My back was hurting and I still felt some of my blood drip down my back. I tried to sit as straight as possible so the pain would lessen a bit, but it did not work in my favor at all. I wanted to scream, shout and cry my lungs out, but something stopped me.
There were strangers, five werewolves and one vampire, all chained up to the wall. I refused to show them my tears. They all seemed powerful in their own way and since my wolf disappeared again, I didn't want to show weakness in front of them
Everything was so confusing and I didn't know who to put my trust in anymore.
I slowly lifted my head up and looked at everyone in the room. They were all staring at me with wide eyes and I was trying not to show that I was afraid.
"How's your back?" a voice asked me. I jumped a little and quickly turned around to see the vampire staring at me with eyes filled with concern. I forgot that I was still on his lap so I scrambled away from him in embarrassment. I quickly stood up and made sure I was a good distance away from him before I answered him.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, using the walls for support. My back was burning and I felt tears pool up in my eyes again. After a few moments of trying to keep my balance, I slid down on the floor giving up. It was hurting too much and I felt empty.
My silver wolf appeared for a second, delivering threats and challenges, before leaving me to face the consequences of her words.
Absently, I rubbed my stomach, feeling the lingering pain of Lucius' powerful kick.
All eyes were still on me and I became very uncomfortable with their stares. They were all different but still beautiful in their own way. Even the vampire, who had jet black hair and the blackest eyes I have ever seen in my life.
"Don't say sorry, Ariel. It's not your fault. But how's your back?" the vampire asked persistently, trying to see the truth in my eyes. I didn't get it. Don't vampires hate werewolves? If I remember correctly, there was still an ongoing feud between the two supernatural creatures.
"Its fine," I lied softly, still confused from his behavior.
"And your stomach?" another boy with bright red hair asked.
"And your head?" a boy with black hair asked.
I just looked at all of them before shaking my head and closing my eyes. Answering their questions meant talking, and I still don't know if I can trust them.
I just wanted to go home.
"So what now?" I heard someone ask out loud trying to break the chains once again. The others tried to break their chains as well, while mumbling harsh words every now and then.
"I want to rip his throat off," the red-head mumbled to himself, while banging his chains against the wall.
"Who? The father or his bastard of a son," the vampire asked with anger. I could feel the tension in the air, along with their frustration.
"Both. I want to kill them both," the red-head growled. The sound of his growl made me flinch back in fear. He was starting to make me very nervous. His mood swings were kind of like Lucius.
"Idiot, you're scaring her," a boy with blonde hair scowled, before looking at me a gentle smile. "Don't be afraid of him. He just has a temper."
I didn't reply back. I had no idea what to say right now, but that didn't stop the blonde boy from talking. "I'm Orion by the way. And the one with the temper-tantrum there is Scott."
"Actually it's Scotty," the vampire interjected with a smirk on his lips.
"Shut up, fang boy!" Scotty spitted back out, causing the vampire to frown at him.
"I don't know why Lucius called me a boy. From the looks of it, I look older than him," the vampire grumbled out. "And much saner, if you ask me." He was looking deep in thought, before he turned to me with his piercing black eyes. I shrunk back in the wall, wishing that I can be anywhere than here. Upon seeing my reaction, his expression softened.
"I'm Leon," he introduced with a small smile. I didn't return it. "The one with the black hair beside me is Cameron and the brown hair dude over there is Arlo," he said by pointing to a wolf who was watching me with calculating eyes.
"Hey, what about me?" a boy with white blonde hair shouted out, giving Leon an annoyed look. Leon in return, threw him a lazy smile.
"And oh yes, Ariel. Let's not forget the tooth-fairy believing dumb ass over there. Otherwise known as Trenton," Leon sneered, before turning his head back to me. The sneer left his face, and instead he started looking at me with a serious expression. I gulped, realizing what he was thinking.
"How did you do it?" the vampire whispered in awe and immediately my eyes opened in panic. I knew he was talking about my healing powers. To be honest, I don't know why I decided to heal him. It's not like he's a friend or anything. If anything, he’s an enemy. A vampire.
"Do what?" I asked, feigning innocent. Since I wasn't chained to the wall like them, I wanted to get up and find an escape route; anything to avoid the questions that were being thrown my way.
Unfortunately as soon as I tried getting up again, I fell right back down onto my butt, my throbbing back controlling my body.
My vision became blurry, making me want to scream out in agony. How long will it be before my back was healed?
"Are you alright?" Scotty asked quickly, looking at me with worried eyes. I could only nod, refusing to let the tears fall. Do these people actually care about me or is it all an act? Without my wolf, I don't know who I can trust anymore.
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," the vampire continued on, pretending like nothing happened. I wish he would stop already. I don't want them to know anything about me.
It was a secret only kept by the members of my pack only. But someone betrayed my secret. That horrible thought kept taunting me in my mind, but I refused to listen to it.
"What are you mumbling about Leon?" Trenton asked curiously, before he stared at me with his bright green eyes. Becoming uncomfortable with his stare, I looked back at Leon.
"Yeah, what are you talking about? What the hell did she do?" Cameron asked. He sounded too curious for my liking.
"I have no idea what he's talking about," I whispered, trying to be as convincing as possible.
Leon sent me a disbelief look, before looking at the other wolves in the basement.
"My wrist was broken after Lucius decided to take his anger out on me," Leon spitted out in frustration. His fangs started peeking out of his mouth and I knew for sure that he was trying to control his anger.
"And?" Scotty asked, stretching out the word in annoyance. He was staring at his fangs with disgust clear in his eyes.
"And Scotty, my wrist is alright now because she healed it. Like actually healed it with her hands?" Leon answered, making it sound like a question at the end. "Can all werewolves do that or do you guys all have different powers?"
All the werewolves' eyes snapped to me in wariness, not believing what they just heard. I averted my eyes and looked down on the ground, trying to reduce the awkwardness.
"She healed you?" Arlo asked in shock, his voice rising in shock.
"Are you sure you weren't hallucinating after you hit your head on the wall?" Cameron asked, not believing what was coming out of his own mouth.
"I know what I saw. This girl- Ariel-, she definitely healed me," Leon confirmed, before addressing me. He was examining my face before he smirked. "You can't fool me, little girl." My eyes snapped to his again in anger.
"I'm not little," I gritted out, trying to ignore the pain on my back again.
“Then how old are you? A teenager?” Leon asked, sounding genuinely curious.
"Are you kidding me? She looks like a little baby. Probably nine or ten," Trenton said in exasperation, giving me a frown. I realized that he was the rudest one out of all of them and I got the feeling he didn't really like me.
"Stop being so rude to her, Trenton," Arlo defended me, but I wish what he said wasn't true.
"Actually he's right," I quickly whispered, while my cheeks flamed in embarrassment.
Seeing the reactions of their faces was priceless. They looked more like fishes than wolves.
"You're only nine?" the red hair boy gasped, his eyes now covered in disbelief. I shook my head at his question.
"Turned ten yesterday," I took a breath when I realized that their mouths was now wide open.
The room became silent after that, while I put my head back down, wondering why I even answered their question. I was starting to feel tired all over again. My family and pack must be worried sick by now.
"Well, happy belated birthday," Trenton mumbled, but I chose to ignore him. I can tell by the tone that he really doesn't like me at all. But why? It's not like I did anything to him. For goodness' sake, I only met him today.
"Why would they take such a young girl? You're not an Alpha's daughter," Carmen stated the fact, looking at me in curiosity. The way his eyes were analyzing me were scaring me.
"I want to leave," I whispered, ignoring his question.
"Don't we all?" Trenton taunted me, before trying to break the chains off. If I had my powers with me right now, I could've broken the chains easily.
"Stop trying to change the topic. We're not your enemies, Ariel. If we want to get out of here, we need to work together. That means we shouldn't have any secrets among each other," Leon said seriously, giving me a concern look.
"Why should I trust you?" I whispered giving them a cold look. "You're a vampire and they're all Alphas from different packs around the country. From what I know, our packs don't even have allies with one another. And Leon, don't vampires hate werewolves? You have no reason to help me."
There was a silence in the room until Arlo spoke up giving me a proud smile.
"You're very mature for your age, Ariel. We're not your enemies, if that's what you're worried about." Arlo softly said, trying to be as gentle with me as possible.
"I want to go home," I whispered in pain, before looking away again. I couldn't handle them staring at me any more. I feel like I can trust them, but what if I was wrong?
"Listen, Ariel. I know you're not going to admit it, but I know what I felt. You definitely healed me. And don't shake your head at me, girl. I saw what you did. So why can't you heal your wounds on your back?" Leon asked me, almost in a demanding tone.
The others snapped their heads back at me. They all had impatience planted on their faces.
I sighed giving up. I realized they weren't going to stop with the questions any time soon. And it's not like I'm going anywhere...
"I could only heal other people," I whispered, and I looked up at them. All their faces held some surprise in them but they didn't comment, hopefully waiting for me to continue. "I can't heal myself."
"What do you mean you can't heal yourself?" Leon demanded, almost in anger. Why is he so angry?
"You can actually heal people?!" Scotty shouted out, in disbelief.
"J-just what are you?" Orion whispered in shock. Everyone in the room had my full attention now; even Trenton was looking at me with wide eyes. I shook my head, indicating that I was finished with this conversation. My whole body was in pain and the events of the day were taunting my mind; all giving me one huge head-ache.
Unfortunately, these people did not know when to give up.
"Is that why they took you?" Arlo asked in wonder. Please stop.
"Because of your healing abilities?" Orion continued on. No more questions.
"You can actually heal people?!" Scotty repeated the same question again. Be quiet.
"How is that even possible?" Trenton shouted out, shooting a look of jealousy towards me. I said no more.
"Are you even a wolf?" Cameron demanded impatiently. I said shut up!
"Just leave us alone!" I roared, startling everyone in the room including myself. I felt fresh warm tears slide down my face, but I couldn't care less at this point. She was finally back; thank the moon goddess for that. My wolf took control of my body again and I could tell that as of right now, only one emotion was dominating her mind.
Rage.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
