I woke to the sound of soft beeping, and for a moment, I wondered if I was hallucinating. White walls and white curtains greeted my vision, and there was a distinct medicinal smell in the air.
Then memory came rushing back, and I gasped. I hardly dared to hope, but it seemed as if fate had spared me, and I closed my eyes in thankful relief. There was still the matter of what to do when I returned to the UK, but I hoped that with Samuel's death, the spell he'd put on everyone would have faded.
Right now, though, I took simple pleasure in the fact that I was alive to be able to worry about such problems.
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An endless procession of check ups followed to gauge the sort of damage I'd suffered at Samuel's hands. The internal damage alone was enormous, and the doctors treating me had no choice but to tell me that I needed a complete Hysterectomy due to the damage done by Samuel's rape, otherwise there was a likely chance I'd still die. I preferred being alive, even with no ability to have cubs (not that I wanted any, not after what Samuel had done to me), so I went ahead with the operation.
Apart from that, I had several broken ribs, but those were minor compared to the damage done to my insides. Pyschological issues also had to be addressed, thanks to nine years of abuse. But I was more resilient than I realised, with the counsellor working tirelessly to get to the bottom of the issues, and it wasn't long before I started to bounce back, recovering my spirits in a matter of weeks.
My good spirits, however, were tempered by the sad confirmation that Kira was indeed dead. She'd been killed the night Samuel had thrown me in the box, and no one had known of it, thus clearing Archie of any blame. I was gutted to lose Kira, but the counsellor told me that I was still a werewolf, and not a mere human as I'd feared. "You've still got your abilities," she told me. "You can't shift, of course, but you have everything else."
Thankfully, though, the news of Doreah's death was only half true. She had been killed while trying to flee the battlefield, but her wolf had managed to take over and run away. But she was totally wild now, and I knew it was useless to ask for her, knowing that she wouldn't even remember me. No one had known, believing her to be in hiding, so Archie was free of blame for not telling me, since even had had no clue. It was painful, nevertheless, to know that I'd never see my little sister again, but I refused to let it drag me down. Even if everyone back in the UK still thought of me as a traitor, I could easily make a new life somewhere else. I was still relatively young (though I was in my 30s now), and I had a long life ahead of me yet.
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One last bit of bad news marred my recovery. Samuel had, somehow, managed to survive the gunshot wound to his chest, his wolf having surfaced long enough to take the fatal blow in his human's place. He was now on life support, and expected to be charged with a host of offences if he ever woke up. I was, admittedly fearful that he might somehow manage to escape this, but when I asked, the doctors told me there was very little chance he'd ever wake up, and even if he did, he'd be heavily guarded night and day to ensure he never got near me. There was to be no repeat of the events which had first stuck me in that box, then sent me across the Channel. I was relieved, but still worried, and my counsellor assured me I had every right to feel this way. It was normal to doubt good fortune after such a run of spectacularly bad luck as I had had, and I had no need to feel ashamed for the way I felt.
So I shoved Samuel from my mind and focused instead on my recovery. My ribs were healing well, as were my insides. I'd been chekced ater the operation to make sure I had no further nasties lurking, and I'd been given the all clear, much to my relief.
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It was about a month or so after my rescue that I got another piece of news; Finn had been apprehended during the assault on the house where I'd been a prisoner for nine years, and he'd apparently undergone a change of heart, and was willing to confess everything, from the moment of the failed Alpha challenge, to the moment of my abduction across the Channel.
And it was a harrowing tale.
In short, Finn had killed not only almost all of my pack, but he'd also killed most of his pack for dissenting. Only a handful of the Blackwater pack remained, but he'd coerced most of the Rainbow Hearts and Redwoods into joining him, leaving the rest to flee and take refuge with their allies. The battle I'd heard the night of my first abduction had in fact been those cast-out members coming to take control of the packhouse and drive the usurpers out. But Samuel had managed to flee with me in the chaos, and that led to Reading, where, as it turned out, Ethan had in fact decieved me. It had been a delaying tactic, with Finn, Samuel and Ethan in on the whole scheme. It broke my heart to hear Ethan had deceived me so, but deep down, I'd somehow always known he wasn't to be trusted. And after my abduction across the Channel, he'd returned to Penzance, telling our surviving pack members I was dead.
Justice, however, had caught up to Ethan; with Finn gone - the original battle having gone the usurpers' way - the rest of the usurpers had been overpowered by our pack, and Ethan had been badly injured. That was when the other packs had come back, having bided their time, and it wasn't long before the packhouse was back under our control, with the remaining usurpers either killed or imprisoned. Ethan himself had been interrogated, and, after nine years of holding out, had finally confessed, thus leading to my dramatic rescue. Ethan himself was now behind bars, and the rest of the usurpers now surrendered to the judgement of their respective packs.
"Bloody hell," I said, shaking once the story was over. "So what now?"
"The packhouse in Penzance is now under the control of the remaining Whitewater members," the officer told me. "Daniel, Skylar, Caleb, Zachariah, and James are talking with other packs about having some as yet unimprinted members join them to bolster their numbers, with the caveat, of course, that those members be given the choice to accept or refuse, to which James has agreed. The remaining members of Simon's and Samuel's familes have surrendered, and they're expected to be charged for various offences. I doubt we'll be seeing them around for quite some time when the law catches up to them."
I sighed in relief. "I guess that means I can go home without any fear of being judged," I said.
The officer nodded. "Once you're cleared to fly home, you'll be given an escort," he said. "I'm not risking having you snatched out from under our noses again, and another escort will be waiting on the tarmac when you land at Heathrow. You'll then be escorted safely to a waiting vehicle which will then return you to Penzance, or Reading if you so desire. I've checked, and the Alpha there is quite anxious for your safe return."
"Then I guess Samuel really was bullshitting me about putting them under a spell," I said.
"He was telling a half truth," the officer said. "He did put them under a spell of forgetfullness, but not a spell of misdirection. That spell did break the moment you were rescued, at which point the Windsong pack became quite overwhelmed as to your wellbeing."
"Then I'll go to Reading first to let them know I'm okay," I decided.
"In that case, contact the local officers in Reading to arrange safe conduct back to Penzance when you're done," the officer advised me. "I know your friends are anxious to have you safely returned, but there could still be other operatives out there, and I don't wish to have yet another kidnapping on my conscience."
I had to laugh at his half-joking tone, but I knew he was serious, and I nodded. "I can do that," I said.
I certainly didn't want to get kidnapped again, and while I knew Finn had had a change of heart, I also knew it hadn't gone more than skin deep. He was only confessing because he'd been caught, not out of any desire to atone for his crimes. And I knew a man like him would have back-up plans for his back-up plans. He'd never let me go if he could help it, but I made a silent vow to give any of his goons the fight of their lives if they tried anything!128Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zqrf3Of2a
