind. Things like safely and getting away so that Richard doesn’t find us were an afterthought for her now.

“Well, I am going to attend to other patients now. If you need me just press the button on the side of the table and I will come running to you.” He said with a gentle smile and I nodded my head as I watched him leave the room. He paused when he got to the door and turned

to face me.

“Elena?” He called.

“You know you are safe here, right?” He added and I nodded, which wasn’t a lie or the truth. I knew Liam wasn’t going to hurt me and Bernard, although he didn’t trust me, wasn’t going to hurt me either but there was Nicholas. He made it very clear that he didn’t trust me

nor wanted me here.

Doctor Liam left the room and closed the door behind him. I stared up at the ceiling, thinking about how crazy my life had been in the last few days. I had gone from being a rogue, living off the land and constantly on the run to finding my mate, to being a prisoner and being able to transform without pain. I spent the majority of the last ten years in my wolf form. I became more comfortable as a wolf than I was as a human. I was struggling with being a human again, I am not used to feeling so exposed and weak. I was used to forest ground and tall pine trees, not antiseptic clothes and a heart rate monitor. I didn’t like this place at all not just because I felt like a prisoner but because it was all strange to me. Even using my human voice was strange, if I had it my way, I would have remained in my wolf form.

I remember the first time I had to hunt, I was out in the forest and then it had been four years since my parents died. I had been putting it off for a while but I knew I couldn’t wait much longer. My wolf was straining and she needed sustenance. I need nutrition to help my wolf stay strong if I keep running. I failed dismally the first few times I went hunting. On the first night, I only managed to catch a small fish from the shallow water of the river, then as time progressed, I got better as a hunter. I learned to be stealthier and move the way many predators did, I became one with my wolf.

My diet mainly consisted of whatever I could find in the forest each day. I had eaten bears, deer, fish and even squirrels. I never cooked them, I just ate them in my wolf form. At first, the blood tasted disgusting but after a few weeks, I got accustomed to the taste of raw flesh. Although the times were hard and being an animal, the majority of the time made one go a little stir crazy but it was a simple way of life. I didn’t need to communicate with people and there was no need for the lies and the secrecy for the days I moved on four legs instead of two.

The only thing that made me being human again a little more bearable was the face that Bernard got to see me. He had seen both parts of me, the wolf and human form but I am yet to see his wolf form. I am sure that he would be cute and powerful as his human form. I looked out the window, the curtains were still closed and the view was obscured. Somewhere outside of the hospital is where Bernard lives. The last time I had seen him, I was thrashing things around like a psychopath. I cringed internally at my little outburst and admitted that my actions were dramatic and I am sure that Bernard knew. He knew more than he was letting on and it was only a matter of time before he found out the whole truth. It was nearly impossible for mates to lie to one another. Our pull even though new and not fully solidified was already making its strength known. He could feel me and could sense my distress, that is why he came to the hospital earlier today. My wolf called to him.

A knock sound on my door and a girl about my age walked in with a bucket and a mop. She offered me a small smile but I didn’t return it because I don’t know who she was. She was a stranger to me and I don’t trust her, regardless of whether she is one of the trusted employees or not.

She started mopping the floor without saying a word to me. I leaned into the pillow and closed my eyes. Sleep was calling me again and before I knew it, I was drifting off into the darkness once more.