Merida
Night fell as the pack retired, exhausted from today's events. About six hours after my conversation with Father, Mother stopped by the office to inform that Kristen was finally stable and expected to make a full recovery. Although, it's still unknown when she's expected to wake up.
I had just finished packing a Tupperware of chicken alferdo in the kitchen, when I heard the clinic team walk through the front door, sighs of weariness and low murmurs about today rang in my ears.
"We should look more into those markings. They don't look usual." One woman said.
"I'll ask around, the west coast packs are close to the covens, maybe they can give us some insight." A man who's voice I recognize as Doctor Scott responded.
"Carlos, man, was that really the Luna's daughter?" A younger man asked.
"Of course, they looked nearly identical. It's just interesting we're only now seeing her for the first time." A voice I assume belongs to Carlos said.
"It was kind of her to watch over Kristen for the night. I'll go back in a few to relieve her." Another woman cut in.
"Thank you," Doctor Scott replied. "I'll meet you there first thing in the morning."
As they ascended the steps into their rooms, I turned back into the kitchen and made a small container of the dinner for Mia.
A warm meal in hand and a quick stroll across the pack grounds later, I enter the clinic and head straight for Kristen's room. Noticing the door open, I tap my knuckles against the wood twice.
"Knock, knock."
"Who's there?" She replies, staring down at a chart next to an unconscious Kristen hooked by different tubes and wiring.
"Chicken." I say hiding the container behind my back.
She rolls her eyes. "Chicken who?"
"Chicken Alferdo." I hold up the meal in my hands, a few feet away from her.
"You're an idiot." A small grin appears on her face as she lowers the charts.
"And you're hungry." I tell her, knowing from our connection. But realizing how creepy it sounds, I add. "I assume."
"Well, you're right." She steps towards me and I notice she smells similar to the forest. Melody stirs, eager to bury his nose in her neck. "Let's step outside. I don't want the smell of food to stir up Kristen's wolf before she's properly healed."
Following her out the door, "Why did you suddenly decide to help? And how do you know so much about this?" I ask curiously. The last time I checked, she'd never worked in a pack clinic before nevertheless healed a wolf.
"I work- well worked- at a vet clinic in the city and every night after the full moon, I had to patch up my own injuries, so I got good at the basics. But as for this," she gestured, "Ma needed help and naturally I stepped in. All I did was follow her directions and let them handle the majority of it. Also, Scott warned me to be careful not to accidently wake her wolf."
"Ah." I nodded.
We sat down in the break room down the hall, composed of eggshell walls with a large round table, chairs, and a cabinet set to match. All of it illuminated by a rectangular florescent light.
Setting down the container and a plastic fork I managed to scavenged from the drawers, Mia tore the lid opened and begin to eat.
As an apparent non sequitur, "Something about you feels different."
An eyebrow raised as she kept chewing, finishing the meal off.
"Madness feels... settled, somehow." I observed. "And you feel..."
"Relaxed." She finished.
I nodded. "What changed?"
"Nothing," she shook her head placing a hand to her chest, "I still feel uneasy at times but you can say we came to an understanding."
"Understanding?" Melody comes to surface, intrigued by this information.
"Don't get me wrong, It's hardly been a day. I'd be lying if I said I was miraculously healed after four years. But Ma helped me to grasp Madness a bit." After a moment, she continued. "We have an agreement, kinda. I won't shut her out and she won't try to break out. It's not much but it's a start."
"Okay," A thought comes to mind. "Mia, if you don't mind, would it be okay if I can help out a bit? You know, with you and Madness."
She thinks about it for a moment and anxiety gnaws at me. Finally after a moment, she shakes her head.
"I'm not saying no but for right now, I need time to understand Madness a bit more. There's a lot she's saying to me and I need time to understand it. Understand her."
I shouldn't push. Give her time.
"I get it but I also know from experience that it's hard." I don't want you to do this alone. We've both been alone for too long. Way too long. "Especially learning everything about your wolf. How does Madness speak to you?"
Something flashed behind Mia's eyes, and I see a glimpse of Madness behind them. "She shows me colors and adds in feelings."
A change comes over me as Melody presses more to the surface, wanting. "Describe it." I say in a voice I barely recognize.
Maroon meet icy blue as both our wolves come to the surface. A shift takes hold in the room as we continue our conversation normally. It takes less than a second to realize that Mia probably has no idea what her wolf is doing.
Hell, even I have no idea what I'm doing.
"She'll show me the color blue accompanied by a wave of pain. I can understand it as her telling me she's upset." Heat begins to rise at the base of Mia's throat and my eyes focus there for a moment.
"Is it just words or can she communicate phases?" On the outside, nothing notable happens, but on the inside, I can feel Melody attempting to tug at the bond that binds us.
We should stop this. I tell him. She isn't ready. The internal confliction pounds at me as neither of us break eye contact, though, there's no challenge between us.
The struggle between my nature as her mate and the nurturing we've received together as sisters tears me and I struggle to find a balance between the two.
Maybe Father is right. I should probably give myself time to think about this as well.
"It's just words for now." She breathes.
Melody tugs again and this time we're both stopped dead cold when we feel something respond. It's small yet it's hard to mistake it for anything else.
"Does Melody communicate to you?" Her question pulls me out from the shock.
"Yes." I say quietly, still stunned by the realization. "It speaks non-verbally, through feelings and images. I can mostly understand it because I understand our nature."
I emphasize the last part by lightly beating my balled up fist to the center of my chest.
"Ma said something similar. That the person and the wolf are one." Her eyes grow redder but I know there's no threat behind it.
Only something else.
Something only wolves and mates understand.
"We are one." Melody says. But I don't think Mia realizes what he actually means. "Connected in every way. Separated by nothing." One hand reaches out and grabs hers while the other comes to the side of her face.
I should stop this. But everything in me wants to push further.
"When the truth of this connection settles into both you and the wolf, communication becomes second nature. You'll be able to feel and do things as one." My voice is a whisper as I bring my free hand down the side of her face stroking her hair back, my other hand tightens slightly as her head tilts sideways.
I allow Melody to tug at the bond once more and Madness comes forward.
Ice meets blood.
"Beautiful." Madness says and I feel time stop.
"Tell me, what do you feel?" Melody replies.
"Warmth."
Heat burns inside me, bringing a scorching pain to every pore. Everything in me wanting to throw this table to the other side of the room.
"You?" She asks.
I need her. I need her right here, right now. The aching need in my core rattles me and my nature screams at me to take her.
Beneath Melody and I lies a dark and dangerous secret that even Father doesn't know. A secret that I kept hidden away for eight years.
A beast that's desperate to break free. A monster so bloodthirsty and merciless that it'll make a hellhound look like a puppy.
A monster that wouldn't hesitate to tear the clothes off of the mate before it and fuck her senseless in this damn break room.
My hand settles on the pulse at her neck and I feel its beat spike erratically. I flinch as my mind halts to an alert, torn between the wave of protection that erupts within Melody and the deeper twisted pleasure that stirs the beast.
"Merida, your eyes?" Mia's voice trembles.
I tear away from her, knocking my chair back as I rise quickly. I slam my eyes shut and will the temporary connection that sparked between us just now to break. After a moment, I feel both Melody and the beast settle.
"Merida?" She asks.
"Oh, Mia. There you are." A familiar voice says. "I already told Scott but I'll take over for the rest of the night. You should get some rest. Merida, are you okay?"
I open my eyes to a blonde and short woman that I notice is one of the technicians from earlier.
"Yea, I'm okay." Turning to Mia, "I can bring you to your room, if that's okay with you?" I add.
Her brown eyes stare at me for a moment before she nods.
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