Emerald's POV
My back and neck were stiff from sleeping in the recliner all night. I didn't want to leave Helen's side and was too worried that she might need something and not be able to call for me. I stood up and let the blanket that was over me fall to my feet and stretched my arms to the ceiling before popping my neck both ways.
I looked down at Helen who was laying in a large king sized bed. She had a iv attached to the top of one of her hands and one of those oxygen tubes in her nose. I made sure to have her room set up for her so that she wouldn't have to stay in a hospital. One I figured she'd rather be in her own home surrounded by her own things and two I hated hospitals.
Ever since I was a kid. Just thinking about those glass windows where everyone can see you and those blank white walls and floors. I can still remember what it felt like when I first woke up in one. When I got older I saw a similar scene from a movie where a woman woke up strapped to bed and all she could see were bright lights and strange aliens looking down at her. That's the closest thing I could relate that feeling to.
I checked her iv fluids and when I was sure she was still sleeping I snuck out of the room and down the hallway. I went straight upstairs and to my room. It was a decent size and the walls were painted a light grey that I had picked out years ago. Helen wanted me to pick out something a little more..girly like pink or purple. I was never really a fan of those though.
They were just too bright.
I had a reasonable sized bed that was against the wall and I did have a small seating bench area near a window that I loved. I was a minimalist and didn't have very many things or pictures up, but I liked it that way. I never really understood why people needed so much stuff anyway. I had what I needed. A white six drawer dresser was against the other wall with the bathroom door to the left of it. In the middle of the hardwood floors laid a fluffy light blue rug and besides the couple books that sat on the side table next to my bed my room was empty.
I didn't even have an alarm clock because I had an internal one and just could naturally wake up at the same time every morning before the sun is up. I went to the bathroom and cut the shower on before looking at myself in the mirror. My hair looked like a freakin tornado hit it and my blonde curls went down past my elbows. I had dark circles under my eyes that made my right brown one look darker then normal. I was average height being only 5'5, but I trained and exercised regularly and was secretly prideful about my toned body.
I stripped my clothes off and stepped into the scolding hot water to relieve some tension in my back. Helen was sleeping more and more everyday and I knew soon she would just not wake up anymore. I saw her as my best friend and a mother all at once. She had taken me in willingly and was good to me.
I knew it wasn't easy for her for the first few years of having me. It took me a while to stop being so angry and to kick my hunting habit. I still did it, but was much better about hiding it then I was back then. I understood why people thought it was gross, but hell I grew up on it and to me there was nothing that came close to tasting as good. Regular food is harder for me to digest sometimes.
I had almost perfect grades all the way through until I graduated. School was easy for me, but also boring. I didn't understand what we needed all that information for. I mean honestly I've always felt a little bit different then kids my own age, but I know it's only because of how I grew up. When I realized just how fucked up my early childhood was compared to others it just really set in for me that they had no idea about the real world. The world where people don't care about your innocence or your age or your vulnerability.
Their are people out there who wouldn't think twice about hurting you, killing you. What will math do if you're up against someone who is twice your height and three times your weight? What is the point in knowing what year the telephone was made when you don't know how to get out of a chokehold or how what to do when you're up against more then one wolf?
They don't teach you anything useful. I guess it's useful if you're planning on doing more school, but I don't have plans for that at all.
Training on the other hand I did enjoy. Tracking, fighting, scouting, hunting (even though I'm the only one who does it.) These are things I have always excelled in. Their were still things I didn't really understand though about being a werewolf.
They taught us about a moon goddess and mates and all that junk, but to me? It sounded like some made up superstition. They also teach you about Santa and the tooth fairy, so I figure one day someones finally just gone let me in on the fact that the moon goddess is also not real. I had witnessed what it was like for someone to find their mate and had watched a boy from school practically hold a girl down and force his mark on her. I couldn't believe it. I would've knocked the kids canines in if it were me. The worst part was, she let him. She wanted it. I could see it in her face as soon as he said "Mate'. Her whole face lit up with joy like it was the best moment in her life.
I pity the poor fool that would ever try that on me. He wouldn't even be able to get in five feet of me before Anala would take over.
They say you can smell your mates scent when they are close enough and that it will drive you wild to the point you can't control your wolf. I don't think I had a good sense of smell though when it came to boys. If it were females I could smell them just fine, but it was like men were blocked for some reason. I thought about bringing it up to Helen or my Alpha, but I figured hey? If I can't smell my mate then I won't ever lose control.
Being in control over my mind and emotions were extremely important to me. I knew what it was like to lose yourself and I never wanted that to happen again. Alana on the other hand was convinced something was wrong with us and that he was the reason. I could still see him clearly in my mind and I vowed to myself that one day I would find him and kill him for what he had done to me. That man with his disgusting yellow eyes and that awful smell from whatever was laying in the pen next to me.
I can still remember everything he did to me. I remember the day we escaped and I remembered that I didn't stop running until my paws were bleeding. I shook my head to get the memories to float away and finished showering. When I was done I got out and started drying myself off and then wrapped the towel around my wet curls.
I looked at myself in the mirror again. I didn't have the biggest chest and was only a B cup, but I didn't mind it so much. I had a boyfriend and we had been going out since the eleventh grade and he liked my body just fine. I didn't care if he wasn't my mate or anything about the moon goddess and her plans. Keith is a nice guy even though when we first met I thought he was arrogant and a bit cocky.
He had poor grades and so I would tutor him. Whenever his grades went up he would let them drop again just so I would have to keep tutoring him. His persistence and self confidence ended up growing on me and we've been going out ever since.
I walked into my room and went to my dresser to get some clothes out. I got dressed for work and went and sat on my bed to slip my sneakers on. I could see the black fabric sticking out from under my pillow and moved the pillow back to look at the shirt. I picked it up and brought it to my face to smell. It didn't smell like him, but it did smell like the field that I got to play in for a little while and that smell held good memories.
My favorite memories in fact.
I put the shirt back and put my pillow over it and went back to the bathroom to dry my hair. Their was really no point in brushing it or adding any products because no matter what I did, once it dried it would be a frizzy mess and I gave up a long time ago in trying to tame it.
I kept my face bare and rarely wore makeup. It made my eyes watery to wear mascara and I didn't really care too much about what I looked like. Especially since I was just going to work and would be to busy taking orders and busting tables to worry about what anyone would think.
I looked at myself one more time in the mirror and huffed I'm annoyance. I had a couple worry lines that seemed to stay permanent across my forehead and I tried to rub them away. I rolled my eyes at myself and walked out of the bathroom and back down the stairs.
I went down the hall and back to Helen's room to check in on her. She was still asleep and I watched her chest rise and fall for another minute before turning away and leaving. I knew my Alpha would come by and check on her while I was at work and would call me if anything happened. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed my keys off the kitchen counter before going to the door and leaving.
I walked down the concrete path until my bike came into view. It was neon green Kawasaki ninja and it was my baby. I fell in love with bikes around fourteen and started saving up at a young age. I baby sat, mowed lawns, painted fences. I would even shop for this older ladies groceries for her, so she wouldn't have to worry about loading them into the house by herself.
Even if people didn't offer to pay me I still would go around and help people out with anything they needed. I wanted to desperately play a big role in my pack community and do what I could to make life easier for them. Alpha Paul even appointed me to be over the younger girls training that were just now getting their wolves and I took that position seriously.
My life had pretty much been normal since coming here and when Helen got sick I was secretly worried that I would some how no longer be apart of the pack that I had grown to love. I was always worried that one day they'd send me away and that I would be alone again.
I never once showed anyone what I could do because of that reason. Helen and my Alpha were the only ones who knew about the flames, but I made sure to never let anyone see them. It was hard because once you get started, even with just the tiniest spark it makes you just want to set a blaze to everything. Not even Keith knew about my powers and it was weird, but I didn't feel guilty about the fact that I hid that from him. I felt guilty that I didn't felt guilty if that makes since.
I kinda liked having this secrete super power and any chance I got alone I would practice. I had gotten good at controlling it, but like I said it's addictive sometimes and once I get started it takes serious will power to stop.
I swung one leg over my bike and cranked the engine and I didn't even try to hide the smile on my face from feeling the vibrations. I picked up the black helmet that I promised Helen I would always wear and slipped it over my still semi wet head before speeding off to work.