Chapter 2: She Is Eye-catching

Chapter two: She Is Eye-catching

Bernard

She looked so small and frail and I could only imagine how she would look in her human form. I could probably snap her in half with one hand. When they told me that they found a wolf crossing our borders, I was expecting the wolf to be a female not to talk about being too small but there was something about her that drew me closer. Even though she was covered in dirt and looked sickly, she is still eye-catching even in her wolf form. Her fur looked so soft that I wanted to touch it but I didn’t and her eyes were like something I have never seen before. Her eyes pierced right through me. She intrigued me.

She is conscious now and there was no need for my presence anymore, I had no reason to stay in the hospital anymore because I had other things to attend to but for some reason, I felt like I wanted to stay. I forced myself to turn away from her and left the hospital.

“So, you found her on the northwest border?” I asked Kelvin, he was the one that alerted me of the breach as soon as it happened.

“Yes, Alpha.” She crossed into our lands about half a mile before we came across her. The wolves that were chasing her got close but they scattered once they picked up our scent.” Kelvin replied.

I wanted to ask if they had any clue on those wolves that were chasing when I saw Liam, the doctor and my best friend walking in and I waved him over.

“What is the status of the girl we found by the border?” I asked and he peered down at his chart.

“She was severely dehydrated and malnourished when they brought her in. So we push some nutrients and fluids to give her body a fighting chance. We also did some blood tests and it all came clean. Other than lack of nutrition and fluid, she seems to be fine. Her body was covered in scars but none that appeared to have happened recently and the most important thing is that she is healthy.” He responded and I nodded.

That was good, I didn’t know much about she-wolves but from what I could comprehend, she certainly had not had an easy life. I need answers and I need them soon. No matter how captivating she is, the fact of the matter is that she was running from something. She could be a criminal on the run from another Pack and I couldn’t allow my Pack to be found out for harboring a fugitive.

But on second thought, she didn’t seem like a criminal. Although it was crazy to think so, I didn’t get that vibe from her. She wasn’t a criminal because she seemed more to me like a wolf that had been mistreated, most likely by her previous pack or by an Alpha. Whatever her reasons for being on the run were, I needed her to wake up so that she could tell me herself.

“Let me know when she wakes up and not a second later.” I told Liam as I patted him on the back and stepped out of the hospital.

The further I got away from the hospital, the more I felt a tug within me telling me to stay back. I wasn’t sure what exactly it was but I had this gnawing feeling that I couldn’t go far. Maybe it was the Alpha in me trying to make sure that this new guest was really not a threat but it felt more than that. It was a pull that I couldn’t describe or understand.

I continued on my way away from the hospital but with each step I took away from the hospital building, my heartbeats picked up. I needed to know who she was.

Elena Pov

Beep! Beep!! Beep!!!

Those annoying sounds pierced through the darkness of my dreamless sleep. I turned away hoping to rid myself of the noise but it just kept going. Why wasn’t it stopping? And why was there that sound in the forest? Then, like a tidal wave, the memories came crashing into me. The wolves I was running from and then fell asleep.

My eyes fluttered open and I was in the hospital and it means that I am still under their watch. I should have felt terrified but a part of me knew that they wouldn’t harm me. If they wanted me dead, they would have done it in the forest. At least I am safe here for now as long as they didn’t find out my past, I am alright. But I needed to keep my guard because if they found out the Pack I was from, they would send me back and I couldn’t go back, never again. Death was a much better fate than my old Pack.

I turned my head towards the beeping sound and found a heart beat monitor. My arm twitched and a sharp pain sparked throughout it. I looked at my arm and saw an infusion sticking out of it and I did a double check when it registered to me that I had an arm. What in the world? I am in my human form but how? Transforming to a human, for me, was never an easy experience unlike the other wolves. Since I usually had to be ready to run or fight, I hardly transformed and now I had managed to do it without being aware? It was such a rarity to be in my human form and it felt a bit strange to me. My body, which was usually covered in fur, felt more susceptible to the cold in the hospital room. The flimsy hospital duvet and the green hospital gown I wore did nothing to keep the chill away. It was a little embarrassing that someone saw me naked and had to dress me but I am also grateful to that person. Nakedness was normal for my kind but not for me because I was not used to being around other wolves.

A man with doctor’s wear walked through the doorway holding a file and he walked straight towards my bed with a soft smile on his face. He seemed young but definitely older than me, he had soft features for a man and it gave his face a certain aura of kindness. His long black hair and his green eyes were assessing me as he came closer. He didn’t seem to be scared of me and yet there was still a certain wariness to his gaze. The heartbeat monitor picked up as he came closer to the bed, I guess he didn’t see me as a threat but he was still a wolf. His face split into a gentle smile as he stopped by the side of the bed.

“Hi, good to see you back to life.” He said and I just stared at him, unsure how to react. He cleared his throat quietly as he saw that I was not one for communicating.

“I am Liam, the doctor. I have been the one treating you since your arrival and you were severely malnourished and dehydrated but we pushed a few infusions in you and also gave you some necessary vitamins to bring back some nutrients to your body. Do you understand?” He asked and I nodded.

He seemed nice and he was the one that helped me, it wasn’t like he was asking intrusive questions. His smile grew wider at my small attempt of communicating.

“What is your name? It would be nice to actually address you by your name rather than calling you patient 15.” He said and I opened my mouth and then closed it again. I cleared my throat and tried again.

“I….I….” My throat felt like sandpaper and I hadn’t used my vocal in a long time now as the muscle felt strained and painful.

Doctor Liam reached for the jug of water on the small table beside me and poured me a glass and placed a straw in the cup. He brought the straw towards my mouth and encouraged me to take a sip. I took the straw into my mouth and sucked up the cool water. I felt my muscles come to life as the water passed through my throat. It had been a long time since I last tasted clean drinking water. I had always made do with river water which was often muddy and sometimes contaminated with pollution.

After a few more sips, I released the straw from my mouth and leaned back into the pillow. I hadn’t been on a bed in what felt like ages and I looked up to the doctor who was watching me through curious eyes.

“Thank you.” I said and my voice sounded so strange in my ears, I haven’t heard my voice in a long time.

“You are welcome.” He replied with a smile.

“Alpha Bernard is on his way to meet with you.” He said

“The Alpha?” My voice came out a little louder and he must have seen the concern written on my face.

“You have nothing to worry about. Alpha Bernard is good at heart but to some, he may be slightly intimidating but he isn’t. Just answer all his questions and be honest with him because I am sure that you don’t mean to intrude on our lands.” He said and I shook my head.

“No I don’t. I was just merely passing by.” I replied and he nodded.

“Just tell him that and he would understand.” He added.

“Yes, I will.” I replied.

A sudden surge of excitement flowed through my body as I thought of him being close to me again. It was a strange feeling that I wasn’t used to. I hadn’t officially met the man and yet I am as giddy as a teenager about him coming to see me. This place was making me feel strange things and I didn’t know if I liked it or not. Liam looked like he wanted to say something else but he was cut off when the door to the room opened and everything shifted.

Alpha Bernard carried himself exactly as you expect an Alpha to. He easily towered everyone in that room and his green eyes locked with my sapphire ones from across the space.

There it was, that pull again. I thought it was simply a side effect of my dehydration but what I felt the first time I saw him was real and from the look on his face, he felt something as well but I don’t think the feeling was the same as mine. His expression looked startled like he had seen something horrendous. I just transformed back into my human form and I probably need to take a bath. My hair looks like a mess and my face, well that was most probably a mess as well and suddenly I felt self-conscious as I didn’t want him to see me this way. I wanted to present my best self to him.

As he walked closer, my heartbeats began to pick up but it wasn’t out of fear. I felt no fear at all as he came closer to me. In fact, I felt excited, I felt like something inside of me was awakening and then like a lightbulb went off in my head and it all clicked. The mate pulled as that was the only explanation for everything I was feeling but how? Because none of this made sense to me. Besides, if it was the mate pulling, then both of us would have to feel the same thing and the way he was looking at me, it definitely didn’t match what I was feeling. He came closer and stopped beside my bed.

“You are awake.” He said, staring down at me with those mesmerizing green eyes.

“Tell me your name and the Pack you belong to?” He asked and his voice was filled with power as I found myself wanting to reply to him. I opened my mouth to speak but then I quickly closed it.

What am I going to do? He raised an eyebrow, waiting for a response. He asked two simple questions but my answers were not simple. I spent years running and hiding from a man whom I never wanted to see again. I have avoided him for this long but if I revealed who I was, then there was a possibility that he would find me again and I couldn’t risk that. I couldn’t fall back into the hands of those who killed my parents.